Tri-City Rotary - Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Robust and cheerful was the atmosphere of the morning as the four Rotary Clubs of the Tri-Cities converged upon the beautiful upstairs of the newly renovated Riverside Receptions. Spring had finally emerged in full swing, and spirits rose with the temperature. The scene was picturesque, with the burgeoning Fox River backdrop behind the large circles of familiar and not-so-familiar faces.

After the merry-go-round of introductions and a few cups of coffee, the clubs hit the buffet and settled into their seats. We stood together to say the Pledge, the Four Way test, and then bowed our heads for a quick prayer. The meeting was now underway. The club presidents took their turns introducing the forthcoming batch of presidents and also updated the group of various upcoming events. Once the club business had subsided, it was time for our featured speakers, a group of inbound exchange professionals from India.

 To say that our speakers were impressive is an incredible understatement. The Rotarian audience sat upright in near constant amazement as this group of five passionately told stories of their lives abroad, their studies, and their wonderful adventure in Chicagoland. Each of these Indian professionals spoke at length and in extreme detail of their love of Chicago architecture tours, baseball games, deep-dish pizza, hotdogs, and most beloved of all, the Chicago people. 

 The meeting was capped by one man’s dazzling display of his superhuman memory capacity. Three audience members peppered him witha series of random numbers, colors, and a magic square. Over the course of 15 minutes, he took in all of the information, recalled and rearranged it perfectly in sequential order, and completed a 4x4 magic square in his head! It was absolutely mind blowing, and in a short time, dwarfed any talent that ever made me feel the slightest bit good about myself. It was truly a spectacle, a fantastic meeting.