governor tom’s message - clubrunner.ca€¦ · governor tom’s message as we begin our new...
TRANSCRIPT
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GOVERNOR TOM’S MESSAGE As we begin our new Rotary year, I would like to reflect on RI President Sakuji Tanaka’s theme for the year “Peace Through
Service”. We hear the word peace every day. We hear it in the news, we use it in conversation, and we talk about it a great
deal in Rotary. But most of us spend very little time thinking about what peace is and what peace means. Peace is the ability
to enjoy life. Rotary builds peace. Not with armies, not with treaties, not with debates or elections or governments. Rotary
builds peace in a much more real, much more practical way – day by day, individual by individual, with every act of service
by every single Rotarian.
Rotary has helped build peace through our single largest and most significant project: Polio Plus. It started out as an
incredibly ambitious dream – ambitious yes, but we now know realistic. Today, there is no longer any question of whether
we will eradicate polio – the only question is how soon it will happen.
(Continued on page 4)
Historic Moments: Why the Rotary year
begins 1 July By Susan Hanf and Jason Lamb
Rotary International News -- 29 June 2012
Ever wonder why the Rotary year begins 1 July? The international
convention initially played a key role in determining the start date
of our fiscal and administrative year.
Rotary’s first fiscal year began the day after the first convention
ended, on 18 August 1910. The 1911-12 fiscal year also related to
the convention, beginning with the first day of the 1911 convention
on 21 August.
At its August 1912 meeting, the Board of Directors ordered an audit
of the International Association of Rotary Clubs’ finances. The
auditors recommended that the organization end its fiscal year on
30 June to give the secretary and treasurer time to prepare a
financial statement for the convention and board, and determine the
proper number of club delegates to the convention. (Continued on page 4)
Next Month in District 6330
Aug. 10-12 Mountain Top Jamboree (Markdale)
Aug. 11 District Leadership Meeting
Aug. 18 Youth Protection and YEO Training (Goderich)
Aug. 21 Jane Voll, Bank of Canada – Losing Business (Goderich)
(If you have any upcoming events and would like to see them here please email them to
Please visit www.clubrunner.ca/portal/home.aspx?did=6330 for more information on upcoming events.
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Club News
Rotary Club of Stratford The Rotary Club of Stratford owns and manages four dragon boats which they make agailable to local teams for thir regular practices. They also make life vests and paddles for available for teams that require them. This year there is a group of 40 junior paddlers. Sometimes a junior paddler will stay with the program and become a volunteer.
Petrolia Rotary Club
Again this year the Rotary Club of Petrolia are selling their Dinner of the Month tickets for 2012-2013. Tickets are available for $10.00 or 3 for $25.00 and are a great deal.
Rotary Club of Festival City (Stratford) Cheryl-Ann Webster from the Rotary Club of Waterloo spoke to the Rotary Club of Festival City as a representative of FIDA-pcH or the Foundation for International Development Assistance – productive cooperatives Haiti. Cheryl-Ann became involved with FIDA three years ago after the Haitian earthquake. To date FIDA has formed 27 cooperatives. The cooperatives pool the resources of the local farmers to improve productivity to the point where excess food production can be sold to markets. Previously farmers working alone on their own small plot of land with one or two animals were barely surviving. By combining resources productivity has increased. Since 85% of Haitians are illiterate one of the goals of FIDA has been to teach farmers how to read and write. Agricultural education has taught farmers better practices such as composting, crop rotation, dealing with insect pests, and planting trees to improve shade and reduce erosion. Cooperatives elect their president from the members and all members share in the profits. Recently some Haitian communities on their own initiative have formed their own cooperatives without FIDA’s assistance. This shows that real progress has started in Haiti.
Rotary Club of Grand Bend Since the inception of thee Grand Bend Rotary Club in 1991 they have raised and given back to the community and international projects over $890,477.
Rotary Club of Wiarton The Wiarton Rotary Club has donated two Reading Kits to Peninsula Shores District school at a value of $600.00. Not only have they donated kits, several members are also volunteering their time to be trained and to start working with the students starting in the fall.
Rotary Club of London South Had a visit from a former Rotary Exchange Student from Finland that was hosted by their club 10 years ago. Piia Wiiklund and her Fiancée are on a road trip and stopped in to visit and thank the club for the positive impact on her life from her stay in London, 10 years ago.
Rotary Club of St. Clair Great Lake Freighter Raffle
You could be the one to win a round trip summer cruise for six adults (12 years or older) on a working Great Lakes Super Carrier. This
wonderful 5 to 6 day trip, beginning at DTE Energy’s St. Clair Power Plant takes you to Superior, Wisconsin and back to St. Clair.
The trip will be scheduled by the Interlake Steamship Company during the 2013 Navigation Season.
Tickets can be obtained from any St. Clair Rotarian, The St. Clair Chamber of Commerce or by mailing $10 per ticket and a self
addressed, stamped envelope to: St. Clair Rotary Club
PO Box 441
St. Clair, Michigan 48079
The drawing will be held on September 29, 2012. All proceeds will be used for charitable and civic purposes by the St. Clair Rotary Club.
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District 6330 News
2015-2016 District Governor Nominations Nominations for District Governor for 2015-2016 are now being accepted. All clubs are invited to submit their nomination for District Governor for the Rotary year 2015-2016. Please send your nomination to PDG Joe Reynolds, Nominating Committee Chair at 2499 Lost Creek Dr., Flushing, Michigan 48433. Nominations may also be faxed to 1 888 785 6293 or emailed to [email protected] Please note that nominations must be received on or before October 1, 2012. Club nominations must be in the form of a resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the club naming the nominated candidate. The resolution must be signed by the club Secretary and the club can nominate only one of its own members. Please refer to the 2010 Rotary “Manual of Procedure, RI bylaws, Article 13 (pages 216-220). Qualifications and responsibilities for Governor Nominees can be found in the Manual of Procedure, pages 28-33. Please Note. The sequence for the years prior to being 2015-2016 District Governor is: 2012-2013 District Governor Nominee Designate. 2013-2014 District Governor Nominee. 2014-2015 District Governor Elect.
Rotary E-club soon to charter in District 6330 The purpose of a Rotary e-club is to extend Rotary to business, professional and community leaders in any Rotary District who are unable to meet traditional attendance requirements. Inability to attend a traditional Rotary club could be the result of demanding business or professional commitments, cost, extensive travel, confinement due to ill health or disability, or residence beyond reasonable distance from an existing Rotary club. Rotary e-clubs are not "virtual" Rotary clubs. They are real Rotary clubs comprised of real living, breathing, working Rotarians doing real Rotary projects. They simply use the Internet as a tool to manage the club and manage projects. Use of the word "virtual" in the Rotary context is deemed to be inappropriate, because Rotary works in the real world, not in the virtual world. A Rotary e-club is part of the real world of Rotary International.
There are 5 key goals, all of which apply to every Rotary e-club:
1. Use the Internet to retain Rotarians who would otherwise be lost to Rotary.
2. Use the Internet to attract new Rotarians.
3. Use the Internet to facilitate meetings. 4. Use the Internet to manage service projects.
5. Use the Internet for fellowship by creating a friendly community of like-minded
Rotarians.
Please share this information with your club members and with potential members who are unable to attend your club meetings. Members of this club can be from any country in the world where Rotary has a presence. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact PDG Tanya Wolff DG's Special Rep to the e-club and District 6330 Extension Chair at [email protected].
Rotaplast: An International Service Opportunity Rotaplast provides life changing cleft lip and palate surgery to children throughout the world who have little or no access to healthcare. Join our familiy, help us saves smiles and change lives, and see the world anew!
We travel to developing countries around the world to provide free reconstructive surgery and treatment to those born with
cleft palate and related anomalies. We promote self-sufficiency in the countries where we work by training local physicians,
counselling families, and collaborating with health officials on the development of sustainable cleft palate programs.
Rotaplast began as World Community Service Project in The San Francisco Rotary Club in 1993. In January 2013 Rotaplast will
be 20 years old. In February 2012 Rotaplast operated on it's 15.000 patient Our District was involved in 2008 when the Area 5
clubs sponsored and participated in a mission in Barquisimeto, Venezuela where we helped 80 patients with 111 surgeries.
We are currently looking for sponsors for the 2013 missions. Is this YOUR opportunity to get involved in International Service?
See more at http://www.rotaplast.org
Please contact AG Lawrie Lachapelle or PDG Tanya Wolff for more information.
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GOVERNOR TOM’S MESSAGE (Continued from page 1)
Rotary International’s Goals for 2012 – 2013 closely parallel those of last year and will focus on the following priorities:
Support the eradication of polio and promote humanitarian service in the six areas of focus;
Advance peace through service;
Strengthen Rotary clubs and membership
Enhance Rotary’s public image;
Address regional issues and concerns as needed
My goals this year mirror those of RI with specific emphasis on:
Membership development and Retention.
Financial support of the RI Foundation Annual Programs Fund through EREY
Continued support for Polio Plus. While we are “This Close” that last 1% requires sizeable funding.
Encourage the use of Matching grants to support projects in the “Six Areas of Focus”.
Public Relations, encourage clubs to develop a website and Facebook page.
Expand Training to strengthen clubs and develop leaders through Rotary Leadership Institute.
There are a lot of changes in the works for the near future and I am excited to be part of these changes. In this regard, considerable
efforts are being made by the District Foundation Committee to ensure that all clubs are adequately trained and ready for the advent
of Future Vision July 1, 2013.
We have over 2,000 dedicated hard working Rotarians in the District who will continue to seek out worthy local and international
Service Projects and see them through to a successful conclusion. In 2012-13 put Peace Through Service at the forefront of your Rotary
work.
It is an honor to serve as your District Governor for the year 2012 – 2013 and Heather and I are looking forward to our Official Visits
and getting to know your clubs better.
You are part of an amazing Rotary Team and together we can make 2012-13 the most successful year ever. Going forward – think big –
have fun.
Yours in Rotary Fellowship and Service,
Tom Robitaille
District Governor 2012 - 2013
Historic Moments: Why the Rotary year begins 1 July (Continued from page 1)
The executive committee concurred, and at its April 1913 meeting, designated 30 June as the end of the fiscal year. This also allowed for changes to the schedule for reporting club membership and payments. Even The Rotarian changed its volume numbering system to correspond to the fiscal year (beginning with vol. 5, July 1914).
Rotary continued to hold its annual conventions in July or August until 1917. Delegates to the 1916 event in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, approved a resolution to hold future conventions in June, mainly because of the heat in cities where most of them occurred. The next one was held 17-21 June in Atlanta, Georgia.
The term "Rotary year" has been used to signify Rotary’s annual administrative period since at least 1913. An article in The Rotarian that July noted, “The Rotary year that is rapidly drawing to a close has been signalized by several highly successful joint meetings of Clubs that are so situated as to assemble together easily and conveniently.”
Since the executive committee's decision in 1913, the end of the Rotary year has remained 30 June.
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International Rotary News
Rotarians carry the Olympic torch In 1958, Bob Izon ran the mile in world-record time in the under-16 age category, becoming the English schools champion. But the most meaningful run of his life took place in May, when the founding member of the Rotary Club of Hereford Wye Valley, Herefordshire, England, carried the Olympic torch through his hometown. Izon is one of several Rotarians who have carried the torch on its relay to the new Olympic Stadium in London for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on 27 July. “I consider myself very fortunate to have been chosen, as half the bearers are ages 15 to 25,” he says. “It gave me a chance to pursue three objectives: inspire the younger generation, publicize Rotary’s good works, and show that a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease does not always condemn one to a nonactive life.” Parkinson’s disease Izon was diagnosed with the disease in 1992 but has remained active as a Rotarian, a justice of the peace, and a school board member at St. Paul’s Church of England Primary School in Hereford. The school’s students and their parents lined the road on 24 May for Izon’s portion of the torch relay. Members of his club bore a huge banner publicizing Rotary and their upcoming charity duck race. During an all-school assembly the next day, students spent more than two hours taking turns holding the torch that had carried the flame and having their photographs taken. “The atmosphere within the school hall was highly emotional, and quite a few of us were close to tears,” recalls Izon. “This was truly the most remarkable week in the 144-year history of the school.” Izon’s Parkinson’s is now largely under control. In 2003, he participated in a trial procedure at the University of Birmingham Hospital, in which electrodes were placed in his brain, alleviating many of the symptoms. He has continued to participate in Rotary service projects. Serving as a volunteer dentist on a medical mission to help Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong years ago, he says, reminded him that millions lack access to health care. “Having Parkinson’s, being a school governor, being a Rotarian, these have all combined to give me an effective message,” he says. “I can say to the kids, don’t give in, and they believe it.” Other torchbearers Ken Logan, a member of the Rotary Club of Braids, Lothian, Scotland, ran his segment of the relay in June. He was nominated in part for his role in an Edinburgh charity that delivers aid to Bosnia, for which he has raised over £10,000 through marathons and long-distance swimming. Mike Thorn, a member of the Rotary Club of Cheam, Greater London, carried the torch through Kent in July. “It’s an opportunity to be part of history. It’s priceless, and it doesn’t get much better than this,” says Thorn. “It’s the nearest thing to running in the Olympics.” Learn more about Rotary and the Olympics on the website of Rotary International in Great Britian and Ireland.