In his message to the 1946 RI Convention at Atlantic City, New Jersey,
"What should Rotarians do to back up the United Nations? Just what they are doing. Rotarians were chairmen of seven national delegations at the San Francisco Conference, and in all, as delegates or consultants at the San Francisco Conference, there were fifty Rotarians. Thus the spirit of Rotary was very definitely in evidence in San Francisco during the writing of the United Nations Charter."
Was it not significant that retiring UN Secretary General Kofi Annan specifically mentioned Rotary International by name in his retirement speech a few months ago? Not only has Rotary International worked with the UN, other Governments and NGOs in the fight to eradicate polio, our organization helped formulate the United Nations Charter as Paul Harris points out.
Sadly, Harris would not be around to see how this new, idealistic creation would develop. I suppose there are many critics of the United Nations today as it struggles to cope with global conflicts and tensions all over the world. Yet, the United Nations, surely, offers the best way forward towards a peaceful future. Rotary also continues to work for peace with the same enthusiasm and commitment of 50 years ago.
Today, we have developed our own Peace Fellow Program to honor Paul Harris' memory. See http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/foundation/programs/peace.htm for more details. There will also be a World Peace Symposium at the Salt Lake City Convention, June 14-16 (more details here) http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/foundation/070112_peacesymposium.html
Thus, with a cadre of professional mediators and peace specialists working for and working in conjunction with the UN, the "Spirit of Rotary" as Paul Harris said, will live on. This is what we are doing to "back up the United Nations".
Please consider visiting the RGHF booth at our 97th Annual Convention - #936. The booth shall also contain a Peace Journey Exhibition conceived and prepared by RGHF President-elect Joe Kagle.
Brian
Owen introduced Jody Christensen, who directs the
McMinnville Economic Development Partnership. The focus of
this group is to encourage new business opportunities in
McMinnville, but even more importantly to sustain a healthy
business climate in the community. Jody began by briefly citing
the history of civic groups devoted to promoting businesses in
McMinnville, beginning in the 1950's with the establishment of
McMinnville Industrial Promotions. The result of these initial
efforts was the arrival of Cascade Steel, Mission Foods, and
Richmond Baking Company, to name a few.