In the early years of Rotary, there was no email or internet, and telephone service was expensive and spotty. When Rotary was in its infancy, clubs depended on face to face communication at regular weekly meetings to pass on and receive instructions, carry on business, and announce upcoming events.
Physical attendance was so important to the life and health of the young organization that one of the qualifying elements of Rotary membership for many years was sufficient control of ones business affairs to allow them to physically attend and participate in Rotary meetings and projects, but it came at ahigh cost -- turnover. Four missed meetings was cause for automatic expulsion from the club.
Eventually, to stem the tide of terminations for this reason, makeups-at-other-Rotary-clubs, was allowed to count as "Attendance", and 100% attendance or, “perfect attendance”, became a matter of great personal pride in most clubs; so much so that the original reason for attendance was forgotten and clubs began to compete for awards that sprung up just for “the numbers”. Highest-Average-Attendance became the standard by which all Rotary clubs were then judged.
The Rotary Club of Marshall Texas was no exception, winning state and national recognition for attendance as one of the top ten Rotary clubs in the world, with an average attendance for February 1920 of 97.22%. That was a notable accomplishment since there were no other Rotary clubs near enough to make up at that time.
Almost every club president came up with their own scheme, or copied someone else's scheme, to boost attendance, encouraged as much by regional and national pressure, as by their own competitive spirit.
One of the more innovative schemes is remembered by Past President Sam Moseley. It was an acronym “IYCMDM”, pronounced Icky-mudm. In Sam’s own words:
“In 1976, Rotary International and Marshall Rotary placed major emphasis on regular attendance at weekly meetings of the Club. Recognition was given to Rotarians who maintained 100% attendance, and club membership could be terminated for failure to attend a minimum number of meetings of the Club. The purpose was to maximize opportunities for fellowship and exchange of ideas, as well as to promote the camaraderie so vital to Rotary and its members. If a member was unable to attend a meeting of his club, he was strongly encouraged to "make up" his attendance by meeting with another club during the next week.”
“Marshall Rotary president began the 1976 Rotary year by inviting three of Marshall 's loveliest young ladies, Linda Endicott, Martha Feille, and Kay Moseley, to attend a meeting and greet each Rotarian with a button bearing the acronym, IYCMDM. The lapel pins were called "Icky-mudm" pins and the explanation of the acronym was not announced at the meeting. Members wore their button throughout the week and returned the next Thursday with a blizzard of suggestions for the answer to the puzzle.”
“Though the next Thursday brought many imaginative suggestions and guesses as to the meaning of "IYCMDM," none identified the correct interpretation: "If You Can't Make-up, Don't Miss." Marshall Rotary attendance soared in 1976; later, one member, Louis Kariel, Sr., was recognized for maintaining perfect attendance for 50 years!”
All of that changed in the latter part of the twentieth century, with the advent of the Internet, and E-Clubs, where instant communication was available anywhere in the world at lighting speeds, clubs are now judged by the number of volunteers-hours spent on projects than by their physical presence at the regular club meetings and makups.
But, "back in the day", attendance reigned and Sam’s scheme, though not the most novel by any means, scores high marks for effectiveness, so we will certainly remember his “ICKY-MUDM” pin when we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Marshall Texas, August 24, 2019, at the Marshall Convention Center.