Not all golfers are crazy and end up in leisure world as Dennis Campbell, in his defense, aptly pointed out on Tuesday. I’m willing to venture that. But not much more. Eccentricity and quirkiness do reign in our Rotary Club. I remember Barry Jones a psychiatrist and colleague of mine came by to fetch me at the driving range a while back. He surveyed my friends and members on the practice facility----intense, disheveled, seemingly autistic, some with severe behaviors---- and declared, “I could run a group here”. Don’t get me wrong. Some golfers are sane. In fact, a group of saner ones, mostly senior men playing in club leagues function normally at my club. Sometimes milling around the lounge and restaurant area after a round they eventually go home to family and friends. But all sane golfers know its dangers. Golf is an addiction waiting to happen. Like alcohol it must be taken in moderation. Overindulgence can lead to a rapid downward spiral. Many books have been written based on the premise of the psychic peril of too close an encounter with, the full horror and abysmal depths of golf. Our Rotary world knows what golfers have know all along: A passion for golf like a drug addiction or a criminal record should be automatic disqualification for any serious public activity. The exception, of course, President of Rotary.
Grant Stevens was our speaker on Tuesday. He represented KF Aerospace and discussed with us the need for his company to evolve and change. Failing to do so he explained would mean certain financial hardship for his company. So, Kelowna Flight Craft rebranded itself as KF Aerospace, changed the way it operates and has emerged as an aviation force in Canada.
Returning from President-elect training this weekend I received the same message from Rotary International. We as Rotary Clubs need to evolve and change. Of course, they gave the example of Apple. We looked at how Apple does not, in an ever-changing tech world, sell computers it sells instead innovation and an experience.
Rotary has always been innovative in solving problems in our community and around the world. But what is the experience? What is the experience that Rotary needs to capitalize on, at the club level, in the community and around the globe? It was suggested that it is “the human experience”. How have Rotarians asked and answered that question through time? Whether you approach that through club members, or whether you participate in community or international projects, you have just amplified your own ability to be human by understanding how other people are having their human experience.