DISTRICT ROTARIANS GO TO LISBON
Past District Governor Bret sends this report of his experience at the Rotary International convention in Lisbon,Portugal in June:
We had a great time in Lisbon. Marianne Barker, Rick Phillips, and several other Rotarians from our District were there. It was a big place and difficult to find everyone from district 5400. The opening and closing sessions were really inspiring. It was very nice to hear about many of the wonderful things that happened in creating Peace Through Service directly from President Tanaka. It was also assuring to feel the leadership of now President Burton from our very own Zone. There were people from all over the world and it did not take long to know if you were talking to someone that came from another country and I even had a hard time with a few of the folks from the South of our United States. The breakout sessions were really helpful for the future leaders of Rotary. The idea exchange in this type of gathering is really hard to imagine if you are not there. The think tank feeling is truly amazing.
The history from the Mores(not sure of spelling), to the Arabs, to the conquests of the Christians and everything in-between would take years of being there to scratch the surface. I left Portugal feeling a lot younger. The Tegus River would have been the river that the explorers would have pushed out of into the Atlantic ocean. The river was quite calm with a tidal rise of about eight feet. When you left the shelter of the bay the Atlantic Ocean reminded me of just how risky it was to turn to the west and sail into the unknown. The surf was so rough that the surfers were not able to get into it. From hundreds of yards away the roar of the water was enough to feel as it passed by. With all of the risky elements of exploration, it was not surprising that there were many Saints that were depicted in art as they stood as sentinels of safety for the travelers. Beautiful mosaics were on the corners of every building. Statues at the entry of the freeways, monuments of the Mother Mary looking out to the ocean protecting the people. I think that our country would be broke for sure if we had to put up as many monuments as I saw while I was there. Please don't get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing every one of them. Rotary creates the perfect environment to bring all people together and Portugal gave us the feeling that we can be the explores of our new world. All that is left for us is to jump into the unknown. Everyone should start thinking about going down under.
Here's a late edition from Marianne: I met my first Rotarian from another land my first evening at the Rotary International Convention in Lisbon, Portugal. (see photo on first page) His name is Luiz Begosso from Brazil. When I said I was from Idaho, he asked, "Do you know Tom?" That's my good friend Tom Rosenthal of Boise Sunrise and Rotary Youth Exchange of course. Rotary is a small world, all 1.2 million of us!
See the photo album on our home page for some pictures from Lisbon (if anyone has some photos to add, please send them along!)