First some Rotary history – the first club was formed in 1905 in Chicago , the 2nd in 1908 in San Francisco and the 3rd in Oakland in 1909 and the first International Club in Winnipeg in 1910. This time last year Joan and I spent a few days in San Diego before embarking on our cruise through the Panama Canal.
San Diego has many attractions including: the San Diego Zoo; Balboa Park; the Old Town; Little Italy; and several museums including the Aircraft Carrier, “Midway”.
There are 5 Rotary clubs in the city and tonight we toast the Rotary Club of San Diego which was the 33rd Rotary Club to be established.
The “seed” for Rotary came to downtown San Diego with Ernie Shiels a builder who met with ten other leading young San Diegans in September 1911. The club was formally chartered in 1913 and is currently the 5th largest in the world with over 500 members. The current president is Bob Russell and they meet for lunch at noon on Thursdays in the Liberty Station Conference Centre.
Their goal is to improve the community in which they live as well as the world beyond and this is managed through 60 service committees –they have 17 youth service committees and several committees for each of the avenues of service. Their annual report 2016/2017 states they spent the following amounts on projects: $106112 on youth; $62819 on vocational service; $29160 on community service and $87322 on international .
They have a foundation with a balance of $3.8million with an income of $403,977 last year comprising : donations - $146300; auction proceeds - $115945; and endowment - $141732.
Friends let us toast the Rotary club of San Diego.
(proposed by Kevin Curd)
