Message from Our President
As we embark on a new year of Rotary service, it helps to hear where we have come from. In Rotary, our motto is Service Above Self. But Rotary was not founded as a service organization. It was founded by one lawyer, alone in a strange city, without family or friends nearby. It was founded by someone who simply sought fellowship. It was founded by someone who had in mind something of quite modest ambition — a place where people of good character, intelligence, and morals could enjoy each other’s company and form new friendships.
One hundred and five years later, thanks to Paul Harris, any one of us here today can travel to nearly any city in the world and never feel alone or be without friends. We can do this because Paul Harris’s idea struck a chord, and that chord has resonated with so many since. Today, there are 1.2 million Rotarians in over 200 countries throughout the world. Rotary today is an organization that Paul Harris, in those first days, could never have imagined — one that Builds Communities and Bridges Continents.
Rotary has grown and blossomed for 105 years because Rotarians have served well. And Rotary has grown because Rotarians have never forgotten that what built the very first Rotary club was not service but fellowship.
If service is the cornerstone of Rotary, then fellowship is the mortar that binds it. Fellowship is what brings us back to our club meetings, week after week. It is what we all desire from our Rotary club — one that is active, welcoming, friendly, and harmonious. This is the true glory of our Rotary club. By bringing together the leaders of our community, we strengthen not only our community but every community in which there is a Rotary club. The strength of all Rotary rests on each and every one of the 33,000 clubs around the world. It rests on clubs like the Rotary Club of Johnson City.
In Rotary, we share a commitment to our fundamental core values: service, fellowship, diversity, integrity, and leadership. We believe that a community with a Rotary club is better off than one without. We believe that there is hope for a better future — and we believe that it is up to us to build it.
The Rotary theme for the 2010-2011 year is “Building Communities, Bridging Continents”. Rotarians, we can do both! Stay tuned to see how we will!
President Mike Mefford
Rotary Club of Johnson City, Tennessee
Rotary Club of Johnson City, Tennessee