District Governor Kevin Crouse, June 2014
DG Kevin’s June Message
A Year to Remember
At the magnificent RI conference in Sydney Australia this year, the opening Plenary Address by Tony Abbott , Prime Minister of Australia said, “Rotarians don’t do things because they have to do them, but because they choose to do them”. That quotation pretty well sums up our year as clubs and as a district. Clubs have risen to the challenge of stemming the tide of membership decline by increasing retention and increasing membership. 47 clubs have either increased membership or retained the membership they have. At this point, total membership has risen from 2378 on July 1, 2013 to 2460 on June 30, 2014. The membership committee under the able leadership of Pravin Suchak and Brian Carmichael has chartered two new clubs - the E Club last July and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Club to be chartered on June 30. This could be the first year in ten where the decline in membership stops.
Our current Polio figures indicate that we are getting even closer to eliminating Polio from the face of the Earth. According to Bruce Aylsworth in his WHO report given in Sydney, Polio is all but eliminated in Afghanistan and Nigeria. By the end of the year both countries could become Polio free, leaving PAKISTAN ASTHE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TO STILL STRUGGLE WITH THIS CRIPPLING DISEASE. And even there, plans are afoot to eradicate it completely. Rotarians do what they choose to do because they have the passion to get the job done. At the SLAPSHOT conference this year, one student group indicated that the signs of success in this world are not really fame, fortune or financial gain but living a life that enables individuals to follow their dreams.
And speaking of dreams, this year, another one of my dreams was to restore the passion of conference fellowship that leaders in the past have established at the district level. That is why we chose a central location with the world’s best view of Niagara Falls central to the district. Our plans were to increase registration numbers and revert to central Rotary themes that have kept us motivated to be Rotarians. We were most successful in doing that by engaging our conference committee in an aggressive promotion campaign and by featuring topics like childhood development, youth engagement and retention themes and by introducing a new award system called Head, Hands and Heart that culminated in the presentation of 180 medals and certificates at the Sunday morning brunch. The result was that we had 411 people register and over 200 attending on Sunday morning – both results that were unprecedented in the past.
While the conference was very successful in motivating district Rotarians to take up the engagement challenge, it was, unfortunately, not a financial success. Despite careful planning by the committee, a significant shortfall occurred. In May, the District Finance Committee voted to pay the bill as requested by the hotel. Over the three year planning stage, and working with three separate contracts that changed venues and hotel expectations, we ended up with a contract that demanded we sell at least $40,000 in food and beverage sales and 280 room nights. The food and beverage expectations were well met. Over $45,000 in food and beverage sales were paid for over the three day conference. The hotel room night expectations, despite several rounds of negotiation and concerns raised over the hotel’s assertions of room nights, ended up in a shortfall of 86 room nights resulting in a room attrition charge of $21,349.57. Additional charges of 11,567.97 made for a total of 32,917.54. The District Finance Committee agreed to pay the bill. This extra charge will be absorbed by our reserve so as not to require a dues increase.
Despite this issue, the year was a success in terms of member engagement, membership retention and leader recognition. Many thanks to all club presidents for their leadership. My wife, Becky and I are most grateful for the club hospitality shown to us on all of our visits. It was an exciting and humbling experience to see our clubs in action. The amount of time, sweat equity, engagement and passion evident throughout the district is truly awe inspiring. Becky and I thank you for the welcome we always received and for the opportunities you afforded us to celebrate your outstanding efforts with you over this past year. As Eleanor Roosevelt said “Many people will come in and out of your life, but only true friends leave footprints on your heart”. Thank you for the many footprints you are leaving on our hearts.
Yours in Rotary
