Repaying Rotary

In this, my 50th year as a Rotarian, I want to repay Rotary for all it has given me over the years. My problem has been how to do this. So many worthwhile projects cry out for a Rotarian’s support.

The answer came in the January issue of The Rotarian. The Gates Foundation has offered to match what we Rotarians can raise to complete the eradication of polio, up to $100 million.

When I was young, almost every summer there was a polio outbreak. One such outbreak occurred when I was a counselor at a summer camp. Six boys were stricken, one fatally. When notified of the camp’s closing, parents sped to the scene, picking up their sons without a word, and with only the clothes on the children’s backs. Stark terror emptied that camp within 24 hours.

As children, we were not allowed out of our own yard during outbreaks until the danger had subsided. But I never understood my father’s fear until much later. You see, in 1917, my father was 24 and an officer preparing to embark for France under the command of Gen. Pershing. Back on the farm, his sister, Virginia, was turning five years old. Her parents made an exception, allowing six girl cousins to gather for a celebration. Within days, two were dead and two others stricken. My father knew nothing of this until after Virginia’s funeral. His mother, my grandmother, could never speak of the loss of Virginia.

The enclosed check for $10,000 is in honor of my father and his father (both of whom served as Rotary club presidents) and their Rotary Anns, and in memory of the aunt I never met. None lived to see the miracle Rotary made possible – millions of families saved from the scourge of my youth, millions of children alive and healthy.

Please pass this check on to The Rotary Foundation, to be matched by Gates.

Robert B. Sayre
Beckley, W.V., USA

International PolioPlus Committee Chair Bob Scott replies:

The editor in chief of The Rotarian, Vince Aversano, forwarded your letter to me so that I could be aware of your donation.

First, let me, on behalf of the children who will now not suffer lives affected by polio, say a most sincere thank-you.

Secondly, I thank you for sharing your very personal story about polio.

Thirdly, as your generosity demonstrates, the Gates Foundation is so confident that Rotarians will raise $100 million in the next three years that they have already sent the full amount to us, and we have it ready to distribute over the next 12 months.

Again, many thanks.

70 years of service

I read with great joy of the 66-year membership of Charles Robinson in the Rotary Club of Sparta, Tenn., USA [Letters, December]. What a great accomplishment and hats off to you! But I think I have one up on you!

In October, the Rotary Club of Hamden, Conn., USA, honored Oscar Roos for his 70 years of Service Above Self. The club was chartered in March 1937. “Ozzie” was inducted on 2 August 1937. He served his country during World War II, served his club as president, had perfect attendance for many years, attended several international conventions, and continues to participate in club meetings and make-ups – all at the age of 92.

We middle-aged youngsters should be inspired by these Rotarians from the “Greatest Generation.”

Rich Miller
Hamden, Conn., USA

How about 72 years?

The Rotary Club of Alexandria, La., USA, is proud to have Roscoe Bolton as an active member. Bolton was born 7 March 1913. He joined the Alexandria club on 9 November 1935 and has been an active member for 72 years. He and his wife, Sue (an honorary club member), attend our meetings every week unless their travels take them out of town.

Are there any Rotarians with more years of seniority and service?

Edwin J. Caplan
Alexandria, La., USA

Who can beat 75 years? 

I read the letter in the December Rotarian about honoring older members and couldn’t resist the challenge. Robert Miller has been a member of the Rotary Club of Front Royal, Va., USA, for 75 years. He turned 100 on 29 August.

Bill Wilson
Front Royal, Va., USA

Missing photos

As usual, the December issue was another excellent issue. However, in the In Focus “Family of Rotary,” what jumped out at me was how many American families you featured. About half of the 19 families live in the United States. If Rotary is a world family, why the preponderance of coverage for American families? There were no families featured from Japan, Russia, or Australia. Not a very balanced representation I would say.

D. Rand Hillier
Poulsbo, Wash., USA

Editor’s note: The Rotary family album strove to represent as many countries as possible. The families who participated in the photo shoot at the RI Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, responded to requests for volunteers that appeared in The Rotarian and on Rotary.org. Unfortunately, families from some regions did not contact us.

Magazine needs to motivate readers

Congratulations for a striking redesign. I find the new format for The Rotarian to be a tremendous improvement. That said, I expect the new Rotarian to do a better job of informing and motivating members and helping attract more young people to Rotary as an opportunity for service and fellowship.

John G. Redmond
Greensboro, N.C., USA

Rotary-UN Day 

Rotary-UN Day provided a great experience for our group from District 5340 (California, USA). We were two Ambassadorial Scholars, one Rotary World Peace Fellow, one Model United Nations participant and her mother, District Governor Jim O’Meara and his wife, and myself, outreach chair of the district’s Pathways to Peace Committee. I want to make three points:

First, I want to emphasize that this event is valuable not only for the content of the program but also because it reaffirms Rotary’s longstanding ties to the UN. Rotary and the UN continue to work in partnership to create a more peaceful world. This event is another pathway to peace.

Second, it’s important to share this experience with youth and feel the joy of watching their eyes light up as they soak up the speakers’ words.

Third, the event is an opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and share resources. Last year, we learned about ShelterBoxes and were able to use the information to help Bolivia almost as soon as we returned home. This year, my question about whether other districts had peace committees brought seven people to me after the session with questions and offers to share resources.

We plan to talk more at the Presidential Peace Forum in Windsor, Ont., Canada, in April and at the convention in Los Angeles in June. If there are others who would like to exchange information about respective district peace efforts and projects, contact me at chsplu@aol.com.

Clara Harris
Lemon Grove, Calif., USA

Ending poverty book 

Bob Drake’s letter “Book the end of  poverty” [October] refers to a book that is appropriate reference information for all Rotarians: an easy-to-read version of Progress and Poverty that Mr. Drake abridged. Could you please let me know where I can buy it?

Saifuddin A. Mansoor
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Editor’s note: The book can be purchased at www.progressandpoverty.org and www.amazon.com.

Club rewards altruism

The article in the December issue [“Doing Good, Feeling Good”] perfectly describes an altruism initiative begun by my club, the Rotary Club of Indianapolis, in 2006. Our club sponsors a US$1,500 award for altruism that is named after John Henry Weidner. Weidner saved more than a thousand people in World War II, including approximately 800 Jews. He moved to the United States after the war and joined the Rotary Club of Monterey Park, Calif. He was honored at the opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 and died in 1994.

As a member of the board of trustees of the John Henry Weidner Foundation and a teacher at Butler University, I developed a chapter of the Weidner Foundation at Butler. In 2007, student members of the chapter chose junior Katie Doane to receive the award for her efforts in enlisting more than 100 Butler students to participate in Big Brothers Big Sisters in three local elementary schools – a wonderful coincidence in view of the comments reported in your article by Allan Luks, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City.

Bill Ervin
Indianapolis, Ind., USA

Where are the stats?

For many years, I have used the statistics published in The Rotarian to inform new members of our club about the number of Rotarians, clubs, etc. To my dismay, I am no longer able to find this information in the magazine. If it is no longer being included, I would respectfully ask that you reinstate it.

Bill Haglund
Houston, Texas, USA

Editor’s note: “At a Glance” appears  in the Insider section of the magazine; occasionally, however, it doesn’t run because of space limitations.

Put a stamp on it

Month after month, your magazine becomes more and more interesting and thought-provoking. It is an inspiration to all Rotarians.

It was a superb idea to have included world stamps (four of the six were from the United States) in your calendar on page 17 of the December issue. I believe it could have had more impact by including stamps with the Rotary gearwheel. There are over 1,000 to chose from, many with Paul Harris on them, some even with past Rotary International presidents. I am sure many members of the International Fellowship of Rotary-on-Stamps would have helped you with perfect scans.

Emmanuel Serrière
Inverness, Calif., USA

Too hard to read

Older eyes need better contrast between what is printed in very pale ink and a white background. I am referring to some pages in the December issue.

Please increase contrasts between print and page immediately. Please stop falling victim to the temptations of “daring color combinations,” as your technology columnist requests.

Robina Quale-Leach
Albion, Mich., USA