Metro North Rotary Notes:
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Guests and Visitors: Anthony Conn, Dr. Yogi Reppmannn
Prayer/Pledge: Nate Vriezelaar
- Patti shared about our annual Christmas gift giving to Metro High School students. The club will be purchasing gifts again for Metro students. If you are interested in shopping please contact Lindsay (lglynn@abbehealth.org) or Ruth (rnebergall@crbt.com).
- Ash shared the Rotary Youth Exchange will more than likely be taking place this year. The metro clubs are looking for potential host families. If you are interested please contact Ash (ashley.wagel@gmail.com)
Speakers: Dr. Yogi Reppmann and Tony Conn
In December 1931, a time when many were concerned about rising nationalism in Germany and many parts of the world and the danger of war, Jewett Fulton of the Rotary Club of Keokuk, Iowa (on the Mississippi) sent 504 letters to Rotary Clubs in sixty-five countries outside the United States, encouraging members to smoke a symbolic and communal peace pipe, a ritual practiced by Indian tribes as a way of dealing with conflict. While this initiative was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing what became a devastating world war, it demonstrated nonetheless the willingness and courage of an individual and of groups of people to stand up for the ideals they believed in.
Today, the world situation is alarmingly similar as nationalism and ideologies that violate human rights are on the rise again. In this context, a new peace pipe initiative has been inaugurated. Dr. Dan Shanit of the Jewish Rotary Club in Jerusalem, has asked Tony Conn of Keokuk, Iowa, and Joachim (Yogi) Reppmann of Flensburg, Germany, to build a bridge to Palestinian RC East Jerusalem. Conn and Reppmann have accepted the invitation and are prepared to give powerpoint presentations via Zoom on various related topics free of charge. (One question is – what can a one person project like 1931 teach us today. / What can we do as individuals for world peace?!)
For more information see https://www.peace-pipe-proposal.com.
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Notes prepared by: T.J. Meiners
