PRESIDENT'S NOTICE-DISTRICT CONFERENCE

I attended the District 5650 Conference in Council Bluffs on Friday, August 21.  The 'Foundation Day' activities included two speakers, and several presentations from clubs about specific projects completed with club and Rotary Foundation support.  The first speaker was Mark Rupp, M.D.  Dr. Rupp is the Director of the Department of Infection Control and Epidemiology at UNMC.  He is a strong advocate of vaccinations and of proactive planning for infections (e.g. emboli and MRSS).  He cited Rotary for its outstanding work in combating polio world-wide.  His presentation, along with some personal testimony from two Iowan Rotarians who were infected as youngsters with polio reminded all of the important work necessary to combat infectious diseases.

Presentations of note included a Career Fair Day sponsored by the Council Bluffs Rotary and the Council Bluffs Public Schools; a Rotary Music Playground which was a joint project of six Rotary clubs led by the Lincoln East Club and resulted in an outdoor music playground at Camp Kitakia; the Girls of Zabuli (Afghanistan) project of world community service by the Suburban Omaha Club supporting a school for girls in a small community 30 miles north of Kabul; and a water project - Building Communities and Bridging Continents - by the Wayne Rotary Club and the Juba (South Sudan) Rotary Club to build wells to serve small isolated communities in the Sudan.

All in all the day was a great reminder of the 'Service Above Self' mission of Rotary.

Thanks, Ron.  -Roger Breed