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Rotary is a service
organization of business and
professional leaders united
worldwide who conduct humanitarian
projects, encourage high ethical
standards in all vocations
and work toward world understanding
and peace. Our motto is "Service
Above Self."
On February 23,
1905, a Chicago lawyer, Paul
P. Harris, called three friends
to a meeting. What he had
in mind was a club that would
kindle fellowship among members
of the business community.
It was an idea that grew from
his desire to find within
the large city the kind of
friendly spirit that he knew
in the villages where he had
grown up.
The four businessmen
didn't decide then and there
to call themselves a Rotary
club, but their get-together
was, in fact, the first meeting
of the world's first Rotary
club. As they continued to
meet, adding others to the
group, they rotated their
meetings among the members'
places of business, hence
the name. Soon after the club
name was agreed upon, one
of the new members suggested
a wagon wheel design as the
club emblem. It was the precursor
of the familiar cogwheel emblem
now worn by Rotarians around
the world. By the end of 1905,
the club had 30 members.
The second Rotary
club was formed in 1908 half
a continent away from Chicago
in San Francisco, California.
It was a much shorter leap
across San Francisco Bay to
Oakland, California, where
the third club was formed.
Others followed in Seattle,
Washington, Los Angeles, California,
and New York City, New York.
Rotary became international
in 1910 when a club was formed
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
By 1921 the organization was
represented on every continent,
and the name Rotary International
was adopted in 1922.
Currently, there
are 25,000 clubs world wide,
in 172 countries, with 1.2
million members.
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