Page 5 - Gears and Ears May 2013

Member Profile

Fay Dallas

When joined club: February, 1988 - 3 woman to join (I think)
rd
Education: Winter Park High School, Winter Park, Florida
Stetson University, DeLand, Florida - B.A. in French & Education
Université de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland - Certificat d’ Études
Françaises
Université de Nancy, Nancy , France - Diplôme d’ Études Françaises
Marital status: Single
First job: Working in fabric and retail fashion sales at Leedy’s of Winter
Park on holidays, summers and weekends during High School
Most fun job: Working for American Express Destination Services in
the late 1970’s during the evolution of Central Florida into the tourist
mecca it is today.

Those of us in the tourist industry at that time were all learning from each other and the dynamics were
exciting and fun.
Career background: Walt Disney World - Guest Services at the Contemporary Resort
American Express - Manager, Destination Services, Orlando
AAA National Office - Manager, AAA Disney Alliance
Why did you join Rotary? My first view of Rotary was from an international perspective. Believe it or
not, I met the President of Rotary International at Stetson University just hours after having addressed the
DeLand Rotary Club about my study abroad and my passion for international understanding. He
suggested I apply for a Rotary Foundation Fellowship (which later was renamed the Rotary
Ambassadorial Scholarship program) and, with mentoring on Rotary from Ken Wacker, a wonderful
Rotarian, I applied and won.
I was sent to Nancy, France to study. There I met another wonderful, Rotarian, PDG Jean
Loiseau, who further mentored me. I spent the next 14 years actively speaking at clubs, District
Conferences, District Assemblies, and serving in other ways until Rotary admitted women in late 1987. I
joined the Rotary Club of Lake Buena Vista in February, 1988. I was sponsored by Sal’s mother who
was a member at the time. I’ve been a Rotarian at heart for more than 40 years…Yikes!

Are you a Paul Harris Fellow? I wanted to be a Paul Harris Fellow from the first time I realized they
were responsible for my fellowship. Because I couldn’t afford to give $1000 early on, I put Rotary in my
first will in 1985 which meant I was already a Benefactor when that program began in 1989. In 1988 I
became a Paul Harris Fellow. I have awarded Paul Harris Fellows to others as well. One of my PHF’s
was awarded to the PDG Jean Loiseau, 20 years after my year in France, by the President of Rotary
International (a Rotarian from Florida) in his private chambers at the RI Convention in Nice, France.

What other Rotary honors have you been awarded?
1988 Invited by the District Governor to serve on the District Ambassadorial Scholarship Selection
Committee, which I chaired from 1995 - 1999 (first, or one of the first, women to serve in a District
capacity)
1974 - 1995 Frequent speaker and presenter at clubs,District Conferences and District Assemblies.
1989 - Rotarian of the Year - LBV Rotary
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