Why I am a Rotarian

I was looking for an organization which would allow me to combine my professional activities with a desire to serve my community, which had been instilled in me by my father from a very young age.

When a man I came to know as the district commissioner for the Trenton, Ontario, Canada, Boy Scouts contacted me; I could not refuse to meet him. Accompanying my proposer was another Rotarian who went to the same church that my family and I attended.

Something they said to my wife, Joan, and me struck a chord. Associating with the business leaders of Trenton, a town where we had lived for less than two years, was very appealing.

Small towns are great for raising a family, but getting to know people socially was something both Joan and I wanted.

Knowledge of Rotary's programmes, first locally and then internationally, captured my imagination and allowed me to progress from being a new member to an involved Rotarian.

Experiencing an international convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1964, fanned the flames for service and showed me the true internationality of Rotary.

During the odd peaceful moment, Joan and I often think of the towns and cities we wouldn't have visited, the speakers and world leaders we wouldn't have heard, the truly great international projects that we wouldn't have seen, and the friends that we wouldn't have known if I had not been asked to join Rotary in November of 1962.

Wilfrid (Wilf) J. Wilkinson

RI President-nominee 2007-08

Director and Vice-President,

Rotary International, 1992-94.

Member of the Rotary Club of Trenton,

Ontario, Canada