President’s Message

July 16, 2008

I must confess that I have not always read my copy of The Rotarian magazine very carefully over the years.  However, as I was reading the latest edition I was reminded of one of the main reasons I am proud to be a Rotarian—the fight to eradicate polio in our world.

Maybe it’s such a big deal to me because I remember the efforts that our country made when I was growing up in the early 60’s.  Our whole community would report to South Eugene High School and get our sugar cube with the vaccination.  I loved it because the development of the oral Salk vaccine meant I didn’t have to get a shot!

While we are fortunate that the efforts of our national and local leaders made polio a memory in our nation, not everyone was as lucky.  The disease of polio continued to attack people in other parts of the globe.  While there are always issues for world leaders to worry about, I am impressed that International Rotary is coming close to doing what all the governments were not able to - eradicate the disease of polio.  The Rotarian magazine described how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, working with the World Health Organization and The Rotary Foundation, had begun to honor their $100 million challenge grant with the first payment of $40 million to begin immunizations in the four countries that still have polio—Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

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Chartered January 21, 1947

President................................ Bruce Smolnisky
Immediate Past President......... Dan Egan
Secretary................................ Micheal Screen
Exchange Student.................... Grith “Skov” Jensen - Denmark
Treasurer................................ Bruce Webber
Editor..................................... Barry Smith