Gerry Glazier introduced our District 5040 Governor, Dave Hamilton, is a 30-year Rotarian from Tsawwassen. He has held a lot of different leadership roles over the years and comes to the DG role with great experience. Dave and his wife, Tanya, are travelling the district visiting clubs and making a lot of new friends along the way, all the while navigating the COVID-19 protocols to ensure everyone stays safe.
Dave has had the opportunity to meet RI President Holger Knaack a few times. Holger and Suzanne are wonderful people and will do a great job leading our organization through these crazy times. Closer to home, Dave has a whole team helping him meeting the year’s objectives: our own Peter Clarke, Awards Chair; Andrea Johnson, Public Relations Chair; Del Paterson, Foundation (TRF) Chair; Shirley-Pat Chamberlain, Membership Chair; Lynda Rocha, Youth Chair; and Thomas Miller, Rotaract Chair, to name a few. All members/club committees should feel free to ask any of these chairs for help or support as needed.
Dave spoke of RI President Holger’s speech that was all about “Rotary Opens Opportunities”, his chosen theme for 2020-21.
CLICK HERE to view the Holger's presentation.
Fourteen years ago, the 1st international assembly was hosted in San Diego. Dave attended as District Governor Elect and, at the time, was very nervous about was lay ahead for him in his role. Now in 2020, the International Assembly returned to San Diego. Dave was still somewhat nervous but at the same time, so excited to share all the opportunities that lie in front of us.
At home here, you are part of a team that works year to year to ensure continuation of your programs and projects. Growing Rotary!! However, you will not be asked to grow by specific numbers because when we are asked this we invariably fail. Rather we want to think about how we can grow organically and sustainability, attracting new members and ensuring our current members stay. The key is to keep everyone involved and enthusiastic.
In many ways Rotary is in wonderful shape. It is financially strong with The Rotary Foundation (TRF) recognized as one of the world’s best. Rotary is evolving in interesting ways: there are now more Asian Rotarians than North American. However, Rotary, in some places, is over-aged. The digital revolution has affected Rotary much harder than anticipated. On an occasion when Dave had an opportunity to speak to Rochester NY Rotarians; he was told that everyone knew photography would make the transition to digital eventually, but they did not expect it to be so fast. Time will not slow down for us; rapid change will not defeat us. The rapid changes in technology will force us to make Rotary stronger and more adaptable, while keeping with our core values. We need to look at a variety of club types that will be suitable for our club’s various situations. Some different models, e.g., Satellite Club, E-Clubs, Passport Club, Alumni-Based Club, etc., all of which have their place in our Rotary network.
We want to build clubs to be as large and strong as they can but at the same time, we do need to be nimble in how we engage their members. As important as the size is that there are plenty of varied opportunities for members to be engaged.
As Paul Harris said, Rotary has always been revolutionary. To repeat, now is the time to be revolutionary. What does this mean? There is an opportunity for everyone to be real change-makers. Ask yourself, what would you do differently if starting a club today? Share your thoughts with your club and the District.
All of the DGs before Dave have left a great legacy for him to follow and build upon. In keeping with this year’s theme, “Rotary Opens Opportunities”, the time is now for change. Clubs can thrive and District can grow. Paul Harris was quoted in 1935, “This is a changing world; we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.” This is as true today as it was in 1935. There are just as many new things to be done as there always have been. Let’s honour our founder’s belief in change. Build on the future, honour the past. Embrace change.
It is friendship and networking that draws people to Rotary. The 4-way test helps us make objective decisions. It is all about self-reflection. The 4-way test guides us: we ask ourselves, am I being honest, am I doing the right thing?
It is extremely important when talking to prospective members that we don’t just ask them to a join a meeting but rather really explain what Rotary brings to your life.
That is important! Share it!
On a different note: District conference in Terrace next May. The team is putting together an event not to be missed. There will be a day spent visiting the NAASK Valley, enjoying a barbeque, then celebrating the local club’s 100th anniversary. Additionally, there will be the usual golf tournament on Thursday. What if still in a world of COVID? Well, it will not be a total in-person conference to be safe and they are preparing to adapt as need be.
Terrace is in an incredibly beautiful part of the province. Consider joining us to celebrate District 5040 and Rotary here at home.
CLICK HERE for more info and to register.
Save the dates: May 20-23, 2021
Thank you.
