Lunch with 80 Years of Rotary Experience
The Canyon Rotary Club did something this past week that we don’t often do — we canceled our meeting. Our city experienced some snow and bitterly cold temperatures earlier in the week, and area roadways were quite treacherous (there were more than 200 reported accidents in the Amarillo area on Monday alone).
In addition, we meet on the campus of West Texas A&M University, and there were still a lot of slippery spots on campus at noon on Tuesday.
I stood outside our usual meeting place to catch anyone who didn’t get the message that we’d canceled, and there were only a few. By the time we were satisfied that no one else was coming, there were three of us standing there: myself, one of our members (who didn’t get the message) and one of our usual guests (who wasn’t on our e-mail list). We decided to go get some lunch at a nearby restaurant.
It was a great opportunity for me to hear from two gentlemen who have spent more than 40 years each in Rotary. As they were enjoying their lunches of catfish (I chose chicken), they talked about the many changes — good and bad — and challenges Rotary has endured during their membership.
We talked about how “doing it by the book” can sometimes squeeze the fun out of Rotary; the importance of solid leadership for a successful club; past Rotarians who made special contributions to the organization; and the need to attract new, active members who believe in Rotary’s mission (as opposed to “Resume Rotarians”).
Moments like this one — sharing lunch and conversation with people who are committed to improving their communities through service — are among my most valuable personal experiences as a member of Rotary.
