Rotary Fellowships offer another layer of Rotary engagement, friendship, potential travel and fun. There's something for everyone! In this program, Mountain State Rotary E-Club Public Image Chair Bonnie Branciaroli shares a recent Rotary fellowship experience and provides more information on how we might do the same.
E-CLUB PROGRAM
PRESIDING TODAY IS: Bonnie Branciaroli
Welcome all – Visitors, fellow Rotarians and guests alike to this E-Club program!
Four-Way Test
At the beginning of each meeting we remind ourselves of the The Four-Way Test. Therefore, please remember to ask yourself always . . .
Of the things we think, say or do:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
A Reflective Moment
"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
~~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Light Moments to share with your little trick or treaters (from the holidayspot.com)
Why do skeletons have low self-esteem?
They have no body to love
Why did the ghost go into the bar?
For the Boos
Why don’t mummies take time off?
They’re afraid to unwind.
Read more at https://www.theholidayspot.com/halloween/jokes.htm#rQPf0l59QgSHVgoS.99
Program: Multiple Levels of Rotarian Fellowship (There's something for everyone!)
Members of the RV Fellowship of Rotarians relax after "attending" our early evening E-Club meeting and a potluck dinner.
In 1905 a Chicago attorney by the name of Paul Harris formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago. It was Harris’s vision to begin an organization where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful lifelong friendships through fellowship and service. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.
Today, Rotary International encompasses nearly 1.2 million members from over 200 countries. The 33,000 clubs that make up this international organization continue to meet and thrive by coming together over meals in their local communities, coffee chats on the internet, district and zone conferences and dinners, international conventions and through Rotary Fellowships.
Internationally acclaimed chef, Jose Andres stated in his new book, We Fed an Island, The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal At A Time, “There’s something fundamental about food; about preparing, cooking and eating together. It’s what binds us; it’s how we build community.”
“Eating isn’t functional,” he adds. “A plate of food is much more than food. It’s a beacon of hope that somewhere, something good is happening.”
Although Andres’ book addresses food relief and how the power of cooking can lessen misery and despair and give hope to those who know they have not been forgotten, it brought to light the importance of fellowship and how we gather together as families, communities, nations and global organizations to take time to share ideas and build fellowship over a plate of food.
You may ask, then, how does a member of an E-Club compensate for this lack of fellowship time over a meal? I have been a member of a traditional Rotary club and now, a member of an E-club, and I would have to say that, yes, there is compromise, but advantages outweigh disadvantages. E-club members have options of video conferencing online, coffee chats, and an occasional face-to-face meet and greets. But when it comes to service, we are ready to gather, “Boots to the floor.”
Another option for fellowship through Rotary (especially for E-clubbers) is Rotary Fellowships.
Rotary Fellowship month is celebrated in June each year, which goes hand-in-hand with the Rotary International Convention and its House of Friendship. (A major part of the convention that showcases international service projects and fellowships.) There are aisles of Rotary Fellowship booths in the House of Friendship – booths for golfing, flying, fishing, motorcycling, beer and whiskey connoisseurs… the list goes on and on.
Since my passion is international travel and camping, I gravitated to and became a member of the International Travel and Hospitality Fellowship (ITHF) and the Recreational Vehicle Fellowship of Rotarians, N.A. (RVFRNA) in 2017.
Rotary Fellowships encompass groups of Rotarians, Rotarian spouses and Rotaractors who join together to share a common interest in worthwhile recreational activities and/or to further their vocational development through acquaintance with others of the same profession. Fellowships are a great way to make new friends around the world; and to make lasting friendships outside of your own club, district or country. (Rotary fellowships must be international in nature with active members from at least three countries.)
The RVFRNA was organized in 1974 and is one of the oldest fellowships. The International Fellowship includes North America, Canada, Europe and Australia, boasting a total membership of nearly 1,000. Quarterly rallies are organized by region, and the annual rally centers around the RI Convention when scheduled in North America, Canada or Australia.
I had the pleasure of hosting the Eastern Zone Fall Rally at our campground in Elkins, WV, the latter part of September and meeting fellow Rotarians from Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and one couple who RV full time, with their address being “on the road”!
Although the weather was cool and rainy, we nurtured our growing friendships during a nightly social hour with “heavy hors d’oeuvres” in the Hospitality Barn. Five days of attraction seeking, pumpkin carving, puzzle working and interesting conversations about life-long Rotarian works and service projects culminated in a Friday early evening online E-chat with several of our club members and members from the RVFRNA, many who had never participated in an E-club meeting.
A Pot-Luck Dinner rounded out the evening, and it was obvious by the end of the day that many of the people who had driven so long to be here, would remain “Friends in Fellowship in Rotary” for a long time to come. The dinner brought home to me the words of Jose Andres: “There’s something fundamental about food… that binds us; it’s how we build community.”
For more information on RVFRNA: www.rvfna.org
For more information on Fellowships:
and
or just Google Rotary Fellowships for various pdf’s on the topic.
As a side note:
If you don’t find a Fellowship that suits your interests, you can start your own! Just email rotaryfellowships@rotary.org with any questions you may have or check online.
Thank you for participating in this program! Please leave a comment below: