05/09/2026
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE MOTHER CLUB!
Forty-seven years ago, a small group of men and women in Calabar decided that friendship and service to humanity were worth building a life around. Today, we stand on the shoulders of everything they started.
I'm proud to lead a club that has never lost sight of that founding spirit. Through changing seasons, changing leadership, and a changing city, the Rotary Club of Calabar has remained a constant, showing up for our community, mentoring young people, supporting healthcare initiatives, and reminding ourselves, year after year, that Service Above Self is not just a motto but a way of life.
To every member who has given their time, their resources, and sometimes just their presence at a meeting when they were tired, thank you. To our past presidents and charter members, whose vision we still walk in , we honor you today. And to the newer Rotarians finding their feet in this family, welcome; you are now part of something bigger than any one of us.
On a day like this, we also remember the ones no longer with us in body, but very much present in everything we do ; the members who gave years of their lives to this club and have since gone home. Their fingerprints are on our projects, their voices still echo in our traditions, and their legacy is the reason we're still standing 47 years later. We carry them with us today.
47 is not a small number. It means generations of Calabar families have felt our impact without ever knowing our names. It means promises kept quietly, year after year, without applause.
As we mark this milestone, I don't just want us to celebrate: I want us to recommit. To dream bigger for the next chapter. To bring in new members, deepen our projects, and make sure that when we celebrate 50, and then 100, the story we tell is one of even greater impact.
Happy 47th Anniversary, Rotary Club of Calabar. Here's to service that never grows old, and to those who taught us what it means.
With pride and gratitude,
Rtn Eunice Samuel Bassey
President (2036/2027 RY)
