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But the new president
of the International Association of Rotary Clubs is too big‑minded and
broad‑visioned a man to narrow all the things of life and living until
they come within the focus of sectarian or denominational religion;
instead, he seeks to diffuse the spirit of universal religion‑that
religion to which Dr. MacDonald of Toronto referred in his great address
to the Atlanta Convention.
When he spoke of the
International Christ‑Rotarian Pidgeon seeks to diffuse the spirit of
this universal religion so that it will cover all the things of life and
living, and do so in a thoroughly practical and sympathetically human
manner.
Pidgeon is a big man
physically, over six feet in height, broad shouldered, with the strength
of body that has come from clean living in the out‑of‑doors, and the
strength of mind and spirit that has come from clean thinking both in
and out of doors. He is the minister of the Augustine Presbyterian
church of Winnipeg, one of the largest churches in Western Canada, and
one of the greatest pleasures of his life is his membership in the
Rotary club and the contact which that membership gives to him with men
of all professions and all lines of business, upon the equal footing of
man to man.
He was born in 1873 at
New Richmond, Quebec. His grandfather came from Yarmouth, England, to
Cove Head, Prince Edward Island, and was the second minister on the
island. Several of his children moved to the Province of Quebec, where
President Pidgeon's father still lives.
Leslie Pidgeon's
boyhood was lived on a farm, where he developed a fondness for out‑door
sports that continue to be his favorite recreation. He is an expert
rifleman, a hunter, a golfer, a horseman, one of the best automobile
drivers in Western Canada, a good swimmer. His love of the out‑of‑doors
may explain his hold upon men; perhaps the out‑door life developed those
qualities that attract men; perhaps the possession of those qualities
was inborn, and they developed his fondness for out‑door life.
He is a graduate of
Queen's University of Montreal, and of the Presbyterian College of that
city. In 1901 he was given his first church charge, St. Andrews, at
Markham, Ont., where he remained four years. From Markham he went to St.
Thomas to take charge of Knox church there, which is known as the only
church ministered to by Dr. James A. MacDonald before he left the church
to enter journalism, in which field he has taken an eminent place as the
editor of The Toronto Globe. At St. Thomas, President Pidgeon identified
himself with many interests aside from keeping up his church work. Among
other things, he led the golf team to victory on many occasions,
training many of his best players. |
After six years of
successful work at St.' Thomas, he was called to Vancouver to take
charge of St. John's church. For five years he gave the church the best
he had, and, in addition, put in many days in mission work up and down
the coast. It was at Vancouver that he became a Rotarian‑an ardent and
enthusiastic Rotarian. Outside of his church work, he considers his
membership in Rotary as his greatest privilege, and does not hesitate to
say this, and to add: "I have met the finest men of my experience, and
have felt the largest measure of freedom of speech, and have received
the most sympathetic hearing, in Rotary"
The Vancouver Rotary
Club sent him as a delegate to the Houston Convention in 1914, and here
President Pidgeon's first intimate contact with International Rotary was
made. He attended the San Francisco Convention the following year, where
he was elected third vice‑president of the International Association. At
Cincinnati, in 1916, he was reelected, and at Atlanta, in 1917, he was
promoted to the presidency. During his first term as International
vice‑president, he moved from Vancouver to Winnipeg, to take charge of
the Augustine Presbyterian church there. Upon his return to Vancouver
from his first meeting with the International Board of Directors, in
Chicago, he was invited to stop over in Winnipeg and preach at Augustine
church. The result of that sermon was a call to take charge of the
Winnipeg church.
On Christmas day, in
1902, he married Miss Edith Gilker of New Richmond, Quebec. Mrs. Pidgeon
was present at the Atlanta Convention to share her husband's triumph.
They have three children.
Leslie Pidgeon is an
idealist‑is it possible for any man to be a genuine heart‑and‑soul
Rotarian without being an idealist? ‑but he disagrees most emphatically
with those who think an idealist cannot be a practical man.
When, at the Atlanta
Rotary Convention, President Pidgeon made his remarks about great
movements and personalities, he was thinking of Rotary and Paul Harris,
and other strong personalities thru whom the living spirit of Rotary has
been interpreted and manifested to mankind and made of service.
But those who know him
are confident that Leslie Pidgeon has been chosen as the leader of
International Rotary for this momentous year because his, also, is a
personality thru which the strong, throbbing, living spirit of Rotary
shall be put to service for threatened and suffering human freedom.
Often has it been
remarked by those who have given thought to the matter, that Rotary has
been peculiarly fortunate and singularly blessed in having for her
president the right man at the right time. Each of the six former
presidents of International Rotary has been different from the others,
and each has had a different problem to solve, and has been the right
man to solve it. Now the seventh comes, also different and confronting a
different problem. He, too, will prove to be the right man.
From an article in The
Rotarian
Rotary Global History
Wolfgang Ziegler |
