Unplugged: June

Community Comments

Active 20-30 Club Too Much Fun For Rotary

By Randy Bechtel

From around the country, Canada, Central America and South America, Active 20-30 club members come to Sacramento to see what one visitor from Paraguay called “the Holy Grail.” So says Chris Mansu, describing 20-30’s first club, Sacramento No. 1 Active 20-30, founded in 1922.
    According to Mansu, a financial adviser and Sacramento No. 1’s president, the club was organized by a 20-something named Paul Claiborne, who was frustrated by being judged too young to join Rotary. The club Claiborne founded would (when merged the same year with a state of Washington club called “Active”) adopt as a logo the buzz saw, symbolizing frenetic activity, and the hour glass, symbolizing the precious time of youth. Claiborne’s first rule would be: You’re too old for us if you’re old enough for Rotary.
    Today, the last laugh may be Claiborne’s. Despite a push by Rotary to recruit members in their 20s and 30s, rare is the person who voluntarily leaves 20-30 (the ouster age is 40) to join Rotary. “I was a member of both 20-30 and Rotary for about two years,” says Drew Houghton, an accountant and past president of the Point West Rotary Club.
    “I won’t say I thought my life was over leaving 20-30, but I thought I would never have the social life and enjoy the camaraderie I’d known. I finally found something like it in Rotary, but much more, well, subdued.” 
    In many ways, and for many people, 20-30 is a passage between the fraternity-sorority and service clubs such as Rotary. Although coed 20-30 clubs exist, many emulate the gender segregation of fraternities and sororities. Moreover, considerable emphasis is placed on making events social successes, in contrast to Rotary’s emphasis on fundraising. Sacramento No. 1’s annual Spring Party in April had a Mardi Gras theme and featured the band Wonderbread 5, billed as “the best party band in California.”
    Napa Active 20-30 No. 57 stages an annual Halloween party that draws 20-30 members in costume from around the region. And the national association, Active 20-30 USA and Canada, held its 2005 convention on a cruise to Mexico.
Continued...

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments