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Rotary is an opportunity to build
lifelong friendships and experience the personal fulfillment
of providing volunteer service to others.
An organization of business and professional leaders, Rotary
provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards
in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace throughout
the world.
The world’s first service club, Rotary began with the formation
of the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 23 February
1905. The club was started by a young lawyer, Paul P. Harris,
and three of his friends. He wished to recapture the friendly
spirit he had felt among business people in the small town where
he had grown up. Their weekly meetings “rotated” among
their offices, providing the new service club with its name.
Today, as Rotary International, the organization flourishes
in 163 countries with some 31,000 clubs and 1.2 million men
and women members, providing community service in virtually
every nation in the world.
Dictionary Project
In third grade students are transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn. Instead of learning how to sound out words, the focus is learning the meaning of words and accessing information. At this critical point in a student’s life, the Mesa Rotary Clubs are making a difference.
For the third year in a row, the Mesa Rotary Clubs have taken part in The Dictionary Project, an effort to give all third graders in the country their own dictionary. Thanks to Rotary, every third grader in Mesa, over 7,000 children, receive their own dictionary to keep. Actually, it is more than a dictionary because it includes an atlas, the Constitution, information on planets, interesting facts and even sign language. In other words it is an engaging and motivating book at a crucial time when students are ready and eager to learn.
Students really love their dictionaries. For some it is the only book they own. For others, it becomes a family resource that is shared with parents and siblings. And Rotarians get as much from it as the students, as they see their excitement and curiosity about all the information. Teachers also are very enthusiastic and are very appreciative of the support and contributions from the community.
One student could not believe he was given a book to keep. As the Rotarians were doing their presentation his hand shot up and he asked, can I take it home? Why of course said the Rotarian. A few minutes later, can I leave it a school? Yes you can was the reply. After thinking that over he asked "Do I have to turn it in at the end of the year [like the textbooks]? No, it is yours. His hand went up one last time. When the Rotarian assured him that he could take it out of the country if he wished, he seemed satisfied that someone really did give him a book that was all his to keep.
The Dictionary Project is one of the most popular projects our clubs have undertaken. Members go into third grade classrooms for 15-20 minutes to present the dictionaries, and the excitement on the students’ faces is heart warming. And it is not expensive, about $60 per classroom. But like many Rotary projects throughout the world, the impact is huge.
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My Friend Robert Brinton
Since Robert was 4 years my junior it's safe to say that I knew him all of his life. My early
memories of the Brinton family are more of the Dil's (Sr. and Jr.). I vividly remember
helping to make Dil, Sr's famous beans in a galvanized steel trash can. First acquire a
new and unused trash can. Then put about 100 pounds of navy beans in that can. Add
several quartered onions and several gallons of water. If you like, add a few chilis and
maybe some salt. Put the can on the fire and stir and cook for several hours. When
they are squishy, they're done. Robert, Dil, Jr and I did the stirring. Naturally, they were
delicious!
Years later, I moved my business from Phoenix to Mesa, joined the Chamber of Commerce
and was shortly appointed to the Chamber's Board. At my first Board meeting two things
of great moment happened. First we fired the Chamber's President and CEO. Second,
the Chairman appointed me to be the liaison between the Chamber and the Convention
and Visitors' Bureau. The year was 1991, and that is when Robert and I got to be friends.
At the time, I knew nothing about hotels other than how to register for a room. Robert
patiently taught me the concepts of rate and occupancy, which lead to RvPAR (Revenue per
Available Room), which is the measure of a successful hotel. I learned how substandard
hotels cheapen the market and how these types of properties drive the traveling public
away from a town like Mesa. As a Bureau, with Robert in the lead, we convinced the
Zoning Board (and eventually the City Council) to deny licenses to such properties, opting
instead for brighter and shinier sites which make our town look much better.
Robert was always willing. For many years Southwest Shakespeare Company has had
an event in February. This event included a silent auction which always featured Mesa
paraphernalia. This Mesa stuff always came courtesy of a shopping trip to "Robert's
Closet", which is a store room at the Bureau that is filled with wonders and marvels. He
always gave these items with a glad heart. Just don't ask him to attend the event!
Robert was always there to do the things that no one else wanted to do. Every year, in
January, the Cubs have an event in Chicago called the Cubs Convention. The HoHoKams
and the CVB co-sponsor a booth at this event, and several HoHo Board members
accompany Robert to man the booth. Robert was always there a day early to get things
set up. He was also there a day late to take things down. All the rest of us had to do was
show up.
Robert was always there when he was needed. When my dad died, Robert comforted me
by simply shaking my hand and telling me that "this, too, shall pass".
One of my favorite Robert stories concerns a very early, chilly Saturday morning late in
December in 2008. Several members of the Mesa Citizens of the Year Association stood
outside of Robert and Nanette's house, continuously ringing the door bell and banging on
the door. "We want Robert Brinton!" we cried. "We want Robert Brinton, Mesa's Man of
the Year!" When he came to the door, the look on Robert's face was absolutely priceless.
He was totally dumbfounded, and remained that way for the next hour or so. "I can't
believe this!" Of course we'd warned Nanette, but poor Robert didn't have a clue.
Occasionally the public might wonder what causes our Association to pick a particular
Man or Woman of the Year. Not with Robert. No man or woman ever deserved this honor
more than he did.
Today, Saturday, October 22, 2011, my friend Robert is gone. He died, very suddenly,
yesterday afternoon. I'm numb. There were so many things that he accomplished; so
much knowledge that he had amassed; so many plans he had for the future.
There are so many who loved and revered him. I'm one of them. When I'm over this
shock, I'm going to miss him immensely.
Bon voyage, my great and good friend. May God bless you.
---Tom Rhodes October 22, 2011
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