The Charter for the Rotary Club of Omaha was signed on August 4th, 1911. Omaha Rotary became the 37th club founded and the total membership of Rotary at that point was less then a few thousand. Today….106 years later….Rotary has over 32,000 clubs and over 1.3 million members. At its beginning, Rotary was really mostly about business and fellowship, but that’s not what fueled the growth from those first 37 clubs to what Rotary is today. I believe ethics and service are at the heart of Rotary’s growth, just as they are at the heart of Rotary’s mission today.
When I joined Rotary in February of 2000, I was not involved in the community and wasn’t really doing any volunteer work….and I really don’t think that I knew what I was getting into when I joined. As President of the club today, my life is very different from what it was 11 years ago. Being engaged with Rotary’s core values has brought me gifts I could not have asked for: opportunities to make a difference in my community, friends that make a difference in my life, and as a completely collateral benefit, connections that enrich my business.
Our lives are all busy and the most precious thing we have is the gift of our time. I think that 1.3 million people around the world belong to Rotary because the gift of time paid into it is rewarded so well in return.
This year for Rotary in Omaha-its 100th year-is a great time to look back at what Rotary is and what it’s returned to our community. I’m going to be sharing bits of the history of Rotary in Omaha on this thread throughout this Rotary year…which for non-Rotarians is July 1st, 2011 through June 30th, 2012.
