COMMUNITY & CLUBS:Rotarians gather in Salt Lake City

Rotary International brings the world to Salt Lake City on June 17-20, where an estimated 18,000 Rotary club members from some 139 countries and geographical areas will join together during its 98th annual convention.

The convention is being held at the Salt Palace Convention Center where participants will share fellowship and exchange ideas on Rotary volunteer projects, including literacy, access to safe water, hunger alleviation, disaster relief, children at-risk, micro-credit, youth development, assisting landmine victims, AIDS orphans, international education, and polio eradication.

“As Rotarians, we do not walk away from these tremendous challenges. Not only do we have faith to believe we can make a difference, we have the courage to do. That courage is the difference between dreaming great dreams and putting them into action,” said Rotary International President Bill Boyd about the organization’s humanitarian efforts.

Convention keynote speakers include, William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Hiram Smith, founder of Franklin Quest (now Franklin Covey); and Ambassador Francis Moloi, South Africa’s high commissioner to India.

Some attending the convention from the Newport Mesa area are Bob and Linda Silver, Newport-Balboa; JoAnne and Nicholas DeBlis, Newport Sunrise; Diane and David Pearce, Newport Irvine; Janet and Ross Boling, Costa Mesa; District Gov.-elect Roger and Sheila McGonegal and Barbara and myself.

The convention also included workshops and exhibits highlighting humanitarian and educational projects around the world. Global polio eradication remains the organization’s top priority, as members have contributed more than $616 million and countless volunteer hours through Rotary’s PolioPlus program. Through humanitarian and international education programs, including Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution, Rotary continues to work to further world peace and understanding and provide local and international community service.

In the coming weeks service club conventions will be held for Kiwanis in San Antonio, July 3-7; Lions in Chicago, July 2-6; and Exchange in Portland, July 18-21.

WHAT YOU WON’T SEE IN THE NEWS MAKES FOR GOOD SERVICE CLUB PROGRAM

Service Clubs get to hear some great speakers as the Exchange Club of Newport Harbor June 7 meeting and the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa meeting of June 14 demonstrate. Brigadier Gen. James Combs, commander of the Joint Forces Training Base in Seal Beach, spoke to the Exchange club while Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jeffery Conner, commander of the First Division, First Battalion Camp Pendleton, addressed the Rotary Club.

General Combs noted that 84% of the California National Guard troops have served in Iraq and 31% have served two tours of duty. Combs believes that it will take two generations to win the war on extremist Muslims, reported Steve Pool, editor of the club’s Spindrift newsletter.

Major Lloyd Freeman, who accompanied Col. Conner to the Rotary meeting, just returned from a year in Iraq working with the Iraqi army. He noted they are a great story.

“They are not like us or going to be like us (Marines) for they are willing to take causalities,” Freeman said. In response to a question from Rotarian Tom Walley, he said that is another great story, the Army is integrated with Shiites and Sunnis who get along just fine and focus on defeating the insurgents. “I will go anywhere with the Iraqi soldiers,” he noted. They are making progress and are an example for the country, Freeman added.

Those are the kinds of comments you won’t read in the Los Angeles Times or New York Times or hear on network TV news. You will hear them at a service club meeting. Being a service club member is another way to stay informed on local, national and international issues.

WORTH REPEATING … from the Thought for the Day as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council … “The most important question to ask on the job is not ‘What am I getting?’ The most important question to ask is ‘What am I becoming?’ ”

— Jim Rohn