Guest Speaker

Adolf Seiler, Assistant District Governor, introduced District Governor, Liverpudlian, graduate of Reading University, and Geologist, Mike Smith.  Mike joined Rotary in 1983 in Perth, Australia.  He served as Calgary Centennial President in 98-99.  He enjoys sea-kayaking on the west coast and off Mexico.   He and Kathy, a nurse, married in 1965.  Mike and other Rotarians climbed an unnamed mountain and held a Rotary meeting at its summit.  Does this constitute a make-up meeting if you can't say where it was held?

Mike began by saying 2005 will be the 100^th anniversary of Rotary and a 100-year celebration of service to mankind.  Rotary has hundreds of projects around the world.

In Rotary International District 5360, we are 2,261 Rotarians in 47 clubs from 20 to 300 members in size. Rotary started in 1905 in Chicago with four members lead by Paul Harris. It now spans the globe with 31,314 clubs in 166 countries and has a membership of 1.2 million men and women. In a world of 6 billion people, we are small in number, but big in heart.  Rotary started within District 5360 in 1914 with the chartering of the Rotary Club of Calgary, and  Lethbridge Chartered in 1918. 

Of the 80 million dollars raised around the world for Polio Plus, one million of those dollars came from District 5360.  In the last year, we increased our District membership by 61.  How do we increase numbers?  Wear you Rotary pin, and wear it aggressively.  If the person you are conversing with does not ask about Rotary, ask them to ask you.  Then tell them of the ins and outs of Rotary, and maybe we can infect them with this disease we call Rotary. 

The previous generation fulfilled an enormous obligation to bring world peace, now we have an obligation to pay back through higher service, and there is no better way than through Rotary.  Graduates need to include service in their career plans, and again there is no better way than through Rotary.  The Rotary Wheel is the sign of hope around the world.

The Rotary Foundation is the engine that drives the world, and Rotarians are the fuel that drives the engine.  Rotary in partnership with the Canadian Government, Alberta Government and the Wild Rose Foundation are funding a variety of programs around the world.  Lethbridge club supports the Fiji Rotahome project, the Yelizovo Childrens Hospital in Russia, and locally the Interact Club and Rotaract Club are great investments in introducing our youth to service.  The Galt Gardens project is a big commitment that will be recognised for years to come. 

In April 2004, the District Conference at the Lethbridge Lodge will be held in this city for the first time in the past nine years. Be sure to attend. 

Rotary is Service Above Self and we are proud to be the first and largest of the service clubs.   The Family of Rotary consists of:

• The Rotarians and their family members, together with our partners in Service;
• Rotoracters aged 20-30 in Rotaract clubs;
• Interactors aged 14-18 in Interact clubs

We are united worldwide to help bring about international understanding, good will and peace in the world. We do so every year by planning for and providing a remarkable variety of humanitarian (health, hunger and housing) service programs, international post-graduate scholarships, and international youth and adult exchange programs - all of which make a difference to the lives of millions of people in our own communities and in the world.

Internationally, our biggest project is Polio Plus, our commitment to the children of the world to eradicate the scourge of polio worldwide by our 100^th anniversary in 2005. Already more than one billion children have been immunized and we have just raised $110 million to finish the job.

We encourage high ethical standards and integrity in the conduct of all business and all professions, at a time where these essential virtues are being eroded.

Rotarians meet at their clubs weekly for friendship and programs of local and international importance. The club members are a wide cross-section of our community and, in fact, representative of our community.

President Bhichai Rattakul expanded on his principle of an administration that is bottom-up from the grassroots level and led by the clubs. He said he was returning to his club to ask the club president to put him to work. Bhichai put a strong emphasis on ethics and integrity, more so than at the beginning of his year. The delegates responded by showing not only the high esteem they hold for President Bhichai, but also their great affection for him.

President-Elect Jonathan Majiyagbe expanded upon his Family of Rotary concept and four presidential emphases. He also stressed ethics and integrity.

The Rotary Foundation (TRF) announced that the Polio Eradication Fundraising Campaign had raised US$88.5 million; this is $8.5 million over the goal. Canada’s contribution is $7.5 million.

Wherever I visit, the importance of membership in our Family of Rotary - keeping those we have and bringing in the new – is very much on the minds of the club presidents and their boards of directors.

Contributing to The Rotary Foundation can be as easy as donating 100 of any amount in any currency depending on your financial position.  Donate 100 pennies, or 100 dollars, it is all needed.  One fellow at Cardston asked if he could contribute 100 cows.  Weekly automatic withdrawals are relatively painless.