Rotary Day - February 23rd

Thanks to Edmonton Southeast Rotary Club, our hosts for Rotary Day 2011.

A wonderful gathering of 250+ District Rotarians and friends gathered at the Sawmill Conference Centre for an evening of fellowship and to hear our speaker, His Honour Col. Donald Ethall, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

Lieutenant Governor Donald S. Ethell is one of Canada’s most decorated peacekeepers and the recipient of numerous honours for his humanitarian service. He was sworn-in as Alberta's 17th Lieutenant Governor on May 11, 2010.

On behalf of District 5370, PDG Cec Blackburn was recognized for his service to Rotary and District 5370 as a Champion of Membership Extension and growth.

Comments from DG Jackie...

Rotarians in 34,000 rotary clubs in over 200 countries are gathering today or this week to recognize the achievements of the past 106 years of Rotary and the work of dedicated Rotarians in Building Communities and Bridging Continents.
We know that this is a great time to be a Rotarian and the best years of Rotary are ahead of us.

Rotary has grown and blossomed in this past century because we have placed Service Above Self, and because we have lived by The Four-Way Test.

And Rotary has grown because Rotarians have never forgotten that what built the very first Rotary club was not service but fellowship. It was the promise of a warm welcome in a strange city that brought the first Rotarians back to their second meeting in Chicago.

The spirit of fellowship and service that has spread around the world from the simple act of one man inviting three of his friends to meet with him to talk about a new idea, the idea of a service club that would be based on fellowship and friendship. What a simple idea, but what a powerful concept!

We are the direct beneficiaries of that new idea proposed by Paul Harris in 1905.

We know there here are millions of people who have benefited as well through our service and programs.

We are reminded that Rotary has been the catalyst to reduce the number of paralytic polio cases in the world from 500,000 in 1979 to less than 2,000 cases last year — a 99.9 percent reduction — and that we are about to eradicate one of the most dreaded diseases in the history of the world. So many Rotarians and friends of Rotary have joined in this $950 million dollar campaign. Two Rotarians from our own District are on their way to India to assist in a National Immunization Day...

Thanks to all clubs who promoted Rotary and Rotary Day in their community.