When Odysseus left Ithaca to fight the Trojans, he entrusted Mentor, a good friend, with his home, lands and wealth. His son was but a boy who had to grow up without the wisdom of his father (but at least he received the love of his mother and the oversight of Athena). On the way home, Odysseus put out the one eye of the Cyclops who was the son of Poseidon and that doomed him to twenty years of roaming the seas before he could make land again in Greece. Athena used the disguise of Mentor to advise and stand beside her beloved Odysseus. When this gray-eyed goddess wished the Athenians to know that their king was again with them, she sent Rumor around to disperse the information.

Anyone who journeyed to Salt Lake City for the Rotary International Convention must have felt that they were returning home with their own kind. Fellowship was the norm, not the exception, at this convention. Also, anyone looking around knew that this was truly a global community that had journeyed here and assembled. Odysseus has many forms and colors; Mentor was present and Rumor was running around telling tales and the “truth” disguised as rumor.

For me and Anne, it was but an instant of recognition that passed between our assembly when we first encountered old friends that we had never met face to face. We laughed, drank, ate, conversed, and worked together but also we traded adventure stories, bits and pieces of our lives that overlapped with theirs and shared a closeness that is not just rare, but empowering. Of course, we all worked, babysitting the meeting place, “the booth,” and telling the world that strolled by about our “virtual, real Club,” Rotary history and “fellowship” of Rotarians. It was a gathering of adventurers and pioneers of all ages who knew how to work and play and share and serve. Of course, we discussed those services that we gave, thought a lot about how they might grow and expand, and spun tales about the different journeys of life that lead us all to this point in space and time. The Rotary International programs were wonderfully constructed and instructive but it was the comradeship, the fellowship and the goodwill that shone from each face, each spirit. Instead of leaving Mentor in charge of what we left behind, mentors were all around us and within each of us. One night one lead the way; another it was another comrade, even when the journey was to dark beer, light conversation and heavy thoughts. Time was filled with laughter and togetherness. Like Odysseus, we felt at some special moment that we were home.

On returning, we all, I am sure, left the tiredness fall away in the comfort of our “homes” but the memory of friends newly regained was still clear and close. We had magically journeyed from our “home” to a “new home” back to our original “home”. We found how life is a circle in our Odyssey, our travels. Next time, we meet the new adventures will be told and shared and fellowship will shine as brightly as it did in Salt Lake City. Of that, I am sure.

For those who we all know over the internet (our 21^st century way of letter writing) who did not make this odyssey, there is always a new adventure (Los Angeles in 2008). I would not miss it. Will you?

Joe Kagle

President/Chairman, RGHF, 2007-2008

Member: Rotary eClub of the SW. USA

Professor of Art and Art History, Kingwood College, Texas

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Trying to make fuller use of the new eeb siter, my own comments and first reflections on Salt Lake can be found on my blog, here on the web site

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Ciao Joe, nice photos !!! Thanks

"Fatti non foste per viver come bruti ma per seguir virtute e canoscienza" - Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia.

Hi Everyone,

This is Judi, your staff contact in Evanston.  I absolutely LOVE the new site.  I was just looking at some of the photos from your booth at the convention and truly wish I could have been there to see it in person and meet those of you who were there.

I hope you all enjoyed the story that was on www.rotary.org   I think they did a nice job.  Good PR for all of you and for the e-club pilot project.

Judi 

Dear Judi:

I think that all of us who were there in Salt Lake City at the RI Convention learned something too: that fellowship is possible and real in the "real,virtual" world of the internet but laughs, hugs and face to face meetings are marvelous too. It was for each of us a testimony that the Rotary "eClub" does work to get to know each other and to give service. As I have said in other places, the "eClub" experience is what letter writing was for those who wished to share ideas that lead to service in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. You get to know someone, and trust them, by sharing "things" that lead to a knowledge below the surface.

Thank you for your comments about our booth and our efforts. I do feel that eClubs are a true addition to the Rotary mission of service and they are part of the wave of the future. Also I agree with you on our new site. It will help communications and with better communications, service.

Yours in service without borders of any kind,

Joe Kagle

The other day, about two weeks ago, I flew out at 7:10 am and landed in Chicago at 9:30, met a fellow Rotarian Dick McKay, who took me to a special place, the Union League Club of Chicago where ROTARY/One holds their weekly meetings. As you know, that is Paul Harris' club and the place where 14 million dollars of paintings grace the walls. I was in Rotary and art historian's heaven. Also the fellowship and the program were first rate. In the afternoon, Dick and I went to Rotary International Headquarters where about 500 employees of RI work for a meeting with the Rotarian, the website and the archives staff. We were there to discuss a cooperation around history by RI and RGHF. If you have never been there, go. It houses the management of Rotary on a global scale and the building sits on a plot that views Lake Michigan. It is a magnificent view. I flew back and arrived home about 10:30 pm, a nice, business 18 hour day with Rotary.

But isn't that what business is becoming for Rotarians in the 21st century? When we need to meet face to face, we spend this kind of time traveling. Most of the time we do our ethical business by the internet. Just as there is no substitute for face to face meetings when nuances of meaning must be accomplished, there is a special kind of knowledge that is gained over the internet. It is "getting under the skin" of a person, getting into that place where initimate understanding can be gained. But sometimes, it has to be checked by meeting across a table (instead of across the world). That is why every year, Rotarians look forward to meeting at the RI Convention. There is nothing like it at weekly or monthly meetings. Therefore, see you in LA in 2008.

Joe Kagle

President, Rotary Global History Fellowship, 2007-2008