Step into the dining room at the Periodic Table restaurant in Columbia, MD on just about any Friday morning at the godawful time of 7:30 and the room is filled with enthusiastic people getting caught up on the week’s news. They are loud and boisterous, engaging in energetic conversations that have raised the volume to high levels.
You might be surprised to learn that this is a Rotary meeting. The men and women here certainly don’t fit the stereotype of members of a stodgy old fraternal organization. After all, everyone knows that Rotary is for old, retired guys with nothing else to do. Our fathers went to Rotary meetings where business cronies met for lunch and cocktails in ancient times when women weren’t allowed, and they still hadn’t invented color TV.
Fast forward to today to find out that Rotary is one of the world’s largest service organizations, with over 1.5 million members in more than 200 countries around the globe. It’s hard to imagine, but there are more than 50,000 Rotary clubs, each serving its local community in its own way. If you’re a Rotarian, you’re welcome to visit them all. One-and-a-half million people on a mission to help others, and who adhere to the same code of high ethical standards in all they do – amazing to consider, isn’t it?
Sadly, the very idea of community service and community service clubs seems out of date. In fact, meeting people in person anymore to discuss … anything … may be going out of fashion. Tweets are fine. TicTok has its place. Goodness knows that ancient means of communication, Facebook, allows for a sense of community. But it’s not the same as being together with friends and business associates.
We live in a mobile world where our long-time friends move away to chase the sun, be with the grandkids or pay less taxes. Suddenly, we find our personal social network is disappearing. We could all use the energy, creativity, positivity, and sense of accomplishment that comes from meeting once a week with a group of old or new friends with similar goals and values: to help others, do a little networking, and enjoy each other’s company. Not to mention, the breakfast is pretty good.
The Rotary Club of Columbia-Patuxent, those nutty people meeting Fridays at 7:30 a.m. at the Periodic Table, is an eclectic group serving the community by raising money for worthy charitable organizations, and by getting their hands dirty (in some cases, literally) while working in a variety of local projects to help others have better lives. The club is also 50 or more people who treat one another like family and care deeply about each other. Our membership rules have an enormous amount of flexibility for folks who want to join in the fun and the service but have busy lives with lots of other commitments.
You may not have heard of Rotary. Or, if you did, maybe you didn’t realize it isn’t the organization you thought it was. It really isn’t your dad’s Rotary anymore. In fact, Columbia-Patuxent Rotary can be anything you want it to be so long as it serves others, engages our members, and stirs our collective imagination in terms of “service above self,” which happens to be our motto.
Why not visit us at 7:30 on a Friday morning? Come for breakfast, listen to a speaker talk about an interesting community topic, get to know some fascinating people who are anxious to meet you. It's possible that you, too, could be a Rotarian and help add to the calamitous noise, join in the discussion and the laughter. The Periodic Table restaurant is located at 8808 Centre Park Drive, Columbia, MD 21045. For club membership information, contact Linda Ostovitz at lostovitz@offitkurman.com. -- By KEN SOLOW
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