Anything but depressing

The article “How Rotary survived the Great Depression” [October] brought to memory my first days as a Rotarian. Through the efforts of George Keitel, who was a member of the Rotary club in downtown Harrisburg, Pa., USA, and Walter Kirker, a YMCA executive, the Y established a youth program known as the Junior Rotary Club.

The club met the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of each month from 1934 to 1936. At each meeting, a Rotarian visited and talked to our membership (25 kids) about his business. Needless to say, the highlight of the meetings was the food – not much like today’s dinner, but a hot dog with a bun and a dish of Jell-O was a real banquet and most welcome.

I had the privilege of being president of that junior club one year. No matter how depressed business was, the Rotarians who generously gave their time to speak to our club were always upbeat, and they encouraged the gang to hang in there. Keitel – who said several times, “Just like prosperity, opportunity is just around the corner” – was a great Rotarian and a real inspiration to a gang of hungry kids.

Those evening meetings during the Great Depression were anything but depressing. Food, fun, fellowship, and the Rotary spirit cleared away the dark, uncertain thoughts we had.

Oscar Rea Mowery
Kingston, Wash., USA

Modern connections

The Rotary Club of San Diego Downtown Breakfast, Calif., USA, has turned to social networking to increase awareness in our community about what Rotary does and how others can participate. We have our club listed on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

We agree with Mindy Charski – “out with the old-boy network, in with the social network” [Technology, October]. The key is to get the word out and make connections with 21st-century methods. It’s working!

Sandra Schrift
San Diego, Calif., USA

Stamp of approval

Thanks for including a little of Rotary history every month, this time on the stamps of Rotary [Insider, October].

This short note is to let you know that there is a very active International Fellowship of Rotary on Stamps keeping all the philatelic data in its deepest details. We even have a booth at the House of Friendship every year at the convention. For further information, I suggest you check out www.rotaryonstamps.org.

Emmanuel Serrière
Inverness, Calif., USA

Custer’s battlefield?

“The art of war: In Custer’s Last Stand, Texan finds inspiration” [Up Front, October] exalted George Armstrong Custer, but the art actually was practiced by the Native Americans who are slighted in the article.

Custer practiced the art of leading his men with bravery, but he relied on luck. Luck ran out at the Little Bighorn. The result was tragedy. Good men were lost.

There was no mention that the Native Americans’ short-lived victory was reversed by the killing of their people, and even the destruction of the food supplies and animals their lives depended upon.

It is a false memory that this was Custer’s battlefield. He camped on it but could not hold it, even at the cost of his own life. There is a much richer story to be told. I would think that Rotary International, representing so many cultures, would respect ancient cultures that are part of our ongoing history and experience.

Ed Pitts
Joseph, Ore., USA

eCycling 

In the last paragraph of his column [Facts of the Matter, October], Jason Grotto says, “Rotary clubs around the world are working to bridge the digital divide.” For several years, the Rotary Club of Phoenix has been distributing reconditioned computers throughout the southwestern United States and some locations in Mexico. The club collects equipment, refurbishes it if necessary, erases all the data, and then donates the systems to schools, orphanages, veterans groups, and other nonprofits. In most cases, the cost of acquiring these computers would have been prohibitive for the receiving organizations.

Well over 2,000 systems have been recycled, with about one-third of them being distributed through the Lutheran Social Services office in Phoenix to new citizens and immigrants identified by the U.S. State Department. The club estimates that it has spent about $9,000 on this project, but the value to the recipients far exceeds that, probably by a factor of at least 10. The chair of the club’s Computers for the Community committee does much of the work on the computers in his garage at home. Despite the added work involved, the program was recently expanded to include the Rotary Club of Mesa East, giving the project even wider exposure.

The computers come from many sources – businesses that are upgrading or switching to laptops donate most – but many are donated by individuals. In addition to providing valuable assets to the schools, the program helps avoid the dumping of much toxic material in landfills.

This is a project in which most Rotary clubs could participate. Your club can put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces too. For more information, e-mail rotary@rotary100.org.

Lou Linxwiler
Mesa, Ariz., USA

Spreading Goodwill

Last week, I received my first issue of The Rotarian in the mail, and I excitedly read every article. Recently, I joined a Rotary club and am fortunate enough to be a charter member of the Rotary Club of North Mobile, Ala., USA.

In 1956, a speaker from the local Goodwill spoke at another Rotary club in Mobile and encouraged the members to hire people with disabilities when they had job openings. A local hardware store owner was impressed with the speech and contacted Goodwill about an opening at his store for a retail employee. One of the applicants, a manager at a local Goodwill store, had lost his arm in an accident when he was 12. That young applicant was hired by the hardware store owner; he is my dad and eventually owned his own business.

I now work for Goodwill Industries International, where I help put people to work. Rotary has now touched my life twice, and I am excited about the journey I am going through by being a member. The relationship between Goodwill and the Rotary club continues on a national level, trickling down to local projects between the two that help combine their good works. I am glad to be part of both great organizations.

Debbie Edmonds
Eight Mile, Ala., USA

Editor’s note: Read about the relationship between Goodwill and Rotary International in the October 2007 issue, or search The Rotarian’s archives on Google Books, accessible at www.rotary.org/rotarian.