Rotary International Convention
Posted by Anita Shower
With much fanfare and a power-point presentation that was a first for Miss Lisa we were treated to slides and information, some of which was just too good to be true (some of the photos went beyond our imagination and expectations). President Miss Lisa showed the banners she brought back from England: Albany, Oregon; Nigeria; Italy; Uganda; and the vey impressive 100th Rotary Convention Banner from the host city and country of Birmingham, England.
There were 154 countries represented and at one specified stop, there were 9,000 Rotarians! This 2009-2010 theme is "The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands." The new R.I. President, John Kenny, is the first Scotsman to hold the position, is a retired Judge, wants the earth to be polio-free, and wants to encourage Rotary to partner with people and organizations around the world. Our new Club President Miss Lisa shared a few insights with us: she is very shy and demure, soft spoken, has difficulty in expressing herself, is laid-back, took her darling daughter on the R.I. Convention trip with her; visited Switzerland, Germany, and France before heading to England for four days and then tripped to London before heading back to California. Miss Lisa learned about our global social networking and its importance; was overwhelmed with the 154 flag presentation ceremony, learned it takes a village to run a club; knows we must have vision; has s 5-year plan for a club which will include fundraiser that will turn into fun-raisers, will steer us into joining forces with surrounding clubs for projects, wants us to grow international relations for influential projects with effectual change, wants us to increase our membership and enhance our youth services in our community. Naturally leading the way in all of these thoughts are our Four Avenues of Service with fundraising as the key. Our fundraising projects for the 2009-2010 year: the Bowl-A-Thon, Pick-Your-Party, and 50-First-Dates (which was explained by Sandra Sansoni). We are a mighty club of twenty-four and we will prove we can do more with less. Miss Lisa wants us to develop strong (club) relationships while showing the community how we may continue to effect change. A recurring mentioning during the R.I. Convention were the highlights of District 5240 in California – our District! Miss Lisa ended her presentation with "I want to thank each and every one for the opportunity to go to the Convention." The last photo of the power point presentation was entitled 'the end' and it was either the backside of Michelangelo or perhaps the most beautiful David or perhaps one of Miss Lisa's outstanding and always-in-tow tour guides.