Lewisville Morning Rotary Awarded Medium Size Club of the Year

LMR Members,

 

I got home about 12:10 AM after the two hour drive from Wichita Falls where the Pokornys and I attended the Rotary District 5790 2015 Conference. This is the last district meeting of a District Governor’s (DG) year. It is a time for celebrating the accomplishments of the past year and to look forward to the new. It also incorporates training in the form of seminars that are useful and informative, even for veteran Rotarians. There are inspirational and entertaining speakers at each meal. Our lunch speakers both Friday and Saturday were exceptional. I wish all of you could have heard Amanda Wirtz and Mendhi Audlin speak! (Google them)

 

If you have never attended a district conference or assembly I strongly urge you to do so at the next opportunity. There are three major district events each year for all members – the Foundation Banquet in the fall, the District Assembly in the spring, and the District Conference at the end of the Rotary year. In addition there are several other district events that happen during the year such as the Membership Seminar and PETS (for President Nominee and Elect). These district events are especially useful for new members as it allows you to see a larger picture of Rotary than you will get from just our local club.

 

One of the major things that happens during the yearly conference is the handing out of awards. Each Avenue of Service committee chair was asked to submit a report this spring enumerating the accomplishments of his/her committee based on the check-sheet prepared by the DG. The Foundation Chair also submits a report as does the President (for the Presidential Citation). This reporting sometimes seems like a pain at times but it really is important as it allows the DG to evaluate each club for their performance in meeting the goals of each Avenue of Service, the Foundation, and club as a whole. I want to thank Mary (Club Service), Marilyn (Community Service), Carolyn (International Service), Terry (Vocational Service), Bob S (Youth Service), and John (Foundation) for completing those reports.

 

First and second place awards are given for each Avenue of Service and Foundation Service in the three club sizes – small, medium and large. For those of you who are new or may not be aware, there are 66 clubs in District 5790 of which some 25 are classified as medium sized. Here is where it gets exciting!! We brought home first place awards for Club, Community, International, Vocational and Foundation Service. We also received one of three Presidential Citations (awarded by the RI President Huang) given to clubs in District 5790. The DG, with the advice of his awards committee, selects a Club of the Year for each size category. We got the Club of the Year award for medium sized clubs. Finally the DG selects overall Club of the Year. We lost this one to Grapevine but DG Petrash, in what I thought was an unusual move, announced that he had a hard time determining whether to give the award to Grapevine or LMR.

 

The DG also gave out three individual Hummingbird Awards (the name comes from a parable he told at the Assembly earlier this year) for outstanding service to Rotary District 5790 this year. I am proud to announce that John, Marilyn and I were given those awards.

 

I will bring the awards to our next meeting so you can all see them, but in the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your support this year. None of these awards would have come our way without everyone working together.

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!