Stories

If you've ever attended a Rotary training event, you know that there is usually a table full of Rotary publications available for your perusal. One of those publications is The ABCs of Rotary.

The articles in this publication were originally published in the weekly newsletter of the Rotary Club of North Stockton. The author, Cliff Dochterman, was the RI President in 1992-1993.

Some of the articles are pretty interesting, given that these articles were compiled and published in 1993, just a few years after RI "allowed" women to become part of Rotary. How times have changed...

Boise East has a copy of The ABCs of Rotary available to borrow. Take some time to read through some of these articles. Even though they were written over 20 years ago, much of the information is pertinent, and it also gives a good historical context of Rotary. Or, here';s a link... http://www.clubrunner.ca/Data/5050/248/HTML/214641//ABCsofRotary.pdf

Service Above Self and One Profits Most Who Serves Best, trace back to the early days of the organization.

In 1911, He Profits Most Who Serves Best was approved as the Rotary motto at the second convention of the National Association of Rotary Clubs of America, in Portland, Oregon. It was adapted from a speech made by Rotarian Arthur Frederick Sheldon to the first convention, held in Chicago the previous year. Sheldon declared that "only the science of right conduct toward others pays. Business is the science of human services. He profits most who serves his fellows best."

The Portland convention also inspired the motto Service Above Self. During a convention outing on the Columbia River, Ben Collins, president of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, talked with Seattle Rotarian J.E. Pinkham about the proper way to organize a Rotary club, offering the principle his club had adopted: Service, Not Self. Pinkham invited Paul P. Harris, who also was on the boat trip, to join their conversation. Harris asked Collins to address the convention, and the phrase Service, Not Self was met with great enthusiasm.

At the 1950 RI Convention in Detroit, slightly modified versions of the two slogans were formally approved as the official mot­toes of Rotary: He Profits Most Who Serves Best and Service Above Self. The 1989 Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as the principal motto of Rotary, because it best conveys the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service. He Profits Most Who Serves Best was modified by the 2004 Council to They Profit Most Who Serve Best and by the 2010 Council to its current wording, One Profits Most Who Serves Best.

The information above was taken directly from the RI website.

Tired of the hard-copy piling up on the coffee table? Check this out.