![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Rotary-Wheel-3d.jpg\")
\u2026I reluctantly joined Covina Sunrise Rotary in 1984 just a year and a half after its charter date and remain an active member.\u00a0 You may ask why.\u00a0 Well\u2026when I think about it, I too question the sanity of my decision.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So, you may further ask, \u201cis there something wrong with you?\u201d\u00a0 The answer\u2026\u201cquite possibly, yes.\u201d\u00a0 Like many other Rotarians worldwide, I too joined CSR for all the wrong reasons.\u00a0 Starting an Investment Advisory career and business and getting it off the ground at age 41 was difficult and finding new clients to support that enterprise was even more difficult.\u00a0 In my mind, joining a community service organization seemed like a good idea in pursuit of that strategy, and the end result was\u2026I didn\u2019t do a lick of business with my fellow Rotarians.\u00a0 However, within a three year period, I did business with about 90% of my Rotary brothers (and later sisters) who were now friends. \u00a0I came to understand and embrace the mission of Rotary and recognized both my desire and need to participate in something for the greater good.\u00a0 When I looked around our meeting room, I saw a like mindedness which was the glue that kept our core coming back over and over again.\u00a0 That\u2019s magic.<\/p>\n
For many years, I was the CSR \u201cinduction machine.\u201d\u00a0 The President would ask a proposed member to come to the podium where I would pin that individual in a semi-formal atmosphere and comment on the fact that \u2018prospects\u2019 have many choices when it comes to selecting the right service club.\u00a0 I always recognized Rotary as the \u201ccrown\u201d of all service clubs but emphasized that CSR is the \u201cjewel\u201d in that crown. \u00a0And it still is.<\/p>\n
I am proud to be part of a committed community who see \u2018service above self\u2019 as a way of life.\u00a0 It is my privilege and pleasure to be associated with 35 Rotarians who give of themselves unconditionally in the ongoing fight to eliminate that great triumvirate of poverty, ignorance and disease worldwide, and right here in our local community and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
\u2026I\u2019ve always been attracted to oddballs and they somehow, they find me.\u00a0 In the early years, we were a collection of local guys who were looking for a connection to something\u2026almost indefinable.\u00a0 We came in all sizes and shapes with great variance in our geographical backgrounds, religions, education, careers\/jobs, etc.\u00a0 We just kinda found each other and became inseparable.\u00a0 Our respective families and circle of friends were becoming annoyed that we were no longer spending significant time with them but rather with each other and our projects.\u00a0 Spouses were an equal and significant part of that thing we became.\u00a0 Our core was composed of 10-12 couples who spent each weekend together doing fun things as well as those \u2018all Rotary.\u201d\u00a0 Our core was not socially engineered but rather connected via a natural affinity with and for each other.\u00a0 A team of characters was born. \u00a0A defining moment for me was the passing of Tex Everson who was a charter member.\u00a0 After the funeral, we all gathered at Bill and Clojean Fortney\u2019s house to grieve together, drink together and laugh at Tex stories of which there was no shortage.\u00a0 It was a significant and cohesive event.\u00a0 For me, that was the seminal event that created our \u201cBand of Brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2026I reluctantly joined Covina Sunrise Rotary in 1984 just a year and a half after its charter date and remain an active member.\u00a0 You may ask why.\u00a0 Well\u2026when I think about it, I too question the sanity of my decision.\u00a0 … Continue reading