Century Calendar Proposal
Here follows the text of a letter written by Onchan Rotary Club Member
David Le Prevost to Club President James Vickers on 8 December 2002.
Dear James,
Rotary is 100 years old in 2005 and amongst the island Clubs, I understand that we are looking for a project to mark this occasion. It seems fitting to me that in celebrating one hundred years of achievement we should do so in a way that recognises the past and also looks forward to the next 100 years.
I believe that displaying a 'Century Calendar' in a traditional method could be a fitting solution and a worthy contribution to the Isle of Man by the four Clubs.
What is a Century Calendar?
Within a Century there are only 14 versions of the annual calendars. Seven cover a normal year beginning on each day of the week and seven cover a leap year beginning on each day of the year. In addition there is a look up list indicating which calendar matches each year. I propose that we have this list covering 1900 to 2100. Possibly further?
This enables anyone to determine the year of an event and discover what day of the week it was, or will be. What day was Grandma born on? What day is my 18th birthday? When I'm 64, what day of the week will it be? Do I retire on a Friday?
Living as we do in a world of technology, it seemed a good idea to me to go back to an industry of yesteryear, stone masonry. Thus in creating this memorial we can also embody within it the working man trades and skills of the last century. Such a contrast can only get stronger as the new century moves forward.
The idea involves establishing 16 quite large plaques, engraved in Manx stone to celebrate a natural building material and a craft. Fourteen plaques would hold one calendar each and the fifteenth would hold the instructions and the sixteenth for the 'look-up' chart spanning 200 years, possibly further. The 22nd century could be added by Rotarians four generations into the future, the theory will hold good. A seventeenth plaque could cover the reason for their creation and a synopsis of Rotary and the 'Service Above Self' ideal.
The location I would suggest that would be most fitting for this celebratory memorial would be the arboretum at St Johns.
The reasons being several fold. :-
- The arboretum is situated in the centre of the island, in the midst of the four island clubs.
- It is presented as a natural area in the middle of a high-tech island economy.
- It holds tree species from around the world representing the world wide membership of Rotary.
- It is maintained by Government and will presumably continue to be so into the next centaury.
The stones would be large boulders each with a flat face upon which the engraving would take place. The stones themselves could be collected from around the island, celebrating the rock types available. Perhaps one piece from each of the other 17 insular parishes.
Yours sincerely
David Le Prevost