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Rotary at 105
By Frank Deaver
Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA
Happy 105th birthday, Rotary! When
you were born in
Chicago
more than a century ago, it was a cold winter month. In
neighboring Kansas and
Missouri, state records were set in February
1905, with the temperature reaching 40 degrees below zero in each
state (and at that level, Fahrenheit and Celsius readings are
identical).
Things have changed
dramatically, Rotary, during your life-span. In the year of
your birth, more than 95 percent of babies in the
United States
were born in the home, and life expectancy was 47 years. Only
6 percent of adults had graduated from high school; 14 percent of
homes had a bathtub, and 8 percent had a telephone.
Sugar, when you were an infant organization, cost four cents a
pound, eggs were 14 cents a dozen, and coffee was 15 cents a pound.
There were 8,000 cars in the United States, and only 144 miles of paved roads.
It was the year in which Franklin
and Eleanor
Roosevelt
were married, and when Orville and Wilbur Wright
first took flight. Jean-Paul Sartre, Dag Hammarskjold, Howard
Hughes, and Henry Fonda
were born in 1905.
But perhaps,
Rotary, the event of 1905 that stands in greatest contrast to you
was the birth that year of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the midst of largely barren and arid land, artesian springs
created a valley oasis, a stopping point for 19th century travelers.
The name Las Vegas is a translation
from Spanish, meaning "The Meadows." But when the railroad was
extended through the valley, 1200 lots were auctioned off in a
single day, and the meadows became an instant town.
What is remarkable, Rotary, is how different you and Las Vegas have become.
Although both of you have grown phenomenally, Las Vegas is known as a place of pleasure,
while you, Rotary, are recognized world-wide as a citadel of
service. You stand as distinctly contrasting examples of
egoism and altruism.
It's not that
there is anything wrong with pleasure and egoism. Even you,
Rotary, offer great pleasure to your members, and a degree of
healthy egoism in your accomplishments. And countless of your
members have delighted in the pleasures of Las Vegas.
But
you, Rotary, have grown to be the world's oldest, largest, and most
prestigious service organization of all time. You contribute
more than any other non-government entity to the welfare of mankind.
You count among your members some of the leading figures of many
nations.
As you look back, Rotary,
on your past 105 years and their accomplishments, you have all the
more reason to look forward to many years of opportunities and
successes that lie before you.
Your
birthday cake has many candles, Rotary, but there is room for many
more. As your life already has extended far beyond that of
your creators, it will similarly go far beyond the lives of your
present members. As far into the future as we can see, Rotary,
you will continue to be the inspiration for Service Above Self,
because The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands
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