DG Marlee's July Message

I am guessing this was a common refrain as July 1 clicked into being.  Please join with me in welcoming the 68 newly minted Club Presidents of Rotary District 7090, who on July 1^st stepped up to lead their clubs for the 2016 – 2017 year, as Rotary Serves Humanity.  Hurrah! Hurrah!  You are my heroes!

 

These Club Presidents worked hard learning how to effectively lead your club, reviewing the printed material, developing goals and bringing their board along side with their objectives.  Also, though they all had other Saturday commitments they would have rather enjoyed, most understood Rotary International’s constitution requires attendance at all PETS training and hence most participated.   We thank them for participating and we, the District Training team and I, know they are well prepared ensuring goals are met and everyone has fun, fellowship reigns and the year is a spectacular one.  By gosh, it is a huge commitment!  But, that said, it is an even bigger honor to be selected by the club members who know the selectee is a leader.  I am so proud of each of our District’s 2016 – 2017 Club Presidents.

 

I am certain that each Past Club President has offered a helping hand to guide or willingly assume club roles or are silently working in the background ensuring their newly minted President is going to have a fabulous year.  This cadre of members, the club’s Past Presidents, totally understand this commitment and strongly supporting their President, ensuring the next 365 days are rewarding for all.

 

There is another group I really appreciate and want to recognize, the club’s boards and committee chairs.  Some board members or committee chairs may be feeling less than comfortable as you take your seat at the board meeting, perhaps because you count your Rotary experience in months, not years.  You might even have queried, “Why me?” It is because your enthusiasm and wide open eyes are needed to help guide Rotary on its new journey.  Oh no, I am not by a long shot saying that our seasoned Rotarian's sage wisdom is not equally needed.  It is this combination, the 2016 Council and Legislature’s brave forward-looking resolutions and our 2016-2017 RI President John Germ’s strong stand on Rotary’s tweaking of itself that makes this year so exciting and so in need of a cross-section of our clubs' members to lead the way.  As President John stated in the July “Rotarian” magazine, “We’ve got a service-minded generation coming up.  We’ve got to get our message out to them, and we’d better do it fast.”  To undertake this mission, it must be a grass root club level effort.

 

It will take every club openly discussing where they wish to see their club in 1, 3, 5 years and setting measurable goals to tweak their club to forge ahead ensuring we are the pathway for service-minded community residents to join and live Service Above Self!

 

Club Presidents Dare To Be All You Can Be in 2016 – 2017 As “Rotary Serves Humanity!”