One of the lasting legacies from the 1996 Rotary International Convention that occurred in Calgary, was a home visit program that saw Rotarians connect with locals and visit their homes.
The more personal connections made through that home visit program have led to lasting connections that have extended through the decades, and has long been seen as one of the highlights of that convention.
Now, some 3,000 Rotarians have prepared to do the same for the 2025 Rotary International Convention—visiting in Calgary and across Southern Alberta.
In terms of the convention, some 20 per cent of Rotarians will be taking part in the program during the evening of June 23.
“We’ve been promoting it for more than a year to get visiting delegates to sign up,” said Mark Starrett, Co-Chair of the Rotary International Host Organizing Committee.
“Some people have taken on five, six couples of Rotarians that are going to be a part of it. We’re having some small events. We’re having some large events. We’re taking people in buses into the Rocky Mountains to be with Rotary Clubs in Canmore, Chestermere, and High River.”
He said that the legacy of the home visit program was so profound, that even now former visitors were attempting to reconnect for a second time in Calgary.
“I got an email today with a picture of a couple back in 1996, and they said, ‘we’re trying to track down this couple. They’d be in their 70s now. They hosted us in their homes for the whole week.’ The young person that’s now 40 some years old, was looking to connect with the family,” Starrett said.
Developing decades long friendships
Those friendships are key in the Rotary world, said Craig Stokke, Co-Chair of the Rotary International Host Organizing Committee.
“What happens is we have Rotarians all over the world that come every year, and one of the big things they look for is they look to meet up, make those connections with the friends from any of the 120 countries, and then they just go from year to year to year and and continue the party,” Stokke said.
“Anywhere we go in the Rotary world, and mention that we’re from Calgary, [Rotarians] say the 1996 Rotary International Convention was the best convention ever. The two things that pop up were the opening ceremonies and host hospitality, the way that Calgarians opened up their homes and invited everybody in and just had that warm relationship.”
Although having one-in-five Rotarians taking part in the home visit program is huge in terms of participation, Starrett said that it was limited by how many Rotarians from Southern Alberta were volunteering for other parts of the convention.
He said that legacy of the home visits would hopefully continue into Rotary’s presence during the Calgary Stampede this July.
“It is absolutely amazing the number of people that come from all over the world to the Stampede, they buy Dream Home tickets, and they’ll come up to our volunteers and say ‘the reason I’m doing this is because I had a I had an exchange student from Austria staying in my house, or I was an exchange student 30 years ago,’” Starrett said.
“Some how, some way, they’ve been touched by Rotary over the years, and they want to give back and support. So that is really special for our volunteers to be able to hear these stories.”
The Rotary International Convention continues until June 25, in Calgary.
