District Governor Corner, July 2012

Welcome to the 2012-2013 Rotary year!

First and foremost, thank you for allowing me to serve you as District Governor. I am pleased to serve under our new R.I. President, Sakuji Tanaka, who has adopted the theme “Peace through Service.” I would challenge all of you to look for ways to live out this theme as we travel together through the next Rotary year.

On behalf of all the Rotarians in District 5950, I would like to thank Immediate Past District Governor Chuck Berg. Chuck worked hard to assemble teams at the district and club levels to lead us into the future. Chuck, enjoy some downtime and then, we hope to see you at many Rotary events.

As for the rest of us, we have our work cut out for us. I’ve assembled a district-level leadership team to help me with my overarching goals, but club presidents also have work to do. In one of your next weekly meetings, I ask that you dedicate some time to outlining the goals of your individual club. Some of the district goals you might want to personalize for your club include:

• Increase giving to The Rotary Foundation—Please help me get the message out on the importance of EREY-Every Rotarian Every Year. I know dollars are tight for some, so I will not set minimum thresholds for member giving, but please encourage members to give what they can. Also consider using club points or individual member points to grow your members’ contributions, bringing them closer to becoming a Paul Harris Fellow or a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. 
• Create new clubs—Join up with another established club to sponsor a new club. 
• Grow membership—Think back to when you were invited into the Rotary family. Now, it is your turn to give the gift of Rotary and INVITE someone else. I would love to see us net 62 members, which will involve inviting potential candidates and adding a club or two. We can do this.
• Engage current Rotarians—What can you do, as a Rotarian, to get others involved in club activities or district activities?
• Improve public relations—Rotarians are never concerned who gets the credit for good deeds, and that is great; but when we share our stories and successes with the community and media, it is not about credit, it is about credibility. This will influence our membership growth, as people want to be associated with an organization that is making a difference—they just don’t know where to find such an organization.
• Make international service trips more popular—Let’s have some more project development in Central and South America. There are many reasons why: it is less expensive than ever, time zones are familiar, English speakers are prevalent, trips can be shorter but still allow for meaningful work. Did I say it is less expensive?
• Create more international service projects—Consider having your club take on an international service project or join with another club to do so. We have quite a few dollars available at the District and International levels.

I am really excited for a successful year—let’s have some fun! As we entered into this new phase, remember: “Peace” captures, in one word, in one focus, the concept of “Service Above Self” and centers each and every Rotarian on the mantra of “Peace Through Service.”

Bob Stowell, District Governor
“Peace through Service”

District Leadership Letters

This year’s District Leadership Team is assembled and ready to serve all of you. Allow me to introduce some of them. I've asked them to explain, in their own words, what they’re aiming to achieve this year.

Mary Daniels, Group Study Exchange: As inbound coordinator for Group Study Exchange (GSE), I have one primary goal: give our visitors from India a month in District 5950 that will change their lives. A secondary goal, but no less important, is to give as many Rotarians as possible contact with the inbound team, either as hosts or as guests to an event planned by the hosting clubs. Both of these goals are only possible with the enthusiasm, generosity and creativity of our district clubs. If your club is interested in hosting, contact myself (marymdaniels@gmail.com) or Diane Confer (diane.confer@comcast.net) for a hosting application. 
 
Barb Devlin, Group Study Exchange: As coordinator for the outbound GSE to Central India, my goal is threefold: (1) to facilitate a selection process that attracts high-quality team leader and team member candidates, resulting in a strong team to represent District 5950; (2) to orient and support the GSE team leader, both prior to and during the exchange; and (3) to publicize GSE and encourage local clubs to schedule follow-up presentations featuring the outbound team.

Bruce Hedblom, Rotary Foundation: This year will be a year of familiar efforts to support and utilize all of the funding sources for our humanitarian and education efforts at home and abroad. It will also be a year of preparation for the “New World” of how we will manage our humanitarian grants programs as we move to Rotary's “Future Vision” on July 1, 2013.

This year will be the last for Ambassadorial scholarships and Group Study Exchange as we have known them, and there will be new procedures and guidelines to learn for local and international humanitarian grants and scholarships. At the same time, our emphasis on encouraging Rotarians to financially support The Rotary Foundation will continue, with even more urgency. While we have had very considerable control of our service outreach efforts in the past, Future Vision will put even more responsibility on our District leadership as stewards of the money we contribute to TRF.

It will be an exciting year!

Heather Voorhees—Public Relations/Communications. Hands down, the most common response I get when I tell people that I’m in Rotary is, “Rotary? What’s that?” It makes me cringe every time—as a seven-year Rotarian, proud of our 100-plus-year history, it stuns me that folks don’t know who we are or what we’re about. As the Public Relations/Communications Committee chair, I want to change that.

One of my main goals is to encourage clubs in our district to create or maintain an interesting, engaging website that tells the public about their club’s mission, vision and events. Like it or not, a website is one of the best, easiest and cheapest ways to reach out to Rotarians and non-Rotarians alike. On a district level, I want to increase our online presence through better use of social and traditional media, as well as oversee the progress of several grant-supported efforts to reach out to potential Rotarians under age 40.

Ultimately, my goal will be to increase the number of people who, when I tell them I’m a Rotarian, say, “Rotary? I’ve heard of it! Can I join, too?”

Tom Thorfinnson—Club Support. Four years ago, I held a tiny Nigerian child in my arms and gave her the polio vaccine. Nineteen years ago, when I was really feeling down, a 75-year-old Rotarian picked me up with a simple hug and tears of joy for our continued friendship. That is Rotary at its best—and that is what we have to share with others, Rotarians and non-Rotarians alike.

Our Club Support team will provide tools that can enhance the club experience for your members. Some of those tools will focus on engaging your members, while some will help you identify specific ways to make your club attractive to a more diverse membership base. Some tools will focus on making your club meetings more attractive to the next generation of leaders and some will help your club develop a vision and a plan to improve the club experience. If the Club Support team does our job right, we will provide a more complete and holistic approach to strengthening your club. We will help you and your members connect for good!

Please also join me in welcoming Sandy Schley to the team as our Future Vision chair. Sandy will educate clubs about and certify them in Future Vision, The Rotary Foundation’s new grant model to support club and district humanitarian projects. I ask that all club presidents make it a priority to certify your clubs, as it is a requirement for receiving matching grant dollars for your projects.

Chuck Berg’s Outgoing Letter

The journey that started in January 2009 with my nomination as District Governor came to an end last month. It was quite a journey that allowed me to meet and get to know many Rotarians from our district, districts in the US and around the Rotary world. It was a journey that allowed me to touch the lives of many needy people in the developing world. It was also a journey that allowed me to positively impact our district. At the installation ceremony, I said we would have a great year—and we truly had a great year!

As a team, our accomplishments are remarkable. We saw record participation by Rotarians in our district events. Our clubs added a net of 37 new members, and we added two new Interact clubs and a new Rotaract club. We accomplished our goal of establishing a leadership development program. Our clubs participated in numerous local and international matching grant projects with a combined value of about $1.3 million.

A new district leadership team is prepared to take over under the leadership of District Governor Bob Stowell. I know you all will support this team to ensure its success. I wish Bob the very best this Rotary year. Rotary is a major part of my life and Rotarians are part of my family. I will continue to do whatever I can to support our district and the humanitarian and educational objectives of Rotary to make this world a better place for everyone.

I had the opportunity to visit most of the clubs twice; some three or even four times. I will cherish the acquaintances I made during my visits to your clubs forever. My heartfelt thanks to all my committee chairs, Assistant Governors (AG), our AG Coordinator Ken, District Secretary Diane, the Club Leadership Teams and all Rotarians in our district who were very generous with their support. It wasn’t an easy year for my wife Shannon with my busy schedules and I couldn’t have done this without her full support.

I tried to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s well-known philosophy: “I am their leader, I must follow them.” And now, it is time to say goodbye. I give my gratitude to you for everything you have done for me and Rotary.

                                                      Bob Stowell's Induction, June 28

Chuck Berg pins the District Governor pin on Bob Stowell,
symbolizing the end of one successful Rotary year and the beginning
of another.