Annual Governor's Visit

Posted by George Sherman

on Aug 20, 2011

On Friday, August 19, District Governor Emil Geering visited the Park Ridge Club at The Courtyard. The well attended general meeting was preceded by a meeting of the Club's Board of Directors with Governor Emil and District Secretary Gary Hipp. It was there that President Fay Logan presented the club's goals and objectives for the 2011-12 Rotary year. It was most gratifying to hear the many positive comments that were made by the Governor about the Club's many recent and past achievements.

Introduced by AG Marian Goetz, Governor Emil spoke meaningfully about this year's theme of Rotary International - "Reach Within to Embrace Humanity" - and of the desire of RI President Banerjee to see Rotary "blossom from being the world's most recognized service organization to being the most important NGO [nongovernmental organization] in the world."

Specific to District 7490, Governor Emil has identified four areas of focus for his year: 1) increasing membership; 2) increasing contributions to the Rotary Foundation; 3) senior citizen awareness; and 4) greater utilization of the District as a club resource.

He emphasized that community service projects often contribute to membership growth. Consider expanding on-going Dictionary Projects for 3rd grade students to include a Spelling Bee for 4th graders, a Poster Contest for 5th graders, and an Essay Contest for 6th graders. Not only would the club be providing a service to the schools, it would also be establishing itself as a prominent presence in the community.

Meaningful weekly programs also encourage membership growth. Utilizing monthly Rotary themes, the District's own Speakers' Bureau and the hobbies, avocations and interests of the club's own members can yield many worthwhile programs.

Governor Emil reminded us that The Rotary Foundation is the financial lifeblood of all the things RI is able to do throughout the world. Make a point of becoming a Sustaining Member this year. Help RI bring an end to the scourge of polio once and for all.

The Governor concluded his remarks by thanking President Fay and the club for their hospitality and wished us well for the upcoming Rotary year.