John
Barrett, with Leverton’s Help, forms First
Fellowship: In 1947, Brixton (London, England) Rotarian John. G.
Barrett wanted to sail his yacht under the Rotary flag. His sail maker
was willing to sew a burgee bearing the Rotary wheel, and he wanted
permission to fly it from his masthead.
 Barrett arranged a
meeting in London with a number of members of his club, as well as other
English Rotarians, and enlisted the aid of Stanley Leverton, then the
Chairman/Governor of District 13. Leverton, an expert in Rotary
constitutional issues, and Barrett prepared a constitution and by-laws
to permit the group operating with the use of the Rotary wheel. Creating
a title was not easy, but Rotary International finally approved the
name, "The Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians."
This was the first of
the many Recreational Fellowships within the Rotary world, of which over
forty exist today. This fellowship quickly spread all over the Great
Britain and then throughout the world.
At the R.I. Convention
in Paris in 1953, the Rotary Burgee was flown on the River Seine.
Similarly, at a regional in Ostende, Belgium, Rotarian A.N. Cooke in
"Silver Dolphin" was accorded a civic reception by the Burgermaster and
it is recorded that at one time there were no less than seven different
nationalities of Rotarians on board.
|
In 1956, at the Golden
Anniversary Convention, the first International Commodore from outside
Great Britain was elected and Bob Stuart from Chicago, Illinois, took
over the helm. It was also about this time the name was changed to "The
International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians." (IYFR)
In the late 1950’s an
Australian Fleet was formed based in New South Wales, and as a result of
a visit to Brisbane by a Sydney Rotarian – Leo Keating a fellowship seed
was sown.
The first international
rendezvous of IYFR was held in 1964 in conjunction with the R.I.
Convention in Toronto, Canada.
Since that time the
Fellowship has greatly expanded with many fleets being added under
enthusiastic leadership of the many Past International Commodores, who
have been elected from a diversity of countries with in the world of
Rotary.
It wasn't until Rotary
year 1968-1969, however, that Fellowships caught the official attention
of Rotary International when RI President George Togasaki appointed a
Recreational Activities committee. The following year, the committee's
chairman, Allen Sawyer, past governor of RI District 7910 in
Massachusetts, USA, encouraged the expansion of such fellowships by
polling Rotarians as to what recreational activities they favored.
Doug Rudman
[Rotary
International lists "Esperanto"
as the first fellowship, in 1928] |
