Oct. 28, 2005 – Rotary District Gov. Thomas Lightbourne performed one of his last official duties this week on St. Croix with a press conference Friday at Gertrude's Restaurant.
Presidents of the big island's four Rotary Clubs – Paul Andrews, Rotary Club of St. Croix; Etheldred Christopher, Rotary Club of St. Croix West; Claudia Carrington, Rotary Club of St. Croix, MidIsle, and Lionel Downer, Rotary Club of St. Croix Harborside – attended. Assistant governor, and St. Croix resident, Rupert Ross also was present.
Lightbourne said, "The clubs on St. Croix have always been vibrant and productive. They continue to be so with a full slate of service projects." St. Croix has 110 residents who are Rotarians.
Rotary is celebrating its 100th birthday this year with many clubs establishing centennial projects.
Lightbourne visited the Rotary Club of St. Croix centennial project at Estate Bethlehem on Monday. The club, in partnership with Farmer's in Action, is working to restore an administration building at the site of the old sugar factory. Lightbourne said it was a pleasure learning the history of the area.
Club President Andrews said getting permits for the project had been a "stumbling block," but all of them had now been obtained and work should start soon.
Carrington, of the Rotary Club of St. Croix MidIsle, said its club project was building an interview room for abused children. The room is located in the Human Services Building in Anna's Hope (See "Interview Room Will Give Child Victims a Break").
Christopher, of Rotary Club West, said his club's major projects for the year included putting an addition on at the building in Frederiksted used for My Brother's Table, a group that feeds homeless people in that town.
Downer, of Harborside, said that club is planting red mangrove trees along the new section of boardwalk in Christiansted.
Lightbourne was to give an address at a banquet at Divi Carina Bay on Friday evening and then fly to St. Thomas on Saturday.
Lightbourne owns a small business in Turks and Caicos and is responsible for Rotary International District 7020, which covers the Northern Caribbean from the Bahamas down to St. Barths and consist of 10 countries, 20 Rotaract Clubs, 20 Interact Clubs, and 64 Rotary Clubs with total membership of about 2,600 people.
He said he is trying to visit all the clubs this year, but so far has just managed to visit a little more than half.
Rotary has over 1.2 million members worldwide in about 31,000 clubs. One of its long-term goals is to eradicate polio from the earth.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name, and the city and state/country or island where you reside.