The Object of Rotary - Rotary RIBI

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(Compiled to mark the Centenary Year of the Club in 2011/12) ..... Macgregor Way (77 mls), the Fife Coastal Path (39 mls
HISTORY OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF GLASGOW (Compiled to mark the Centenary Year of the Club in 2011/12)

The Origin and Development of Rotary On the night of 23rd February, 1905, in a typical business office in Chicago in the U.S.A. Paul Harris unfolded his idea for a new Club comprising a group of men from different businesses, who would get together for fellowship and perhaps help each other to obtain more business. In a short space of time other friends were brought into the circle. The first meetings were informal, but basic rules were adopted and gradually the Rotary Club of Chicago came into existence. The adoption of the name” Rotary” is generally attributed to the plan followed in the beginning of holding the Club meetings in rotation at the different members‟ places of business. While in the early days prospective members were encouraged more by the prospect of business gain, the movement progressed to other opportunities for member fulfilment. Today it can be said that Rotarians are not in Rotary to do business with each other. They are, indeed, specifically forbidden to attempt to use the privilege of Rotary membership for the purposes of commercial advantage and the honour of the movement is very jealously guarded by the general body of members. While service in vocation is the very heart and soul of Rotary, service in the community, and international service are also integral and important parts of the movement. Rotary sees the responsibility of the business man as being far wider than the immediate bounds of his personal business affairs or those of his trade or profession. To guide the new Rotarian a series of objects are set before him, namely: “To encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster: 1. 2.

3. 4.

The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupation as an opportunity to serve society. The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business and community life. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace, through a world fellowship of business and professional men united in the ideal of service.”

The Formation of the Rotary Club of Glasgow Having formed Rotary Clubs in Dublin, Manchester and Belfast during 1911, Stuart Morrow, a member of the San Francisco Rotary Club, arrived in Glasgow and took an office at 100 Bothwell Street practising as a business consultant. He appears to have had considerable business connections in the city and was quick to bring these connections into contact with each other. This led to the inaugural meeting of the Rotary Club of Glasgow being held on 12th March, 1912 with an attendance of forty-one founder members. From its inception the Glasgow Rotary Club has played a very prominent role in the development and spread of the ideals of Rotary. The formation of new Rotary Clubs has been an important feature in the life of the Club such that the Glasgow Club has sponsored fifteen daughter clubs as far flung as Dumfries and Inverness, both in 1921, Hamilton (1926), Paisley (1928), Rothesay (1950), and Greenock (1954). To serve the increasing call for additional clubs in the greater Glasgow area daughter clubs were also formed in Rutherglen (1944), Queens Park (1949), Kelvin (1949), Govan (1952), Dennistoun (1955), Glasgow North and Bishopbriggs (1961), Eastwood (1972) and Charing Cross(1985). These clubs have in turn gone on to establish further clubs such that the mother club, Glasgow, has numerous grand daughters and great grand daughters. The Development of Rotary International The mother Club of the whole Rotary movement having been formed in Chicago in 1905 the second Club was formed in San Francisco in 1908. By 1910 Rotary had spread to Canada and in 1911 it crossed the Atlantic with clubs being independently organised in Dublin, London, Manchester and Belfast in that year. In 1912 the Glasgow Club was formed followed by the Edinburgh Club and in the same year the International Association of Rotary Clubs was formed with the Glasgow Club as No.60 on the roll of the International Association. Representatives from the Rotary Clubs of Belfast, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Liverpool and Manchester met in London on 4th May, 1914 and formed the British Association of Rotary Clubs with Glasgow as No.5 on the roll. At the invitation of the British Association of Rotary Clubs the International Convention of Rotarians in 1921 was held in Britain in Edinburgh. There were two thousand three hundred Rotarians meeting in the Scottish capital, about half of whom had journeyed from the U.S.A. and Canada. Here it was decided to draft a constitution for the international organisation. A committee of thirty-one was appointed and they met in Chicago for a week. A constitution was adopted and in 1922 the International Association was renamed Rotary International (RI) as it is today. Some years later the British Association was renamed Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI). A Rotarian of Note

While there have been many members of the Glasgow Club, who have given outstanding service to the Club and to the community, none is more renowned than Sir Harry Lauder (1870 to 1950). Born in Portobello near Edinburgh his family moved to Lanarkshire when he was 14 years old and he went to work in the coal mines at the same time aspiring to become a singer and entertainer. His first professional engagement was in Larkhall in 1894, while Lauder had married Ann the eldest daughter of a local Colliery Manager in 1891. As his career began to flourish in the music halls he performed in London in 1900 and New York in 1907. He had reached the top of his profession by 1912 when he joined the Rotary Club of Glasgow. He was a great ambassador for Rotary not only in the UK but also in America where he first met Paul Harris when he sang for the Chicago Club in 1914. Harry Lauder worked unceasingly throughout the First World War singing to the troops in the trenches and raising huge sums of money for war charities later establishing the Harry Lauder Million Pound Fund for maimed Scottish soldiers and sailors in 1917 in which year his son John sadly lost his life while serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. As a result of his war work Lauder was made a knight of the British Empire in 1919. In the 1920s Sir Harry Lauder was a frequent speaker at Rotary functions throughout the world and during the Second World War he again entertained the troops and broadcast over the wireless despite his advanced years. Glasgow Rotary Service during the War Years Despite the requirement of members to serve in the forces and the austerity measures that prevailed at home the Rotary Club of Glasgow was still able to find a role for its members in the service of the community and the war effort. Two years after the formation of the Club, on 4th August, 1914, the Great War (19141918) broke out and the Club records bear frequent references to casualties among the members on active service. On the home front forty six middle-aged Club members served as Special Constables including two as Superintendents and five as Inspectors. A Recruiting Committee was formed in an effort to raise a Bantam Battalion of men whose height ranged from five feet to five feet three inches. The Glasgow Corporation took over the work of enlistment and the Club handed over a list of about 1,209 applicants. The force was raised as the 18th Highland Light Infantry and went out to France as a fighting unit but was later drafted into other regiments. In conjunction with the Overseas Club in Buchanan Street a Welcome Club was run by Glasgow Rotarians in the Grand Hotel for the lodging and entertainment of overseas soldiers, including Americans, and had an average attendance of forty every evening. Funds were also collected from the members to present a Rotary Ambulance at a cost of £500 to the Red Cross on 26th March, 1918. During the Second World War (1939-1945) many members again served as Special Police Constables also as Air Raid Wardens. Other Rotarians carried out Home Guard duties. Gifts were sent each Christmas to serving members of the Club and to sons and daughters

of members. Visits were made to wounded sons of Rotarians from England, to relatives of serving men, and to families of prisoners of war. In connection with the Lion Club accommodation was provided for service men passing through Glasgow. Many Rotarians and their wives took turns of duty at the Club in Montrose Street, providing meals and entertaining soldiers, sailors and airmen, during all hours of the day and night. Another service given willingly by members was the” Get you home service,” when, with their cars, they turned up at the stations to help soldiers on leave, who arrived after normal traffic had ceased for the day. In 1944, the Club received an appeal from Lord Inverclyde for the Airborne Forces and a sum of £300 was donated. A flag day held in October, 1944, for Shipwrecked Mariners, raised £1,694 all of these significant sums in their day. In 1946 an appeal for a Rotary Cottage for a disabled ex-serviceman was launched, and in 1949 a sum of over £1,000 was transferred to the Scottish Veterans‟ Garden City Association for this purpose, the house being allocated in December, 1952. Rotary Foundation Scholarships After the death of Paul Harris in January 1947 the Rotary Club of Glasgow felt it appropriate to mark the passing of the Founder of Rotary and approached the Directors of Rotary International accordingly. The Directors suggested the raising of a fund, to be known as The Paul Harris Memorial Fund, to create Rotary Foundation Fellowships. These would be awarded to students, who could be a son or daughter of a Rotarian, to study in Universities abroad and this would create a spirit of goodwill and understanding, in accordance with the fourth object of Rotary. Glasgow gave wholehearted support to the proposal and later was thanked by Rotary International for the excellent effort it made to raise funds for Foundation Fellowships. Almost every year there is a Rotary Foundation scholar studying for a post graduate qualification at one of the three universities within the City of Glasgow. These scholars are first met on their arrival by a member of the Club to help familiarise the visitor with his new surroundings. Throughout the period of the scholar‟s studies that member will be on call to give advice or assistance. Often enough the scholar will be brought to a Club lunch or social gathering, sometimes to speak to the Club, more often to enjoy the fellowship the Club could offer.

VOCATIONAL SERVICE After the development of acquaintance for the opportunity of service the second object of Rotary is „High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations and the dignifying of each Rotarian‟s occupation as an opportunity to serve society‟. To assist the Rotarians in fulfilling this role visits have been

made from time to time to selected places of work and talks given at luncheon meetings on subjects of vocational interest. Contacts with schools in the city have in the past been a feature of vocational service where guidance might be given on the interview process applicable to seeking employment together with mock interviews. While legislative changes and advances in career counselling in schools and employment centres may nowadays negate such advice, the Club is keen to assist pupils in developing their communication skills toward becoming better citizens through, for example, public speaking competitions. For primary school children a general knowledge quiz is held annually. Pupils able to communicate in both English and French can also be chosen to attend the European Parliament and take part in a day of presentations, questions, discussions and voting on issues relevant to them. The day, led by officials of the Parliament, is a prestigious event with the young people being treated very much as Members of the Parliament sitting in the main debating chamber.

COMMUNITY SERVICE The third of the objects of Rotary, Community Service, is presented as: „The application of the idea of service in each Rotarian‟s personal business and community life‟. Here the members of the Glasgow Club have played a very important part, both in the life of the City and in the furtherance of worthy causes. Some of the community related activities have been so significant, either in their value or in timescale, that they deserve separate mention under a later chapter on “Special Projects” In 1919, immediately after the Great War, the Club developed an interest in supporting young boys seeking a fresh start in Australia or Canada. The Club built the “Glasgow Rotary Club Cottage” at the Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Western Australia, an organisation to which Lord Nuffield had given a donation of £5,000. This Rotary Cottage was to provide accommodation for ten Glasgow boys and a matron, with the Child Emigration Society undertaking the maintenance, education and eventual placing of the boys in employment at the age of sixteen. From time to time the Club was required to equip and send out boys to the cottage for training in farm work with the ultimate hope of setting up as farmers themselves. To maintain the morale of the unemployed in the inter war years, Keep Fit work was undertaken in an extensive way, while others were encouraged to join choirs and orchestras. For women, dressmaking, cookery and country-dancing classes were started. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales took an active interest in the work and paid a personal visit to Glasgow, spending some five hours visiting Clubs and watching Physical Displays.

One of the abilities of the Glasgow Rotarians was to organise concert parties from their own numbers to provide entertainment in the city‟s hospitals and care homes. Glasgow Rotarians were also noted for their willingness to take groups, including disadvantaged children, on outings to the theatre or to the coast or country in their own cars. Other initiatives brought respite or a feeling of wellbeing to those in need. In more recent times, however, these initiatives were surpassed with the formation of and increasing provision within the National Health Service as well as Social Work Departments in local authorities. In other cases the introduction of government legislation, particularly for the protection of children and the vulnerable, has limited the role of the voluntary sector. The Club also helped establish the Telephone Samaritans service in 1953 and willing members underwent training and took turns answering calls for help. Other opportunities to be of service to the community were also identified including a Hospital Car Service to enable patients to attend hospitals for treatment.

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE From its foundation, the Rotary Club of Glasgow has taken a keen interest in International Service, the fourth object of Rotary, which is stated as: „The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world-fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service‟. One aspect of the International Committee‟s activities is the raising of funds for overseas disasters sometimes on the Club‟s own behalf and sometimes in response to appeals from the local District Organisation or from Rotary International. Significant amongst these has been the Polio Plus Campaign in support of R.I.‟s aim to eradicate polio world wide. Less significant examples but indicative of a typical Rotary year are the contributions made in the year 1999/2000, when £1,000 was sent to Turkey Appeal, £1,000 to the Mozambique Appeal, non-perishable food boxes and £100 to Kosovo a £1,000 donation having been sent in 1998/99, and £500 to Sightsavers International. Also in 1999/2000 a scheme costing £12,000 was implemented to supply computers for schools in Calcutta where training was to be provided by Rotarians within the Calcutta Club. The International Service Committee has always made a feature of making contact with visitors from overseas, students, pupils and tourists. As well as helping individuals the Club would entertain groups visiting the city including school parties from America and South Africa and elsewhere. In August, 1961, for example, the Club hosted a party of fifty two members of the Commonwealth Youth Movement. Also the year 1958 saw the beginning of an international exchange between Rotarian curlers in Scotland and their counterparts in Canada, which has been held every four years and celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2008.

SPECIAL PROJECTS The Rotary Club of Glasgow has undertaken a number of major projects that would defy the smaller Rotary Clubs. Whenever an approach was made to the Club or a major community need identified the Community Service Committee or, more often, a Special Project Committee would look into the need and come up with a solution. Centre for Spastics: Following a stimulating talk in 1955 on a subject little known to the general public, let alone Rotarians, namely that of Spastics, the Club resolved to help the needs of these children to commemorate Rotary International‟s Golden Jubilee Anniversary, which fell in the same year. Along with representatives from the other city clubs an Appeals Committee was formed and a target of some £4,000 was set. A flag day and a raffle were held and later a Civic Reception and Charity Ball in the City Chambers all of which met the target. In 1958, a Rotary Centre for Spastics was opened at 7 Queen‟s Crescent, Glasgow managed by the Association of the Parents and Friends of Spastics with Rotary being represented on their Committee. Infantile Paralysis Fellowship: The Club responded to a request for help in 1953 from the newly formed Glasgow Group of the Infantile Paralysis Fellowship, whose members were not only chair-bound but housebound, providing help with transport. By 1955 thirty drivers were necessary to meet the demand and other city clubs were invited to assist with the transport of Polio sufferers to social gatherings in Kennyhill School. This regular weekly service meant that the Infantile Paralysis Fellowship in Glasgow grew from a small group of some thirty members, to a branch of over a hundred adult members and well over one hundred children. Club members also served on Committees and arranged concerts and entertainment. The service continued into the mid nineties when the need was no longer required. Lifeboat: One of the biggest single fund raising ventures the Club had undertaken for some time was to provide an inshore lifeboat for the RNLI to commemorate the Club‟s 75th anniversary in 1987. The required £30,000 largely came from an appeal to corporate business within the city to which a significant anonymous donation was added. Named „The Rotary Club of Glasgow‟ the lifeboat was gifted to the RNLI station at Macduff in the north east of Scotland. Glasgow Marathon:

When the Glasgow Marathon or Great Scottish run began in 1982 with five thousand runners, later rising to fifteen thousand at its peak, the Rotary Club of Glasgow was invited to provide catering and entertainment for the general public within Glasgow Green an event that became known as Glasgow Rotary Charathon. As well as organising Marching Bands the entertainment included a Freefall Parachute Team, the Scottish BMX Association Stunt Team and a MOD Police Dog Display Team from the Clyde Submarine Base. Numerous charities took stalls and otherwise benefited from the overall proceeds. Radio Scotland and then Radio Clyde provided broadcasts from Glasgow Green and a nationwide raffle for a new car and other substantial prizes was also held. Runner sponsorship for charity was encouraged through a charities brochure circulated to each runner. For fifteen years around £15,000 to £20,000 was raised each year for Rotary charities. As the Club‟s input was reduced this sum fell to around £10,000 per annum until 2008, when the Club‟s participation was curtailed to the award of a trophy for the best fancy dressed runner with an award of £500 for their favourite charity. In the first year one member of the Club raised £10,000 running in the marathon event, while another raised £20,000 over a series of twelve Great Scottish Runs after the event had been reduced to a half marathon. Charifun: Following the success of “Charathon” on Glasgow Green the Club initiated “Charifun” in Kelvingrove Park in 1995. This was a field day of fun to allow charities to run individual

stalls surrounding an area comprising tented entertainment for children as well as entertainment in the open air including carnival shows, bands and various display teams. It was thought at the time that the national lottery was having an adverse effect on fundraising particularly amongst the smaller charities, who did not have the collective organisational ability or representative forum to organise a major public charities day. The event ran for some eight years until 2003 with the number of visitors ranging from around 7,000 on a wet day up to 25,000 on a sunny day. While the Rotary Club made a surplus of around £1,000 after expenses, the main beneficiaries were the individual charities, where a post event questionnaire suggested the raising of a total from £4,000 up to £10,000 depending on the weather. Home Starter Kits: In January 1994 with the support of Scottish Television the Club launched a national project to assist the plight of the homeless, whether destitute, single parents, battered wives or ex-prisoners. Statistics at the time showed that there were in 45,000 homeless local authority applications in Scotland per annum, 20,000 from families with children, in all 1 out of every 45 households. The aim was to provide “Home Starter Kits” for the residents of Salvation Army hostels and other homeless persons or families to help get them started when they obtained rented local authority accommodation. Each kit comprised a two place setting for individuals and more for families as appropriate, including cutlery, a tray, tea pot, egg cups, butter dish, milk and sugar bowls. Also provided were saucepans, a frying

pan, kettle, kitchen utensils, can opener, chopping board and a dust pan and brush. Tea towels, hand and bath towels and a supply of toilet rolls completed the list. Each of the three Rotary Districts in Scotland supported by their constituent Rotary Clubs ran the project in their own area with 72 Gulf Oil filling stations throughout Scotland being used as collection points for donations made by members of the public. The business community generously provided help with transport and storage facilities. National and local newspapers were happy to publicise the event as was Radio Clyde 2 and Radio Forth, while Scottish Television provided 14 free adverts during peak day and evening viewing. However, the greatest level of publicity came from the Scottish Television programme „Scottish Action‟, an award-winning social action programme aimed at bringing topics of social interest to the public eye. Transmitted every Monday at 7 p.m. to an audience of around half a million the programme covered the appeal for a total of seven weeks from Monday 24th January 1994 with over 80 minutes of viewing time specifically about the Home Starter Kit project. Completed Home Starter Boxes were stored by the Salvation Army and issued in response to requests from their own sources, social work departments, local churches, doctors etc. In the event other more substantial items of furniture, electrical goods, etc were also donated and distributed by the SA. The project lasted for three months with over 2,000 boxes being issued during the period, while the wherewithal for many more boxes was left with the Salvation Army to distribute.

FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES For many years the Glasgow Rotary Club has organised a variety of fund raising activities for emergency relief or chosen good causes. Nearly New Shops: The Club ran three Nearly New Shops between 1983 and 1993, this before charity shops were introduced on a wide scale. These shops would run for a week and each would raise £5,000 or more. Empty shop owners provided prime locations in Argyle Street, Bath Street and Renfield Street all within the city centre. Band Concerts: Between 1984 and the start of the new millennium the Club organised four Band Concerts in aid of the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital (Erskine Hospital) firstly in Trades Hall and thereafter in the Banqueting Hall of the City Chambers. The Corps Band of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and later the Lowland Band of the Scottish Division

played on these occasions, each concert raising over £2,000 for the Erskine Hospital for Ex-servicemen. Rotary Walks: A new venture for the Rotary Club of Glasgow began in 2000 when fifteen Rotarians walked the 97 miles of the West Highland Way in aid of charity. This fund raising venture has continued every year since with between ten and fifteen participants undertaking a diverse range of walks in Scotland and Ireland under a wide variety of weather conditions, each walk raising between £5,000 and £15,000 for a specific charity. These walks have included the St Cuthbert‟s Way (63 mls), the Great Glen Way (73 mls), the Rob Roy Macgregor Way (77 mls), the Fife Coastal Path (39 mls), the Dingle Walk in County Kerry (41 mls) and the Bloody Foreland in Donegal (35 mls). Annual Disbursement to Good Causes: While over time there have been many substantial fundraising projects the Club will also make disbursements to between fifteen and thirty charities each year, often with a local focus. Taking into account associated costs for hosting and transportation the total charitable sums disbursed in the three years running up to the Club‟s centenary have averaged in excess of £25,000 per annum. While many of the disbursements made will only be for a few hundred pounds others have been for several thousand pounds where member sponsorship has been involved. Jack Steele Past President

PAUL HARRIS (1868 – 1947) A BIOGRAPHY OF THE FOUNDER OF ROTARY (Extract from The Rotarian magazine – January 1997)

The founder of Rotary Paul Percy Harris was born on 19th April 1868 in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S.A. to George and Cornelia Bryan Harris. He was their second son the first being named Cecil. George was a merchant and Cornelia the daughter of Racine‟s second mayor, Henry Bryan. When the family came upon hard times in 1871 George took the boys, then five and a half and three, to his parents in Vermont. Here in the Green Mountains they wandered the mountain paths, helped feed the farm animals, and savoured homespun treats, under the watchful eye of their stern but kindly grandparents. Cecil soon returned to his parents and their growing family while Paul stayed on. After high school Paul entered Black River Academy at Ludlow, where his prankish behaviour resulted in him being expelled. His grandparents then enrolled him in Vermont Academy, a military school, and in 1885, he entered the University of Vermont, at Burlington, but was once again expelled, this time unjustly and the university recognising this years later awarded him a degree. After working as a private tutor he entered Princeton University. During this time his grandfather died and after a year at Princeton Paul worked for a marble company beginning as an office boy at a dollar a day. Finally Paul went to study law at the University of Iowa from where he graduated in 1891. Paul‟s grandfather Howard, a man of limited education, had once dreamed of becoming a lawyer and having taken up this dream Paul would later write, any purpose, integrity, or sincerity in his nature he inherited from his grand father; any love of humankind, especially of children, came from his grandmother Pamela. Soon after his graduation his grandmother died and while she had been content to spend all her life in that one valley Paul resolved for the next five years to see the world and get to know its peoples. Stirred by this desire, he moved into the Rocky Mountains, then to the Pacific Coast, to Louisiana and Florida working in many varied employments along the way from ranch hand to salesman. From Philadelphia Paul signed on as a cattleman on a gruelling fourteen day voyage to Liverpool visiting England and Scotland, including Edinburgh in October 1893, before travelling to France, Italy, and Germany. Paul always travelled under his own steam, paying his way by such employment as he could find. As Paul travelled, he realised that people lacked understanding and goodwill and that people were strangers to one another He wanted to do something about it. Having briefly visited Chicago on his travels Paul had vowed to return to this raucous city, which fascinated him. Having returned from his travels, Paul rented a small suite of offices in Chicago in February 1896, equipped them with rented furnishings, set up his own space, and subleased the rest. Chicago at this time was seen as a city in ferment with a social and financial volatility that created good business for lawyers. Paul‟s friendly nature won him acquaintances at all levels in society. One summer evening in 1900 after dining with a

friend he was introduced during a stroll to proprietors from various businesses and Paul began to think what a good idea it would be to get together such a group of business friends in a social setting. There would be a particular advantage if each represented a different trade or profession. Paul regularly met with a number of his own clients in February 1905 and the vision that became the Rotary movement began with the group meeting in rotation round each other‟s offices, hence the name Rotary. Membership grew rapidly, attracting men who had achieved business success unaided, most of them bachelors, like Paul, from farms or small villages. Rotary Clubs soon sprouted in other cites. Paul realised that the variety of members sharing the common quality of friendship was a rich seedbed for the encouragement of religious and political tolerance – and of service. In 1907, Paul succeeded Albert White as President of the Rotary Club of Chicago and in 1910 he was appointed President of the newly formed National Association of Rotary Clubs. Paul Harris didn‟t spend all his energy on Rotary. Still an active lawyer, he was also a member of the Chicago Association of Commerce, the City Club, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Hinsdale Golf Club. He was also a founder member of a hiking group, the Prairie Club. Here in 1910 he met a young woman Jean Thomson, who had emigrated with her parents and other family members from their home in Edinburgh, Scotland three years before. The story goes that while walking with Jean and one of her sisters Paul tore his jacket while climbing through a barbed wire fence. Jean offered to mend it and with this gesture Jean was not only destined to pull together the threads of Paul‟s coat but also those of his life. As Paul would later write it took him three months to persuade Jean Thomson to become his wife and they were married on 2 July 1910. „Bonnie Jean‟ as Paul often called her wife, became his wife for the next 37 years, and his widow for 16 more, helping him turn his dream of „Rotary the world over‟ into a reality. In 1912 they bought a house at the top of the hill near where they had met and Jean named it Comely Bank, after Comely Bank Avenue in Edinburgh, where Jean had enjoyed a happy childhood with her two brothers and three sisters. It was at this time that they learned that a Rotary Club had been formed in Glasgow. After the death of Paul Harris on 27th January, 1947, a memorial service was held by the Glasgow Club on 4th February, 1947, conducted by Club member Rev. Magnus MacIntosh, M.A. The President, John C. Campbell, paid a warm tribute to the Founder of the Rotary Movement and, in the course of his remarks, said of him, “Paul Harris had three ambitions from the beginning - to advance the growth of the Chicago Club; to extend the movement to other cities; and to add Community Service to the Club‟s objectives.”