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The Rotary Club
of Central Port of Spain. |
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In April of 1980 Kelvin
Scoon was invited by the President of the Rotary Club of Port of Spain
to select and invite a group of persons to form a new Rotary Club which
the Port of Spain Rotary Club wished to sponsor. |
| Kelvin, a
multi-media specialist gathered about him 23 persons drawn from both
the private and public sectors, including a Permanent Secretary, an
advertising agency executive, lawyers, an architect, an investment
broker, a pediatrician, an insurance manager, bankers and manufacturers
and so on. It was hard going, achieving the magic figure of 24 before
being granted the charter on August 19, 1980. |
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Of the original 24 members, four more,
in addition to Kelvin Scoon, our first president, became presidents of
the club – Oscar Francois 1982/83; Joe Pires 1983/84; Rodney Prasad
1985/86, and Patrick Kangaloo 1987/88. But even outside of Rotary the
charter 24 made significant contributions to the development of Trinidad
and Tobago. Fred Thomas as President of the Trinidad and Tobago
Manufacturers Association and Joe Pires as President of the Chamber of
Commerce. |
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It was difficult work building the
foundations of the club and the board had to meet several times a month
– at the poolside of the Holiday Inn, at the office of Rotarian Reginald
da Silva, and at Kelvin’s Office. In addition the Club held formal
meetings in an informal atmosphere at the home of Joe Pires. |
| I had said
at the start that we dared to be different. Within months of being
granted our charter we committed the club to furnishing the Servol
Center – bedrooms, sitting room and kitchen – at a cost of approximately
$140,000. It was a staggering commitment for those days. We held
barbecues and other fund raisers, including the first Rotary Walkathon,
which saw many middle aged Rotarians waling around the Queen’s Park
Savannah. |
| Some of our early projects included the first Twin Car Rally for professionals, amateurs and Rotarians. We adopted an Orphanage – the Sunny Hill Home in Barataria. The club also planned and executed the first and Only Rotary organized Caribbean Business Conference as well as arranged for the feeding of children at the Laventille Girls school. |
