By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac was well-represented at the recent Rotary International centennial convention relatively nearby in Chicago, where it was founded by Sister Lakes resorter Paul Harris.
Next week the Groners expect to have as their houseguest India's polio eradication chairman.
"It started with the ribbon-cutting of the repurchased Paul Harris home. Barbara and I were there. In fact, the local flower shops made the ribbons across the door that were cut. The Japanese rededicated the lantern. The president planted a tree on the property. It was certainly an historic event in the (100-year) history of Rotary."
The highlight for Groner was Mrs. Saban kissing and hugging him. "This 75-year-old lady, I would guess, said, 'If my husband were alive today, he'd be walking right with you wherever you went.' That was a real treat for me."
April's 50th anniversary of Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine marked one of the most important milestones in medical history.
The Salk vaccine, together with the oral polio vaccine later developed by Dr. Albert Sabin, opened the door to an organized, scientific assault on polio, a goal to which Michigan Rotary Clubs donated $2,579,601 in the past three years.
Two things impressed City Clerk Jim Snow.
Sitting in Grant Park, he encountered a California Rotarian. The man sat down and visited with Snow's wife, Lavada, during the parade.
Snow also shared a not-as-pretty scene centered on a "mass" of people so enormous that all but one of the escalators was going down.
He stiff-armed the surging crowd like a fullback and picked up the short yardage necessary for a safety first down.
Richard Judd agreed. "It was just total gridlock. You couldn't move in any direction" with 161 of 168 Rotary nations worldwide in attendance.
Australians were fond of shouting, "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" Judd said, to which the proper response is, "Oy! Oy! Oy!"
President Herbert Phillipson, who relinquished his gavel to banker Mark Dobberstein, whose presidency begins today, said, "It was a tremendously successful convention. We all had a great time."
Summing up his year as president, Phillipson stressed, "A strong Rotary Club means a strong Dowagiac. I know we want our town to be better and stronger. Attendance is the way to have a strong club. If we stick together and meet together, things will develop and we will have a strong Dowagiac."