Rotary International
DISTRICT 7280
NEWSLETTER
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Rotary International DISTRICT 7280 |
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I am writing this my last message to my fellow Rotarians in District 7280 as Pat and I along with our family are preparing to leave for the International Rotary Convention in Los Angeles, California. I am proud of the accomplishments of all the Rotary Clubs in District 7280, in both your service to Rotary and to your communities. Many of you have completed or have projects underway in your communities that address water, health and hunger issues in you communities. During this Rotary Year, we had six clubs qualify for Presidential Citations and special awards will be presented to the Sharon and Butler Clubs for their Literacy and Membership Development Initiatives, respectively. I have nominated two of our smaller clubs for a Presidential Membership Growth Citation from Rotary International President Wilf Wilkinson. I am especially proud of one of our Fellow Rotarians who will receive the Cliff Dochterman Award for Service to Community and Rotary from the International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians. I spoke briefly about this award during my club visits when I encouraged that all Rotary Clubs in the District to join with other community organizations, including scouting, when undertaking service projects in their communities. Cliff Dochterman is a Past President of Rotary International and has served scouting at the local community, council and National Council Level. This is the first time that one of our fellow Rotarians was selected to receive this award. Many of you are aware of my long term involvement in the Scouting Program. In addition to serving as your District Governor, I am also the President of the French Creek Council, Boy Scouts of America and a Life Member of The International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians. I continue to encourage all clubs to honor the pledges that you have make to the Rotary Foundation Because of the fines collected at our Recent District Conference, there will be no zero giving clubs in District 7280, but this does not mean that all clubs should not honor their pledges to the Foundation. As I write this, 8 Rotary Clubs have met the EREY challenge which is two less than last year and 7 less than my goal of 15 clubs achieving EREY. Lets all work together to achieve our district goal of $120,000 in contributions to the Foundation. These contributions provide funding for both district and international programs of Rotary International and, without your support, all programs will receive a reduction in funding. Your support is essential for us to become one of the top districts in Zone 28. Thank you again to all those Rotarians that have made or will make a contribution to the Rotary Foundation in this Rotary Year. According to our records, 41 clubs have contributed to the District Governor’s Project. Is your club among the 2 clubs that have not made a contribution to the District Governor’s project? The support of all clubs in the district is essential for use to continue to provide safe drinking water to families in the rural areas of the Dominican Republic; thereby reducing the incidence of water born diseases in the children of the Dominican Republic. Funds from the District Governor’s project, also provides greater educational opportunities for the children in Haiti and assist in the eradication of polio from the face of the earth. Membership Membership continues to be a major emphasis in the district and of Rotary International but I was encouraged by the increase in the number of Rotarians in the district during the month of April. As of the end of April, we only had 8 fewer Rotarians in District 7280. If each club would induct one new member between now and June 30th, we would have a positive membership growth in the 2007-2008 Rotary Year, but at the same time, we must make retention of existing members a top priority of our Rotary Clubs. Please refer to the recent article by Robert S. Scott, Trustee Chair, Rotary Foundation, stating that Rotary Foundation alumni are a largely untapped resource with tremendous potential for boosting Rotary club membership and support for Foundation programs. We would easily reach our membership goals of a net gain of 1 new member per club. We need younger members, so let’s invite these alumni to join our Rotary clubs. HAVE YOU INVITED A FORMER GSE TEAM MEMBER OR AMBASSADORIAL SCHOLAR TO JOIN YOUR ROTARY CLUB? IF NOT, WHY NOT. All Rotary clubs should continue to review and update your membership recruitment and retention programs. Community and business leaders will not join Rotary unless they are asked and I encourage all Rotary Clubs to think outside of the box. Let us stop protecting our turf and look to the future or Rotary by considering organizing a new Rotary clubs that meet at a different time than our existing clubs or in communities not currently served by Rotary. If anyone has any suggestions as to additional communities that would benefit from the establishment of a Rotary Club, please contact me. IMPACT TOMORROW ASK SOMEONE TO JOIN ROTARY TODAY AND SERVE THE WORLD. As my term as your District Governor ends, I will not become a RINO, I will continue to work for the betterment of Rotary in our district and my service to the Boy Scouts of America. I firmly believe that both Rotary and Scouting have common goals and that we can work together on projects that will positively impact our communities, our nation and the word. Thank you for being a Rotarian and be prepared to Serve – The World Awaits.
Fred J. Brenner, Nominations Sought for 2011-2012 DG All clubs in District 7280 are invited to suggest nominations for the 2011-2012 District Governor by September 6, 2008. The suggestions shall be submitted in the form of a resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the club naming a suggested candidate. The candidate must have served a full year as a club president and agree, in writing, to having his or her name suggested. The resolution shall be certified by the club secretary. A club may suggest a candidate for governor-nominee designee who is a member of another club, as long as the suggesting club first obtains the concurrence of the candidate’s club. The Nomination Committee will consider all suggestions from the clubs. Suggestions should be submitted to DGE Chris Knoll, PNC Financial Services Group, 901 State Street, Erie, PA 16501
In accordance with the District’s and Rotary
International’s By-Laws ONLY club-suggested candidates are eligible to
challenge the Nominating Committee’s candidate. New Rotarian Seminar In Clarion Experience shows that club members who are oriented and educated in the world of Rotary are more likely to be retained and become active, committed Rotarians. That is why we have added the New Rotarian Seminars to our District Training Program. This year’s first New Rotarian Orientation Seminar will be held in Clarion on Saturday, August 16, 2008. The program will begin with Registration at 9:30 AM and conclude by 2:00 PM. The location will be announced in mailings that will be forthcoming. This is a great opportunity to turn that interested new member of your club into a committed Rotarian. The program is designed for those who have been members of a Rotary club for two years or less, but is open to any member who cares to attend. The cost is $15 per person, which includes lunch and hand-outs. It is being organized by Grace Anna Boggs of Mercer Rotary Club with help from the Clarion Rotary and other nearby clubs. Any club in the District may send folks who have been Rotary members for two years or less. More information and a registration form will be on the hot link for the event on the Events Page of the District web site. Please plan to send your new members to this interesting and educational program. Clubs are encouraged to pay for the cost of their attendees to encourage participation. You will find it an investment in the successful growth of your Rotary club. Up until now we have had these seminars in March in Grove City on a local basis. After the March 2008 event we decided to take the show “on the road” to make it more convenient for others to attend. In March we could be in your area if clubs in your region would like this idea.
Hank Anna, PDG Secretary’s Corner I have just completed the 2008-09 District Directory that your club will be receiving at the Changing of the Guard Dinner on June 26, 2008. If you were responsible for updating your Club’s Roster this Spring I would like to point out some of the more common errors that I found as I compiled the District Roster in the hope that you will now review your own roster to see if you have made some of these errors. If so, please make the corrections to your file. 1) Please use the official Postal Service abbreviations 2) Please do not use periods in any column except the E-Mail address column. 3) Please check both Phone Number columns to be sure you only use dashes. 4) Please check your CRS Foundation report and give credit to members for their Paul Harris donations, i.e.; RFSM, PHF, PH+1, Major, etc. If you need help with any of the above items please refer to www.district7280.org for a full explanation under the Club Secretary tab. As you are about to begin a new Rotary year, whether you are a seasoned veteran or you are taking over the position of club Secretary for the first time, we welcome you and thank you for your service. Peter Richdale, Co-Secretary/Treasurer
New Foundation Reports Are Now Online Please note the Club Revised Recognition Summary and the new EREY Eligibility Report are now available online via Member Access. The “User Guides” for both reports are available on the District Website (www.district7280.org), Secretary’s Page, Secretary Information File – Vol. II, Items 7 and 8.
May Was A Good Month, But We Are Still Behind Last Year! The chart below is from Rotary International as of May 31, 2008. The Mercer Rotary Club continues to lead the district with APF giving of $180.50 per Rotarian, followed by Sharon at $172.34 and Butler at $154.50 per Rotarian. The following questions remain to be answered:
Contact me if you need assistance. PDG Lee Ahlum, Chair DRFC 2007-08 Annual Program Fund Development
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