Rotary is Service Above Self

The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.

My grandfather got me involved in Rotary in 1995.  He would go on to experience 50 years of perfect attendance--a distinction that is pretty darn amazing.  My grandfather was an optometrist who helped people in the community and, most notably, provided the nuns at our church (even before he became Catholic himself) with free services and glasses.

My grandfather lived the motto service above self.

The Club I joined in 1995 was the Massillon, Ohio Club.  They put a walking path in at the local park.

The Club in Steubenville which was was a member of from 1997 to 2002 was, among other things, a major contributor to the murals in Steubenville.

The Newark Club, for which I have been a member since 2008, is best known for Rotary Park, an accessible playground on the north side of Newark that was built in 2005.

And last week we learned, first hand, the impact of the Newark Club's involvement in installing a water well in Mali, Africa.  Our speaker, Sunny Akuopha of Mali, updated the club on the project which was a joint project of the Newark Rotary Club, Rotary International, and a club in Mali.

Rotary truly lives the motto service above self.

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Update:  The Newark Rotary Club celebrated the 94th anniversary of the meeting of what would become the Newark Rotary Club on June 15, 1916.