By Bob Cassidy
I’m sure you have heard the expression “Rotary is what you make it.” well let me tell you; It’s true and I’m living proof of it. There have been millions and millions of Rotarians since 1905 and about 1,400,000 more today. They have one thing in common; their Rotary stories are all different. Some are short and sweet and others long and involved. But most are only meaningful to the individual Rotarian they happened to. Others are well-known and even world-famous. I got to thinking about that, a lot! I know it’s true but how do I convince today’s Rotarians that it’s true? The only thing I could think of is to write about the one Rotary story I really know; my own. But who would let me ramble on about my experiences? And then it happened, our current newsletter editor approached me and asked me if I would like to write a column for our newsletter. I could give it whatever title I wanted and select whatever subject matter that interested me. Wow … talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth! And almost without thinking, I said I would. What you are reading is Part 1 of several about “One man’s Journey Through Rotary” – “My” Journey Through Rotary.
My our story starts in 1978, I’m pretty sure is was spring and I think it was a Thursday. The City Engineer of Cambridge Maryland (that’s me) was sitting at his desk when into the office pops Hubert Wright Esq. City Council, and says Bob, have you got $75 you could spare? I thought he was asking me to borrow $75. He said I don’t want your money but I am going to help you spend it. come on, let's go to lunch I’m buying! . I should have smelled a rat but I was young and gullible. When we entered the restaurant it was packed. Packed with people I knew from around the city. People like Ladd Johnson, Bummy Brohorne, Jack Burton, Don Andrews, Skip Miller, and a whole lot of others (about 80 of them). I didn’t know it yet but all these men had one thing in common, they were all members of the Rotary Club of Cambridge Md. The food was great the fellowship was even better. Then they started their program, little did I know it was ME! Hubert got up and talked about me. he went on, and on about what a great guy I was and he probably would have said a lot more but the president told him to be quiet, pay my dues (which turned out to be $75) coincidence? And sit down. I forked over the $75 and the president pinned me, everyone stood up and applauded. And in a matter of minutes it was over. All I knew was I had a great lunch, a good time with a lot of my friends, was out $75 and all I had to show for it was a blue and gold pin on my jacket. There was no, vetting, no training, no fireside chat (information meeting), and I new nothing about Rotary. Little did I know how much that little blue and gold pin would come to mean to me.
My Rotary journey was off and running. I got pretty good and selling tickets too, then in early fall of that same year somebody labeled me “the Thanksgiving Chairman of potatoes. Yes I had become the Zarr of Potatoes. I asked, How many potatoes am I in charge of? The person said … Oh I don’t know I think about 350 lbs. should do it ??? it turns out the Cambridge MD Rotary Club each year canvased all the churches and then prepared and delivered complete turkey dinners to every family on the list (about 300). Thanksgiving morning we all about 50 of us, assembled in St. Paul’s Episcopal parish hall and put all the meals together. Me and three other men had successfully amassed well over 300 lbs. of buttery mashed potatoes. When we were finished we had 10 – 15 pickup trucks full of turkey dinners. We headed off to various parts of the city to deliver the dinners but not before turning on the tape-recorders in the trucks as loud as they would go and started playing and singing … Christmas carols. Everyone in the city knew it was coming, the Rotary club had been doing it for years, they all came out of their homes and started singing right along with us.
People cried when they got their packages, I got lots of hugs and kisses and even more “God bless you’ s.” Have you ever heard a whole town of people singing Christmas Carol’s all at once? what an experience! When we got back to St. Paul’s the wives had reorganized the leftovers and we all (All the Rotarians, their families, the pastor of St. Paul’s, and a variety of friends who just wanted to help) sat down and had Thanksgiving dinner as a group. Wow, what a day. I can remember thinking. This Rotary thing has some teeth to it. it was my first real Rotary program. We made a difference.
I learned a lot about Rotary in Cambridge but I was only scratching the surface. Where does it go from here? Stay tuned for part 2 …