|
Rotary Club of Chicago
(Rotary/One) 105
Years Old
The Rotary Club of Chicago, fondly known as
Rotary/One, celebrates the club’s 105th birthday on February 23,
2010.
2010 also marks the 100th anniversary of the
National Association of Rotary Clubs of America, which later became
Rotary International in 1922.
The first printed roster of the Rotary Club of Chicago was issued
during the club's first year, in the fall of 1905. It was a small
folder, 3 inches x 5 inches in size, of which only one copy still
exists, in the possession of Rotary International. The only printing
on the front was ROTARY CLUB and on the back the imprint of "H. L.
Ruggles & Co., Printers, 142 Monroe St., Chicago." |
As the first club established by Rotary founder
Paul Harris, the Chicago
club will be marking its 105th anniversary at the same time Rotary
marks 25 years of work to eradicate polio. The club, Rotary
International, and districts 6440 and 6450 have joined forces to
light up the
Wrigley
Building
in downtown Chicago
with the End Polio Now logo on 23 February to celebrate Rotary's
polio eradication efforts.
Immediately after the lighting, the
Chicago
club will hold an International Buffet Dinner, with all proceeds
going to The Rotary Foundation in support of polio eradication. The
club will be honoring Ciro de Quadros, executive vice president of
the Sabin Vaccine Institute, for his contribution to the eradication
of polio in the Americas.
Every club and
district is encouraged to use the anniversary of the first Rotary
club meeting, designated as World Understanding and Peace Day, to
share the story of Rotary's local and global contributions.
Plans are in the works to project End Polio Now
onto the sides of several other well-known landmarks on 23 February.
Last year, the image illuminated a section of the House of Commons
in London,
the Colosseum in
Rome, the Sydney Opera House
in Australia,
and a number of landmarks in Scotland.
|
An early member of Rotary Club of Chicago
with
his two daughters and the club banner.
|
In Africa, a Kick Polio Out of Africa awareness
campaign will launch 23 February with the symbolic kicking of a
soccer ball in Cape Town,
South
Africa.
The soccer ball will travel through 22 polio-affected countries on
the continent and then to the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec,
Canada.
The Reach Out to Africa Ad Hoc Executive Committee, the Public Image
Resource Group, and national PolioPlus committee chairs will work
with clubs and districts to host media events in their countries.
All 21 districts in Rotary International in
Great
Britain and Ireland
will be taking part in a “Thanks for Life Week” to raise funds for
End Polio Now. As part of this effort, clubs in District 1240
(England) have planned a Purple Pinkie Week with a variety of
activities including serving pints of purple beer at a local
brewery, collecting money for polio on street corners and in
supermarkets, and selling tickets to a special soccer match. The
local team will wear purple jerseys with the End Polio Now logo on
them, and club members will be selling purple wristbands to raise
funds. Purple Pinkie Week gets its name from the purple dye applied
to a child's little finger during National Immunization Days.
|