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| What is Rotary?
AN INTRODUCTION TO ROTARY
Rotary
International is a global network of service volunteers. It is the
world's largest service organisation for business and professional
people, with some 1,210,905 members operating in 168 countries
world-wide.
There are some 58,000 Rotarians in Great Britain
and Ireland in 1,845 clubs, helping those in need and working towards
world understanding and peace. Its a fulfilling role, and Rotarians can
get involved as much or as little as their time will allow.
But
there is much more. Clubs meet on a regular basis, which allows members
to build firm friendships. Every Rotarian has a right to attend any
Club meeting anywhere in the world, so there is always somewhere to go,
and people to meet, wherever business or leisure travel may take you.
Various
Clubs have different emphases, which can reflect differences in size. A
small market town may have a Club of perhaps 20 members, whereas in
large centres the number can be closer to 100. Some concentrate on
local community or vocational projects. Others link up with a sister
club in another country to undertake an international project. Each
Club decides how it wants to use the resources it has available
The History of Rotary
Room 711 of the Unity Building at 127 North Dearborn Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, was the site of Rotary's first meeting on February 23, 1905. At that time, it was the office of Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer and one of the founding members of the organization.
The four businessmen didn't decide then and there to call themselves a Rotary club, but their get-together was, in fact, the first meeting of the world's first Rotary club. As they continued to meet, adding others to the group, they rotated their meetings among the members' places of business, hence the name.
Soon after the club name was agreed upon, one of the new members suggested a wagon wheel design as the club emblem. It was the precursor of the familiar cogwheel emblem now worn by Rotarians around the world. By the end of 1905, the club had 30 members.
The second Rotary club was formed in 1908 half a continent away from Chicago in San Francisco, California. It was a much shorter leap across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, California, where the third club was formed. Others followed in Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York. Rotary became international in 1910 when a club was formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
By 1921 the organisation was represented on every continent, and the name Rotary International was adopted in 1922.
About Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary
Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, was born in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, on April 19, 1868, but moved at the age of 3 to Wallingford, Vermont, to be raised by his grandparents.
In the foreword to his autobiography My Road to Rotary, he credits the friendliness and tolerance he found in Vermont as his inspiration for the creation of Rotary.
Trained as a lawyer, Paul gave himself five years after his graduation from law school in 1891 to see as much of the world as possible before settling down. During that time, he travelled widely, supporting himself with a great variety of jobs.
He worked as a reporter in San Francisco, a teacher at a business college in Los Angeles, a cowboy in Colorado, a desk clerk in Jacksonville, Florida, a tender of cattle on a freighter to England, and as a travelling salesman for a granite company, covering both
the U.S. and Europe.
Remaining true to his five-year plan, he settled in Chicago in 1896, and it was there on the
evening of February 23, 1905, that he met with three friends to discuss his idea for a
businessmen's club. This is commonly regarded as the first Rotary club meeting.
Over the next five years, the movement spread as Rotary clubs were formed in other U.S. cities. When the National Association of Rotary Clubs held its first convention in 1910, Paul was
elected president.
After his term, and as the organisations only president-emeritus, Paul continued to travel extensively, promoting the spread of Rotary both in the USA and abroad. A prolific writer, Paul wrote several books about the early days of the organization and the role he was privileged to play in it. These include The Founder of Rotary, This Rotarian Age and the autobiographical My Road to Rotary. He also wrote several volumes of Peregrinations detailing his many travels. He died in Chicago on January 27, 1947. Paul Harris
For more information about Rotary in the Northwest click on the link below. For Information about Rotary International click the link below. The Rotary Club of Rochdale East meet every Tuesday at Rochdale Golf Club, Edenfield Road. The
meeting starts at 6:30pm with a two course meal, and a very good meal
indeed. This is followed by any Rotary business which usually lasts for
around 20 minutes. After Rotary business we are entertained by a speaker who may be a member of the club or a guest speaker. The meeting usually finishes at around 8:30pm. If you wish to learn more about Rotary and its functions please contact us through this web-site
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