Stories
|
|
Rotary Splash Pad
A ribbon cutting and grand opening for Russell's new Historic Park was held on Saturday, July 8. The park is located at the corner of 8th and Kansas Streets and includes a visitor center, public restrooms, a splash pad and playground equipment. As part of the ribbon cutting ceremony, the splash pad was turned on and will be available for use daily between the hours of 10 AM to 9 PM. This project is the result of a collaborative effort by the Revitalize Russell Committee, the City of Russell, Russell Main Street, the Rotary Club of Russell, Russell PRIDE, the Russell County Historical Society, the Russell County Health Department and Russell County Economic Development and CVB. Major grant funding was received from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the Dane G. Hansen Foundation and the Russell County Area Community Foundation. |
History of Women in RotaryWomen are active participants in Rotary, serving their communities in increasing numbers and serving in leadership positions in Rotary. The 1989 Council on Legislation vote to admit women into Rotary clubs worldwide remains a watershed moment in the history of Rotary. “My fellow delegates, I would like to remind you that the world of 1989 is very different to the world of 1905. I sincerely believe that Rotary has to adapt itself to a changing world,” said Frank J. Devlyn, who would go on to become RI president in 2000-01. The vote followed the decades-long efforts of men and women from all over the Rotary world to allow the admission of women into Rotary clubs, and several close votes at previous Council meetings.
|
Young Inventor Eco-Friendly Bricks Come Full Circle
|
First Club in Philippines Opens Door to Rotary in Asia
The club would be the only one in the country for more than 12 years. Eventually, Manila club members organized Rotary clubs in the Philippine cities of Cebu (1932) and Iloilo (1933). Iloilo club members then started a club in Bacolod (1937), and Rotary continued to expand across the country. |
Every hero has an origin story. “I was 10 years old when the entire journey started,” explains Binish Desai. It began with a cartoon called Captain Planet, an animated TV series from the 1990s about an environmentalist with superpowers. Desai can still recite the show’s refrain: Captain Planet, he’s our hero / Gonna take pollution down to zero! “That tagline stuck in my mind,” he says. “I wanted to do something to help Captain Planet.”
In early 1919, Rotarian Roger Pinneo of Seattle, Washington, USA, traveled to the Philippines to try to organize a Rotary club in Manila. Leon J. Lambert, a Manila business leader helped Pinneo establish the club. Several months later, on 1 June 1919, the Rotary Club of Manila was chartered and became the first Rotary club in Asia.