In “The
burdens of office” I recalled my inglorious tenure as president of
Springfield High School’s Interact (a combination of “international” and “action”) Club in the 1960s. Two or three
things might be said.
In the rush to make deadline, I left out something important. I wrote
how membership in the club was supposed to teach us “the importance of 1)
developing leadership skills and personal integrity, 2) demonstrating
helpfulness and respect for others, 3) understanding the value of individual
responsibility and hard work and 4) advancing international understanding and
goodwill.” What I didn’t write was that my fellow clubmen seemed to already have loads of leadership skills,
personal integrity and individual responsibility. They didn’t the club for that, and but the club president needed them, and they achieved on their own whatever success we had as a group.
I also mentioned Interact’s immediate past
president. Charlie – now Charles – Blanchard came closer to living the Interact
(a combination of “international” and
“action”) creed of service above self. Now a master hand weaver ensconced in a
Narrowsburg, New York studio, his work borrows from (in his words) “the delicate grass
weavings and dance mats of West Africa, the bold colors and designs of cotton
dhurries of India and the exotic geometric patterns of Nepalese and Tibetan prayer rugs, among other influences.”
And if adding beauty to the world isn’t service, I’d like to know what is.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2016.
