The president of Rotary International Holger Knaack shared the following observations at Suburban Rotary on August 6, 2020. There were 180 participants on the zoom meeting.
Holger and his wife left Evanston IL (Rotary International headquarters) for home in Germany on March 18 of this year and traveled again just two weeks ago by car to Zurich where Rotary has maintained an office for 95 years.
He noted that Berlin has app. 30 clubs, plus Rotoractors. His message: THERE IS NO WRONG AGE TO BE A ROTARIAN! Rotary needs to appeal to young professionals in the U.S. and Germany and elsewhere. The average age of a Rotarian in the U.K. is 75-years-old. A more modern Rotary will include new models of membership. I’m excited to be working with Phil Taylor and his team on this presently for our club.
Interestingly, Holger reported that Rotary developed a comprehensive statement on diversity, equity and inclusion in 2018 – two years ago.
On the service side, we have re-started vaccinations for polio in world hotspots – Pakistan and Africa. And on August 25th, a worldwide announcement featuring the president of the World Health Organization, Bill Gates and Holger will announce that Africa has become Polio Free.
I asked Holger about the sentiment on the street in Germany regarding the pullback of U.S. troops. I appreciated his response, which we see little of publicly from official sources. He said that Germany can thank the United States for the last 70 years, as can other free countries throughout the world such as the Philippines. He said America continues to teach Germany how to be a democracy. How refreshing.
Holger Knaack, we thank you as Rotary Opens Opportunities for children free from polio and so much more around the globe. There is more on Holger in a recent Rotary magazine.
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Also, thanks this week to Martie Cordaro, immediate past-president of West Rotary and President of the Omaha Stormchasers and Union Omaha, for maintaining a 52-year-streak of appearances by the AAA club at Downtown Rotary - “Holy Cow!” to borrow a baseball phrase.
Finally, last call to golf in the Millard Rotary Memorial Event on September 22nd at Tiburon with fellow Rotarians Donny Suh M.D.(recently honored by Suburban Rotary as “Omahan of the Year,”) Chair of our International Committee Brad Burkland, Secretary Nash Mahupete and yours truly.
We have a couple friends of Rotary joining us. We have room for two more Rotarians. Contact me at
jsullivan@sullivangroup.ventures or mobile: 402-206-8081 by Monday, August 10
th.
See you on August 12th to hear just how Lloyd Meyer and team designed the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary in Des Moines featured in the July 2020 Smithsonian Magazine.
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