Weekly Elixir - Week of August 27, 2007

ROTARY SHARES

Share Rotary with a young person – Mentors make the grade

…Vincent T. Davis, Express-News Staff Writer, San Antonio, Texas (This article appeared in the local Texas newspaper.)

Margaret Tovar, a senior at Burbank High School, knows how empowering it feels to have someone listen when she talks about her future. She knows students believe that adults underestimate them and doubt their opinions.
Margaret is lucky to have found a one-on-one match in Yvonne Perez, her Big Sister and a member of the Rotary Club of San Antonio.

Perez is always ready to lend an ear as part of the Diploma Plus program, sponsored by the Rotary Club.


"She helped me open up as a person," Margaret said. "I can talk to her about any problem."

The club partnered with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of South Texas, which provides mentoring for the program.

In the photo, Margaret Tovar, 18, shares a light moment with her mentor, Yvonne Perez, in the school’s library, where they meet once a week.


ROTARY SHARES - MEMBERSHIP

Consider the following membership development strategy implemented by the Rotary Club of Lacombe, Alberta, Canada:

For each quarter of the Rotary year, club members must prepurchase a punch-card meal ticket, bearing the club's meeting dates for that quarter. For each meeting a member attends, the meeting date on the ticket is punched. The only way a member can redeem unpunched dates on the ticket is to bring a guest.

The club has seen an increase not only in the retention of existing members (who have an extra incentive to attend because they've already paid for the meal) but also in the number of potential new members attending meetings, as existing members use their unpunched tickets. This system has helped members develop a habit of inviting new business and professional guests to accompany them to a Rotary meeting.

FINAL QUESTION -

How is the Rotary Club of Anguilla prepared to increase membership?

It must be a long-term program where each Rotarian will sponsor one new member every year to SHARE ROTARY.

If it is to be, it is up to me!

Rotary Elixir - Week of August 20, 2007

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Anguilla

…for the week of August 20, 2007

Some interesting Rotary information to keep you inspired. Rotary is the world’s First Service organization. But here are some other firsts.

Some Rotary Firsts

-- Rotary became bilingual in 1916 with the first club was organized in a non-English-speaking country (Havana, Cuba)

-- Rotary established the “Endowment Fund” in 1917, which became the forerunner of The Rotary Foundation.

-- Rotary first adopted the name “Rotary International” in 1922 when the name was changed from the International Association of Rotary Clubs.

-- Rotary first established the Paul Harris Fellows recognition in 1957 for contributors of $1,000 US to the Rotary Foundation.

-- The Rotary club which first held meetings on a weekly basis was Oakland, California, the No. 3 club established.

-- The Rotary emblem was printed on a commemorative stamp for the first time in 1931 at the time of the Vienna Convention.

-- The first Rotary club banner (from the Houston Space Center) to orbit the moon was carried by astronaut Frank Borman , a member of that club.

-- The first Rotary International convention held outside the United States was in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1921

-- The first head of state to address a Rotary convention was U.S. President Warren G. Harding in 1923 at St. Louis.

Just the facts…

(Source: The ABCs of Rotary)

Weekly Elixir - Week of August 13, 2007

Sharing Rotary with New Members

The goal is one new member in each club. But the Rotary Club of Anguilla can do much better than that!

The Rotary policy on club membership states: “In order for a Rotary club to be fully relevant to its community and responsive to the needs of those in the community, it is important and necessary that the club include in its membership all fully qualified prospective members located within its territory.”

One merely has to glance through the yellow pages of the local telephone directory to realize that most clubs have not invited qualified members of all businesses and professions into Rotary.

Only a Rotarian may propose a customer, neighbour, client, supplier, executive, relative, business associate, professional or other qualified person to join a Rotary club.


Have you accepted your obligation to share Rotary?

The procedures are very simple, and everyone must know at least one person who should belong to Rotary.


Take some action - one step at a time

As members of the Rotary Club of Anguilla, let’s make a list of community leaders who should be Rotarians. Let’s get them on a PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS list. From there, we can move forward with preparing to educate them about Rotary before we invite them to become members.

Prospective members should know the benefits – and obligations – of Rotary BEFORE they are invited to join us at a meeting.


Whom do you know in Anguilla who would make an excellent Rotarian?

-- One who will become inspired to join the club
-- One who can commit to attending the weekly meetings
-- One who will participate in the club activities
-- One who will participate in community projects
-- One who wants to make a difference in the world, and
-- One who WILL make a difference to Rotary in Anguilla

Let’s every single one of us add a few names to our list of prospective members now and keep the list growing so that we can invite all prospective members to an information meeting in the near future!

Weekly Elixir - Week of August 6, 2007

Perhaps this story goes well with this year's theme of Rotary Shares. It can be a powerful inspiration when we share.

"Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together."

*************

The Hippopotamus and the Tortoise

"Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed" - Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

******

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.



"After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately , it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond.

They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother.

If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.




"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.



"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."



This is a real story that shows that our differences don't matter much when we need the comfort of another.



We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures.


"Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together."







*****

Additional Note about this story:

The Hippo and the Tortoise Who Became Friends After the Tsunami - Truth!

The Truth - This odd pairing really did happen.

According to numerous news accounts the hippo and the tortoise found each other at a wildlife refuge where they were taken after being stranded by the tsunami disaster.

According to the BBC, the hippo is about one year old and was found alone and dehydrated near the Indian Ocean in Kenya.

He was taken to a wildlife enclosure near Mombassa where keepers have named him Owen.

He and a 100-year-old tortoise named Mzee struck up a friendship and have been partners ever since. Keepers say they are inseparable and that the tortoise has been mothering the baby hippo.