Milford chronicle., 1955-02-18
Rotary Club Celebrating
Its Golden Anniversary
(COntinued ION page onel


motion of high standards in bust
nesses and professions, and the ad-
vancement of international under
standing, good will and peace.
"The one basic objective of Ro-
tary," he continued, els its Ideal
of Service which is to be thought
ful of and helpful to others. To at
tain this objective, Rotary seeks
all that which brings people to-
gether and avoids all which sep
arates them. That is the reason
why Rotary has become a world
wide institution, whose ideals have
been accepted by men who differ
widely in language, customs, and
historical backgrounds"
Continuous Growth
In tracing the growth of Rotary.
President Nelson said:
The first Rotary Club was or
ganized in Chicago on February
%, 1905, by Paul P. Harris, a young
lawyer, who suggested the idea to
a group of his friends. The name
Rotary was selected because the
first meetings of the Club were
| held in rotation, in the offices of
its members. The Rotary ideas of
fellowship and service to others
soon spread from city to city in
the United States and Canada and
then crossed the oceans to every
continent.
For half a century, Rotary has
grown in numbers and strength
In the last twelve months, for ex-
ample, more than 450 new Rotary
Clubs have been organized in 58
countries of Europe, Africa, Asia,
the Americas and the Islands of
the Pacific. Today, Rotary is a
worldwide organization of some
100000 business and professional
executives who are members of
more than S,400 Rotary Clubs in
80 countries and geographical re-
giOns throughout the world"
Pioneer Service Club
1--WE are observing not only the
golden anniversary of the found
ing of Rotary, but of the entire
service club movement" asserted
President Nelson, "since Rotary
was the pioneer club to establish
as its fundamental characteristic
the spirit of altruism and of SER
vice to mankind AS Charles w.
ferguson, senior editor of "The
Readers Digest" has written, the
founding of Rotary lOOsed an idea
that was by no means confined to
the club that Paul Harris and his
associates evolved. 1t is still ram
pant and the vitality of it is to be
found in the prOliferatiOn Of com
parable clubs. These offer a more
eloquent tribute than will be
written in words on ROtarys an
niversary, and they signify not only
the good job ROtaryo has done but
the importance of the idea which
Rotary has by now become only
a part
commemorative Stamps
President Nelson reported that
a number Of countries have hon
Ored Rotary International through
the issuance of special postage
stamps cOmmemOrating Rotary's
Golden Anniversary. Among these
countries are Australia, Belgium,
Cuba, the Dominican Republic.
Egypt, Nicaragua, Panama, The
Philippines, and the United States
of America.
The Great Adventure
One of the major features of Ro-
tary's Golden Anniversary, accord
ing to President Nelson, has been
the production of 1.-THE Great Ad-
venture, a motion picture which
tells the dramatic story of Rotary
IN action around the world. Star
ring the veteran stage and screen
actor Edward Arnold, the films
cast OF 80 includes actors from
Australia, Brazil, India, Japan.
Scotland, Sweden and the u. S. A.
Simultaneous premieres of the film
are being held this week in all of
the SO countries in which there
are Rotary Clubs. It is scheduled
for showing in Milford at a date
to be shortly announced by Presi-
dent Nelson.
Rotary FeIIOWships
Referring TO one of the projects
in which all Rotary Clubs around
the world are participating, Presi-
dent Nelson said that the Rotary
Foundation FellOWships' program
was tnaugUrated as a memorial |
to the founder of Rotary. Paul |
Harris. These Rotary FellOwships |
enable outstanding graduate stu
dents to live and study for one
year in a country other than their |
own, as ambassadors of good will. |
on grants averaging $2,5OO," he |
said.
More than 700 Rotary Fellow |
ships have been awarded to stu
dents from 81 countries. In the |
past eight years, Rotary's grants
in this field of international un-
derstandnig have amounted to ST.
100000. Through this program of !
0ther-cOuntry fellOwships, Rotary
Is endeaVOring to foster better in
ternational relations by increasing
the personal contacts which the
nations of the world have with
each other"
Chicago Convention
ROtary's worldwide Golden An
observance will culmin-
ate with a great convention in
Chicago, May 29-June 2, where
many thousands Of ROtarians from
most of the countries of the free
world will rededicate themselves
TO Rotary's motto of Service
Above Sell"
Local Club Is Active
Supplementing the international
aspects of Rotary, President Nell
son briefly outlined the history of
he Rotary Club of Milford, which
was organized in 1925 and which
now has S6 active members.