Byesville Rotary learns “Service Above Self” important to Martin Luther King

Pictured: Pastor Randolph White and Larry Miller, Speaker Host.

Pastor Randolph White spoke to the club about Martin Luther King’s legacy. Pastor White’s relationship to Martin Luther King is longstanding. In 1972, he was instrumental in organizing a group which helped establish a Martin Luther King Memorial.

He explained that King worked to build community between people based on camaraderie and fellowship. King was aware that it would take work to create communities that accepted and appreciated everyone, no matter what their race, creed, or gender.

Pastor White stated that King’s view of the future was influenced by his early experiences. He was close to his grandparents and had a large extended family. His experience of a large, supportive family helped shape his definition of community which he defined as a place where each person would be accepted and appreciated with no qualifications or requests to change. Pastor White pointed to the example of the Good Samaritan as an example of how a member of King’s community would behave.

King knew that life experiences can result in hurts and offenses which can cause people to resent other and desire revenge. King encouraged people to overcome this type of negative feelings because they can prevent people from being kind to or respecting his/her neighbors.

King also believed in making change through non-violent methods. He felt that every effort should be made to avoid war and other types of violence. He was aware that his passion to make changes in American society could result in violence toward him and his followers.

Randy Lauder and Dennis Harding, chairs for the chicken BBQ fund raisers, invited any member interested in helping with the BBQ’s to stay for a short meeting after next Tuesday’s morning meeting. Bill Hartley will check with the Health Department to find out if there have been any regulation changes since last summer.

Plans for marking the club’s 25th anniversary are in process. A small celebration will be held during one of the morning meetings to mark the founding date of the club. A larger and more formal celebration will take place during the Changing of Guard dinner in June.

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary can call Membership Chairs Marty Patchen, 740-685-3828, or Randy Launder, 740-685-8294