Rotarians enjoy special visit from American aide
Motherwell and Wishaw Rotarians welcomed counterparts from their parent club in Hamilton recently.
In a special night, 14 members from the Rotary Club in South Lanarkshire enjoyed the hospitality of their fairlynear neighbours.
Ellen Wong, Principal Officer of the US Consulate General in Edinburgh, was the guest speaker for the evening.
As Head of the Consulate, she is responsible for all American Citizen Services in Scotland, and promoting relationships between the United States and Scotland.
Before taking up her current role last October she held the position of Deputy Political and Economic Counsellor at the US Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and before that was the Senior Country Officer for Germany.
Ellen has a BA in politics and German from Princeton
University, and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Ellen said that she is loving her current role in Scotland, and finds the complex political and policy positions and their implications for trade and relations with the United States both challenging and inspiring.
She described the relationship between both countries as special and real, citing 27 presidents of the US with Scottish heritage.
Rotarian Jim Robertson, from Wishaw, received a special award on the night from club President Andrew Murray, with the commendation read by Tom McPherson detailing Jim’s involvement with Rotary over a number of years.
He was presented with the Paul Harris Award for his outstanding contribution to the work of rotary.
Rotarian Callan Dick gave a comprehensive vote of thanks.