Welcome to March and Springtime!
Hopefully, we are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel of Covid with all the tragedies and challenges it has wrought for the last year. I am very thankful that Karen and I received our first vaccine last week. Thank you for all you have done in your Club over these months to keep the Club moving forward.
For over 40 years, March has brought the annual President Elects training for our District and two others in Missouri. The Show Me Rotary PETS is considered one of the best and oldest Presidents Elect training in the world. For the past four years, curriculum has been developed for the President Nominees. The President-Elect’s will start their term in July. The President Nominees will serve starting in July 2022. Last year, less than a month before we were to have PETS it was canceled due to Covid. We duplicated some of the material with our own virtual training. This year we will be all virtual again on March 27th. I know many hours have gone into planning and implementing this important training for a virtual environment. 6040 PDG Cassy Venters is the President of Show Me Council this year. The President rotates between the three Districts each year. PDG Julie McCoy will serve as President of the Show Me Rotary PETS in three years. Registration is still open now for each Club’s President Elect and President Nominee. Each Club has already paid for them to attend. Please encourage both to attend. Attending my first PETS was one of the three great experiences I have had in Rotary that propelled my passion for Rotary. It’s a great experience – don’t miss the opportunity!
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Among the many challenges we have had this year in our Clubs and the District, a big one was having to postpone our annual Foundation Dinner in November. That is always a tremendous evening where people from all over the District come together to celebrate the achievements of the prior Rotary year. We present awards and highlight our grant projects, both in the district and globally. We also raise money for the foundation. It’s important to understand that our contributions to the Annual fund are what funds our grants, both district and globally three years from now. Scholarships and Group Study Exchange trips are also funded from our Annual Fund contributions. We rescheduled the event for May 22. We had planned for a live event with the hybrid option, hoping that Covid would be subside. This past week, we reached the decision to make the event all virtual. We will have many of the features we traditionally have, without the Dinner. We are calling it the 2021 Foundation Celebration. In the future, we expect to return to the in person dinner. We are working on the adjustments and details to produce a quality experience virtually. It will be a fun evening for a great cause where we honor our achievements of last year and celebrate the great work we do through the Foundation.
Our keynote speaker will be Brenda Cressey. Brenda has served in many key roles for Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. In 2018-2019, she served as the first woman Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair. Brenda joined Rotary in 1989 and is currently member of the Rotary Club of South Portland Cape Elizabeth in Rotary District 7780. She served as District 5240 Governor in 2001-02 and is retired as the CEO of Office Support Systems, a telecommunications business in Maine.
She and her husband Dick are members of the
- prestigious Arch Klumph Society
- Major Donors
- members of the Paul Harris and the new Legacy Societies
- and have established the Brenda and Richard Cressey Endowment for Peace, supporting Peace Certificate Fellowships.
She is the recipient of the RI “Service Above Self Award”
and The Rotary Foundation’s “Citation for Meritorious Service,”
and the Rotary Foundations highest recognition, The Distinguished Service Award.
We are honored to have Brenda joining us for this special Foundation Celebration. Please mark your calendars for the evening of May 22 and join the fun and celebration!
"Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change -- across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves."
Don Gladhart
District Governor 2020-21
Rotary International District 6040
816.244.2571
rotarian.donald.gladhart@