Sharing Our Foundation Good News
Exciting Foundation Announcements
By: Nancy Hawes, South Portland - Cape Elizabeth RC
After District 7780 outreaches to such places as Uganda, Poland and Philippines, the Foundation Committee, in conjunction with the International Service Committee, decided unanimously to organize a trip to someplace really different and selected Litchfield, Maine. Some of you may recall that Litchfield’s claim to fame in the Rotary world is that it is the hometown of Hiram Shorey, one of the three friends of Paul Harris who joined him in founding Rotary in 1905. Mr. Shorey was a merchant tailor by profession and coincidentally is credited with the invention of the lapel, possibly foreseeing the need for a place to put all those Paul Harris Fellow and other Rotary recognition pins.An announcement about upcoming awards:
The Foundation Committee is also pleased to announce that the Rotary Club of Oxford Hills has received a district grant to sponsor a student at Celebration Barn, a clown college in South Paris, Maine. Club Foundation Chair (and PDG) George Rice commented that “our local clown college has received endorsement from the nonprofit Clowns Without Borders, and Oxford Hills Rotarians are excited about sponsoring a local clown; we are confident it will enhance our reputation in the community.”
In keeping with the longstanding tradition of awarding the distinction of Paul Harris Fellow to members of the community, this spring (save the date: April 1) the district will be presenting that honor to New Hampshire resident Steven Tyler of the band Aerosmith. Among Tyler’s famous quotes is “If it is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” RI President-Elect Mario Cesar Martins de Camargo was so inspired by this quote that he chose it for his Presidential theme: “Rotary – Worth Overdoing.”
And speaking of Paul Harris Fellows, in response to the complaints that RI has been receiving about the perception of Rotary as a men’s organization and in recognition of the fact that many new Rotarians don’t know who Paul Harris was, The Rotary Foundation Trustees have approved Trustee Marty Helman’s proposal that districts have the option of offering a female recognition award in addition to PHF recognition. Our district Foundation Committee has embraced that concept and as of April 1, anyone who achieves or is awarded Paul Harris Fellow recognition has the option of receiving the traditional PHF pin and certificate, or instead they can receive a pin, box of Girl Scout cookies and a certificate naming them a “Brenda Cressey Gal.”
Note that all of the above announcements are effective APRIL 1!