History of the Rotary Club of Houston
History of the Rotary Club of Houston
The Rotary Club of Houston was founded in August of 1912, soon after newspaper executive Robert Cornell returned from an advertising convention in Dallas, where he had met a member of the newly formed Minneapolis Rotary Club.
The new Houston club began meeting in the Mecca Cafe, where club president Cornell had to hear members complain about the $1 initiation fee and $2 annual dues. A year later, club members and wives gathered for an evening banquet at the brand new Rice Hotel a day before its official opening. The club would meet there for the next seventy three years. In 1914, the club hosted 1288 Rotarians and wives who attended Rotary International's (RI) 5th Annual Convention in Houston. Thereafter, the club's membership grew steadily until September, 1963, when it became the world's largest with 773 members, two more than the founding Chicago club's total. Meanwhile, RI credited Houston with bringing Rotary to numerous other Texas cities as far away as Amarillo, 600 miles to the northwest in the Texas panhandle. In 1972, Houston again hosted the RI convention and its' 14,000 delegates. When the Houston club reached its zenith with 941 members in 1985, there were 34 neighborhood Rotary clubs throughout Houston, 24 of which the Houston club had sponsored.
The Houston club's distinguished record of service to the community began in 1919 when it first supported the young residents of the Burnett Bayland County Home with Christmas parties and summer picnics - support that has continued uninterrupted for 86 years and today also involves computer mentoring to help the troubled youngsters improve their reading skills.
Following a club luncheon in 1944, Goodwill Industries was launched in Houston, and is now among the largest in the world. In 1958, the club began judging applications for the Houston Endowment's Jones Scholarships, a continuing program which grew larger through the years and to date has awarded more than $44 million in scholarships. In 1966, not long after Houston joined two other local clubs to save the area's Little League from bankruptcy, club members began counseling inmates about to be released from the Texas prison system, a program of the Fresh Start Committee which currently also coordinates television conferencing to help female inmates improve their family, financial and health life skills.
In early 1971, five months after NFL Coach Vince Lombardi died of cancer, the first Rotary Lombardi Award dinner was held to recognize the outstanding college football lineman before 800 persons and guest speaker U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew. To date, proceeds of these annual banquets have raised just over $3.1 million for cancer research.
In 1987, after club leaders viewed a similar program during the large club conference in Fresno, Houston initiated Camp Enterprise, which during a weekend each spring teaches business practices to 72 outstanding high school juniors. And in 1993, a thirty year dream of the club, following upon its providing free apartments to Rotarians from other countries being treated for cancer at the Texas Medical Center, became a successful fund raising reality with the completed construction of the $17 million Jesse H. Jones Rotary House International, the largest project by a single Rotary club in history. The Marriott Corporation managed facility provides convenient, economical housing for families of cancer patients across the street from the world renowned University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, with easy access through an enclosed bridge over a major thoroughfare. Included in the work of some two dozen other committees, the Houston club supports students at four inner city elementary schools and provides the panels who judge candidates for another multi-million dollar group of college scholarships offered each year by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Foundation.
Complied and edited by Jack U. Wells
Contributing sources: Alvin R. Busse, Steven P. Luffburrow, Jack D. Owen, Arthur D. Schwarz, Jr., and Bill Teague
History of Rotary International
The world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris, an attorney who wished to recapture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth. The name "Rotary" derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices.
Rotary's popularity spread throughout the United States in the decade that followed; clubs were chartered from San Francisco to New York. By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents, and the organization adopted the name Rotary International a year later.
As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving the professional and social interests of club members. Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in need. The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its principal motto: Service Above Self. Rotary also later embraced a code of ethics, called The 4-Way Test, that has been translated into hundreds of languages.During and after World War II, Rotarians became increasingly involved in promoting international understanding. In 1945, 49 Rotary members served in 29 delegations to the United Nations Charter Conference. Rotary still actively participates in UN conferences by sending observers to major meetings and promoting the United Nations in Rotary publications. Rotary International's relationship with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) dates back to a 1943 London Rotary conference that promoted international cultural and educational exchanges. Attended by ministers of education and observers from around the world, and chaired by a past president of RI, the conference was an impetus to the establishment of UNESCO in 1946.
An endowment fund, set up by Rotarians in 1917 "for doing good in the world," became a not-for-profit corporation known as The Rotary Foundation in 1928. Upon the death of Paul Harris in 1947, an outpouring of Rotarian donations made in his honor, totaling US$2 million, launched the Foundation's first program - graduate fellowships, now called Ambassadorial Scholarships. Today, contributions to The Rotary Foundation total more than US$80 million annually and support a wide range of humanitarian grants and educational programs that enable Rotarians to bring hope and promote international understanding throughout the world.
In 1985, Rotary made a historic commitment to immunize all of the world's
children against polio. Working in partnership with nongovernmental
organizations and national governments thorough its PolioPlus program,
Rotary is the largest private-sector contributor to the global polio
eradication campaign. Rotarians have mobilized hundreds of thousands of
PolioPlus volunteers and have immunized more than one billion children
worldwide. By the 2005 target date for certification of a polio-free world,
Rotary will have contributed half a billion dollars to the cause.
As it approached the dawn of the 21st century, Rotary worked to meet the changing needs of society, expanding its service effort to address such pressing issues as environmental degradation, illiteracy, world hunger, and children at risk. The organization admitted women for the first time (worldwide) in 1989 and claims more than 145,000 women in its ranks today. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Rotary clubs were formed or re-established throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Today, 1.2 million Rotarians belong to some 31,000 Rotary clubs in 166 countries.
Rotary International President 2007 - 2008
Wilfrid J. Wilkinson
Trenton, Ontario, Canada
Chair, 2005 Chicago Convention Committee
Trustee, The Rotary Foundation, 1997-01 and 2002-04
Vice President, Rotary International, 1993-94
Director, Rotary International, 1992-94
District Governor, 1971-72
Wilfrid J. Wilkinson, a retired chartered accountant, was a founding partner of Wilkinson & Company, a public accounting firm. He is a past president of the Public Accountants Council for the Province of Ontario and a past treasurer of both the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Quebec and the Royal Canadian Military Institute and was elected a fellow of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Since retiring, Wilkinson has served as the part-time executive director of the Quinte Ballet School of Canada. He is also a member of the board of directors of Morris Industries Ltd., a company that manufactures advanced air seedings and tillage systems. He has also been chairman of the Trenton Memorial Hospital fundraising committee, a founding chairman of the Belleville Cheshire Home for Physically Handicapped Adults, chairman of the Board for Loyalist College, and president of the district council of the Boy Scouts of Canada.
A Rotarian since 1962, Wilkinson is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Trenton, Ontario. He has served Rotary International as vice president, director, Rotary Foundation trustee, and district governor. He has also been an International Assembly discussion leader and member and chair of several committees, including the 2005 Chicago Convention Committee.
As a member of the International PolioPlus Committee, Wilkinson has been dedicated to the global effort to eradicate polio. He participated in National Immunization Days in Kenya, Tanzania, and India, and also administered polio drops to children of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He has served as a Health, Hunger and Humanity Grants program volunteer to India. In addition, Wilkinson has had Rotary assignments in South Africa, Namibia, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and many regions throughout the United States and Canada.
Wilkinson has been recognized for his humanitarian service by the Knights of Columbus, the province of Ontario, and the Canadian government. In 2001, he was honored by Pope John Paul II with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal. He is also the recipient of numerous Rotary honors, including RI’s Service Above Self Award and the Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service, Distinguished Service Award, and International Service Award for a Polio-Free World.
Wilkinson has been married to Joan since 1953, and they have four sons and eight grandchildren.
Rotary International Theme: Share Rotary
District Governor - Jeff Tallas
Jeff Tallas was born in the Spring Branch area of Houston. At the age of 9, his family moved to Sugar Land where he has lived for most of the last 30 years. He received a B.B.A. degree in Marketing from Texas A&M University in 1989. From there, he obtained a pharmaceutical sales position with Merck Incorporated in Dallas, Texas.
Jeff decided to take his future into his own hands in 1995 and moved back to Sugar Land where he started his own business. He joined various service organizations including the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce where he served on the Board of Directors, the Texas A&M Houston Reveille Club where he served as the secretary, treasurer and president, The City of Sugar Land Redistricting Committee, and The City of Sugar Land Ethics Review Committee.
Today, Jeff is the owner of Tallas Insurance and Financial Services. Jeff received his LUTCF designation as well as his Series 6 and 63 License. He provides individuals and businesses with complete insurance and financial reviews. His focus includes but is not limited to auto, home, life, and business insurance as well a range of financial products that include IRA's, 529 College funds, Annuities, and a variety of other retirement vehicles.
A Rotarian since 1996, he has served the Sugar Land Rotary club in many positions including Club Service Committee, Fund-Raising Committee, Membership Committee, Secretary and 2002-2003 President. He has served the district as a leader for the Nicaragua hearing aid project, a member of the Grants Committee and as an assistant governor. Jeff is a Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the Bequest Society.
In 2003, Jeff married Tracee, a native of Louisiana who obtained her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Houston. She worked as a senior accountant for Senterra Corporation until the birth of their first child. Connor Reagan Tallas was born on February 1, 2005 and is also a Paul Harris Fellow. Connor is expecting his first brother on October 15, 2006.
9100 Southwest Freeway, Ste. 255
Houston, Texas 77074
Work: 713-271-2000
Fax: 713-271-4141
Home: 281-240-9356
Cell: 281-935-2896
The Four-Way Test
From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.
This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions:
"Of the things we think, say or do:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"