The New Rotary Breezes
Issue #19
The Rotary Club of Bay City, MI
-Meets every Tuesday at Noon-
Greetings and salutations everyone,
 
Here are the highlights from our November 5th, 2019 meeting.
 
 
The History of Our Club
 
Eric Jylha gave the club a presentation on its history this week. He began with discussing the origins of Rotary, and there was no better starting point than our founder himself, Paul Harris.
 
 
 
Harris, a "Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905 as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member."
 
Eric explained how different the club was in its infancy compare to what it has become. For example,when Rotary began it was a gentlemen's only club where members would gather and utilize much of their time being "men" and discussing club matters with impunity and away from the eyes and ears of their spouses.
 
All that changed however in 1989 when Rotary (it had gone international by this time) allowed women to join for the first time since its inception. Many male Rotarians barked at the notion, and left to form their own clubs between 1989 & 1990. Eventually all clubs welcomed women into their folds and have been much better off since. 
 
"Rotarians have not only been present for major events in history—we’ve been a part of them. From the beginning, three key traits have remained strong throughout Rotary:
 
We’re truly international. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Today we’re working together from around the globe both digitally and in-person to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.
 
We persevere in tough times. During WWII, Rotary clubs in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Japan were forced to disband. Despite the risks, many continued to meet informally and following the war’s end, Rotary members joined together to rebuild their clubs and their countries.
 
Our commitment to service is ongoing. We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. By 2012, only three countries remain polio-endemic—down from 125 in 1988."
 
Eric ended his presentation with a quote from Paul Harris which bore great significance to why Rotary remains such an integral part of the communities it's a part of and the world we live in:
 
“Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by what it achieves.”
 
The Rotary Club of Bay City formed on January 1st, 1915. We have been an active group in our community ever since. We continue to move forward with the goal of making Bay City, and the world, a better place to live by being advocates, activists, allies, and leaders.
 
We are ROTARY!
 
Announcements
 
 
Nov 14th - Combined meeting with Morning Club for our annual Vocational Day.  This year it will be hosted by Morning Rotary.
 
 
Upcoming Presentations
 
Nov 12th – Monthly Board Meeting 11AM
Nov 12th - Bay Area Community Foundation
Nov 26th - Celebrating Our Family of Rotary
Dec 3rd - Bay City Housing
Dec 10th - Club Celebration
Dec 17th - Holiday Program
 
 
More programs are needed. If you, or someone you know, who like to give a presentation please contact Tara, Carrie, or Paul.
 
 
Upcoming Meeting Announcements
 
 
NO meetings on December 24th or 31st due to the holidays.
 
 
Upcoming Events
 
 
Nov 15th - Rotary Foundation Gala in Frankenmuth
 
May 1st & 2nd, 2020 - District 6310 Conference in Mt. Pleasant 
 
June 6th through 10th, 2020 - Rotary International Convention in Honolulu, HI
 
 
 
Well, that's it for this edition of The New Rotary Breezes everyone! I hope you enjoyed it!
 
Enjoy the rest of your week!
 
  
 
 
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