[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 619

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

Messages In This Digest (2 Messages) 

  1. 1244: A taste of the lighter side of Rotary From: Sunil K Zachariah 
  2. 1245: R I President Bill Boyd's December Message From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Messages 
  1. 1244: A taste of the lighter side of Rotary 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Sat Dec 9, 2006 5:15 pm (PST) 
A taste of the lighter side of Rotary 

Every so often, you just have to kick back and have fun. The 
Rotarians who organize the famed Florida armadillo races know that. 
So, presumably, do the Rotarians who meet in a brewery in Burton upon 
Trent, England. And the Rotarians who hold a festival celebrating 
that great delicacy of the American West, Rocky Mountain oysters, 
definitely know how to lighten up and appreciate a bad pun. 

So much of Rotary's work is serious business. In the pages of our 
magazine, stories of Rotarians fighting polio, bringing medical care 
to remote villages, and improving schools inspire us and fill us with 
admiration. But Rotary is also about camaraderie and community 
spirit. This month, we stirred the pot to serve up what's fun, 
fascinating, and truly distinctive about this great organization. So 
sit back, relax, and turn the page - we think you'll enjoy the ride.

Most extreme presidential changeover
Best Beverly Hillbillies moment 
Best club for singles
Best way to wash down a huhu grub
Bravest taste testers

Most extreme presidential changeover

To be president of one Swiss Rotary club, you really have to climb to 
the top. Every year, the Rotary Club of Zürich Turicum tests the 
mettle of its presidentelect by making the person scale a mountain 
for an official presidential changeover ceremony.

On the last weekend in June, about 30 club members hike up a mountain 
in the Swiss Alps in a ritual you could call an "extreme takeover." 
The Rotarians routinely scale heights of 8,000 feet (in true Swiss 
form), bunk in a spartan chalet and, the next day, get up long before 
dawn to reach the summit for the ceremony.

"We have to get there before 6 a.m., because that's when the sun hits 
the ice on the ground, and once it melts, we could fall down a 
crevasse," says Balz Hösly, a past club president.

Other than providing some fresh air and a rigorous test of Rotarian 
stamina,the yearly ritual has created a deep bond among the club's 
members. "During the hike, you get to know your fellow Rotarians much 
better," says Hösly. He adds that none of the Rotarian mountaineers 
work out to prepare, though perhaps they should: "Some end up pretty 
surprised how intense it is."

Best Beverly Hillbillies moment 
They never moved back to California, and they certainly never built a 
mansion with a "cee-ment" pond, but Rotarians in northern Michigan 
did find black gold one day. The tale starts back in 1923, when 
members of the Rotary Club of Traverse City, Mich., USA, paid $1,100 
for 450 acres and leased the property to the Boy Scouts. The 
foresight they showed when retaining mineral rights to the land in 
the 1950s paid off in July 1976, when oil and gas were discovered on 
the property. Being Rotarians, of course, they didn't squander the 
money, but instead created a foundation and agreed to allow drilling 
only after ensuring protection for the camp's environment. To date, 
the group has awarded $35 million in grants for causes such as 
affordable housing, education, health, the environment, and community 
building.

The organization played a key role in funding New Designs for Growth, 
a regional land use initiative that looks for innovative ways to 
protect and preserve the communities of northwestern Michigan, home 
to the majestic Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Recent grants include $400,000 for the construction of the Goodwill 
Inn to serve homeless families and $100,000 for a new building for 
the Great Lakes Children's Museum. A variety of grants ranging from 
$15,000 to $25,000 support the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, the Grass 
River Natural Area, and Community Reconciliation Services. And those 
Boy Scouts? They still lease land from the Traverse City Rotarians to 
run Camp Greilick, named for the club's third president, Clarence 
Greilick.

Best club for singles
It's not every day that two members of the same Rotary club get 
engaged. It's even rarer for a club to end up w i th two sets of 
lovebirds. But when most of the members are in their 30s, chances are 
you're not dealing with a typical club.

"When I saw the Urban Spirits club, I thought, wow, these are all 
people my age," says Carolyn O'Handley, 35, of the Rotary Club of 
Edmonton- Urban Spirits, Alb., Canada. O 'Handley joined the club in 
2003 and is now president. "It's only about 40 people, so it's very 
intimate."

That intimacy has translated into two engagements: president-elect 
Rick Harcourt proposed to club secretary Kathy Olson, and vice 
president Kelly Faubert popped the question to fundraising committee 
member Jennifer Donovan. Both couples met through the club. The 
Edmonton-Urban Spirits club does more than just foster romance. It 
focuses on at-risk youth, and members raise funds and volunteer for 
the Boys and Girls Clubs of Edmonton, the Junior Chefs program, and 
Camp fYrefly, a program started by the University of Alberta to help 
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens.

"Other clubs are used to us doing things a little differently," says 
O'Handley. "We're big on hands-on projects. There's less disposable 
income among our members, so we try to stick with programs where a 
couple thousand dollars a year is going to make a difference. The 
$2,000 we donated [to Camp fYrefly] this year was the difference 
between them offering the camp or not."

Best way to wash down a huhu grub
On the west coast of New Zealand's South Island, folks have turned 
eating into an extreme sport. The outpost of Hokitika (population: 
about 3,000) draws huge crowds of people who have a taste for morsels 
like fish eyes and worm sushi to its Wildfoods Festival every March. 
The Rotary Club of Hokitika gets right into the spirit of things, 
selling Jed's Moonshine Whiskey to festival goers wanting a chaser 
for their crispy fried huhu grubs.

Bravest taste testers
They say America is the home of the brave, but the bravest of all may 
be those who enjoy that delicacy known as cowboy caviar, Rocky 
Mountain oysters, or Montana tendergroins. And though you may pity 
the bull whose private parts are served up, Rotarians in Oakdale, 
Calif., USA, aren't squeamish when it comes to fundraising. The 
Rotary Foundation is one of the beneficiaries of the annual Testicle 
Festival organized by the Rotary Club of Oakdale and the Oakdale 
Cowboy Museum. The testicles are prepared by Rotarians, says club 
member Fred Claus: "We dice them and soak them overnight in red wine. 
They taste like chicken livers." Last year, the festival raised 
$16,000. Tickets cost $50, which includes all you can eat. Needless 
to say, everyone at this festival has a ball!

Read more of the lighter side of Rotary in the December 2006 issue of 
The Rotarian. 

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary


2. 1245: R I President Bill Boyd's December Message 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Sat Dec 9, 2006 5:26 pm (PST) 
R I President Bill Boyd's December Message

Dear fellow Rotarians,

My wife, Lorna, and I will celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary in 
March. We are fortunate to have 4 children and 11 grandchildren, the 
youngest of whom, Emery, we met for the first time earlier this 
year.Wherever we travel with Rotary, our thoughts are always with 
them. And no matter how much we've enjoyed our trip, our family is 
the reason we're always glad to return home. Family is what makes a 
place home. Family is what's really important in life.

That's why the family of Rotary is so important to us. I've been a 
Rotarian for most of the years Lorna and I have been married, and 
over those years, Rotary has become a part of our family. Like our 
own family, we can count on the family of Rotary to help when help is 
needed and to share life's joys and sorrows. Being part of Rotary 
means being part of the largest extended family in the world.

Rotary is an organization of people who care - about their homes, 
their communities, and each other. And caring is what family is all 
about.

A key idea of the family of Rotary is that it encompasses the family 
of every Rotarian - spouses, widows and widowers, children, and 
parents. Rotary was never designed to take club members away from 
their families. Instead, it should be a force that brings them 
together. Through programs such as Rotaract, Interact, and Rotary 
Youth Exchange, we work to bring a new generation into the spirit of 
Rotary service. Through our emphasis on the family of Rotary, we work 
to ensure that no one in the organization is ever left behind.

The end of the calendar year is a time of celebration in many 
traditions. Lorna and I would like to take this opportunity to thank 
those of you who send us your greetings during this season. 
Unfortunately, we cannot respond to you all as we would like. 
Therefore, we will make a contribution to The Rotary Foundation as 
our expression of thanks.

Rotary's success depends on the support of every Rotarian and 
everyone in the family of Rotary. In a family, no one is any more or 
less important than anyone else. Everyone is equally valued and 
equally a part of the family. That is also true in the family of 
Rotary. All of us are working toward the same goals of better 
communities and a better world. And we all know that we accomplish 
more and enjoy ourselves far more when we're working side by side 
with our friends - and our families.

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

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