THE TOAST 

TO  ROTARY  INTERNATIONAL

FEBRUARY. 24TH  2005

 

PRESIDENT JACKIE AND CARY

YOUR WORSHIP THE MAYOR ALAN MILNE 

ROTARIANS AND GUESTS

IT IS A PRIVILEGE AND A PLEASURE TO BE INVITED

TO PROPOSE THE TOAST TO ROTARY INTERNATIONAL

ON THIS SPECIAL OCCASION of the CENTENNIAL

 

 

 

 

           TOAST MASTER

    NEILL INKSTER P.D.G.

 

 It is now just over a year since we shifted into COASTAL VILLAS retirement village.       And as that information became known to our friends there has been a change in the way they address us     It used to be           “Hi…How are you  or   You look great.”

 

Now it is;

“   Hello……and then a pause  Are you well ….. Are you both well”

 

We are known in the village as the ones that are always going out in their cars.   We are the ones with the only double garage.    And after a year we think we are quite well known by the residents.    That is until the other day when I walked up to a lady in the lounge and said to her. Do you know who I am?

And she said                 “NO BUT THE LADY IN THE OFFICE WILL TELL YOU.”

 

I know you are all very supportive of Rotary otherwise you would not be here.

BUT  I  AM  GOING  TO  SUGGEST YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE….. YOU ARE SELFISH

 

Perhaps  I  should  explain….                                                              

After a few years in Rotary you are inclined to gather a few books and one of those I have is entitled                  “WHY  I  AM  A  ROTARIAN”

It contains many statements by well known Rotarians

I found a piece of paper sticking out of this book and on the page so marked I found an interesting anecdote.        It related a story about Abraham Lincoln.

 

He was returning from a busy day in Court and driving a horse drawn buckboard.  With he had the opposing counsel.     It was raining hard the road and ditches were muddy.  It was dark, dismal and miserable.

 

 

 

They came upon a sow with its head trapped under a fence rail and it was squealing and struggling for breath with its snout in the mud.   Abraham stopped, got down and walked through the mud lifted the rail and off went the sow.  In the process Abraham got himself in a real mess.

The opposing counsel said, “that was a very unselfish thing to do Mr. Lincoln”

“Not at all” said Abraham.        “That was a very SELFISH thing to do for if I had not freed the sow I would have lain awake all night wondering about her fate”

 

Yes in this manner Rotary has given all of us COUNTLESS OPPORTUNITIES TO BE SELFISH.

 

OPPORTUNITIES which see us confronted with the problems and challenges of others in need but with the resources of the Rotary Club we can do something to put opportunity and quality into their lives……..

                        AND WE SLEEP BETTER BECAUSE OF THAT.

If you are like me you have Rotary to thank for shaping your thinking.    If you see a problem anywhere.     You want to do something about it.   And Rotary at least makes it possible.

100 HUNDRED YEARS AGO THIS WEEK THAT FATEFUL MEETING WAS HELD.

Those four men Paul Harris, Hiram Shorey, Gustavus Lhoer and Silvester Schiele.   

Where they came from and what they were doing was symbolic of the frontier town of Chicago where there was:

            Avarice and greed and child labour;

            It was cosmopolitan, it was crazy, it was cruel;

Chicago brought together many people from all the countries of Europe and the British Isles, from the Atlantic to the Urals and the Arctic to the Mediterranean

            They spoke different languages;

            Held different views;

            and historically held little respect for each other.

DO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO YOU

That was the common practice.

And yet out of this Business Environment Rotary was born.

An IDEA founded on IDEALS.

The IDEALS of    Equality        Honesty  and Service

            And the invitation to give           SERVICE ABOVE SELF

It was refreshing, it was new.                                                                                       

The simple format of regular meetings, good fellowship, good fun and the opportunity to help build a better society were the simple recipe for the appeal of Rotary and then the growth of Rotary to this very day.

We and the New Zealand Society have a lot to thank those early pioneers and enthusiasts as Rotary grew from

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUST ONE CLUB       in          CHICAGO in 1905

By        1910                17 clubs in USA, 1 in Canada

8 years later                  it had been spread by unpaid enthusiasts

                                    to Ireland, England and Scotland,

                                    Cuba   Central and South America.

In         1919                The Philippines, India and China

And in 1921                 Wellington New Zealand was Club No.950

In         1926                just 5 years later Rotary went to Masterton

And in 1953                 came to Paraparaumu.

 

And so today it has a membership of 1.2 million and has spread to countries like Russia, north, central and eastern Europe  to developing countries like East Timor and even returned to Kabul in Afganistan.

            More countries than are represented in the United Nations

 

The ROTARY FOUNDATION which was started by a gift of $26.50 in 1928 remained static for nearly 20 years but in 1947 on the death of PAUL HARRIS

Giving rose rapidly.

TODAY annual INCOME & EXPENDITURE ON VARIOUS  PROGRAMMES

TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD IS ABOUT              80 MILLION US DOLLARS

 

AND THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE 1 BILLION NZ DOLLARS

PROVIDED TO RID THE WORLD OF POLIO

 

BUT  the REAL STORY of ROTARY is not what is contained in words;

            It is not what is in newsletters nor club bulletins

            Nor is it in books or magazines

            Nor is it in those numbers and statistics I have given.

The REAL STORY is written in THE LIVES OF ROTARIANS

            And others who share our views of

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

At home     At work       In the community

Nationally and internationally

It is not WORDS          IT IS DREAMS      TRANSLATED  INTO  DEEDS

It is not about the PRESENT        it is about the FUTURE.

And what we can do to shape and influence the  FUTURE

IT IS NOT ABOUT GREAT THINGS        it is about a lot of small bricks;

            Set on a sound base and bonded together to build a wall of

            SELFLESS SERVICE           DEDICATED TO SUPPORT

A world searching for understanding, friendship and tolerance;

A world where the eyes of children will shine with hope and not be dull with fear

A world without hunger and deprivation    AND A WORLD where its peoples will one day be at peace.     This year and especially tonight we pause to

CELEBRATE ROTARY 

 

 

 

 

The international organisation which brings us here.     The organisation without which   we would not have                    

STAGED A FUN RUN FOR KIDS;

BROUGHT THE NATIVE BIRDS BACK TO WELLINGTON;

HOSTED AND EDUCATED A YOUNG MAN FROM A DISTANT LAND;

COVERED BARE LAND WITH A COMMUNITY CENTRE;         

OFFERED TO PROVIDE A KAPITI ISLAND INFORMATION CENTRE;

SUPPORTED GIFTED AND HANDICAPPED YOUNG PEOPLE;

SHOWED YOUTH THE WAY TO LEADERSHIP and UNDERSTANDING.

And so I could go on.

ROTARY HAS SHAPED US THIS WAY AND TO DO THESE THINGS

And our lives are richer for that

If that is the ONLY price we pay…………SURE ….LET  US  BE  SELFISH

 

We all have personal reasons to thank Rotary for bringing us together

And offering us and this club opportunities FAR beyond our dreams;

 

Yes   Rotary the idea with ideals is the caring hand which with our help can give our world the love the freedom and the peace it deserves

 Please stand and join me in the toast

To

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL.