Rotary International
Rotary International Convention Report
In June, 2006, Thie Convery, President-Elect of the Dundas Rotary Club, attended the annual Rotary International Convention in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. Some 30,000 Rotarians representing their clubs with their guests attended the four-plus days of the conference. Hundreds of countries were represented at the event. Flags from each of the countries where Rotary exists were paraded through the venue during the open ceremonies and this took nearly 25 minutes! Both the opening and closing ceremonies were of Olympic-size and calibre!
The convention was exceptionally well organized, with hundreds of volunteers, throughout the city of Copenhagen and the very large Bella Centre venue.
The House of Friendship housed hundreds of display booths highlighting the many, many projects of Rotary throughout the world. The programme consisted of a buffet-style format that one could pick-and-choose their areas of interest. This included keynote speeches, workshops, discussion groups, luncheons, hospitality dinners, and fellowship activities. Highlights were the speeches of outgoing R.I. president, Carl-Willem Stenhammer (from Sweden), current president, Bill Boyd (from New Zealand), and president-elect, Wilf Wilkinson (from Canada).
District Governor, Art Wing, and his wife, Jacquie, also hosted our District 7090 Rotarians and their guests one evening.
The city of Copenhagen was also wonderful to visit with its architecture, walking streets, restaurants and outdoor cafes. And wherever you went, you were bound to see a Rotarian!
The sights and sounds of the conference were magnificent. Of note were the African Rotarians in their traditional dress and the mix to be heard of nearly every language in the world!
On her return to Dundas Thie reiterated to club members, “Every Rotarian should have the opportunity to attend an R.I. convention at least once! You will be amazed at the impact for good Rotary has in the world. It made me proud to be a Rotarian.”