The Rotary Club of New Kingston was chartered on April 30, 1990 with an
initial enrolment of 25 members. As a Club under the dynamic leadership
of our first President, John Fletcher, out prime task was to attend to
those activities that would help us both to survive and to grow.
This meant finding that blend of activity
and projects which would offer the new members the exciting prospect of
being personally involved in delivering a service to our fellow men, in
the traditions of a great movement which we had all admired. Our notes
show that administration presented a comprehensive list of activities
and projects.
The minutes of the Vocational Services
Committee meeting dated April 30, 1990 show a wide ranging scope of
activities from Career Counseling, including career awareness, job
preparation, organization preparation, working with a Teacher College,
or through the JTA, or with a particular school, promotion of the
Vocational Service Ideas through speakers and workshops, in
intra-Vocational Service by organizing inter-club, University Group
which equal participation on the topics of professional ethics and other
outreach programmes and many other items.
Subsequent reports showed that these were
substantially successful. In the areas we had equally successful and
comprehensive programmes. Engaging the membership in worthwhile
activities was only one side of the picture. We had to manage the
relationships between members of the club and with other other clubs if
we were to survive and grow.
The early administrations spent
considerable effort on integrating the club with one another. The notes
show that concerns such as making up on overseas visits not only lead to
the development of friendship and healthy fellowship, and establish
contracts that could provide assistance to many of our present and
future projects.
Subsequent administrations have built on
the sure foundations created by the first administration. Although from
time new projects of greater cost and wider scope were added, the basic
aims of maintaining a viable and growing club were never forgotten. Some
projects started in the first administration continue even today, with
each administration adding a new element. The Harrison Memorial Home for
the aged has been one such project.
Over the years, each administration has
carried our Annual Christmas Luncheon treat for the ladies, and it is
always well attended by the members. We have also improved the amenities
of the original home, adding a store room, a solar water heater, the
necessary plumbing to take the water to the bathrooms, refurbished the
kitchen, repair to the leaking roof, and many other minor projects which
have added immeasurably to the comfort of the residents.
Fellowship activities between members of
the club and with other clubs have been almost placed on an
institutional basis, but there is nothing institutional about the
enthusiasm with which these are greeted and participated in by the
members. Sometimes we think that the fellowships attract more
participation than the weekly meetings! We have created a family
atmosphere by incorporating the wives and children, where appropriate,
into our fellowships. For this we have earned the reputation of the many
Rotarians from other clubs who visit us regularly of being a happy club.
Some visiting Rotarians even claim membership in our club in addition to
their own!
Our list of vocational, community and
international service projects is reasonably impressive and we have
recently earned a presidential citation for our effort. Our Club
bulletin, the Early Riser, was founded in the first year of our
existence, as a weekly, then fortnightly, and we are back to a weekly
again. Its format has been subtly changed, to include serious articles
on the state of the nation, national and Rotary interest. We believe
that although Rotary has a major role to play in alleviating pain and
poverty on a case by case basis, our efforts will be futile unless we
contribute to the improvement of the nation as a whole. Our articles in
Early Riser keep such a perspective in mind.
Among the highlights of our project
activities over the nine years we have existed are our:
- Annual Medical, Dental and Optical
screening exercises, carried out at a Corporate Area Primary School,
where we cater to about 70 children each year
- Annual International Breakfast, timed
to coincide with UN day or some other international celebration
- Sponsorship of an Executive Officer
from an inner city community to a 10-day seminar on Conflict
Resolution in Ottawa, Canada
- Class in Adult Literacy, with
collaboration form JAMAL
- The Third Caribbean Rotarians Business
Conference, attracting participants form the Caribbean, including
Costa Rico, Dominica Republic and Columbia
- Participation in annual Careers Day
Fair, and taking the lead in rotation with the other Corporate Area
clubs
- Subscribing to a total of 3 Paul
Harris Fellowship
Today we stand at 27 active members. It
would appear that over nine years we have only made a et gain of just
two members. However, over the same years we have risen to thirty four.
This comparison illustrates one of the facts of our Rotary experience.
With a young and fairly mobile group who have to put their own career
development first, most of our members have been lost because of this,
especially when they had to move out of the Kingston area.
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