Bergen Rotary Club
Overview
Bergen Rotary Club is the third oldest in Norway. It was founded on June 12th, 1924 with Oslo Rotary Club as its sponsor. The Club received its charter on December 27th the same year. Bergen Rotary Club is in District 2250, which covers the counties of Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland and Rogaland. The Club has registration number 12636. Bergen Rotary Club has sponsored eight clubs: the first being Ålesund Rotary Club in 1929 and the most recent being Torgalmenningen Rotary Club, Bergen in 1991.
On April 30th, 2021, the Club was merged with the Bergen-Syd Rotary Club. The merged club was called Bergen Rotary Club.
Membership and meetings
In August 2021, 89 members were registered, of whom 32 were women and about 50% were professionally active.
Meetings are held on Tuesdays, between 7 pm and 8 pm (19:00 - 20:00), in BERGENS MASKINISTFORENING Engen 20. This is centrally located in Bergen, close to the theater. During the Covid-19 pandemic, all meetings are held either as digital meetings at Zoom, or as hybrid meetings both via Zoom and as a physical meetings, depending on government restrictions.
Special Note: On occasions, the Club has external meetings. These are marked in the calendar, which can be found as part of this web site.
On the last Tuesday of every month, meetings are usually followed by an optional supper. The programme provides more information.
There are no meetings during the month of July.
Link to map showing location of meetings HERE.
Meeting procedure
Meetings begin at 7 pm precisely and end at 8 pm. Some external meetings have an extended time frame.
A normal meeting consists of information about items of Club business from the Club President, a 3-minute presentation from one of the Club’s members, and the main programme of the evening, lasting approximately 45 minutes including time for questions and/or discussion. The main programme may be a presentation from one of the Club’s own members on a theme of current interest, or from an invited guest. Each year the President presents a theme for his/her presidential period, and this guides and informs the work of the Programme Committee when the programme is set. .
Bergen Rotary Club follows the guiding principles of the Rotary movement and maintains a neutral position in regard to religion and politics. This does not mean that religious and political issues are not discussed, rather that they are discussed in such a way as to reflect and respect the different points of view held by the diverse membership.
Members’ spouses and guests are invited to some meetings.
Minutes are kept of all meetings, posted on the website and distributed in hard copy to all members who do not have access to the Internet.
Social evenings
Committee meetings have a social element as they usually take place in members’ homes. In addition to these meetings, different social events are arranged three or four times a year. In the winter, a traditional “Cod Dinner” is held. In the Spring, a cultural evening is normally held in conjunction with the Bergen International Arts Festival. In December, a seasonal social event usually takes place. Members’ guests are invited to the two latter events.
Historical records
In 1974 the club published "Bergen Rotary Klubb 50 år" and in 1999, as part of the celebration of the Club’s 75th Jubilee, the Club published “Serviceidealet – vår utfordring” (The Service Ideal – Our Challenge). In 2014 at the 90th Jubilee, the Club published "Bergen Rotary Klubb 90 år" (Bergen Rotary Club 90 years). These books present a history of Bergen Rotary Club. In addition, the Club’s records are stored, and can be researched, at Bergen City Archives. You can also read the history of the former Bergen-Syd Rotaryklubb Jubileumsbok BSRK 40 år and Jubileumsbok BSRK 50 år.