After spending 3 hours last Super Bowl Sunday watching play after play with very little scoring and suffering the same effect that evening, you can not tell me that our Rotary meetings are that bad.
Now that the Bollywood Gala is over and the revenues are in, analysis of the event suggests it was successful, thanks in large part, if not all, to the fundraising efforts of Raghwa and Sartita Gopal. A big shout out to Susan and John McIntyre for keeping us on track with their organizational skills. And, to the voice and MC of the event Mr. Ken Kilcullen. Finally, to Chris Patton who was my inspiration and support, for my drinking.
The immutable fact is this: That with out the relationships formed from the Tuesday meetings none of this would be possible. 53,000 reasons to show up!
So, last Tuesday on the short program the value of Rotary’s youth exchange was evidenced by Chiara Brunettis’ update on her experiences here in Kelowna. I am so struck by Chiara’s sense of purpose, obligation, and spirit of service. And, she is smart as hell! I would encourage all of us to get to know her and help her accomplish her experiences here with her Rotary family. Thousands of miles away from home she is bound to be confronted during her stay here with difficult dilemmas that can never be fixed by time or reduced by money. Thanks again to all the host families that add that human touch. The Rotary youth exchange in my opinion gives an exponential dimension for students like Chiara and an opportunity for us to showcase what it means to be a Rotarian in the world. I look forward to Chiara’s presentation this week.
When I began my first year in Rotary, Gary C.K. Huang was president of Rotary International. During an International Assembly he presented a membership message stating that, in the year to come, “he hoped that Rotarians would continue the work to light up Rotary and to help it be a gift to the world.” His theme for his year was inspired by the words of Confucius, who said, “It is better to light a single candle than to sit and curse the darkness.”
Our feature presenter last week was Frank Cui, from the society of reviving 5000 years of Chinese Culture. This society is a non-profit organization that promotes traditional Chinese culture. The essence of Chinese culture as Frank Cui describes it,” is centered on spiritual and moral self-cultivation and betterment through moral codes.” Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism formed the core of the Chinese belief system. Another trail blazer of that time was Socrates, these men focused on the Truth “Veritas” and returning to one’s true original nature.
These teachings according to Frank Cui were the most central guide to daily and governmental life in China. In fact, Chinese medicine, astronomy, dance, music, painting literature, poetry, food and architecture are at their highest realms based on the teaching of these schools of thought. No doubt that, Confucius, Socrates and the Buddha have shaped our lives and the lives of Gary C.K. Huang and Frank Cui.
Our satellite club “Rotary Now” meets every other Wednesday of the Month for one hour. The brain child of Peter Schultz, he has named it a “chapter one club” based on Rotary’s Manual of Procedure chapter one. (sounds better than part one). With few of the traditions and formalities of a conventional club meeting Peter feels this format best lends itself to the demographic of young professionals with little time and need for convention. In the last year it has attracted 13 members some of whom have migrated for convenience from our club. This past week several of our members took part in their meeting and I hope they were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the membership.
Thanks to Dave Cullen for organizing the after five every month.
The incomparable, Sharon Simpson will present The History of Kelowna this week. Who better!
See you all Tuesday!