Fellowship: A Rotary Benefit
By Frank Deaver
Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA
 

     Trivia question: What is Petanque?  No prize for a correct answer, but enthusiastic one-handed applause.  Hint: French Rotarians have an advantage, for Petanque is a French term having to do with feet in a circle.

     Trivia answer: Petanque is a yard game, an adaptation of the ball-toss game of Boule, sometimes described as lawn bowling.  Petanque is a modification of Boule rules, for the benefit of handicapped players.

     Trivia notwithstanding, and more to the point, Petanque is one of 87 (at last count) Rotary Fellowship Groups. Of course, Petanque is not for everyone, but then neither is Yachting, Quilting, Mountain Climbing, Floral Design, or Amateur Radio.  As the RI Website says, "Rotary Fellowships offer Rotarians the opportunity to make friends with others in Rotary who share a common vocation, hobby or recreational interest."

     Examples are abundant, and include not only Petanque but multiple other groups.  Some of them are certain to appeal to the interests of any Rotarian.  At the RI Convention in Salt Lake City, more than a hundred families from the United States and Canada arrived in recreational vehicles and set up a Rotarian RV community, with a four-day pre-convention rally.  Young families and retired couples shared not only visits together, but also group meals, travel to and from the convention center, and they even organized a local service project.

     Fellowship groups may gather at an RI Convention, but they more frequently meet on the Internet.  They exchange ideas, answer questions, solve problems, and cooperate in addressing specific needs.  In some of the game fellowships, members even engage in online competition.

     Rotary is so much more than the weekly meeting.  While RI Fellowship Groups offer international networking, local Rotary fellowships are also proving their benefits.  A few members of a club may identify common interests in golfing, fishing, antique collecting, or wine tasting, and schedule periodic events for a small-group activity that yields multiple benefits.  Not only are they sharing an enjoyable mutual interest, but they are also expanding and strengthening the bonds of Rotary friendship.

     Still other fellowship possibilities strengthen the "Family of Rotary" goal.  While Rotarians are acquainted with each other, they probably don't know the respective spouse.  Some clubs organize dinner groups in a Rotary home, including several couples, and the fellowship extends to a family friendship.  Social outings such as a picnic in the park or a river-boat cruise can include not only club-members and their families, but may extend even further by sharing the event with another Rotary club in the community.

     Rotary is often defined in terms of service and fellowship.  Rotary Fellowships, whether international or local, bring Rotarians together, and that can only enhance Rotary's services.  So organize one or more fellowship groups in the local club.  Enlist local members in RI Fellowship Groups.  Then see your club reap the benefits.