President's ReportThe Rotary Club of Calgary is 103 years old and has grown to become a vital part of the community life in Calgary. During that time it has evolved and, interestingly, it has evolved through planning and it has resisted planning. When I took on the responsibility of president I reminded myself that this is a club, not a business and that the development of the club comes from within not from “the top down”. If we examine a typical meeting you will be able to review many aspects of the current reality of the club. - The Tuesday meeting are filled with information about the activities of this amazing club. We open with a long standing traditional ceremonial beginning – marching in, singing O Canada, and offering an invocation.
- We have lunch and shared some fellowship.
- We thanked the volunteers at the front door.
- We welcomed visitors and guests.
- We thanked this week’s COG Sponsor.
- We announced the birthdays.
- We presented an exceptional pianist – winner of the Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition.
- We welcomed three outstanding young ladies from Western Canada High School who raised 6,000 for the WCHS Interact club through a benefit concert.
- We presented the Women of Action fundraising by the Rotract club of Calgary for the Days for Girls initiative.
- We presented a promotion for the Lobsterfest fellowship event.
- We presented a promotion for our traditional Stay-in-School golf tournament
- Our guest speaker was our own Michael Broadhurst speaking in detail about the tremendous progress our club is having in helping improve the basics of life in Uganda.
To me this very full extremely high quality agenda reprsents a couple of things. - Our club is very active doing self-motivated meaningful well thought out activities – that contribute substantially to the quality of life in Calgary and abroad.
- The reason that these activities and many more are successful is that the vision and the follow through are provided by the membership of the club.
These are important things to remember as we reflect on the recent history of the club and look forward to our next year. The conclusion I would draw from the facts at hand is that our club is most successful. At the board level and in gatherings like this we scrutinize certain facts and, sometimes miss the obvious. As people with management experience we know many things: this is an experience of the head, but there are many realities of the Rotary club of Calgary that are comprised of an experience of the heart. It is the alignment of the head and the heart that creates the alchemy that gives our affirmative actions power. This past Rotary year was filled with individual challenges and we have a new reality upon which to base our work and planning. Each of the directorships of our club have a unique attitude toward contributing to the overall success of the Rotary Club of Calgary and each can register success in their own way, and face the needs of the next rotary year with strength and commitment. The remainder of this article provides the reports from the individual directors. |
