Herbert G. Brown,

(Clearwater, Florida, USA)

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(Act with Integrity  Serve with Love  Act for Peace)

RIP Herbert G Brown speaking about the theme for 1995-96, Act With Integrity, Serve With Love, Work For Peace.

The eighty-seventh Annual Convention of Rotary International was held in Calgary, Alberta, on 23 to 26 June 1996. The Saddledome, constructed for the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, was the focal point for the historic international gathering. With an attendance of 24,963 Rotarians and guests from 126 countries and geographical areas, this was the largest Rotary International Convention ever staged in North America.

            Because of the large number of registrants, the first plenary session took place in two seatings. The first seating and opening feature of the Convention convened on Sunday afternoon at 1530 hours with RI President Herbert C. Brown of Clearwater, Florida, presiding. The session opened with “Let there be Peace on Earth,” a musical multimedia celebration of the President’s theme. This performance featured 4-year-old piano virtuoso Wesley Chu, Canada’s Children’s World Chorus, and a large cast of singers, dancers, ice skaters, and musicians, accompanied with special effects.

            Next, President Brown introduced Jack Forrest, Chair of the 1996 Convention Committee who welcomed the Rotarians and guests. Forrest introduced RI Vice President Richard Slager who gave the afternoon’s invocation. Then Forrest introduced PRIVP Curly Galbraith and a member of the Calgary Rotary Club and Vice-Chair of the Committee, who spoke briefly. The next order of business was the roll call of Rotary’s 154 countries and geographical areas by RI Director John Kenny of Grangemouth,  Scotland, who read the list as the flags were presented - for the first time ever on ice - by members of the Calgary Skating  Club.

            Following the presentation of flags, VP Slager introduced the 1995-96 RI President Herb Brown who performed, in sequence, the following activities:  asked the audience to stand for the national anthems of Canada and the United States; as the audience watched a screen, President Brown pressed a button that ceremoniously lit the Calgary Torch of Peace, located in top of the Calgary Tower in downtown Calgary. Reminiscent of the Calgary Winter Olympic Games, the torch celebrated the opening of the Calgary Convention, and like the Olympic torch, burned until the Convention was over; after introducing a short video highlighting the history of Rotary in Canada, the President introduced his Excellency, the Right Honourable Romeo LeBlanc, Governor General of Canada who addressed the Convention.

            After the Governor General’s remarks, President Brown introduced and thanked his aide Frank Devlyn - a future President of Rotary International - who, in turn introduced the President’s family members. President Brown then delivered his opening address to the Convention.

            Concluding both seatings of the Sunday plenary session was a dazzling entertainment program called “O Canada: Land of Beauty and Bounty.” Canada’s multicultural heritage was the them of the program that included spectacular performances by singers, musicians, dancers portraying different nations and cultures, ice skaters, and an acrobatic display by the Cirque du Soliel of Montreal.

            President Brown called the second plenary session to order at 0930 hours and invited Harold Greyeyes, of North Battleford, Saskatchewan to give the day’s invocation. Then RI General Secretary Geoffrey Large read greetings to the Convention from Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, United States President Bill Clinton, and Florida Governor Lawton Chiles. Large made a few routine announcements and informed the Convention that the reports of the secretary and treasurer were available in the House of Friendship. Then President Brown introduced Ralph Klein, Premier of the Province of Alberta, who addressed the Convention.

            After the Premier’s speech President Brown introduced and thanked the members of the 1995-96 Rotary International Board of Directors. He then called to the stage and recognized 12 Past Presidents of Rotary International, from 1978-79 on. The next part of the session featured  a special singing group from Novosibirsk, Russia. Known as the  Rotary Russian Peace Ensemble, the group had recently completed a concert tour in the United States and Canada. The five member ensemble delighted the Convention with the singing of three songs of peace.

            Much of the rest of the session was taken up by the presentation of awards to winners of “ The Calgary Challenge”- a  Rotary district membership growth challenge issued by then President- elect Herb Brown at the Rotary International Convention  in Nice, France, in June 1995. To qualify for an award at the 1996 Convention, a district had to increase membership to a goal representing the total set by all club goals in the district. Each Rotarian was asked to sponsor a new member. A winning district was selected from each of the 34 Rotary zones in the world, and 16 additional winners were selected as the top districts overall. In each winning district, a winning club was identified.  President Brown invited Past RI Director Richard D. King, Chair of the Membership Task Force to the stage to explain the program and announce the winners. As the band played, King announced the 50 winning districts and their governors, 35 of whom filed on the stage to receive from President Brown the crystal award, specifically designed for the Rotary Challenge. King then announced the three district runners-up. Next, King asked the audience to join him in welcoming to the stage the world champion winner of the Calgary Challenge, District Governor Dong-Kurn Lee and his spouse Yung-la, from District 3650 in Korea. His District chartered 32 new Rotary clubs and increased membership by nearly 1,783 new Rotarians. Awards were given to two other Governors of small districts.  King then recognized the Zone Co-ordinators and announced the total increase worldwide as 800 new Rotary clubs chartered and an increased membership of 66,876. President Brown then presented PRID King with a Calgary Challenge crystal award for his leading role in the membership drive.

            The President spoke briefly about his year-long effort to focus the attention of Rotarians around the world on the plight of families. He informed the audience that the RI Board of Directors had designated the second week in February each year as “Rotary Family Week” - a time for Rotarians to demonstrate their commitment to family and community through projects, activities and events. The audience then viewed a video depicting  Rotary projects targeting families and communities in need and calling on Rotarians to expand their efforts in these areas.

            President Brown then introduced his wife, Diane Brown, who gave a speech titled “Family Values: A Foundation for Peace.” During her address she introduced Margaret Aileen T. Castillo, the 12-year-old girl from the Philippines who won the 1995-96 RI children’s poster contest. At the conclusion of Diane’s speech President Brown adjourned the second plenary session.           

            President Brown called the third plenary session to order on Tuesday morning at 0930 hours, and asked Donald Kwait of the Rotary Club of Chagrin Highlands, Ohio, to give the invocation. After  General Secretary Large made announcements, President Brown introduced  Calgary Mayor Al Duerr, who addressed the Convention. Next he introduced Nobel laureate Betty Williams, who addressed the Convention. The president gave her a crystal globe and his theme pin.

            The President then introduced Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Paulo V.C. Costa, who, in turn, introduced and thanked his fellow trustees for 1995-96. Next, Chair Costa recognized the 31 districts whose members successfully met a challenge established four years before, in honour of the 75th anniversary of the Rotary Foundation: to enrol 75 new Benefactors in each district within a five year period. After that, Chair Costa gave his speech to the convention.

            President Brown then announced United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mrs Sadako Ogata, that year’s recipient of Rotary’s highest honour - The Rotary Award for International Understanding.  A video was shown, depicting Sadako Ogata’s work for Refugees around the world. At the conclusion of the video, the President introduced  Mrs. Sadako Ogata, and presented her with the crystal flame statue, symbolic of  selfless service. Mrs Sadako Ogata then addressed the audience. After a musical interlude, Foundation Chair Paulo Costa was again introduced.

            The rest of the session was taken up with a discussion  by the trustees and PRIPs about the programs of the Rotary Foundation, with great emphasis placed on the magnificent PolioPlus Program. Two awards were presented by visitors and supporters of the Rotary PolioPlus Program. Dr William H. Foege, one of the world’s foremost immunologists and Chair of the UN’s Task Force for Child Survival, presented an award to President Brown on behalf of  UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, UNDP, and  UNFPA in recognition of Rotary’s commitment and work in the eradication of Polio. On behalf of Rotarians worldwide, President Brown accepted the award on behalf of  Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

            Dr Bill Cochrane and  Dr Randal Chase, representing the President of the Connaught Laboratories, one of the leading manufacturing pharmaceutical laboratories in the world, with two awards. Dr Cochrane presented Foundation Chair Paulo Costa with a plaque dedicated to the continuance of eradication of polio, on behalf of children everywhere. Dr. Chase presented Costa with one million doses of oral polio vaccine. Chair Costa accepted the vaccine on behalf of The Rotary Foundation and the children of the world.

            Then children of all ages carrying balloons filed onto the stage as a pianist played “It’s a Small World” on the piano. The youngsters lined up and joined hands with the Rotarians on the stage for the remainder of the song as the audience applauded.

President Brown then adjourned the third plenary session.

            The Family Fellowship Roundup on Tuesday evening gave visitors a preview of the world-famous Calgary Stampede with a parade, chuck wagon races, and a grandstand show.  

            President Brown called the fourth plenary session to order on Wednesday morning at 0930 hours, and asked RI Director Kalyan Banerjee of India to give the day’s invocation. After the invocation, President Brown advised that the next part of the session would be devoted to preserving planet earth as he presented a project undertaken by many Rotarians to promote awareness of environmental problems. The project was the Preserve Planet Earth Marathon.

            In 1990, under the leadership of then President Paulo V.C. Costa, Rotary International launched a program known as “Preserve Planet Earth,” which encouraged Rotary clubs to help solve the environmental problems of their communities. In 1992, the United Nations Environmental Convention, ECO-92, was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was there, on World Environment Day, that Rotary announced its inauguration of the Preserve Planet Earth Rotary Ecology Marathon. The marathon spanned a five-year period from June 1992. Its purpose was to encourage 1,000 Rotary clubs along the main route to organize 1,000 environmental-awareness events that would provide 1,000 solutions to existing ecological concerns. For more than 1,800 days, Rotarians of the Americas carried an environmental awareness award to these clubs, districts and countries along the route. The award, accompanied by a Rotary flag, depicts two pairs of hands holding up a clean, clear, transparent globe. Since it began four years earlier, the Rotary’s ecology marathon , with side trips to Antarctica and Siberia, passed through 17 nations and 150 cities of the Americas with the help of 57 Rotary districts and 7,000 Rotarians and volunteers.

            A video describing the marathon was shown, including clips of its leader, Mexican Rotarian Jorge Rojo. At the conclusion of the video, President Brown announced that they were about to celebrate the arrival of the marathon in Calgary. Another video was shown, picturing Jorge Rojo running on the streets of Calgary, carrying the Marathon flag and statue. The camera followed him into the plenary hall and onto the stage, at which point Paulo Costa joined him and jogged a few paces. Rojo addressed the audience in Spanish and handed a Preserve Planet Earth statue to President Brown, who gave Rojo a presidential crystal. He then introduced Oscar Arias Sanchez, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who addressed the Convention.  Next, the Rotary Russian Peace Ensemble sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

            President Brown then announced the annual election of RI officers and called General Secretary Large to the podium to conduct the election. RI directors and district governors were elected and then, there being no other nominations for the position, General Secretary Large announced that the President had declared Glen W. Kinross of Hamilton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to be the president-nominee of Rotary International for 1997-98. President Brown presented president-nominee Glen Kinross and his wife Heather to the Convention. The president-nominee then delivered his acceptance speech to the Convention.

            RI president-elect Luis Vicente Giay from Argentina introduced members of the 1996-97 RI Board of Directors. President Brown introduced Glenn Estess Sr., aide to President Giay  and his wife Mary who then introduced the family of the President-elect. The President-elect then addressed the Convention. Next, President Brown directed the transfer of the presidential banner from his Rotary Club in Clearwater, Florida, to President-elect Giay’s Rotary Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

            Next, slides were shown promoting Glasgow, Scotland, site of the 1997 RI Convention. Afterwards, Scottish bagpipers and a drum corps marched on stage, followed by dancers in kilts who gave an animated entertainment preview. After a humorous review of Scottish history and customs, by host Organization Chair George Boyd, President-elect Giay introduced Lord and Lady Provost of Glasgow who were applauded as they appeared on stage wearing the Rotary tartan. Lord Provost extended a welcome to all Rotarians to visit Glasgow, the city of architecture and design. Following another video promoting Glasgow-area attractions and another Scottish dance performance, President Brown adjourned the fourth plenary session.