President Lorraine's Final Reflections

Dearest  Rotary II Family and Friends,

As I reflect on this past year, I am honored and privileged to have served in the capacity as your 33rd President. Thoughts of the past year will never be forgotten. The work accomplished and our outstanding record of service to this community continues. My pride in our many accomplishments this year are a true testament to the high standards and ideals of those who have gone before me.

Our International President Kalyan Banerjee charged us all to live according to the theme “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity,” and most of us did and for this I will be forever grateful. Our coming together  in October to fundraise for the Rotary Foundation and the UVI Hospitality Scholarship will always be one of the highlights of my presidency. That evening we laughed out loud and raised money for two great causes. Some other memorable highlights that I will hold dear to my heart was the start of our Interact Club at the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School ,the Early Act Club at the Lockhart Elementary School, Sponsoring the first E-Club in District 7020 , honoring our Senior Citizens, Recognizing a Person of the Year as well as Teacher of the year, the Christmas Fellowship at Rotarian Neil’s home, our contributions to the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund , becoming a 100% Paul Harris Club, surpassing our written goal for the Car raffle by $7,000 despite challenging economic times and finally becoming the first Club in USVI North to receive the coveted title of Club of the Month!

My pride in being called the seventh woman to lead the Rotary Club of St. Thomas II came with many challenges as well as high standards. All my goals were met and that is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment! As I bid farewell, I would be remiss if I did not say thank you Rotary II for the awesome opportunity!

I am confident that our incoming President, Cassie will impact the many lives in this community in the days and weeks ahead. One thing is for certain, it was a fun filled year despite the challenges , the experience of leading this club certainly brought out the best in me. I made it to the end simply by one constant reminder of three important words… … “Service Above Self.”

My prayer is that God will continue to bless our club and take us to higher heights!

Warmest Rotary Regards,

Lorraine Baa

President 2011-2012