This is a rather long letter, but I have to share an example of how Rotary and the pandemic “opened doors to opportunity” for the Benzie Sunrise Rotary Club.
Jim Drubert, a member of our club, used the Find a Club link on the Rotary.org website to zoom-attend the club from the town of his ancestors in Ashby de la Zouche, England. He shared his experience of attending their meeting at one of our meetings. That prompted my searching for and zoom-attending the club in my ancestral town in Comrie/Crieff Scotland. During that meeting, their leadership gave an update on the District International Grant they are pursuing to build a maize mill in a Malawi community. I invited them to attend one of our meetings and sent our website which noted that the following week we were having one of our Rotarian’s, Jack Harnish, son present on his work in Malawi to develop health center prototypes. A few of the Crieff members attended to hear his talk and as questions were asked, they shared their planned project for the maize mill. As fate would have it, the presenter had a colleague who was doing research on how to improve the air quality in Malawi maize mills. He offered to connect his colleague with the Crieff Club. At that point many of us got these huge smiles, realizing that this is what Rotary is all about—connecting us around the world to “open doors to opportunity.”
A continuation of this story, a few of the Benzie Sunrise Rotarians attended the Crieff meeting the following week because they had a couple who were presenting on their Europe/Africa/Asia bike tours. Again, as fate would have it, the Crieff Club had a couple of visitors from the Oxford North Club in England; two gentlemen that presented to their club a month earlier on their bike tour from Lands End, England to John O’ Groats, Scotland. The Oxford North Club has been doing a walking project, converting exercising and daily tasks into miles logged on a virtual walking tour of England and zoom attending other Rotary Club meetings along the way. (letter attached—it’s a hoot!) They are now beginning a virtual walking tour of North America, and will be contacting all of the Rotary Clubs that are in towns named Oxford, asking to attend their meeting as they “pass by”. They will be “stopping in” to join our club between visits to the Oxfords in Michigan, Indiana, & Wisconsin.
So John, I would say when Jim Drubert shared his experience, it was the beginning of one heck-of-a tasty batch of lemonade getting started. And boy have I been enjoying it.
I hope this story has brought you a smile.
Be well,
Valerie, Club President Benzie Sunrise