Rotary International Director Dean Rohrs Wows Joint Meeting of South County Clubs
 

     We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from RI Director Dean Rohrs speak at the Wakefield Rotary Club last week. We cancelled our meeting and came together for the meeting with Rotarians from Chariho, East Greenwich, and North Kingstown. It was great to be together with so many from our cluster of clubs. We were not disappointed by our distinguished guest.

     Dean was born into Rotary. Her dad was a past DG and her mom was the queen of Rotary. As a teen she was drawn into everything they did and she hated it. Then she married a Rotarian! One might say that she was destined to be a Rotarian. On July 1, 1989, the day women were officially allowed to join Rotary she jumped in with both feet. That day she not only became a member of the club but was also elected President.

     Her club in Africa was very welcoming. When she and her husband moved to Canada they met up with a very different group of people. They had not accepted the idea of women in Rotary. The women were marginalized and not give real opportunities to serve. They let her in the club but finally had to ask her to leave because she spoke up and wanted to actually serve in leadership roles.

     The DG in that area heard about it and asked to meet her for lunch. Soon afterwards they chartered a new club… in the same city. Years later, when she was District Governor, that same club that had ejected her asked her to come and speak to them about revitalization and she said she gave it to them and didn’t hold anything back.