2004 - 2005 Theme

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

I am calling on Rotarians to Celebrate Rotary, not with a sense of complacency based on past success but with a renewed sense of urgency based on today ’s challenges. Our decades of service have revealed to us the magnitude of human need in a world beset by natural disasters, frightening new diseases, and brutal conflicts. We know that millions of illiterate, unskilled people continue to be trapped in a relentless cycle of poverty; we have witnessed the suffering that exists in places with too few doctors and hospitals; and we recognize that basic needs like food and water remain out of reach for far too many. One of the best ways to Celebrate Rotary will be to address those vast humanitarian needs, using the full weight of our hundred years of experience. First and foremost, let us Celebrate Rotary by putting Service Above Self.

I hope that you will share this celebratory spirit with our entire Rotary family and everyone who has been touched by Rotary —our Ambassadorial Scholars, Rotaractors and Interactors, Youth Exchange Students, GSE team members, and the many thousands of people whose lives have been enhanced by our humanitarian efforts. Let us also invite the communities we serve to join in our celebration. The Centennial Community Projects are an excellent way to publicize the Rotary Centennial locally and leave a lasting memento of this anniversary in thousands of communities worldwide. 

The positive publicity surrounding the Rotary Centennial will no doubt raise awareness of and interest in Rotary among potential members, making 2004-05 an ideal time to strengthen our membership. We must also continue the retention efforts of recent years, actively involving current members in club projects and maintaining Family of Rotary committees to promote an environment of concern and caring within our clubs. We have seen how important a stable and growing membership was to Rotary ’s first century of service. Let us make every effort to secure our future by retaining active, committed Rotarians and increasing their numbers.

A hundred years is an important milestone —one that few organizations reach. It signifies that Rotary is doing something right and that the need for Rotary service remains strong. There are many “secrets ”to our success - the fellowship derived from weekly meetings and a shared cause, our internationality that opens doors and hearts throughout the world, and the structure that allows us to accomplish so much more as a group than any of us could achieve on our own. But our greatest strength is the enthusiasm with which Rotarians take on new challenges and stay the course until the problem is solved. We are doing that with polio eradication and in thousands of other ways in each of the communities we serve. 

Rotary ’s early beginnings in a Chicago mining engineer ’s office in 1905 forecast little of what was to come. None of the four men gathered there on that cold February evening could have predicted that these meetings would continue to occur regularly —let alone that 31,000 such clubs would be meeting 100 years later. Paul Harris, Silvester Schiele, Gustavus Loehr, and Hiram Shorey certainly didn’t realize they were forming the first service club and launching a movement that would captivate the minds and hearts of so many others throughout the 20th century. Like the early founders, Rotarians don ’t always know what positive impact their actions will have, but 100 years of service have clearly demonstrated our enormous potential for doing good in the world.

Today, Rotary International stands poised to enter its second century of service as one of the world ’s most influential and effective nongovernmental organizations. Our PolioPlus program, the Rotary Centres for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution, our many international humanitarian efforts, and the countless outstanding club and district projects worldwide demonstrate Rotary ’s contribution to achieving a better, more peaceful world. With a heightened awareness of Rotary ’s potential, let us enter our second century of service prepared to take on new challenges and go the distance until they are met. Let us Celebrate Rotary by rededicating ourselves to service —in our clubs, our vocations, our communities, and our world.

Rotary was founded during an era of corruption and scandal in the business world —not unlike that of our own time. Ethical standards have been a hallmark of Rotarians since the organization ’s early days, and the centennial is the ideal time to renew our commitment to honourable behaviour in business and the professions. Let us Celebrate Rotary by helping to act as a conscience in the workplace and an example of integrity to our employees, our customers, and our professional colleagues.

Rotary ’s internationalism enables Rotarians to form service partnerships and carry out cultural exchanges with clubs across the border or half- way round the world. Celebrate Rotary in 2004-05 by participating in the Twin Club program, sponsoring a Centennial Group Study Exchange or Rotary Volunteer, or sponsoring or hosting a Youth Exchange student. Plan on attending the Rotary International Convention in Chicago and join with Rotarians from dozens of countries throughout the world to Celebrate Rotary and its 100th anniversary.

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