Montreal painter Gabriel Landry was struck by the fact that the number of human beings in the world reached seven billion in October of 2011. This inspired him to create his “5 À 7 DANS LE MONDE” painting, which refers to the five continents and their 7 billion inhabitants.

In French, a “5 à 7” also refers to happy hour. This further inspired him to organize, on September 21, 2012, International Day of Peace get-togethers to discuss Peace. It was then decided to distribute the concept via the Rotary Club network, by inviting Rotarians all over the world to meet for the purpose of exchanging ideas on this theme. As a result, on September 21st, over a period of 24 hours, “5 à 7” get-togethers will take place in all time zones, thus providing Rotarians around the world with an opportunity to talk about Peace.

Rotary International President’s Message

I am pleased to learn of the initiative being undertaken to engage Rotarians around the world in a Rotary Peace Conference Marathon on 21 September. This is a creative way to encourage Rotarians in every time zone to dedicate two hours to reflection and exploration on the topic of peace.

Peace is major emphasis for 2012-12. The theme I have chosen for this year is Peace through Service. We hear the word, “peace” every day. But most of us spend very little time thinking about what peace is, and what that word means.

Read the post

President’s Message Foundation Trustee Chair

We Rotarians embrace the two pillars of support for The Rotary Foundation – the Annual Programs Fund (through the Every Rotarian, Every Year effort) and the Permanent Fund. As we work towards the eradication of polio, support the Rotary World Peace Fellows, and as we adopt and implement the Future Vision Plan of The Rotary Foundation, we are contributing to making this a better world, where all will be in a position to enjoy a better life.