The highest honor which can be bestowed by a Rotary club was presented to two Dublin men this week.
Lee Leatherwood and Ben Pate were named Paul Harris Fellows, receiving lapel pins and certificates from incoming Dublin Rotary Club president Karen Wright.
“The longtime motto of Rotary International is ‘service above self’ and both of these men are exemplary in their devotion to their club and their community,” said Ms. Wright.
“The award has a long rich history,” Pate said about receiving the award. “Christ said ‘feed my sheep’ and Rotary has stepped up to do that. There are countries where they won’t let our government in but they will let in the Rotary Club because we represent those citizens who are trying to satisfy needs around the world and locally.” Pate said he is proud to be a part of the world’s largest humanitarian organization and to be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow.
“I really don’t deserve it over such great people like Willard Mann. Rotary is a wonderful organization that has been so important to our community, my family, and myself for generations and their works in the rest of the world is important,” Leatherwood said. “I’m just blessed to belong to a great organization that allows me to put ‘service above self’ and be with such amazing individuals in our community. I would like to thank my parents most of all for being the greatest role models in my life.”
The recognition, named in honor of the founder of Rotary International, acknowledges that $1,000 has been donated in the names of each of the recipients to The Rotary Foundation towards its international goal of world peace and understanding.
The pin presented to Leatherwood, the club’s outgoing president, has a sapphire which indicates he is a two-time recipient of the honor.
The local Rotary Club is known for its flag program in which American flags are erected throughout the community on national holidays. Its “grill team” is known for providing hamburgers or hot dogs for numerous school events each year. It also hosts an annual speech contest for high school students based on the club’s “Four Way Test” motto. It also hosts several Carter BloodCare drives each year and sponsors two high school students to Rotary’s Youth Leadership (RYLA) training camp each summer.
The club meets at noon each Tuesday at The Station. Visitors are welcome.