This year’s Bandana Day had a very special meaning for the Namibian Area and particularly for Hochland 154 as the Area’s longest serving tabler, Neil Salt, passed away on the 17th of April 2011 after a very hard fight with cancer.
The Area came together and decided to honor Neil by making this year’s project a priority and committing to selling 6000 bandanas. All the tables were allocated a share of the Bandanas and they all got down to selling them.
Surprisingly, all the bandanas were sold well before the official Bandana Day on the 12th of October and another 2500 were ordered from the Sunflower Fund. When we wanted to order another lot we were informed that there were no more bandanas available in South Africa. Some of the Namibian tables even bought bandanas from Pick n Pay to fill orders that they had.
With the help of Tina Botha from the Sunflower Fund we were able to get a lot of coverage on the radio and print media. We were also able to arrange an interview with One Africa, a local TV station the day before Bandana Day.
A Special mention goes to Derek Mackinnon for driving this year’s project and getting all the tablers behind it, only with the support of the entire table can we make a difference. Well done to all the Namibian Tablers, it is a very special thing for the smallest Area in ARTSA to sell the most bandanas.
Prior to the Second World War Round Table grew steadily in Britain and spread to Copenhagen in 1936. Immediately after the war there was a great surge of interest and expansion. Not only did the number of Tables in Britain itself increase rapidly, but, as Europe recovered from the war, so was Round Table extended to the remainder of Scandinavia and throughout the Continent.
By 1947 the concept of an Association called Round Table International had been approved by RTBI and as we have seen, in 1948 David Smith brought Round Table to South Africa.
These developments made Round Table International a more important association and the principle of the unification and integration of Round Table on a worldwide basis was accepted by the Annual General Meeting of the British Association in 1953. On 19th May 1955 a new Constitution for Round Table International took effect and RTI, became the central governing body of Round Table throughout the world. In 1958 Hugh White, then an immediate past President of ARTSA was elected to the vice-presidency of the International Association. Although the Round Table Associations in Africa were full members of RTI, from its inception a fact that was recognised in Hugh White's election to high office - it was essentially a European Association.
The Annual General Meetings were held in Europe for there was no central fund from which the delegate's traveling expense could be met. ARTSA could not at that time give any financial assistance to its own representatives and so its participation in the all-important annual conference depended upon the fortuitous presence on one or two members of ARTSA who might be in Europe at the right time. Until 1960 RTI, represented Round Table on World Could but it was then decided that each Association should be represented on a reconstituted World Council of Young Men's Service Clubs and this move saw the disbanding of RTI
ARTSA does not form part of an international movement. It is a separate autonomous association merely affiliated to the international body. In 1991 at the WOCO AGM in Austria, Round Table International was reconstituted and ARTSA became a member also of this body. One of the major factors in reconstituting this body was that over the previous few years WOCO was pressurised into changing its' membership criteria and at this time had extended its' age limit to 45 and allowed the introduction of ladies into its' membership. The Round Table movement believed strongly in maintaining its' membership criteria and hence reformed RTI which has as its' membership criteria kept to the men only and 40 year age limit. Initially the RTI board was made up of a President and Vice President, who held office for one year, however at the RTI Annual General Meeting held in Panama in 1997, it was decided to do away with the position of Vice President and have the President as the sole member of the board. The President now holds the position for a minimum period of two years.
Since then a few European Associations have raised concerns about having dual membership of RTI and WOCO. Some of them have subsequently resigned their direct membership of WOCO and remained members of RTI. The RTI president at WOCO meetings therefore represents them.
