Rotary anniversary as sweet as Savannah Ice Cream in June

I went to Chippewa Square two days ago located at the heart of this city which is one of the best planned downtown in the United States. There is no doubt that the well-being of man is at the center of the city’s priorities with the allotment of historic 24 open spaces they call Squares, abundant with age old oak trees whose green canopies serve as relief from the sweltering 100 degree Fahrenheit May heat. This was the setting of that highly successful motion picture Forrest Gump which earned six film Academy awards.

I expected to sit on a wooden bench like Forrest Gump to be tickled by the memory of the movie’s hilarity and to accept its narrative that there is no need for supernatural interference called miracle to succeed, and one can find fulfillment by helping others even if born a Forrest Gump. It is the story of two human engines at work, a slow-witted mind, compensated by a kind, big heart, the former with its idea of good and a heart pursuing that idea relentlessly. The simple idea of Forrest Gump to run, though seemingly aimless, eventually became meaningful and beneficial for others with his steadfastness and innocent single-mindedness!

The bench that was used as prop in the Forrest Gump movie is not there anymore as it is being kept as a treasured memento in Savannah’s History Museum. I did not expect any white feather, which to me shows the uselessness of miracles that hovered around Forrest Gump at the start and end of the movie, but I took fancy of the hanging greenish gray plant called Spanish Moss that clings for dear life in the proud oak trees around the Square. I wondered why this plant thrive only with oak trees as I walked two blocks away to Broughton Street for another point of interest. This and the fact that at the founding of the colony in Georgia, slavery was banned and, to my great amusement, lawyers as well, would make a curious separate story. 

At Broughton, there was a long line of ice cream aficionados, mostly tourists, a queue of almost 50 meters that afternoon, that momentarily dampened my spirits. Nevertheless, I did a Forrest Gump by being cool and patient for my turn under the burning sun instead of waiting the manna from heaven to fall for a chance to savor a rare experience, the reputedly best known and sought after ice cream in the Deep South and one of the world’s ten best. I did not only have my ice cream but the wait netted me a good talk and a photo-op with Mary, a second generation scion of Peter Leopold, a Greek immigrant who introduced the ice cream in Georgia 100 years ago. I was impressed by the celebrity status of the unpretentious ice cream parlor with photos of Hollywood’s “who’s who” visiting the place. She made me feel ten-foot tall when she invited me as her personal guest to the parlor’s 100th year anniversary in August this year. It was therefore propitious to be there on another’s anniversary year to understand the feeling and yearning of those outside the circle of organizers of our own Rotary Club’s centennial.

I told the fine lady, whose enormous Greek beauty is still discernible , that the Rotary will also celebrate its centennial anniversary in 21 June this year, that it has also its own celebrities who founded or initiated among many other laudable projects, the Boys Scout Movement in the Philippines, the Gaches Village, the Philippine Band of Mercy, the Community Chest, the eradication of poIio in the country, an example replicated in many parts of the world. She knew about the late Rotarians Carlos P. Romulo and Gil J. Puyat, whose name replaced the former Buendia Avenue, and Rotarian Fidel V. Ramos, the former president. Prominent Rotarians in the current administration include Secretary Sonny Dominguez and Central Bank Governor Benjamin Diokno who are expected to grace the 21 June centennial blast, including hopefully a very special guest. There are many Rotarians who are accomplished in their own right but great as well in doing acts of kindness in anonymity. Non sibi sed aliis.

She genuinely smiled with what I punned as our version of ice cream, a sweetness from the heart, which we give our poor countrymen for free, and she was undisguised with her admiration for our long years of giving, caring and sharing which, like Forrest Gump, we had relentlessly pursued, and unlike the fictional Forrest Gump, we have the human will to pursue in the next 100 years.

I want to end this short travel sidelight with a confession that I had to politely decline her offer to send us her famous ice cream even if unnecessary for what seemed to be spontaneous, though “spur of the moment” is the better phrase. Nevertheless, I invited her to visit the Philippines this June in time with our centennial celebration. I do not expect her attendance, although it is a probability. 

A truly memorable menu of events await Rotarians in June. We prepared a program to give the Rotarians that festive ambience, with the implied license to breathe in, even just a whiff of that Rotarian aroma of pride, after all, a fruitful 100 years is like the best ice cream in the world, a legitimate excuse for exuberance. Amado Valdez is chairman Rotary Club of Manila