Roots by Cholly Capps

A Little History of Your Rotary Club

The greatest "pure Rotarian act" that gives roots to a Rotary Club is sponsoring a new member. New members can grow and sprout and sponsor other good new members. I suppose you could say that Rotary Information is the fertilizer that nourishes that growth.

The champion new-member sponsor in our Club, 96-year old Albert Friedman (Mr. Miracle Mile) was invited to join our Club by Bill Kerdyk, Sr., in September, 1967. He was our strongest and most prolific root. In looking at our Club's "family tree" I followed the growth of 17 new members he sponsored and discovered that those 17 spawned 43 more Rotarians, who in turn sponsored 44 new members, who as of 1997 had sponsored 13 more. Albert's legacy is 120 members and still counting. In 1997, 61 of those members were still in our Club. Seven were past presidents. Our first female president, Roberta Hulce was sponsored by Albert as was Past President Joe Lancaster. He sure knew how to pick `em!
Albert was my sponsor in 1975. He fertilized me well and I added to his legacy by sponsoring 28 new members in 22 years. Those 28 grew to become 61. In 1997, 36 were still active in our Club. Things like this column provide a generous dose of fertilizer. Why don't you put down your own roots, take advantage of the free fertilizer and start your own legacy. SPONSOR A NEW MEMBER THIS YEAR.