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Rotary Log for Meeting of March 9, 2017
By Jon Flagg
Photos by Sara Treacy
The meeting started off innocently enough. The usual prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, the patriotic song, the guest list. Of course there were announcements, which also started off innocently enough.
Peter Grace and Leo Gagnon making announcements.
But then Peter Grace got up to make some announcements about the golf tournament set for June. He went into great detail (with emphasis on detail) about his plans as emperor of the annual golf tournament.
Finally, Vice President Ben and temporary chair of the meeting asked Peter, "You do know that you are not today's speaker, right?”
Peter quickly wrapped things up and took his seat. But you must read on to know what happened later…
Some other, shorter, announcements included a suggestion that you check out our new and improved website. If you are a committee member, review the information about your committee for accuracy… And don’t forget the Rotary Social, the next being on March 14 at 5:30 at the Atlantic Grill... The Rotary Leadership Institute is coming up on March 18 at 7:30am, if you would like to attend. See our website for more details.
Oh, back to Peter. Ben had our guest speaker pick the raffle. Who do you think won? Bingo! Peter walked to the podium to collect his winnings to cheers of "Speech! Speech! Speech!"
Today's program was about a conflict resolution program. But not just anybody's conflict resolution program: Rotary's! And not a local conflict resolution program; a worldwide program! I am really conflicted about the fact that I didn't know there was a conflict resolution program through Rotary.
Our speaker, Marios Antoniou, grew up in Cyprus. As a kid, he was very concerned about the conflicts between the north of Cyprus and the south of Cyprus. His parents were forward thinking about the regional, ethnic and historical complexities there. So, they decided to send Marios off to a conflict resolution summer camp. That experience made him want desperately to change the education of people in Cyprus. The hope was that change could begin to happen within the country’s various factions. That's where Rotary comes in!
Rotary considered, about 20 years ago, starting its own university dealing with conflict resolution on a worldwide basis. But, instead of launching a new university, they decided to partner with other universities and started conflict resolution programs within them. Programs are now available all over the world including Australia, Sweden, England, Japan, and Thailand. Participants can earn degrees in conflict resolution, or they can earn one in another discipline with a focus on conflict resolution.
Marios chose to get a teaching degree. That way, he could take what he had learned about conflict resolution and put it into a classroom in Cyprus. There, he hoped to change the education of children so that the past can remain in the past. And, subsequently, the country can move forward with—hopefully-- unification. Marios is now a proud Fellow in the Rotary Peace Fellowship.
The program was incredibly enlightening. Not only learning about Rotary’s conflict resolution program, but the mini history lesson of Cypress was fascinating.
Respectfully submitted, Jon Flagg
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