Weekly Elixir - Week of August 20, 2007

…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)