TheBuzz
TheBuzz
SOME provided clean drinking water for 10,000 people; others helped vaccinate 125 million children against polio; others met "wish list" needs of local nonprofit groups in each of the past 12 months. 2001: A Rotary Odyssey
They are the more than 500 Hawaii Rotarians at the statewide Rotary District 5000 conference this past weekend at JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina.
It was Linda Coble's last big event as district governor; her term ends with installation of District Governor-elect Hal Darcey next month. Coble's husband, KHON anchor and self-titled "First Dude" Kirk Matthews suggested Darcey's wife, Lei, could assume the title, "first lei-dy."
Coble said the most gratifying part of the conference was that clubs "which had worked so hard" on their own projects, were able to learn about other clubs' activities.
Rotary International doesn't have protester-problems with projects in developing nations, as does the Asian Development Bank.
Coble said the more than 1.2 million Rotarians in 30,000 clubs in 163 countries, "are the business leaders, the community forces in the neighborhoods, the real do-ers."
"The difference is, when you put those people together on a project identified by grassroots level Rotarians as being a significant need, we partner that Rotary with say, the Rotary Club of Honolulu -- and they can put a bathroom in a school that only has a trench that runs by it for 400 children."
She said money is "not taken out of any bank, it's not generated by a big corporation. It's volunteers seeing a need and filling a need."
Rick King, president-elect of Rotary International and Jim Shamblin, the president's representative, also heard them. They presented awards to Elsie Choy of the East Honolulu chapter, Bob Deibler of the Pearl Harbor chapter, William Harper of the Kauai chapter and Charles Weems of the Honolulu Sunset chapter.
Coble received kudos from Darcey, president of Darcey Builders Inc. He credits her with a big boost in Rotary membership.
"Linda has increased membership by 200," he said, "I don't think we've ever had that kind of a gain before."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com