Carpet City Rotary Club Recognizes Community Spirit: Werner Braun

Young Dalton Carpet City Rotary Club Essay Winner Recognized for Community Spirit

In his March, 4, 2011 column titled "Club doing good for the community" for The Dalton Daily Citizen,  Carpet and Rug Institute President Werner Braun congratulates the winner of the first-annual Carpet City Rotary Club Essay Contest.

“As a Rotarian, I’ve been thinking on how our local Rotary Club could make a broader audience aware of the Rotary and all that it does for the community. We decided on an essay contest. Eighth-grade language arts students prepared an essay on the theme, ‘What the Rotary ‘Four-Way Test’ Means to Me.’

What is Rotary’s Four-Way Test? It is a tool all Rotary members use to remain accountable for everything they think, say or do. The test reads, “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

All the applicants wrote impressive essays — I was personally impressed by the candid tales from such young people about truthfulness, honesty and fair play in their everyday lives. I couldn’t state the importance of the “four-way test” better than our winner, Lauryn Little did:

“The first thing you know about truth is that it is unchangeable; it is ageless and constant, you can never take it back. Truth does not vary or shift; it’s a piece of reality that will always be there. It is always good to be truthful to one another.”

The top three entries won personalized certificates, tickets to Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park, and a marble desk plaque engraved with the Four-Way Test.

Seeing Lauryn grin from ear to ear made me think back to why the Rotary means so much to me. My family emigrated to the U.S. from Germany and through this move we were able to realize the American dream. For years, I looked for ways to pay back — and in the end, Rotary’s motto, Service above Self, articulated what I was looking for.”

Thanks, Werner.

~Bethany