HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROTARY
Re: The RI Centennial
By Frank Deaver
Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA

     It was a cold winter month, Rotary, when you were born.  In Kansas and Missouri, state records were set in February 1905, with the temperature reaching 40 degrees below zero in each state (and at that level, Fahrenheit and Celsius readings are identical).

     Things have changed dramatically, Rotary, in your century of life.  In the year of your birth, more than 95 percent of babies in the United States were born in the home, and life expectancy was 47 years.  Only 6 percent of adults had graduated from high school; 14 percent of homes had a bathtub, and 8 percent had a telephone.

     Sugar, a century ago, cost four cents a pound, eggs were 14 cents a dozen, and coffee was 15 cents a pound.  There were 8,000 cars in the United States, and only 144 miles of paved roads.  It was the year in which Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were married, and when Orville and Wilbur Wright first took flight.  Jean-Paul Sartre, Dag Hammarskjold, Howard Hughes, and Henry Fonda were born in 1905.

     At your beginning, Rotary, the tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  And Canada passed a law that year prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason.

     But perhaps, Rotary, the event of 1905 that stands in greatest contrast to you was the birth that year of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

     In the midst of largely barren and arid land, artesian springs created a valley oasis, a stopping point for 19th century travelers.  The name Las Vegas is a translation from Spanish, meaning “The Meadows.”  But when the railroad was extended through the valley, 1200 lots were auctioned off in a single day, and the meadows became an instant town.

     What is remarkable, Rotary, is how different you two centenarians have become.  Although both of you have grown phenomenally, Las Vegas is known as a place of pleasure, while you, Rotary, are recognized world-wide as a citadel of service.  You stand as distinctly contrasting examples of egoism and altruism.

     It’s not that there is anything wrong with pleasure and egoism.  Even you, Rotary, offer great pleasure to your members, and a degree of healthy egoism in your accomplishments.  And countless of your members have delighted in the pleasures of Las Vegas.

     But you, Rotary, have grown to be the world’s oldest, largest, and most prestigious service organization of all time.  You contribute more than any other non-government entity to the welfare of mankind.  You count among your members some of the leading figures of many nations.

     Your centennial logo recognizes “A Century of Service,” and predicts “A New Century of Success.”  As you look back, Rotary, on your past century and its accomplishments, you have all the more reason to look forward to the century of opportunities and successes that lie before you.

     Your centennial birthday cake has many candles, Rotary, but there is room for many more.  As your life already has extended far beyond that of your creators, it will similarly go far beyond the lives of your present members.  As far into the future as we can see, Rotary, you will continue to be the inspiration for Service Above Self.

     Happy Birthday, Rotary.