The Rotary Club of New York

www.NYRotary.org                                    www.NewYorkCityRotary.org                     

 

 

 

February 22, 2004

 

 

 

 

Fellow Rotarians,

 

The speaker at our next meeting on February 24th will be John Stossel, who is a News Anchor together with Barbara Walters at ABC’s TV program 20/20. John Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards and been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. Among his other awards are the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award. John. Stossel is also a 1969 graduate of Princeton University, with a BA in psychology. You can read more about John Stossel’s impressive background in the latest Bulletin on our website at www.newyorkcityrotary.org/bulletin2004/bulletin_02-24-2004.pdf (click on the link).

 

You can also read Reporter of the Week in the Bulletin written by Bonnie Mairs. Thank you Bonnie for a detailed report! I especially enjoyed reading it here from Sweden.

 

I often hear praise from Rotarians about the many great speakers we have at our legendary Rotary Club. The reason for this is that Larry Parks is responsible for our speaker programs. Larry is a Past Director and has been a member of our legendary Rotary Club since 1982. You can see Larry’s most current speaker list with a number of new speakers at www.newyorkcityrotary.org/Events/events.html.

 

Every year in February, all Rotary District Governor Elects meet at the Rotary International Assembly in Anaheim, CA to receive training and meet with the Rotary International President Elect, who will be RI President when they become District Governors.

 

 

 

At this year’s International Assembly on 16 February, Rotary International President-elect Glenn Estess Sr. unveiled the 2004-05 theme "Celebrate Rotary." He explained to 529 incoming district governors that the new theme was inspired by the desire to celebrate in the Centennial year the ideals that Rotary's founders stood for and that over the years have influenced generations of Rotarians to do good throughout the world. President Elect Glenn expressed the following wish:

 

"Our first hundred years will stand as an inspiring record of men and women of all races, religions, nationalities and political creeds who have made significant contributions to creating a more peaceful world," he said. "It will be your privilege to lead Rotarians into our next century — a century in which we will Lend a Hand and Celebrate Rotary with even greater fellowship and countless acts of service."

 

You can read more about next year’s Rotary Theme on Rotary International’s website at www.rotary.org/newsroom/general_news.html.

 

Rotary International Training Leader Eddie Blender sent me the following report from the Rotary International Assembly:

 

Over 500 Rotarian District Governors gathering from every corner of the world attended the International Assembly in Anaheim this past week.  In his welcoming remarks Rotary International President Jonathan Majiyagbe asked the assembled Governors, International Past Presidents, Directors, Trustees and All of the family of Rotary to ponder these words of our founder Paul Harris.

 

“The future of Rotary is shrouded in expectant mystery.  It is for you my new Rotary friends, to aid in the unfurling of the Rotarian destiny.”

 

Rotary International President-elect Glenn E. Estess Sr. introduced the theme for 2004-05 with the following words.

 

“On a cold February evening nearly 100 years ago, four men gathered in a Chicago mining engineer’s office. Paul Harris, Sylvester Schiele, Gustavus Loehr and Hiram Shorey didn’t think that one century later 31,000 clubs in 166 countries would be meeting every week.  And they certainly didn’t think that they were launching a movement that would capture the hearts and minds of so many.

 

They only knew that they needed more friends in their lives and they took a simple action toward that goal.

 

We are now approaching the 100th anniversary of their action -- a simple meeting between four businessmen. And when we celebrate all of the wonderful things that have happened as a result of that action, I will ask all Rotarians to join me as we embrace our theme in 2004-05 and CELEBRATE ROTARY.”

 

President-elect Glenn’s words were met with a thunderous standing ovation as the assembled Family of Rotary considered their roles in Rotary’s Second Century of Service.  PE Glenn continued and asked that we CELEBRATE ROTARY by:

 

  • Strengthening our community bonds with Centennial Community Projects.
  • Strengthening our international bonds with the Twin Clubs Program.
  • Achieving our centennial goals for Polio Plus, membership growth and Every Rotarian Every Year.
  • And most of all by performing countless acts of service – in our clubs, our vocations, our communities, and our world.
  • AND by sharing Rotary with others in fellowship and service we will Celebrate a Century of Service, Celebrate a new Century of Success, and most of all – CELEBRATE ROTARY!

 

Thank you Eddie for this great report! Eddie is also a member of the Board of Directors at Rotary’s Global History Fellowship, which you can find on the Internet at www.rotaryhistoryfellowship.org. You can find more information about Eddie Blender at www.rotaryhistoryfellowship.org/committee/board.htm.

 

I have told you before about 83 year old New York Rotarian Bill Delong and his adventures to different dangerous places in the world. This time, I think that Bill has even surpassed himself by going to the African Republic Liberia in the middle of a civil war. For the first time, I saw Bill being worried before his trip after he heard reports about how dangerous it was in Liberia. I just received the first report from Helen Reisler about Bill:

 

Dear all,

 

I have received communication from Ambassador Abdullah of Liberia. Our "other ambassador", Bill DeLong, has arrived safely...well ALMOST safely. Aside from being bitten by the baby dog of the Salvation Army and having some papers stolen from his pocket at the airport, he is alive and well.

 

Helen Reisler

 

Thank you Helen for your message! Let’s hope and pray that Bill will arrive home safely from this trip. I guess that the old saying still holds true. “It is difficult to teach an old dog how to sit.”

 

I received another message from Africa, this time from John Kirkwood in Uganda:

 

Matts

 

Many thanks for the interesting newsletter - your Club certainly has interesting speakers and activities!

 

We continue with our work here in Uganda with the many HIV / AIDS orphans.  It is so rewarding to see a child who was dropping out of school completing their course and 'taking off into the world'!

 

Sadly the Tofta Educational Trust has had to make the decision not to take on any students this year as the Trust is already fully extended with its current 140 students.

 

This was a very painful decision as we are receiving 2000 applications from needy children everywhere in Uganda, and some from neighbouring Kenya.  We had hoped to be able to take in a few kids from the north where the Koni War means that over a million people are being kept in camps for displaced people due to the insecurity there.  At one place 40,000 kids come into a guarded hospital for security at night - others go into Gulu town and sleep on the streets - then trek many miles back to their homes for the day.  One child costs US$400 for a year in boarding - I spent that on luxurious accommodation in a hotel for four nights when I was in the US in November!

 

I hope that you can have a look at our website at www.lordsmeade.org 

 

Greetings to all your members and Rotary friends.

 

Yours in Rotary Service

John Kirkwood 

 

Thank you John for your message! He once gave up everything he had in England in order to help school children in Uganda. It’s a great story about Rotary Service Above Self.

 

In another expression of world wide Rotary Fellowship, I received the following message from Gabriela Ravera in Argentina, who visited our Rotary Club last month:

 

Dear Friends:

 

I felt so happy meeting with all of you in Rotary Club of New York the last January.

 

I wish you are fine and working hard for your communities.

 

I would like to be in contact with you, and I hope to see you soon.

 

Sincerely.-

Dra. Gabriela Carina Ravera.-

Dra. Monica Beatriz Neffke

Neffke, Ravera & Co.

International Consulting

Buenos Aires
Argentina

gabrielaravera@hotmail.com

Tel: 54 11 4732-3022

 

Thank you Gabriella! If anyone needs a Rotary contact in Argentina, send Gabriella a message or give her a call.

 

The hardest thing about being a Rotarian is when one of our Rotary Fellows passes away. New York Rotary 2nd Vice President Jim Bryan sent us the following sad message:

 

I have received an e-mail from Brenda Stauch on February 5, 2004, stating that Joe Stauch had passed away from Lou Gehrig's disease. I have attached her message.  Brenda's address is brenda@partyland.co.za.

 

It would be nice if you would send this to those on your mailing list so that anyone in the Club who knew Joe could respond.  I know that he was a member before your time.  I can only tell you that he was one of the most upbeat and delightful people I have ever met. (We might also want to mention this at Tuesday's meeting, although I am not sure that people would be able to remember the rather complex e-mail address unless you provided it on strips of paper available at the door)..

 

Regards

Jim Bryan.

 

Here is the message that Jim enclosed:

 

Dear Friends:

 

This is just to let you know that Joe died peacefully at home on Wednesday, 4th of February at 1 pm, after his year-long battle with Motor Neuron Disease. All the family were gathered around him at the time. As much as we grieve his loss, we are thankful that his suffering has at last come to an end, and that he has gone home to be with Jesus for eternity.

 

The memorial service is at St. Chad's Anglican Church, Erica Street, Table view, on Saturday, 7 February, at 10 am.

 

Love,

 

Brenda and family

 

President Greg Lynch of our Rotary Club responded with the following message:

 

Dear Mrs. Stauch, 

 

I recently learned of Joe's passing.  On behalf of the entire membership of the Rotary Club of New York, allow me to express my deepest condolences.  I did not know Joe, but I am told that he was a tremendously up-beat person and much loved by the members of our Club.  I have asked our Newsletter Editor to print a suitable remembrance of Joe. Thank you for letting us know about Joe's passing.  We wish you the gifts of acceptance and strength in your loss.  Joe will be remembered by us for his fellowship and service.

 

Best regards,

Greg Lynch

President

Rotary Club of New York

 

Thank you Greg for your message!

 

Don't forget to reserve your table for our next meeting. You can reserve via e-mail to our office at ny.rotary@verizon.net, or call Andreas or Ana at 212-633-1311. You can also fax in the RSVP form, which you can download at www.newyorkcityrotary.org/bulletin2004/rsvp_02-24-2004.pdf. Our fax number is 212-633-1954. At our next meeting, the culinary staff at the Princeton Club will serve us Fresh Trout. That makes me I wish that I was back in New York from Sweden already on Tuesday for that meal. I will however not be back in New York until two days later.

 

I have been busy here in Sweden giving speeches about Paul Harris’ Exciting Youth at two Rotary Clubs in Stockholm in the spirit of Celebrating Rotary’s History. The first speech was on February 16th in English at the Rotary Club of Stockholm International. The second speech was the day after on February 17th in Swedish at the Rotary Club of Stockholm, which is the oldest Rotary Club in Sweden, founded in 1926. The reason that I give these speeches is that I want to show Paul Harris as a youthful person that is more likely to inspire young people to join Rotary today. Paul Harris was only 37 years old when Rotary was founded in 1905 and only 42 years old when he became President of the National Association of Rotary Clubs, which later became Rotary International. You can see pictures from my speeches in Stockholm at www.nyrotary.org/meet_our_members/mats_ingemanson/index.htm.

 

I also reported here in Sweden about our Sweden Day last January 27th. Many Swedish Rotarians wished that they had been there. You can see pictures from Sweden Day at www.nyrotary.org/sweden_day/index.htm.

 

I recommend that you visit our New York Rotary website every week at www.NYRotary.org or www.NewYorkCityRotary.org. 

 

 

Let’s Celebrate Rotary and its History!

 

 

Matts Ingemanson

Chairman

Internet Communications Division

The Rotary Club of New York

www.NYRotary.org

www.NewYorkCityRotary.org

 

Senior Vice President

Rotary's Global History Fellowship

www.RotaryHistoryFellowship.org

 

Chairman 2002-2004

Group Study Exchange

Rotary District 7230

www.nyrotary.org/GSE7230

 

 

The power of the Internet puts the brains of millions of people together. It also puts 1.2 million Rotarians together. It does not matter where we are and when we are available. The Internet makes it possible for Rotarians around the world to instantly participate.

 

This newsletter has also been posted on our website at www.NYRotary.org or www.NewYorkCityRotary.org.

 

I want to thank our Executive Director Andreas Runggatscher and his Executive Assistant Ana Rivas for working so hard every week creating and mailing the Weekly Bulletin. In addition to mailing it out to our members, they also send me the electronic Bulletin so I can upload it on our website. They have also been working hard with the administration of the World Trade Center - Disaster Relief Fund.

 

In order to read the PDF file of the Bulletin-on-the-Web, you need Acrobat Reader Version 5.0 or later. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download Acrobat Reader 6.0 for free from the web at:

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

 

 

You can find the following interesting websites at:

 

1.                New York Rotary Club at www.NYRotary.org and www.NewYorkCityRotary.org/.

 

2.                Rotary’s Global History Fellowship at www.RotaryHistoryFellowship.org

 

3.                Rotary District 7230 at www.rotarydistrict7230.org

 

4.                District 7230 Group Study Exchange Project at www.NewYorkCityRotary.org/GSE7230/

 

5.                Rotary Youth Leadership Awards at www.rotaryryla.com

 

6.                Rotary Radio every Tuesday 5-6 PM EST or 2-3 PM PST at http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductList.asp?SearchFor=Rotary+Radio&x=36&y=6

 

7.                Matts Ingemanson, Helen Reisler and Jim Thompson from the New York Rotary Club were interviewed on Rotary Radio Tuesday July 9, 2002. http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=329

 

You need Windows Media Player to listen to Rotary Radio. Windows Media Player is included with Windows Millennium and Windows XP. If you use Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can download Windows Media Player for free from Microsoft.

 

Click here to download Windows Media Player