Address of DG Richard Earne Continued

Posted by Roseanne Morissette

Drop a pebble in the water
in a minute you will forget,
But there's little waves a-flowing
and there's ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing
to a great big wave have grown,
You've disturbed a mighty river
just by dropping in a stone.

Address of District Governor Richard Earne continued...

Another way We Lead the Way is when we Experience Rotary ourselves. How do you experience Rotary? Do you regularly take part in club projects? Has your club held a joint meeting with another Rotary Club? If you haven't, why not consider a joint meeting with a club from across the border? Have you experienced Rotary by attending district conferences?

On your table where you will find a yellow ruler, which is yours to keep, and on it is the date of our next district conference, which is May 4^th, 5^th and 6^th.Our theme is Experience Rotary. We want you to use these rulers as a reminder to Experience Rotary throughout the year. The conference will be held at the Grand Island Holiday inn and Resort. From experience, the most important aspect of the conference is the interaction of Rotarians from all over our district, making and renewing friendships. The conference is a wonderful way to get together and truly Experience Rotary. I hope to see you all in Grand Island , in May, and, please, don't forget to take home your rulers.

Many Rotarians have experienced Rotary by hosting a youth exchange student from another country or participating in a group study exchange, either by housing or finding an applicant for the team. These are wonderful ways to make new friends and to understand how Rotary forges bonds of true friendship which helps to promote peace.

If you want to find other ways to experience Rotary and learn exciting things that are going on in the Rotary world, I encourage you to read RI's monthly magazine, "The Rotarian" as well as visiting our district and RI websites. For those of you who are computer savvy, you may even want to make-up through an E-club. Another way to experience Rotary is by attending The District Foundation Dinner on Nov 3^rd. If you can don't miss it. Better yet come by the car load. The fellowship coming and going is also fantastic.

The future of Rotary depends on involving our youth. Let me share with you two new programs that are getting attention and gaining momentum: Have any of you heard of Earlyact or Youthact? One of our goals is to introduce Earlyact clubs to our district. If this is a program you are interested in, please contact me. These are just some of the excellent programs to help us experience Rotary and I encourage you to take advantage of them.

We want to recognize those Rotarians who introduce a new way for their club or the district to experience Rotary. To do this we have created "The Champion Award". We are in the process of preparing a nomination form for this award. It will be on the district website and made available to your club president in the near future.

Another aspect of Leading the Way is sharing our experiences with our fellow Rotarians, our clubs and our community. As you know it is through sharing that we all learn and grow. How can we share Rotary with our fellow Rotarians? Here are a few ideas to prime the pump. You can talk with your club officers about how your club is operating discuss what you like as well as what you think should be changed. Share your ideas and thoughts. Experience the positive changes your suggestions can make.

This year we began a new project called "Care and Share." It is an insert in our district directory. Every Club President has shared their picture, a bio, and two items about their club. Others in the district may find something entirely new or see how a project they are doing is handled a little differently. We can also share Rotary by contributing to our district newsletter. Please send in pictures of events that your club is involved in. We are going to have a picture page in each issue, that'll show how Rotarians are having fun experiencing Rotary.

For Rotary to grow and to promote our many programs we each need to share Rotary with our community. Last year we obtained a grant to promote programs in our district, for example, RYLA, group study exchange, youth exchange, ambassadorial scholars. All of these programs need new applicants. To do this, it is important that we get strong candidates, however, in the United States it is hard to find employers that will allow their employees to participate in a program of a month's duration.

To increase awareness of Rotary in the community, we have developed a counter card and given each club in our district two to start with. Brochures tell a story of the benefits of the program, not only to the potential candidate, but to the employer and each of you as well. On the months that a program brochure is not being displayed, your club can make its own brochure or insert to promote its own projects and fundraisers.

We believe that by placing these counter cards in your business your customers will become aware, not only that you are a Rotarian, but what Rotary does.

This can open the door for new members, surface applicants for our exchange programs, promote your club activities, and strengthen the perception of who we are.

Friendship was why Rotary began and if asked what does Rotary means to us many of us would give Friendship as our answer. To me Friendship is more than camaraderie it is understanding and tolerance as well. To Lead the Way means to understand one another, including those who are much different from us: either by ideology, physical handicap, or who experience a life much different then our own. If we can help people to understand and tolerate one another, we may attain peace, which is a goal of Rotary. Understanding and tolerance are part of the mantra of our Foundation. We establish programs to create understanding. These programs use our network of clubs to communicate and help people. People need positive role models. They need their health. They need fresh water. They need to be able to read. People need human dignity. Helping people to attain these things is important and satisfying, but the ability to communicate and work together in planning and bringing these projects to fruition is how Peace is attained. In developing these projects, Rotarians establish channels of communication from which peace can evolve.

The newest program for projects is the District Simplified Grant. Our district has used DSGs to promote Literacy in India while also helping to build a Rotary clock tower in Hamburg , NY. An artist painted a picture of two angels. Each angel had only one wing. One had a left wing. the other angel a right wing. By themselves neither Angel could fly. However if they held each other, they could fly. I see our foundation as two one- winged angels one that represents our working together to come up with projects to help people meet their basic needs and to find peace through understanding.

The second angel is the funding of these projects.

Rotarians, I encourage you to experience the programs of the foundation and understand how they can help us attain our purpose as Rotarians. Find a foundation program or a project that the foundation can help fund. Work on it with another club or obtain a DSG, host a GSE team attend an NID. Then help the angels to fly by making a contribution every year to support our foundation. A foundation that helps to fund our projects both in our local community as well as the world community

If each week we put aside $2, by the end of the year we would each be a sustaining member of our foundation.

I would like to close with a poem which expresses how we each can Lead The Way:

I keep a pebble in my pocket. Please each take a pebble from the table t hen decide how you, as a Rotarian, are going to use your pebble. How you drop your small pebble in the waters of life can and will make a difference in your life, your club, your community and the world.