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The Clarkston Rotary Club often takes advantage of the warm summer evenings to hold the meeting at the home of one of our members.  A meeting in July was no exception.  The district Governor was the speaker, and the club met at the home of immediate past president Bart Clark.  Read on to hear the governor's impression of the Clarkston club.

 

Imagine Your Town without Rotary…

What if a small group of dedicated individuals hadn’t bothered to charter a Rotary Club in Clarkston 73 years ago this past June?

I visited the Clarkston Rotary Club last evening and had a delightful time of fellowship with dedicated Life Changers. I couldn’t help but imagine what this community would be like without Rotary.

Their tagline: “Doing the Things that People Think Just Happen.”

Needy children would have to find somewhere else to get new shoes, as the “Shoes for Kids” annual project wouldn’t be. For 39 years they have gathered and bought shoes, hats, gloves, coats and boots for children in need, involving over 900 hours of community volunteering to Change the Lives of these children.

Where would young students from the alternative high school get the money to continue their education without Clarkston Rotary and the annual scholarships?

Who would sponsor and organize the SCAMP picnic for special needs children and their parents (a nearly 35 year ongoing project)?

Who would step up to take the lead on the gazebo, bridge, greenhouse and playground equipment at the community park and community gardens were it not for Clarkston Rotary?

Who would be there for the countless Youth Exchange students, both inbound and outbound?

Who would have involved and educated the community on the fight to eradicate polio and the projects to bring clean water to Guatamala and Dominican Republic; or supported Shelter Box which brings emergency shelter to places all over the world?

One of the things I found telling about these Rotarians was their reaction to declining membership a couple years ago. They had a Club meeting and wanted to jettison a project or two because they had fewer hands to do the work. The decison, time after time, project after project was that they couldn’t give up that project…what would the people we are helping do if we quit.

What, indeed, would they do without the local Rotary Club?

Engaging Rotary and Changing Lives in Clarkston, Michigan!