Wade Nomura is a Community leader, Mayor of Carpineria, CA, a successful businessman, a National champion BMX racer, a model humanitarian and an active Rotarian. He is a recipient of the Rotary International “Service Above Self” award and the Rotary Foundation’s “Citation for Meritorious Service” award. Wade has spoken to more than 200,000 people across 15 countries about Rotary. His TV program “Rotary Serving Our Community” may be viewed on: www.WeAreRotary.TV
    Wade shared a comprehensive 55 minute presentation with our club and guests involving the history, organization, guiding principles, and interesting facts about Rotary International. This information was well received by veterans and new Rotarians alike. Wade gave our club a homework assignment: Prepare a short ‘elevator speech’ that when asked “What is Rotary?” will attract new members into the Rotary organization.  
          A special thanks to Joe Hentges from the entire club and guests, for arranging this excellent speaker and interesting presentation.
     
    Guests: The guests attending our Aug 27 ZOOM club meeting this week included District Governor Diane Ventura-Goodyear, Past District Governor Michael Drake of the Tucson Sunset Rotary Club, and Judy Lindsey of the Valle Verde Rotary Club.  
     
    Interesting Highlights from Wade Nomura’s “Rotary Now & Then, History of Rotary”:
    • Rotary Internationals headquarters is in Evanston, IL.
    • First Rotary club was founded by Paul Harris and 3 friends: Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey, in Chicago on Feb 23, 1905.
    • First Rotary clubs included Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York City, & St. Louis.
    • First International club was Winnipeg in 1912, then Rotary quickly grew across 6 continents.
    • The Rotary symbol started as a simple ‘wagon wheel’ and was then refined 3 times with the current logo being adopted in 2013.
    • The “Service above Self” motto was adopted in 1989.
    • Rotary International has 35,000 clubs worldwide w/ 1.2 MM Rotarians.
    • Rotarian club members are part of clubs, each club is assigned to one of 530+ districts, and districts comprise zones.
    • Our club is in district 5500 and in zone 26. District 5500 has ~50 clubs and ~1400 Rotarians.
    • Only ~150 Rotarians total have ever been awarded the “Service above Self” award and ~50 Rotarians per year are awarded the “Distinguished Service” award.
    • World contributions by Rotarians include: Boy Scouts, United Nations, UNESCO, Easter Seals, polio eradication.
    • Famous Rotarians include: Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy, Warren Harding, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong.
    • First women in Rotary from a Supreme Court decision on May 4, 1987 – Sylvia Whitlock, RC of Duarte.
    • Rotaries Guiding Principles include: Object of Rotary, Four Way Test, Rotarian Code of Conduct, & Declaration of Rotarians in Business & Professions.
    • Avenues of Service include: Club Service, Community Service, International Service, Vocational Service, & Youth Service.
    • The Rotary Classification system is based on each members’ profession, not position.
    • Characteristics of an effective club: active & informed members, strong ethics & professionalism, genuine fellowship, numerous successful service projects.
    • Rotary Foundation started in 1917, a non-profit corporation, supports clubs through grants, has 7 specific areas of focus that any grant application must fit into.
    • The District 5500 Charitable Foundation is a separate entity from the Rotary Foundation.
    • Practical Relevant Leadership Skills (PRLS) began in 1993 to provide a set of training sessions for current & future Rotary leaders and to improve club efficiency.