DGE Marlee Message
ON THE EVE OF ROTARY 2016-2017
This has been a whirlwind of a year as I prepare to be your District Governor. What an honor/honour! Bill and I have thoroughly enjoyed and cherish every event and our participation in all the training events. We have visited many of the clubs as I wanted to become familiar with the breadth of the district. We have a tremendous group of Rotarians who are passionate about every project they undertake.
Recently, we traveled to Seoul, South Korea to participate in the Rotary International Convention. WOW! What else can you say when you have the opportunity to interact with 43,000 Rotarians and guests. The speakers were outstanding, the breakout sessions were very well attended and worth the trek to the other half of this huge convention complex. We could have just spent the whole time in the House of Friendship where clubs global projects were showcased plus lots of Rotary items to purchase. One of my favorite purchases was the History of our Rotary Foundation. David Forward did a great job of bringing our history to life. You may purchase this book at MyRotary.org
In the photo: DG Kevin Crosby and me on Day One at the Seoul Convention.
Registration is open (www.districtconference7090.org) for our Rotary District Conference in Batavia, NY on October 21 – 23. I asked the conference committee to build this conference on my dream of what I would like to do at a conference. I do hope you will enjoy it! We are stepping out of the norm, we are at the newly rebuilt Batavia Downs Gaming and they are even building a hotel for us (register early so as not to be disappointed). To register for the hotel on the conference site, click on accommodations - the hotel registration only works if you select group code and then enter the code rotary first before selecting the dates. If you want a room on site you need to register for the conference and book your room (it is a separate registration) early as there are only 84 rooms. That said, no panic there are lots of hotel rooms within a half mile and there are acres of free parking at the casino. Friday night’s kick-off is a Tailgate Party, let’s celebrate our sports passion for football. Saturday, there will be lots of leaders sharing their Rotary and non-Rotary knowledge in the morning sessions.
In fact some of it will be hands-on making of hats for the evening celebration or just because you want a hat, yes it is for both guys and gals – fancy bonnets or decorated caps. It will be fun for everyone and lots of laughs. If you have any bric a brac, ribbons, feathers, buttons, silk flower corsages – you get the message, start to pile them up to use or share. If you can use a straight pin or a hot glue gun, you will relish in this fun. If you cannot use those tools, they will teach you. “WHY IN THE WORLD DO I WANT TO MAKE A HAT?” To join in the fun of our Derby “Hats and Tails” Gala Evening on Saturday. We wear the hats! The horses have the tails!!!
Saturday afternoon is going to blow you right away!!! We are going to help our food banks by packaging dried meals…50,000 of them. Everyone can participate, even your children, there are tasks for all folks. There will be a contribution formula, if you want to share some with your local food banks. This product is developed to be nutritious and tasty for our North American palates.
Also on Saturday afternoon, those who like to pedal a bicycle are encouraged to Pedal to End Polio, as we are so close to halting wild polio in its tracks. We will be encouraging all district members to contribute to this push as Monday, October 24 is End Polio Day and we want to give lots to this special day to our Rotary Foundation Centennial and the End Polio being our signature global initiative. There have only been 16 cases in the world this year.
This is just a small sampling of the events taking place during this conference. One will scare you silly!
PSST…I hear there is some Batavia Downs play money coming attendees' way! If you prefer to not enter the casino, you do not need to see it at all. Here is to a great 2016 District Conference!