Wednesday Luncheon Meetings, 12:10pm Highland Country Club, 104 Mechanic St., Attleboro MA (map)

What is Rotary?

The Four Way Test
(of the things we think, say or do):

Is it the Truth?

Is it Fair to all Concerned?
Will it Build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all Concerned?

Definition of Rotary
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical

standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

There are approximately 1.2 million Rotarians, members of more than 29,000 Rotary clubs in 160 countries.

Mission
The main objective of Rotary is service -- in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians build goodwill and peace, provide humanitarian service, and encourage high ethical standards in all vocations. The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.

Membership
Rotarians are professional men and women who work as volunteers to improve the quality of life in their home and world community. Club membership represents a cross-section of local business and professional leaders. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are non-political, non-religious and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.

There are approximately 1.2 million Rotarians working in some 29,000 Rotary clubs in 160 countries and 35 geographical regions worldwide.

First admitted in 1987, women are the fastest-growing segment of Rotary's membership. There are nearly 2,000 women club presidents and women are rapidly assuming regional leadership roles.

Service Today
Rotarians initiate community projects that address many of todayÕs most critical issues, such as violence, drug abuse, youth, AIDS, hunger, the environment, and illiteracy. Rotary clubs are autonomous and determine service projects based on local needs.

Rotarians work with and for youth to address challenges facing young people today. Through participation in Rotary-sponsored Interact clubs (for secondary school students), Rotaract clubs (for young adults), and Rotary Youth Leadership awards, young people worldwide learn leadership skills and the importance of community service.

A brief history:

Rotary's first day and the years that followed...

February 23, 1905. The airplane had yet to stay aloft more than a few minutes. The first motion picture theater had not yet opened. Norway and Sweden were peacefully terminating their union. On this particular day, a Chicago lawyer, Paul P. Harris, called three friends to a meeting. What he had in mind was a club that would kindle fellowship among members of the business community. It was an idea that grew from his desire to find within the large city the kind of friendly spirit that he knew in the villages where he had grown up.

The four businessmen didn't decide then and there to call themselves a Rotary club, but their get-together was, in fact, the first meeting of the world's first Rotary club. As they continued to meet, adding others to the group, they rotated their meetings among the members' places of business, hence the name. Soon after the club name was agreed upon, one of the new members suggested a wagon wheel design as the club emblem. It was the precursor of the familiar cogwheel emblem now worn by Rotarians around the world. By the end of 1905, the club had 30 members.

The second Rotary club was formed in 1908 half a continent away from Chicago in San Francisco, California. It was a much shorter leap across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, California, where the third club was formed. Others followed in Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York. Rotary became international in 1910 when a club was formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. By 1921 the organization was represented on every continent, and the name Rotary International was adopted in 1922.

Click here to print out a request for funding from the Rotary Club of Attleboro (pdf file, Adobe Acrobat required)

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