Hello everyone,
As President of the club, I have to share a message with you every week. Honestly, sometimes I don’t always know what to say and often think “what I am going to deliver in my next message?” Mostly I hope I can come up with something beneficial for all of us. You see, you get prepared to be president for over a year; you train for it. But once you are there, you feel like you need to indulge even more about Rotary. I will try throughout my year to share with you a few important facts about Rotary, a few things that every Rotarian should know. This is a learning process for me, too, and hopefully we can learn throughout the year about this wonderful organization we all belong to, and I hope not to bore you in the process.
Fact #1
DEFINITION OF ROTARY:
How do you describe the organization called "Rotary"? There are so many characteristics of a Rotary club as well as the activities of a million Rotarians. There are the features of service, internationality, fellowship, classifications of each vocation, development of goodwill and world understanding, the emphasis of high ethical standards, concern for other people and many more descriptive qualities.
In 1976, the Rotary International Board of Directors was interested in creating a concise definition of the fundamental aspects of Rotary. They turned to the three men who were then serving on Rotary's Public Relations Committee and requested that a one-sentence definition of Rotary be prepared. After numerous drafts, the committee presented this definition, which has been used ever since in various Rotary publications:
"Rotary is an organization of business and professional people united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”
Those 31 words are worth remembering when someone asks, "What is a Rotary club?”.
Did you have the opportunity to read last week’s Islander and specifically the Letters to the Editor part? Well I did not, and Scott Hammond fined us in the last evening meeting for that (by the way if you missed it...we had a terrific time learning about what Art Waves is doing in the community and some of us stayed after for a fun stained glass class). Anyways, I want to share with you the letter Scott Hammond sent to The Islander’s editor, talking about our fantastic 4th of July Pancake Breakfast and Seafood Festival. Once again, a round of applause to the two people that make it happen behind the scenes, making sure everything is running smoothly, for all the dedication and time you put into this event: Ron Wrobel and Robert Rechholtz.
Here’s the letter:
Letters to the editor: ROTARY HEROES
To the Editor:
“July Fourth has again come and gone, and with it another successful Rotary Pancake breakfast and Seafood Festival. It is still too early to know how successful we were financially, but just to provide this service to the town and raise funds for other community non-profits, hopefully with a smile, we met our goal.
As a “seasoned” member of the Bar Harbor Rotary club, I know how much work it is, both physically and in the planning, to put on the event.
We couldn’t continue to host these events without the members of the club, both long-standing and brand new, who are able to take time away from their families on the holiday.
I am also always amazed at the number of community members who volunteer, some for the first time and some veterans. We couldn’t pull it off without their contributions as well.
I enjoy the opportunity to work the event, especially to talk to the customers, both the locals and the visitors, but I’m glad it only comes around once a year! I am exhausted at the end of the day.
There are so many people who help that I can’t name them all, but I do want to raise up two members of the club, both of whom are critical to its success.
I want to personally and publicly thank Ron Wrobel, who has led the event for the last few years, not because he wants to but out of a sense of responsibility. He has the perfect skills for the job; he is a good organizer and he keeps a level head and pleasant demeanor during the most stressful times during the day.
Also, without the dedication and hard work of Robert Rechholtz, we would not succeed.
Thank you, gentlemen, and thanks to everyone in the community who supports us.”
Scott Hammond
Bar Harbor
Thank you Scott for such an excellent letter about our club, the volunteers, the community, the visitors, and the two Rotarians who make this event truly a success.
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service to others”.- Mahatma Gandhi.
See you Wednesday,
President Susy
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