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THE OBJECTS OF ROTARY:
- First, the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
- Second, high ethical standards in business and profession; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying by each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
- Third, the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business and community life; and
- Fourth, the advancement of international understanding, good will and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
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 July 1 has passed and the Rotary Club of Grass Valley has begun a new Rotary Year. Rotary is celebrating its 105th anniversary in 2010. Community Service has always been a major focus of this club since its first meeting on March 16, 1925. Over the 84 years since its founding, the club has grown from 25 to nearly 80 business and professional men and women who believe in “Service Above Self” and in making our community, country, and world a better place in which to live.
This year the focus of Rotary International, as stated by our RI President, John Kenny, is “The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands.” If you are not a Rotarian, this may seem somewhat self-serving after themes such as “Make Dreams Real,” and “Rotary Shares.” But please, understand that President Kenny’s challenge is for us, as clubs, to reinvent and reintroduce Rotary Clubs to our local communities thereby ensuring that Rotary will be here serving our communities 100 years from now. I assure you, that we are “are not the Rotary Clubs of your father or grandfather.” We ARE a dynamic club of professional men and women meeting weekly on Mondays at 12:15 p.m. at the Holbrooke Hotel in downtown Grass Valley.
Would you like to learn more about our club? Please feel free to email me at fivelstad@comcast.com and I will provide you with more information. We are looking for a few good folk who share our ideals of community service and who believe in ethical behavior, as set out in Rotary’s Four Way Test: Is it the Truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to All concerned?
We have an active club working on many service projects, below are just a sampling of our club’s projects.
- To support education, we have adopted Lyman Gilmore School, provided dictionaries to local fifth graders, and worked with the Salvation Army in their Tools for School program among just a few. This year’s President Project will be to initiate an ethics program based on the Four Way Test for local second graders. We are actively involved in sponsoring music and speech contests for high school aged students. We provide scholarships for graduating seniors, and support Rotary Youth Exchange by hosting incoming students and sending students abroad. We sponsor scholarships for RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award program.
- To make our community better we have adopted families through the Salvation Army at Christmas, built and installed new bus shelters, refurbished the Disc Golf Course at Condon Park, and participated in many beautification projects at the County Fairgrounds.
- To make the world better, we have provided support to the Kellerman Foundation in support of the Batwa Pigmies in Uganda. We are working hard with Rotary International in the End Polio Now (Polio plus) program. Polio is currently endemic in only four countries world wide, with only a few hundred cases occurring each year. We have also helped to support dentistry and cleft palate projects internationally, along with a health/literacy project in the Philippines.
- To make Rotary International better, we work with other local Rotary Clubs to support our local Interact and Rotoract Clubs. We have a significant percentage of Paul Harris Fellows in the Rotary Foundation and the highest per capita giving to the foundation for large clubs in the district. Last year’s District Governor, Wyn Spiller, is an active member of our club. Many of our Grass Valley Rotarians serve on Rotary District 5190 Committees. For me, as well as being this year’s Club President in Grass Valley, I am the Treasurer of the International Fellowship of Rotarian Musicians.
I look forward to serving the Rotary Club of Grass Valley this year. I am proud to be a Rotarian and a supporter in the work of Rotary International. Together, we make the world just a little bit better. Consider joining us.
To learn more about the Rotary Club of Grass Valley check back here at the website frequently and be sure to take a look at our weekly newsletter, The Spoke.
Rod Fivelstad
Rotary Club of Grass Valley, President 2009-10
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