Fellowship

"Fellowship is wonderful; it illuminates life's pathways,
spreads good cheer, and is worth the high price" – Paul Harris

The RCDE birthday celebrators of the month hold their joint celebration on the last Monday of the month. This serves as the monthly fellowship of our club where we have a lot of food and drinks. It is virtually a festivity filled with songs, animated chatting and of course fun! Being a RCDE member for two years, I have experienced a lot of memorable parties enlivened by each member’s jovial and festive nature.

Rotary they say is fellowship. In our club, we hold our fellowships with aplomb and jubilation. Yes, I am proud of how we conduct our fellowships. In every Rotary affair, RCDE show our unique camaraderie and fellowship. Rotary is in our blood, we usually are together most of the time, Monday to Sunday and boy how we enjoy each other’s company!

Our fellowship is not limited to birthdays. We play basketball regularly (we have joined a basketball league which is held every Tuesday and Friday nights at the St. John School gym), eat out together, watch live events/ concerts/ movies, go and patronize each other’s and establishments, actively participate in District affairs and join other clubs’ inductions.

Before I go astray with my rhetoric and glibness, let me reiterate that today is special day for RCDE as we celebrate the birthdays of our beloved members-

Special mention to my kumpare and very good friend Arwin Joel M. Laguit. Happy Birthday Pare!

Amazing Race

I am available
I am dependable
I give more than I take
I AM A ROTARIAN
- Robert Barth, RI President 1993-94

For many years TV viewers glued their eyes and attention to a reality TV game show which featured will, wits and guts with pulsating, dramatic and street smart action – adventure. It is called The Amazing Race. The show involves teams of two people (except for Season 8, which had teams of four people), who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship and race around the world in competition with other teams.

Being a member of the Rotary, especially the illustrious Rotary Club of Dagupan East is like being in an Amazing Race. We must have the will, wits and guts to survive all the challenges to be able to help our destitute and less fortunate brothers. Instead of teams of two or four, we are made up of 80 plus people who have formed a bond and commitment to service; guided by the dictum of truthfulness, fairness, goodwill and beneficence. And our prize after the race? Selfless service!

Last Monday we had another great attendance during our weekly meeting. Keep it up fellow RCDE, new members and balik-Rotarians! Kudos to the leadership of our President Mario! Tuesday saw the gritty RCDE Basketball team battle a bigger and stronger P.A.S.A. team in a game which went into overtime but we eventually succumbed. Keep your heads up guys, we did our best and hopefully our tenacity will bear fruits for us the next succeeding games. Thursday was an excruciating leg of our “Amazing Race” as we headed to our yearlong Supplemental Feeding Program in Brgy. Talibaew, Calasiao with Pres. Mario, IPP Boy, Sec. Tony, Arnold, Eric Ian, new members Angelo, Vincent and Johnson, and yours truly in attendance. Then we (IPP Boy, Sec. Tony, Manda, Arnold, Eric Ian, Angelo and me) zoomed to the induction of RC Vigan. We withstood the inclement weather, long driving hours and the arduous stretch of 20 road repairs from Sudipen to Vigan. Whew! On Friday, me and my spouse, Joel and spouse, Manda, Angelo and Ritchie (who was also in the Araneta Center) had our fellowship/ get together by watching the game 7 of the GSM-SMB PBA finals.

Our “Amazing Race” had only just begun. Let's keep on being active, available, dependable, selfless in service for we are Rotarians, we are RCDE!

Living the RCDE way…

“I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats.
I don't intend to waste any of mine.”
– Neil Armstrong, Astronaut, first man to walk on the moon
and Rotarian, Rotary Club of Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S.A.

With all the activities we have within the span of less than a month, RCDE has been very active and busy. Indeed we have not wasted any time and yes, we could do more and will do even better.

We’ve only just begun the term of President Mario yet here we are raring to go full blast! From the Deworming project, RCDE Induction, Supplemental Feeding Program, weekly RCDE Basketball tune-up, informal RCDE family get togethers, weekly meetings and full force attendance in varous Inductions from Clark, Baguio, La Union and Pangasinan- whew! We are not wasting any time. There are more activities to come!

RCDE members and new members’ enthusiasm has not waned despite the hectic and exhausting days but instead, the bonding and commitment has gone stronger. I can say with pride that our club is “Service above Self” epitomized.

I enjoin every RCDE member especially the new members to participate, experience and enjoy all the Rotary activities. Busy? Being busy is not an alibi to live a full life. Life is short they say, let us not waste it.

Have fun? With RCDE; Definitely!