To the Circle of Fil-Am Rotarians (CFAR)
Friends:
On July 1, Rotary will start a New Year of Service. On that day,
all Rotary officers, from the international to the local club
level, will yield their office to an entirely new set of
officers. Rotary does this every year to be able to avail of the
talent and service of as many of its members as possible. (It is
also a good way of minimizing the prejudice it may suffer from
the occasional bad choice.) So, every year, Rotary New Year
begins on July 1, when we thank our out-going officers, and
gladly welcome with happy anticipation (and often merrily) the
good Rotarians who will start serving in their stead.
I thought I’d share with you the news that, back home in the
Philippines, Rotarians will welcome the New Year, not with a
bang, but with balloons. On July 1, every Rotary club in the
country, if at all able, will celebrate with a Children’s Party
at a school or other place enjoyable to children. It is an event
that is being actively promoted by all the incoming Governors
with the kind encouragement of President-Elect Kalyan Banerjee,
who urges us to Reach Within To Embrace Humanity. The Rotarians
in the Philippines will start by embracing the children. Can
there be a better place to begin?
Let us pray that all Rotarians and their guests may take home
from those parties the firm resolve to do everyday hence a kind
deed to children or a child, even if they be but their own
grandchildren. I am encouraged to hope so by the exciting news I
have been receiving about the response of the clubs. I am sure
you will be touched as I was by the letters I have excerpted
below. They come from my own district, D.3800, which by the way
gave that sensationally joyous video of singing Rotarians at the
New Orleans convention. We can be merry and work too.
Happy New Year, Rotary!
Mat Caparas
Past RI President, 1986-87
