FROM SILLINESS TO SUBSTANCE
From the Presidents'...
At the Stanwood/Camano Island Rotary meeting on August 22, those in attendance were treated to a rendition of a nonsensical college chant when dear friends Ned and Judy Powell visited our club. Ned and Judy were Dave's good friends during school days at Redlands University. Ned was Dave's fraternity brother and he is a second generation Rotarian. Ned's club is in Springfield, OR. It was special when Ned and Judy honored Dave by asking him to be best man at their wedding 49 years ago.
For those of you who missed one of the highlights of the Stanwood/Camano Rotary year, here is the Och Tamale as performed by Ned, Judy and Dave (even though it will drive our spell-checker nuts):
Och tamale gazolly gazump deump deyaddy ya hoo -
ink da mink deyaddy gazink deump deray ya hoo.
Wing wang tricky tracky poo foo chewzy woozy
skizzle wazzle wang tang orky porky dominorky -
Redlands - rah rah - Redlands
From the looks on the faces in the crowd, there was pure wonder --- wonder at what possessed three mature individuals to act up like that. The answer: tradition! The "Och tamale" was conceived and written in 1921. Since that time, the iconic nature of the chant has become legendary. It is recited after every touchdown. It is recited at the end of each basketball game and other sporting events. It is chanted at graduation. And, it is a link between alumni who, when they gather, sing out a rousing rendition of the "Och tamale".
Silly you say. Yep! But more, this seemingly meaningless chant is a symbol of our need to introduce some silliness into our lives as a special way to connect with others.
There is a serious side to all of this. For the centennial celebration of our alma
mater this year. A new stage show was
produced and performed: "Och Tamale - The Musical". Chronicling the historical events in the
first 100 years of the University of Redlands, the message of the musical was
to "Reach High". Thus, from the
silliness of the chant to the profound substance of the watch words "Reach
High", significant meaning is derived.
What better theme for Rotary than "Reach High". Those two words are an excellent capsule
summary of the essence of Rotary's Four-way Test. In fact, this would be a great theme for an
incoming RI President some day.
As Rotarians and as citizens of our community we encourage you to strive to "Reach High" in all you do. The local club, the district and our community will be better when our members adopt and apply the watchwords - "Reach High".
Our best to all,