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Somerville Rotary is part of a
worldwide organization of business and professional leaders
that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical
standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace
in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to
more than 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 166 countries. The
world's first service organization, Rotary
International has a long
history of helping those in need. Somerville Rotary provides
support to projects that
benefit the community through financial support and
through club volunteer projects.
The main objective of Rotary is service
— in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the
world. Rotarians develop community service projects that
address many of today's most critical issues, such as
children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment,
illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for
youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges
for students, teachers, and other professionals, and
vocational and career development. The Rotary motto is
Service Above Self.
Membership:
Somerville Rotarians are part of a diverse group of
professionals who work or live in the area. We address various
community service needs. To learn more about our organization,
contact us, or
stop by for
lunch. You can read about
our membership requirements to learn more about the advantages and service
opportunities.
As a Rotarian, you are invited to visit
other clubs in the area. For a list of locations and meetings
times, click here.
History
The original Rotary Club was started in the city
of Chicago on the twenty third of February, 1905, by a lawyer,
Mr. Paul P. Harris, who found himself a stranger in a large
city. Mr. Harris decided to found a club wherein the members
might not only become acquainted with one another, but also
devise means of making themselves proficient of thoughtfulness
of, and helpfulness to each
other.
Mr. Harris surrounded himself, at that time,
with men, each one engaged in a different form of service to
the public. This
basis of membership still exists in
Rotary.
The members of the new club at first did not
meet at luncheon, but met in rotation at the offices or places
of business of the various members. This method of meeting
suggested the name Rotary
Club.
Today, Rotary is a word that stands for better
business practices and loftier ideals in business and
professional intercourse, for service to one’s city, state or
province, and nation, and to society in general; and for the
development of international understanding and
peace.
A little more than three years after the
organization of the first Rotary Club in Chicago, the second
Rotary Club came into existence in San Francisco, and very
shortly after the organization of the second club, other clubs
came into existence, first on the Pacific coast, and then in
New York, Boston, and other cities in the United States, and
then in Canada, England, Ireland, and many other
countries.
In 1910, the association of Rotary clubs now
known as Rotary International
was formed. Since
then, the annual convention of the associated clubs has been
held in countries all over the world.
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