Sunrise Welcomed District Governor Jim O'Grady!
District Governor Jim O’Grady visited us on September 5, 2024, to learn about Sunrise Rotary, introduce himself to us, and discuss RI and District 5130 projects for 2024-2025. Jim is a former educator and business owner and has been a member of Sonoma Valley Rotary for 20 years. He’s also an accomplished accordion player, which we can attest to since he brought his accordion and played it at the meeting!
The RI theme this year is “The Magic of Rotary.” What’s so magical about Rotary? As Rotarians we can influence events in mysterious ways. One of these keyways is that we build friendships and awaken joy and beauty in others and in our own lives. We build community by doing the little things with others, such as presenting a holiday gift to elderly shut-ins, reading to a small child, or serving a Thanksgiving dinner to those in need. Our District Theme is “Building Better Friendships.” Jim presented a District Friendship Award to our very own Penny Millar! Penny does it all, she brings in new members, nurtures them through the process of joining and beyond, hosts dinners and parties, helps people get to meetings, visits other clubs and club events, helps on all sorts of service projects and events, and trains new board members, among many other things. Penny brings joy to our club and her love for Rotary shows!
Jim also played a trivia game themed as “Rotary Friendship.” The game started with a series of Rotary-related historical questions. One interesting question was why did Rotary use the word “Plus” in the term “PolioPlus?” The idea was to express Rotary’s belief that an attack on polio would spur increases in immunizations against the 5-childhood vaccine-preventable diseases: measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. The second part of the trivia game was a version of “Name That Tune” with his accordion! He played songs from a variety of countries, including Poland, Greece (a program called Creating Friendships for Peace), Italy, France (which has a Rotary Fellowship for Francophones), the Czech Republic (which had to operate clubs underground during several periods), Mexico, and England (which started a Rotary Friendship Exchange with Sweden). District 5130 is working on setting up exchanges this year with Egypt and Peru.
Jim also gave us some District news. Our focus this year is on Human Trafficking. There are clubs and districts who work on this issue and come up with possible solutions. Our district has an expert in human trafficking, Raine Howe from the Petaluma Club, who would love to speak with us if invited. The district’s website has a Human Trafficking page with useful information. Jim also announced a multi-district World Peace Conference on January 24, 25, and 26 at the Doubletree in Rohnert Park. There will be great speakers and break-out sessions where we can learn how to bring peaceful practices to their homes, communities, and clubs. Many years ago, Jim’s club started a project in Uganda called “Adopt a Village.” They bought malaria nets, smokeless ovens, and similar items. They also started an education project for 19 children village children. 17 of the children graduated from college! As Paul Harris said, “Friendliness knows no bounds, it surmounts all barriers, and it navigates all seas.”
Thank you, Jim, for the wonderful presentation and for all your hard work in the district. It's going to be a great year for 5130!
Click HERE to see a limited time recording of Jim's talk. Don't miss the magic and the music!
