Why I am a Rotarian - July 9, 2007

WHY I AM A ROTARIAN

The new Rotary International President is Wilfrid Wilkinson from Canada. He tells why he is a Rotarian in the following, first published in 2006:

“I was looking for an organization which would allow me to combine my professional activities with a desire to serve my community, which had been instilled in me by my father from a very young age. When a man I came to know as the district commissioner for the Trenton, Ontario, Canada, Boy Scouts contacted me, I could not refuse to meet him.

“Accompanying my proposer was another Rotarian who went to the same church that my family and I attended.

“Something they said to my wife, Joan, and me struck a chord. Associating with the business leaders of Trenton, a town where we had lived for less than two years, was very appealing.

“Small towns are great for raising a family, but getting to know people socially was something both Joan and I wanted. Knowledge of Rotary’s programmes, first locally and then internationally, captured my imagination and allowed me to progress from being a new member to an involved Rotarian.

“Experiencing an international convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1964 fanned the flames for service and showed m the true inter-nationality of Rotary.

“During the odd peaceful moment, Joan and I often think of the towns and cities we would not have visited, the speakers and world leaders we would not have heard, the truly great international projects that we would not have seen, and the friends that we would not have known if I had not been asked to join Rotary in November of 1962.”

For more information about Rotary, check the website http://www.rotaryanguilla.org or speak to any local Rotarian. The Rotary Club of Anguilla meets every Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. upstairs at the English Rose.