President's Message

As a member of Rotary since 1984, I am proud to belong to an organisation that can boast so many  achievements throughout the world.  By far greatest of these is the eradication of polio from 50,000 plus victims in 1986 to 47 (yes, 47 only) in 2016. And now, in the 21^st century the major cause of disease and death are starvation and dirty water. How can we walk away from Rotary when there is so much suffering in the world with children bearing the brunt?

Do we make a difference? Any contribution that we make, no matter how small, in the name of Rotary must make a difference if only because we are a part of such a massive worldwide organisation and that is why I am proud to represent the Club as President in 2017-2018. 

Halifax Calder is one of the smaller Clubs in the Valley. Size is important, maybe critical in the long term but this should not impinge upon our viability today.  We can build from the springboard established in recent times by the Triathlon and last year Spooktacular; a Halloween event attracting in excess of 3,000 people to Shibden Park at the end of October.  These are the activities which put our Club on the map and hopefully they will become a catalyst for the recruitment of new Members.

Enjoy your Rotary. Come to Conference in Scarborough in October and discover more about the sheer power of Rotary. Most of all, please support our activities; regular weekly attendance is in the furtherance of fellowship which was the essence of our foundation 112 years ago.

Peter Harrison President 2017 - 2018