[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 963]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE ROTARY CLUB OF PAOLI-MALVERN-BERWYN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM GERLACH

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 26, 2005

  Mr. GERLACH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Rotary Club of 
Paoli-Malvern-Berwyn, Chester County, Pennsylvania, on the occasion of 
its 75th anniversary.
  The Rotary Club is unique in that it is the world's first service-
oriented club. The very first Rotary Club was formed in Chicago, 
Illinois on February 23, 1905 by Paul P. Harris. Mr. Harris was an 
attorney who wished to recapture, in a professional organization, the 
friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns and communities of his 
youth. Mr. Harris' forward-thinking concept of community and service 
has gone on to become one of the world's foremost and most respected 
civic and humanitarian organizations.
  Rotary became extremely popular in the coming decade as clubs were 
chartered across the country from San Francisco to New York City. In 
1921, the Rotary took their ideals of service and community to the 
international community. The Rotary Club was given its first 
opportunity to expand abroad and, in doing so, spread to six different 
continents around the world. Today, the Rotary Club has 31,000 
international chapters in 166 different countries.
  As Rotary grew in popularity and membership, its mission expanded 
beyond serving the professional and social interests of its members. 
Rotarians, such as the members of the Rotary Club of Paoli-Malvern-
Berwyn, began pooling their personal resources and contributing their 
talents to help serve area communities in need. It was during this 
great time of exemplary community service that the Rotary Club adopted 
its singular motto, ``Service Above Self,'' and each of its members 
throughout the world strives to implement that motto today.
  In the following years, Rotarians became deeply involved in many 
different important causes. Rotary has made many significant 
contributions to the international community through working with the 
United Nations and was a leading advocate of the establishment of 
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In 
1985, Rotary made a historic commitment to immunize the world's 
children against polio, further proving their extraordinary commitment 
to public service and to the betterment of communities around the 
world. As a result, Rotary is the largest private sector contributor to 
the global polio eradication campaign.
  Rotary is an exemplary professional, social and civic club. Its goals 
and ideals are noteworthy, compassionate, and are ones deserving of 
emulation. The members of the Rotary Club of Paoli-Malvern-Berwyn have 
worked hard for the past 75 years to uphold the motto of the Club's 
founder and continue to work to meet the needs of the communities in 
Chester County, their Rotary District, nation and the world. Mr. 
Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the Rotary Club 
of Paoli-Malvern-Berwyn for its tremendous contributions to the 
individuals, organizations, and communities they have benefited for 75 
years and to wish the Club's members continued success and good fortune 
in meeting Rotary's mission to serve others above themselves.

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