July 10, 2001 — Richard Grant, a 16-year member of Rotary Mid Isle on St. Croix and president of Premium Finance Co., assumed the position of governor of Rotary District 7020 on Sunday.
The district is comprised of 57 Rotary clubs with 2,000 members from the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, St. Maarten/St. Martin, St. Barths and Haiti.
At his inauguration in the packed ballroom at St. Croix Government House on Sunday, Grant acknowledged the challenges awaiting him over the next year. One of the first will be spurring the territory’s approximately half-dozen or so Rotary clubs and clubs in the district to enlarge their memberships. That, he said, will allow the clubs to do what they do best: serve the community.
"I challenge the community to join Rotary so that together we can serve the community," Grant said. "Together we can do extraordinary things."
Over the years, Rotary Mid Isle has donated time and money to St. Croix’s Herbert Grigg Home for the Aged, the Bethlehem House Shelter and other community organizations.
As district governor, Grant will also be involved with projects such as polio eradication in countries like Haiti. He will travel to all the countries in the district. Additionally, as part of the position, the Rotary district conference will be held on St. Croix in May 2002. About 500 Rotarians and their spouses are expected to attend.
Grant is married to Dr. Rita Dudley Grant and has a 15-year perfect attendance record at Rotary Mid Isle.
Rotary was founded in 1905 by Chicago lawyer Paul P. Harris, who wanted to kindle fellowship among members of the business community, according to the Rotary website. Harris and his colleagues rotated their meetings among the members' places of business, hence the name.
Today Rotary boasts approximately 1.2 million members in more than 29,000 clubs in 161 countries.
