We have all seen the signs on the roadside announcing when and where Rotary meets, signs in many restaurants stating that “Rotary Meets Here,” and occasional newspaper stories on Rotary projects or Rotary-sponsored activities. But it’s much bigger than that, and that takes the form of Rotary International, one of the most recognizable names in the world of community service, both local and overseas.

This is the first in a series of weekly columns in the Times Record that will help you understand Rotary International and allow the six local Rotary Clubs — Brunswick, Brunswick Coastal, Freeport, Topsham, Bath, and Bath Sunrise — to describe their club and activities. Rotary International is among the largest and oldest service organizations in the world. It was begun in Chicago in 1905 and now has 1.2 million members in about 35,000 clubs. Its original intent was to gather businessmen to exchange ideas, form meaningful lifelong friendships, and give back to the community. It now welcomes both men and women.

Over the years, Rotary’s goals have expanded to include promoting peace, fighting disease, and providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, while also supporting education, mothers and children, and local economies. To help achieve those goals, local clubs, Rotary Districts, and the Rotary Foundation raise funds. The most notable international project in recent years has been eliminating polio. To date there has been a 99.9 percent reduction in polio cases all over the world and Rotary International has raised more than $1.6 billion for the effort, which includes vaccination visits overseas by teams of Rotarians.

The Brunswick Rotary Club was chartered more than 90 years ago and now meets at The Daniel in Brunswick on Mondays at noon. It has been responsible for many national, international, and local projects in those years. They include fabrication and installation of the playground at the Tedford Shelter, the Fourth of July games on the Mall, the Bike Rodeo at Wal-mart, helping with the Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program, and Service Above Self Awards (awards to high schools students from Mt. Ararat High School, Brunswick High School, and Region 10 Vocational Ed School students). The club also sponsors students to attend Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), a multiple-day leadership program for high school sophomores.

The Brunswick Rotary Club has also provided bronze plaques for 16 sites of historical significance in the greater Brunswick area.

Internationally, the Brunswick Rotary Club has worked with Rotary District 7780 (southern Maine and southern New Hampshire) and Rotary International to obtain a grant for a veterinary clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan, and a major grant for Healthy Kids/Brighter Future in Lusaka, Zambia, which funds training local teachers to improve their hygiene education skills.

Those projects have been funded by local events such as the recent Art Feeds the HeArt and Mid Coast Maine’s Got Talent program. The next Mid Coast Maine’s Got Talent will be held on Friday, March 31. All Rotary meetings are open to the public and all are welcome. For more information please visit www.brunswickmainerotary.org or contact the current president, David Taft at dtaft70@outlook.com.