That distinction is actually held by Harris’s friend Silvester Schiele, who served as the first president of the Rotary Club of Chicago. Harris deferred his club leadership duties until February 1907, when he was elected the third president of the Chicago club.

Other firsts: Canadian E. Leslie Pidgeon (1917-18) was the first Rotary president from outside the United States, Sydney W. Pascall (1931-32) was the first from Great Britain, and Maurice Duperrey (1937-38) was the first from continental Europe. Learn more about past Rotary presidents.

Foundation firsts

In 1929, The Rotary Foundation gave its first gift, US$500, to the International Society for Crippled Children (later Easter Seals), which was founded in 1921 by Rotarian Edgar F. Allen, of the Rotary Club of Elyria, Ohio, USA. Read more about Allen and Easter Seals.

Paul Harris Fellow recognition was established in 1957 to show appreciation for contributions, and to encourage substantial ones, to what was then the Foundation’s only program: Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study, the precursor to Ambassadorial Scholarships. Today, the recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. Learn more about donor recognition.

Convention facts

Edinburgh, Scotland, hosted the first convention outside North America in June 1921.

Rotary’s first convention in Asia was held in Tokyo in 1961. Among the record-setting 23,366 paid and unpaid registrants was the emperor of Japan.

The largest convention to date, based on the number of paid registrants, was Osaka, Japan, in 2004, followed by the Rotary centennial convention, held in Chicago in 2005.

Read more convention history and learn about the 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, 6-9 May

RI General Secretary John Hewko said the agreement will enable Rotary club members to have an immediate, lifesaving impact in communities hit by natural disasters. “ShelterBox will be able to ensure that local Rotarians are provided an opportunity to participate in the distribution of ShelterBox containers,” he said.

Each ShelterBox typically provides a tent designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, stove, water purification kit, blankets, tools, and other necessities to help a family survive for six months or more after a disaster.

I am still occasionally asked why we decided to develop our Future Vision Plan. The question is, if the Foundation wasn’t broken, why fix it? The truth is that our Foundation, which has served Rotary and the world so well for over 90 years, was becoming dated. We were reacting to a changing world by adding yet another program or altering our rules, which made the Foundation increasingly complicated and expensive to administer. It was time to face the reality that we must change or see our impact on the world diminish.

We asked over 10,000 Rotarians what changes we should make and then began to work on a Foundation that is simpler and easier to understand, that involves clubs and districts more in spending and stewardship, and that builds more sustainability into our activities.

Just as polio eradication has defined Rotary to the international community in recent years, in the future, our six areas of focus will define us. We will have lifted ourselves above the multitude of little projects that felt good but addressed symptoms, not causes, and too often had a short-term impact. We have demonstrated through our polio efforts what we could do, and we will show the world that there are answers to other major issues, and that Rotary is prepared to lead the way. We can’t do it on our own, but we can and will make a difference.

The pilot districts are saying that Future Vision is exciting, leads to greater engagement and enthusiasm, is more efficient, is creating more interaction between clubs, is making Rotarians more aware of opportunities, has scaled up the size of projects, and is leading to greater giving to the Foundation. As chair of our Foundation, I can only agree!

Here's the schedule for the next few weeks:

15-May J Jackson D Sullivan P Miller                        DAVE

22-May J Jackson D Sullivan P Miller                         ROB

29-May J Hutton J & C Richardson                              LEN

5-Jun     J Hutton J & C Richardson                             KEN

12-Jun   J Hutton J & C Richardson                             DAVE

19-Jun   W Gibson Cam White Barb W                     ROB

26-Jun   W Gibson Cam White Barb W                    LEN

Listed below are the Greeters for the next Month

If you cannot make the meeting please arrange a replacement