Editorial: Happy birthday, Rotary clubs

Inside today’s Whidbey News-Times are several stories about Oak Harbor’s two Rotary Clubs and how much they mean to the community.

The occasion is Rotary International’s 100th anniversary, the background of which is explained on page A-9 of today’s paper. The international organization has many amazing accomplishments to its credit, including the near-elimination of polio worldwide. Each local Rotary has helped in that polio eradication effort.

But Rotary is at its heart a local organization, made up entirely of the business and professional people in each community. Oak Harbor is blessed with two Rotary clubs. The Oak Harbor Rotary Club is the oldest and meets at noon. It spawned the North Whidbey Sunrise Rotary comprised of early risers who meet for breakfast.

Together, the two clubs have made immense contributions to the community. The Noon Rotary is presently focusing on its Memorial Stadium fund-raising drive, with a goal of $1 million meant to inspire the community to build a new football stadium. Meanwhile, the Sunrise Rotary is busy keeping parks clean, aiding the poor and providing clean water to a community in South America.

Over the years, the two Rotary clubs have contributed an immense amount of labor, money and leadership to the community. Read all about them inside today’s Whidbey News-Times. And when you see a Rotarian on the street or anywhere in the community, take the time to say happy birthday and thank them for their magnificent efforts to make Oak Harbor a better place in which to live.

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