Rotary District 5020 Governor Elect

The incoming governor of Rotary district 5020, the Rotary area with the most members of any district in the Western hemisphere, is a Fairview girl.

The Rotary Club of Fairview has never had one of its members become governor of all the clubs in District 5370, but Maureen Fritz-Roberts, a proud graduate of Fairview High School, is taking on the job for all the Rotary clubs on Vancouver Island and down the west coast of Washington state.

“I am in love with the work that Rotary does in the community and around the world,” says Fritz-Roberts, “they are the unsung heroes, reducing poverty, disease and conflict.  If it wasn’t for Rotarians, polio would still be maiming and killing thousands every year around the world.  Rotarians have worked tirelessly to bring clean water and education to almost every corner of the globe.  You only have to look around any community where there is a Rotary club to understand the huge positive impact that this group of volunteers, men and women, young and old, have had.”

Maureen did not begin her Rotary career in Fairview.

“My husband, Dale, joined the Fairview Rotary club when he was 23 and the editor of the Fairview Post.  Back in those days, Rotary had not yet realized that they were missing half of the population of energetic and dedicated volunteers as potential members.  Rotary did not start admitting women as members in Canada until about the time that we moved our family to Comox on Vancouver Island.  We always participated in Rotary as a family.  I was involved with the Rotary youth exchange program in Fairview and continued to do that after moving to BC.”

“In 2002 I was fortunate to be invited to join the Rotary Club of Comox.  They put me to work right away, making me responsible for membership.  I thought the best way to bring in new members was to invite a whole group at once.  In one meeting we inducted 7 new members.  This got the attention of the District Governor at the time and the next thing you knew, I was in charge of membership for all of district 5020.  During my time in that position, we became one of the largest districts in the world by membership.”

“One of the highlights of that time in Rotary was acting as the registrar for one of seven conferences in the world organized by the president of Rotary International, coincidentally a Canadian, that year.”

“After my term as membership chair for the district, I finally got the chance to be president of my own club.  I also had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia and other parts of Africa three times to immunize children against polio, help with water projects and to initiate a micro-credit program to help women create their own financial success.”

“Now I get to help the 90 Rotary clubs in my district to succeed in helping others, both at home and around the world.  It may not seem that as one person that you have the ability to make the world a better place, but as a Rotarian you can.”