Where was your last venture out? Across town? To the nearest Costco? To Eastern Washington destinations? A visit to our nation’s capital? Across the pond? Around the world?
Wherever it was, it is likely you passed a local Rotary International sign announcing a club in that community, and the time and place of its meetings.
Here in Kingston, you are greeted by such signs coming off the ferry from Edmonds, and coming into town on Highway 104 at its intersection at Lindvog Road. The familiar Rotary International wheel logo sign reminds us “we” meet at noon Wednesdays at Kingston’s Village Green Community Center.
On a recent visit to the U.K., the “international” element of Rotary International was abundantly clear. Southwest of Bristol, England some 25 miles (yes, Brits measure driving distances in miles), there’s a place called Cheddar Gorge. Unlike Washington’s Columbia Gorge, there is no river; one drives into Cheddar Gorge. Cliffs rise 450 feet to stalactite caverns. It is said to be the birthplace of famous cheeses most of us love: cheddar.
After driving and walking into the gorge, it was time for a coffee and visit to the shops at its entrance. Sitting on a terrace, we noticed — across the street and down some — a small outdoor market very much like Kingston’s Saturday affair. So we wandered over. The first booth we discovered was a local Rotary Club booth with three lively Rotarians selling raffle tickets. They were raffling off a travel trailer. Proceeds were to go to a local charity, MacMillan House, where families of cancer patients stay during their loved one’s treatment (think Pete Gross House in Seattle).
Five thousand miles from home … a local Rotary Club working to improve its community and lives therein. International, indeed.
Further along the journey, a stop for lunch in Hexham, England. Many visit or pass through Hexham on the way to visit Hadrian’s Wall, a great stone wall constructed by Roman Emperor Hadrian in about A.D. 122. It was raining in Hexham. We dashed from our car park (English for parking space) to the cover of a hotel awning. There, beneath the awning, a sign:
Hexham Rotary Club
Meet Here
Monday 12-45 pm
Rotary International.
There are 35,000-plus Rotary clubs worldwide, where neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers take action to create lasting change — local change and international change. For years, with Rotary’s introduction of PolioPlus in 1985, Rotary International’s cause has been the eradication of polio. Some 350,000 cases per year have dwindled to just a few so far in 2017. But the goal is zero cases.
Oct. 24 marked World Polio Day, with a livestream event taking place at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. It is Rotary International’s goal to raise $50 million a year for the next three years. This amount will be matched 2-to-1 by the Gates Foundation so that all children, no matter where they live or what their circumstances, will live free of polio.
Next time you venture out, take note of those Rotary International signs. They denote 1.2 million Rotarians coming together, having fun, forming friendships and partnerships to improve their communities — both at home and worldwide.
— Ron Carter writes this column on behalf of Rotary Club of Kingston-North Kitsap. Contact him at rcarter010@centurytel.net.
