Words To Live By From Roseville Rotary

I am a member of the Rotary Club of Roseville which meets every Monday at the Radisson Hotel Roseville.

By the way, the Radisson is undergoing an extensive renovation which started this summer. The ballroom looks fabulous with great carpeting and they are redoing their lobby to give it more of a Caribou or Starbucks lounge/ coffee bar feel. They have done away with the typical hotel check in desk and now have free standing kiosks. Very classy and very cool. I can’t wait to see what the rooms will look like once they are refurbished.

I bring up Rotary because in church this past Sunday I was thinking how the Ten Commandants are rules that everyone could live by, no matter what race or religion you are.

Thinking of them reminded me of the Rotary Four Way Test that we repeat at every single meeting after the Pledge of Allegiance – which "‘adults" rarely do anymore either. They are:

    Is it the TRUTH?

    Is it FAIR to all concerned?

    Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

    Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

I think of them now before I take part in a conversation that might involve something one could call gossip! It gives a whole new slant to what people say and how you filter it through your own mind using those four simple rules.

Though, I will admit, last Sunday I could only remember three as the ‘Goodwill and Better Friendships’ completely slipped my mind, which clues you in on how many friends I actually do have!

Rotary is an organization that lives by those rules and you will not find a more welcoming group then the Roseville Rotary Club. Heck, the District 5960 Executive Administrator's name is Jingle – as in Jingle Bell!

I think a younger generation may have the impression that Rotary is for "older people" which is not the case as the Rotaract groups are for young people of ages 18-30 who believe they can make a difference in the world both locally and internationally through volunteering.

How many of you are aware that Rotary International has led the charge to eradicate Polio worldwide?  Thanks to Rotary and its partners, the world has seen polio cases plummet by more than 99 percent, preventing five million instances of child paralysis and 250,000 deaths.

When Rotary began its eradication work, polio infected more than 350,000 children annually. In 2009, fewer than 1,700 cases were reported worldwide. Polio cases worldwide decreased almost 50 percent during the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period in 2010. (Rotary International, Rotary Foundation 2011)

The Roseville Rotary Club has also donated money for the children’s room at the brand new Roseville Library and with every speaker they also plant a tree and pay for the upkeep in Rotary Woods located in Roseville’s Central Park.

District Governor Judy Freund spoke at our club recently. A retired teacher, she pulled out a flipchart and asked club members what membership in Rotary means. That’s a question she has asked each one of the district 5960 clubs during her visits. She said that every club includes these two words: service and fellowship and 9 times out of 10 they also list diversity, leadership and ethics. 

Freund also spoke of the importance of investing locally and making a difference globally.

Those are also words we can all live by. Think what a difference we could make in our own small piece of the world if we did.