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2011 -12Issue No. 1

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PRESIDENT SPEAKS Dear Texcity Family,Warm greeti ngs to you from your new President!

Having been introduced to the Rotary movement in Calcutt a way back in the seventi es, I am privileged to be standing here today, taking on the presti gious post of President of Rotary Club of Coimbatore Texcity.

Being the mother club for Rotary movement in India, I not only had the privilege to rub shoulders with who’s who of Calcutt a but, more importantly I realized, what a set of dedicated individuals, each one a leader in their own profession, can do to bring happiness on the faces of humanity at large.

Friends, be it Calcutt a or Coimbatore..the same set of traditi ons and the mott o of ‘service above self’ are the guiding principles that moti vate Rotarians to achieve greater heights in their pursuit for service for the under-privileged.

Our outgoing President Mathew and Secretary Senthil have set very high standards by undertaking several projects in diff erent arenas and have raised your expectati ons from the incoming team. Let me assure each one of you that, I, along with Secretary Lakshmanan and our team members, will conti nue all the good tasks & projects initi ated last year and will do our utmost to ensure that Texcity is more vibrant, dynamic and a fun club for all of us.

R. I. President Kalyan Banerjee’s theme for 2011-12 is “Reach within to embrace humanity” and, he has rightly laid maximum emphasis on ‘family’. To quote from his speech “The family is where everything begins”. We bring happiness to others when we have happiness in our own family. The mother and child are the center point of every family and we will do all that we can for their well being. A new program for the educati on of expectant mothers will be initi ated

RI PRESIDENTMy dear brothers and sisters in Rotary!

All of us in Rotary are looking to change the world – why else would we be Rotarians? We believe that our world can be happier, healthier, and more peaceful, and that we can create that bett er world through our service.

In 2011-12, I will ask Rotarians to Reach Within to Embrace Humanity . I will ask you to search fi rst within yourselves, to understand that all of us, everywhere, have the same dreams, the same hopes, the same aspirati ons, and similar dilemmas. When we understand, and truly feel, that others’ needs are the same as our own, we begin to understand how important our work is. In the year ahead, we will have three emphases in our Rotary service.

Our fi rst emphasis in this Rotary year will be the family. The family and the home are at the core of all our work – all our service begins here. And through the family, we approach all of our community and indeed, all of humanity, as an extended family, in which all members care for each other. In ti mes of joy and in ti mes of need, no one is ever alone.

Our second emphasis will be conti nuity – fi nding the things we do well and taking them to the next level. We must build on our successes, expand on them, and strive to do even more. Of course, our greatest obligati on is to PolioPlus, where success is now so close.

And our third emphasis will be change. We must understand that true change can only begin with each of us, and start within us. We cannot share peace with others if we do not have it to give. We cannot look aft er the whole world without fi rst looking aft er those closest to us: our families, our clubs, and our communiti es.

Mohandas K. Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” In Rotary, we endeavour to live ethically and honestly, to share friendship and fellowship, to see equal worth in every human being. We are not interested in the lowest common denominator, for Rotary is anything but common. Instead, we work to elevate ourselves, elevate others, and thereby embrace the world.

Together, we will Reach Within to Embrace Humanity . And in peace, harmony, and friendship, we will bring change – and a more joyful world.

Kalyan Banerjee President, Rotary Internati onal

From the

EDITOR’S DESK

Ann Alka R. Nichani

No one whistles a symphony alone. The beauti ful music is a result of the coming together of many skilled musicians with a mindset of creati ng music together. The diff erent instruments create a synergy when played together to enthrall the audience. How similar it is to a service organizati on like Rotary where people from diff erent vocati ons come together to forge bonds of friendship and service. A typical orchestra consists of Woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings, along with some ancillary instruments and led by a conductor. The four avenues of service and their directors (now 5 to include New generati ons), and the rest of the offi ce bearers with the President of the club at the helm of aff airs sounds somewhat similar, doesn’t it?So here we are again: It’s the beginning of a new Rotary year and we have the Texcity orchestra all set for their performance under the able guidance of President Rtn P K Agarwal; set to enchant the District with their compositi ons. There will be some old classics (ongoing projects) and some new compositi ons (new ideas for service). There will be light, fun numbers (fellowship) and there will be the traditi onal pieces (weekly meeti ngs). There will be small pieces (fi reside meeti ngs) and there will be the masterpieces (Installati on, Governor’s visit ). There will be the ti meless pieces (RYLA) and there will be some modern pieces (fresh meeti ng ideas). I’m sure it will be a magnifi cent ensemble! The guidelines of Rotary Internati onal are the notes which make up the basis on which the orchestra will set its compositi ons. While innovati ons and new concertos will be created, the ti me honoured pieces have to be presented. Aft er all, Rotary Internati onal, with its strong backing of over a century has so many systems in place making it easier for new leaders to take charge of creati ng a new symphony every year.The R.I. theme that our President Kalyan Banerjee has come up with : “Reach within to embrace humanity” is a challenge to each one of us to fi nd our inner music and share it with the world. It brings forth our Indian culture so beauti fully especially when he equates it with “Vasudevam Kutumbakam”. We all have music inside of us, some of us may not have paid heed to it yet. Now is the chance to glimpse within and bring out the hidden beauty, share it with your friends in Rotary and with humanity! Play the instrument you play

best, and when the others do the same the result will be music to everyone’s ears.Happy Rotary Year ahead!P.S.: If we could all hear one another’s prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burdens

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“Reach within to embrace humanity” is the Rotary theme for 2011-12. As with all the earlier themes, a lot of thought and deliberation would have gone into the finalising of this important aspect which is a beacon for the Rotary world for the whole year. When addressing the Assembly of District Governors, R.I President Kalyan Banerjee said, “if we want to bring hope and give dignity and confidence to our fellow human beings on this earth, we can do nothing better than to help them have a home to live in. A home is where the family begins. The mother and the child are the core of every family. And the communities we live in are not built of individual people, but of families – families living in homes together, sharing their lives and their resources and their common destinies. Good families lead to good neighborhoods and good neighborhoods build good communities. Good communities make great nations. This is why, in the coming year, the first of our emphasis will be the family, because the family is where everything we wish to achieve in the world, starts.”

The undercurrent of every theme is service, with R.I.’s perennial theme being “Service above Self”.

Every theme has gone through a “Trial by fire” of sorts before being presented. Maybe even a Four Way Test of sorts: 1. Is it meaningful? 2. Will it fairly propagate the ideals of Rotary? 3. Will it build better Rotarians? 4. Will it show the way to every Rotary leader? While every theme was a gem, let’s look at some themes which have stayed in our minds for longer than their period of a year.

The first theme listed in the current Official Directory was for the 1949-50 Rotary year, and like the other early themes, it was a lengthy list of objectives. The themes, as we know them today, began to emerge in the 1950s with three shorter versions: Rotary Is Hope in Action. Develop Our Resources. Help Shape the Future.

Among the more modern themes, some have been long: Act with Integrity, Serve with Love, Work for Peace. Show Rotary Cares for Your Community, for Our World, for Its People. ACT — Aim for Action,

Communicate for Understanding, Test for Leadership. And some have been short: Participate! Reach Out. Rotary Shares.

Some of the themes have started with verbs and called for action: Be a Friend. Lend a Hand. Lead the Way. And others have been statements to emphasize a point: You Are the Key. Mankind Is Our Business. Real Happiness Is Helping Others. Sixteen of the themes have included the word Rotary: Live Rotary. Enjoy Rotary. Rotary Shares. Celebrate Rotary. Rotary Brings Hope.

Three of the themes have included the word service: Service Above Self. Let Service Light the Way. Rotarians — United in Service — Dedicated to Peace. And three of the themes have included the words “bridge or bridges”: Bridge the Gaps. Vitalize! Personalize! Build Bridges of Friendship. Mankind Is One — Build Bridges of Friendship throughout the World.

Some themes that sought to touch the deepest recesses of the Rotarians hearts were : Kindle the spark within. Goodwill begins with you. You are the Key. To dignify the human being.

Past Rotary International President Frank Devlyn came up with the idea that most of the themes speak only to Rotarians, but a few seek to explain Rotary to non-Rotarians. He felt that all of us need to develop an elevator speech in which we can sell the concept of Rotary to non-Rotarians between the time an elevator door closes on one floor and the time it opens on a different floor. Last year’s theme Building Communities, Bridging Continents, sought to do that. Another theme that comes to mind in this context is World Understanding and Peace Through Rotary.

That the theme could be used as an opening line to attract a person into the Rotary fold is an interesting idea. As a proactive Rotarian (and leader) each one of us should be ready with a 30 second elevator speech about Rotary. Which aspect of Rotary will you promote? Here are four of our Past Presidents pitching for Rotary to an imaginary prospective Rotarian.

Views:

This year our RI President’s theme is ‘Reach Within to Embrace Humanity’ and my experience as Texcity President during 1999-2000 convinced me that in order to serve humanity, we need to reach within ourselves to tap our own huge potential through a 5 minute meditation and reflection process by asking ourselves “What are my strengths as a Person, as a Professional? Which humanitarian

especially in the rural areas, so that they take a good care of their health & diet. The program will make them aware of the benefits of sanitation and exercise and help them as well as their infants. The root cause of chronic child diseases like diarrhea, cholera, jaundice etc is contaminated drinking water and unhealthy personal hygiene. This is possibly the main reason for high rate of absenteeism in the primary schools. We propose to initiate an awareness campaign in the panchayat & government run schools and educate the children on the importance of good personal habits. To start with, we propose to provide safe drinking water in 5 schools in and around Coimbatore. For the adolescent girl child, we plan to install Sanitary Napkin vending machines in couple of schools where the sanitary napkins would be made available at a very nominal cost.

When we recently met Anshul Mishra, the then Municipal Commissioner of Coimbatore Municipal Corporation, he remarked that, by and large, there was no dearth of resources and the need of the hour was good education and implementation. I personally believe that Rotary can definitely contribute in this direction.

Texcity has always been in the forefront in undertaking vocational guidance and youth leadership projects. This year Texcity also proposes to conduct District RYLA. Texcity’s meaningful RYLA for differently abled children has been a huge success. We hope to continue the same this year too. Coimbatore has several old age homes run by NGOs. Though these homes provide basic food and shelter to the needy, there is very little medical assistance available on a regular basis. We propose to send doctors on a regular basis to some of these old age homes so that the inmates can be benefitted.

Our Texcity website designed by our dynamic Rtn Prasanna is ready for interaction. Please visit it and use it as a tool to keep updated with happenings in Texcity and the Rotary world.

Our guiding principle for our actions during the year will be DOVES i.e.

D – DedicationO – Obsession to ServeV – VibrantE – EnergeticS – Service with a SmileI know I can count on each of you, for your whole hearted support to implement DOVES. Together, we’ll have a meaningful 2011-12

Yours in Rotary,

P.K.Aggarwal

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cause am I passionate about? Can I do something in this area through my Club? Am I willing to be the Committee Chair for this cause if the Club President shows interest? What are the strengths of my fellow Rotarians which will complement/ supplement the ones I have and so can be a member of a subcommittee for this Project? When we all join hands and work as a team, the job becomes easier. During my Presidency, I just motivated our hugely resourceful club members and they took over the leadership to ensure that the job was well done. As a Rotarian, I had the most satisfaction when I could contribute my own unique ability thereby complementing abilities of other Rotarians in a project team. This is the foundation of Rotary which has a system of classification so that Professionals with different abilities come together to serve humanity”

Rtn PP Dr Thomas Chacko

If you’re looking for long lasting friendship with leaders from different vocations, and are constantly on the learning curve to hone your leadership, communication, and inter-personal skills, then Rotary is the organization you should look to join. It also gives you a wonderful opportunity to give back to the society in a big way by doing meaningful projects to help the needy and be a role model to your children. It is an organization in which your whole family gets involved. In short it improves the quality of life you are living.

Rtn PP Ramesh A Nichani

Rotary is a service organization .It functions in a community through “Rotary clubs”. The membership is by invitation by a member of a rotary club .People join rotary not just for service but to meet likeminded people in the community and it is the fastest way for networking with the right kind of people. The membership also offers family participation and to meet people not only within the club but in any part of the world as a rotarian can attend rotary meetings any where as visiting rotarian. The Rotary lapel pin is a

prestigious symbol of membership in the right forum and it is fun and helps in the personal growth and business growth of an individual.It helps in the development of skills as with each involvement the person grows slowly and steadily . Rotary believes in the ethical values and in the cultural values and the absence of specific creed makes it a local and International at the same time.In short this is an ideal way thro which we get personal pleasure thro’fellowship and happiness to others thro community service.

Rtn. Dr. John Thanakumar

Rotary is a service organisation.It function in a community through Rotary clubs.The membership is by invitation by a member of a Rotary club .People join rotary not just for service but to meet likeminded people in the community and it is the fastest way for networking with the right kind of people. The membership also offers family participation and to meet people not only within the club but in any part of the world, as a rotarian can attend rotary meetings any where as visiting rotarian. The Rotary lapel pin is a prestigious symbol of membership in the right forum and it is fun and helps in the personal growth and business growth of an individual. It helps in the development of skills as with each involvement the person grows slowly and steadily . Rotary believes in ethical values and in the cultural values and the absence of specific creed makes it local and International at the same time. In short this is an ideal way through which we get personal pleasure through fellowship and happiness to others through community service.

PP Dr Vatsala Manohar

\\\\THE TEAM TEXCITY 2011-12

President Rtn P K Aggarwal:The man who promotes Solar Energy will be the source of energy for Texcity this year.

IPP Rtn Matthew John: This music aficionado played all his notes right in the past year and is happy to hand over the conductor’s baton to his able successor.

Secretary Rtn Laxmanan: Not one to play second fiddle to anyone, this “Snoman” of Texcity will handle his portfolio with cool nerves and sweet words.

Jt Secretary Rtn Badrinath Kota : Likes music, loves to dance! The title of Mary Higgins Clark’s book suits him very well. A committed Rotarian, he will be an asset to the board.

Treasurer Rtn K Prasanna : This tech savvy music lover has an enviable collection of good music. It will come in good use while he’s balancing Texcity’s books in the days to come.

Vice President Rtn Peter Arokiam: He is the Lifespring of Texcity. Fitness and music are close to his heart and he pulls the right strings on his guitar to rock any party.

Director, Club Service Rtn Ramesh A Nichani: His daughter is a gifted singer and he loves dancing to her tunes. He’s all set to get Texcity grooving in the coming year.

Director, Community Service Rtn V. E Ramesh: His endearing smile wins over people easily. The meaningful directorship will be handled by him with a smile on his lips and a dancing step!

Director, Vocational Service Rtn R. Krishnaraj: He’s not afraid to speak his mind even if it’s not exactly a song everyone wants to hear. He shoots straight from the heart and is well respected for that.

Director, International Service Rtn Mahaveer Bothra: His name being synonymous with beautiful sarees in Coimbatore, sounds like music to the ears of every Texcity Ann! With strong roots in Indian culture and a yen for travel, he is a good choice for this position.

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Director New Generations: Rtn Vijay,one of the younger lot in the Texcity family, he will feel the pulse of the New Generation making his job as easy as whistling his favourite tune!

Sgt At Arms Rtn Johnson: This experienced Rotarian with excellent networking skills will wield the baton to see that the Texcity squadron march in time with the RI band tune!

Jr Sgt at Arms Rtn Vijay Kumar: The youngest Major Donor of Texcity. Here’s his bugle call to all: The more you give, the more you gain.

Chairmen Rtn Sushil Chugh: Chairman, Fund Raising

Rtn PP Dr Thomas Chacko:Chairman R.I. Priorities

Rtn PDG K A Kuriachan: Chairman, Public Relations

Rtn PP Dr. Manohar David : Chairman, District Priorities

Reservoirs of Information are the able panel of Advisors: Rtn R.S. Maruti

Rtn Dr Joseph Alapatt

Rtn Jose C Abraham

Editor Ann Alka R Nichani: A student of Hindustani music, her friends say she has a way with words.. She’s back in the editor’s chair after a break.

Ann’s Club President Ann L Lakshmi: Her name is music to everyone’s ears. She’ll enrich the lives of the Anns through fellowship, service and camaraderie.

`Annets Club Chairman Annet Prathna Johnson: She’s a chip off the old block with her father’s networking skills. She will lead the Annets with aplomb as she does her group on the dance floor.

\\\\\ MEET THE FIRST FAMILY

He is the epitome of a multifaceted personality... From big business to strong family values; from cricket ¬¬¬¬¬¬to the kitchen (he makes a mean egg biryani, believe me); from music to debates; from Sanskrit to English; from hi tech to environmental concerns; from fine wines to world travel: his personality covers it all! Meet Texcity’s President 2011-12, Rtn P. K Aggarwal.He has risen from humble beginnings on the strength of his education and strong values. Born in Delhi, his father was a Civilian Staff Officer with the Ministry of Defense. He is the oldest among 3 brothers and knew the value of hard earned money. The 20 paisa spent on the bus fare to school every day was an investment into his future. Cricket meant a lot to him right from his young days. He played every chance he got. Something like Higher Secondary exams wouldn’t keep him from the cricket field, and he did a fine job playing for the school team. Other interests close to his heart were debating and listening to music. His flair for Sanskrit earned him a distinction in the language and he was also identified as a promising student by the Science Talent Search.In spite of securing low marks among his peers, his excellent performance at the IIT entrance Test earned him a seat at the IIT New Delhi where he went on to graduate in Textile Technology.. His life was to change in more ways than one after IIT. Being in hostel for the first time, he had to get used to doing things for himself on his own. (Of course one thing didn’t change…he still played cricket while others studied). Losing a slide rule that cost his father Rs 80 out of his Rs 200 salary was a shock, considering he had left it on his study table (which had a window close to it) in his room. But when he lost a watch the same week, he knew he had to get to the bottom of things. Upon enquiry, he found

that Suresh, a co student had picked up the watch to teach him a lesson. He had a huge showdown with Suresh but that also started a friendship which continues today. From being unwilling partners during a college project to becoming brothers in law today, their journey together has been a long one indeed!

Being a rebellious character in IIT, he was keen on making a difference wherever possible. He got into the mess committee and made drastic changes for the betterment of the students, so much so that he was elected mess secretary every year after that. He was awarded the golden key when leaving college (The golden key signifies, “you are welcome back anytime”).

He is a connoisseur of good food and enjoys rustling up a few signature dishes for family and friends. I can vouch for his culinary skills having tasted some of the stuff he happily rustles up. He and his family are excellent hosts who make you feel very warm and welcome in their home.

Talking about family, let’s throw some light on the light of his life, Jyoti. You remember his friend Suresh from IIT? Well he had a sister who Aggarwalji met while she was pursuing studies in medicine at Nagpur. As luck would have it, he got a job in Delhi and subsequently, she got a job there too. Coincidentally, the hospital she worked in was half a km away from his place of work. Our gallant President in his chauffer driven car would pick up his friend’s sister from home and drop her to work everyday. Romance blossomed, soon Jyoti went to U.S.A for further studies (she worked at the prestigious St. Elizabeth Hospital, Boston) The hero of our story was waiting for her when she got back…and you can guess the rest.

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\\\\\Did you know …. About the relationship between Rotary and the United Nations

The charter of the United Nations and Rotary’s Continuing Relationship - from San Francisco to New York City took place at the newly constructed War Memorial complex in San Francisco.

General Dwight Eisenhower was later “reported” to have said that Rotary was the greatest power for peace next to the UN

Philippine Brigadier General in World War II Carlos P. Romulo (Rotary Club of Manila) was Ambassador of the Philippines to the US, Permanent Representative to the UN, President of the 4th session of the United Nations 1949 and Past Director of Rotary International.

On UN Day 2006, More than 1,200 Rotarians from 42 countries gathered in New York to learn how to meet humanitarian needs worldwide by working more effectively with United Nations agencies.

The United Nations Fellowship of Rotarians is a new proposed fellowship of Rotarians devoted to the UN and RotaryUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came to the Rotary Convention in Birmingham and made three separate appearances over approximately 6 hours during Sunday. It is probably the first time that a UN Secretary has appeared at a Rotary Convention.

\\\\\AWARDS Texcity received the following recognitions at the District Awards ceremony for the year 2010-11

Best Club for New Horizon

His career graph spans different well known companies and reads something like this:Bombay Dyeing 1968-70 - SQC & Trouble Shooting Department

1970 - 1985. In Marketing. Starting as a Sales Representative with Sarabhai group, in the next Decade, worked with leading Textile Machinery Manufacturers including Texind Corporation (an business associate of Mafatlal group) & MMC (part of Mahindra & Mahindra group) as head of Exports 1975 – 76.

He then moved to Coimbatore in January 77 as Branch Manager with MEI a Mafatlal Group Co Got promoted as DGM responsible for Entire South Zone and worked till March 85 before seeking premature retirement.

In April 1985, promoted R J Engineers with an Annual Turnover of around Rs 6 million. It made steady progress and celebrated its Silver Jubilee last year with Turnover touching almost Rs 200 Million.

Apart from Textile Machinery , it has now ventured into Non Conventional Energy Generation System by associating with Wipro Eco Energy ( part of 6 Billion US $ IT major groups WIPRO ) for marketing of Photovoltaic Systems in India. Rtn Aggarwal was member of Govt Of India’s Delegation to Indonesia & Bangladesh for Modernization of Textile Industry in the respective Countries.

Dr Jyoti is a practicing Anesthesiologist with SriHari hospital and an active Director in the company. She balances home and work and has her hands pretty full on both counts. The Aggarwals are blessed with two sons: Abhishek graduated in Mechanical Engineering from PSG College of Technology in Year 2001. He joined the family business as a Sales Executive and over the next decade, he has risen to the position of JMD of the Co. He is happily married to Sunaina and they are parents of the precocious Naman. Aashish, a B Com (hons) graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce Delhi, joined Standard Chartered Bank as a Marketing Executive in the Year 2003 and rose to the position of City Head – Wealth Management Division. In 2006, he joined the family business and is responsible for Institutional Business of the Company. His better half Gajalakshmi and one year old Shaurya complete the happy family. The family love to travel together and have been to several places around the globe.This then is the First Family of Texcity for the coming year. Texcity Times wishes them a lifetime of togetherness!!

Best Club for 9R Rejuvenating YouthOutstanding Club for reducing child mortalityOutstanding club for 9R Navrathna awardFor the sake of Service award to Rtn MarutiCertificate of Appreciation for Go Green MarathonR.I. Presidential Citation for demonstrating Rotary’s commitment to Fellowship and ServiceDist Governor’s Citation for meeting all District Priorities and having balanced activities.

Congratulations to Rtn Matthew John, Rtn Senthil and team!!

\\\\\\\Rotary Music Festivals:

Meet the first family>>> cont.

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Realising the value of Classical music and the importance of its promotion, Rotary Clubs in Canada have come up with the idea of Rotary Music Festivals. In this music themed issue, let’s take a brief look at three such festivals which are annual in feature and provide a platform to thousands of upcoming musicians:

Burlington Music Festival This festival aims to cultivate the growth of the arts in the community by providing each participant with the opportunity to perform in a friendly atmosphere, to strive for excellence, to learn from others and to enhance their musical studies.

The Rotary Burlington Music Festival was founded in 1999 by the late Robert Elstone and Sandra Brewer. Bob and Sandy realized a mutual dream of bringing classical music to the attention of the community. Bob, a past-president of the Rotary Club of Burlington Central and Sandy, a member of ORMTA (Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association) were able to bring the four Rotary Clubs of Burlington and the Hamilton/Halton branch of ORMTA together in this joint venture. The festival provides an opportunity for amateur musicians through competition, to achieve excellence in their art, and assists the participants in developing character, discipline, logical thinking and perception through music.

St John’s Music FestivalRotary Music Festival is a project sponsored by the St. John’s Northwest Rotary Club It is an annual, non-competitive event run by a team of dedicated music educators and supporters. This not-for-profit endeavour has played a pivotal role in the development and enhancement of music education in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and today invites groups from across Canada to take part. Rotary Music Festival is the perfect complement to a musical group’s regular season.

Music groups that participate in the Festival are provided with wonderful opportunities. The fact that Rotary Music Festival is non-competitive allows for a major emphasis on providing a high-quality educational experience for all participating groups. Each group performs for two renowned clinicians, and in addition to the interactive clinic held after the performance, the group is given both a written and a recorded adjudication from each clinician. Groups also have the option of playing to a standard, or to play in a “clinic only” setting.

Rotary Music Festival takes great care in selecting its clinicians. Committee members are constantly developing and maintaining relationships with some of the most renowned music educators in Canada, the United States, and Europe.Participating groups are invited to perform in one of the nightly concerts. This gives every group an opportunity to perform in a large concert setting and enjoy the talent of their peers from other schools and communities.

Yukon Music FestivalThe philosophy of the Yukon Rotary Music Festival is to provide a venue for music students and groups to perform in a healthy, positive environment and to enhance their pride in their accomplishments.

The Yukon Rotary Music Festival (held in conjunction with Rotary Club of Whitehorse) is an annual music event held during the month of April every year in Whitehorse. Performance opportunities are offered to music students in a variety of classes in piano, flute, woodwinds, voice, strings, guitar, percussion, accordion, bands, choirs and ensembles.

In 2011, six adjudicators provided objective opinions on the performers’ ability, technique, style and progress. Philosophy of the FestivalThe main objective of the Rotary Music Festival is to provide a venue for music students and groups to perform in a healthy, positive environment and to demonstrate pride in their accomplishments. This is done by providing participants with an opportunity to perform before expert adjudicators, who are able to provide independent, objective opinions on the performers’ ability, technique, style and progress. Such helpful advice and encouragement is often invaluable in furthering the music careers of both individuals and groups. The timing of the Festival in April of each year is designed to provide independent encouragement and advice for students preparing for examinations set by the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto (RCM). The Rotary Music Festival is not a “competitive” festival as this term is usually understood, although the festival does offer a variety of awards sponsored by various Yukon firms, organizations and individuals. The Yukon Rotary Music

Festival...-presented its 43rd edition at the Yukon Arts Centre and Riverdale Baptist Church in April 2011 -welcomes an estimated 1,350 participants, the vast majority of whom are children and youth, for a ten-day event, which has grown from a three day event with 60 participants in its first year;

-has no pre-selection process; the majority of the private music teachers in Yukon enter most of their students. In addition, almost every school band and choir in Whitehorse, in Dawson City and other communities participate in the festival, as well as other amateur musicians and groups from the community;

To stage the Festival, it requires 70 people volunteering 1,500 hours orchestrated by dedicated committee members and a part-time coordinator.

Thus, the Rotary Music Festival is a very meaningful project of Rotary which strives to keep the spirit of Classical music alive in the community, especially among the New Generation.

\\Humour !¬¬¬Letter from a Guitarist to the “Dear Abby” help column in a newspaper.

Dear AbbyI think my wife is cheating on me.I am a working musician and, as you would expect, travel a lot.

I have been noticing strange things happening when I get home. Her mobile phone rings and she steps outside to answer it or she says, “I’ll call you back later”. When I ask her who called she gets evasive.

Sometimes she goes out with friends but comes home late, getting dropped off around the corner and walking the rest of the way.

I once picked up the extension while she was on the phone and she got very angry.A buddy of mine plays guitar in a band. He told me that my wife and some guy have been to his gigs.

He wanted to borrow my guitar amp. That’s when I got the idea to find out for myself what was really happening. I said “sure, you can use my amp but I want to hide behind it at the gig and see if she comes into the venue and who she comes in with”. He agreed.

Saturday night came and I slipped behind my Marshall JCM800 half stack to get a good view. I could feel the heat coming off the back of the amp. It was at that moment, crouching down behind the amp, that I noticed that one of the tubes was not glowing as bright as the other 3.Is this something I can fix myself or do need to take it to a technician?Thanks - Very Concerned.

# At a social club fellowship-cum-meeting in India, a band was invited to play. During the meeting the president announced: “Now there will be a collection for charity. Those who volunteer to donate Rs. 50/- please stand.” Not a single one responded, so the president called on the band to play the National Anthem. Everybody stood up & the total collection was Rs. 6000/-.

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\\\\ BIRTHDAYS Annet Adithya 02/07(S/O Rtn. Badri Kota)

Rtn. Gigi Eapen Cherian 02/07

Annet Lakshmi Lakshmanan 03/07

Annet Prartana 06/07 (D/O Rtn. Antony Johnson)

Rtn. Balu Nanjan 06/07

Ann Charulatha 09/07(W/O Dr. Ravindran)

Annet Rahul 10/07(S/O Rtn. V E Ramesh)

Rtn. Prasanna 10/07

Rtn. Lakshminarayanan 11/07

Annet Rohan 13/07(S/O Rtn. Senthil)

Ann Dr. Neena 17/07(W/O Rtn. Dr. John Thanakumar)

Ann Lakshmi 18/07(W/O Rtn. Lakshmanan)

Ann Rohini (W/O Rtn. Jagdeep)

Annet Annette 22/07(D/O Rtn. Dr. Thomas Chacko)

Annet Aditya 31/07(S/O Rtn. Rajshree Pathy)

\\\\ WEDDING ANNIVERSARY Rtn. Peter Arokiam and Ann Sangeetha 02/07

Rtn. Suresh and Ann Amritha Lund 07/07

Rtn. Dr. Ramanathan and Ann Dr. Gomathi 08/07

T.V Swamy Road, west, R.S Puram Coimbatore - 02