It’s hard to believe it’s August already. July was a busy month getting our District Rotary year wrapped up and beginning a new one. I want to commend Mick and his outstanding team for holding such an engaging district conference on the 25th.
My quest to deliver information and banners to all the club presidents was finalized this last weekend. The adventure to find all of their homes, travel down gravel roads for miles and to witness first hand how beautiful the rolling hills and farmlands was amazing. Plus, I didn’t hit one deer in all my travels.
I have enjoyed having four official club visits so far. My first was virtual at club 14 which was a panel discussion with three PDG’s on best practices during their year. That was a great format and very insightful. Special thanks to president Eric for coming up with the concept and my very special PDG mentors Art Knox, Sharon Wherry, and Jim Griesen for their participation. My second visit was a hybrid meeting with my home club Omaha Suburban, which made me nervous knowing their reputation for shenanigans pulled on other district governors. Actually they were wonderful and we had an engaging question and answer session. The third and fourth were in-person meetings with Norfolk and Wayne, which were held safely, and the experience was outstanding. The primary concern in all these meetings was membership retention and growth. We all need to help each other with ideas. Also, in the Rotary learning center are outstanding ideas on membership…take advantage of these to strengthen your clubs.
My point to explain all these visits was to point out that they were all different formats and they all were very positive and effective. I know I’ve said this before--we need to be safe and follow the guidelines of our towns and counties when making the decision to come back to in-person meetings. This may mean switching back to virtual from time to time but above all be safe. For the clubs that aren’t meeting at all I do wish you would try virtual meetings. There are so many district and other club members that can help you get started. After all, if I can figure it out anyone can. I believe for the well-being of your clubs you need to stay connected. As Rotarians we do so much good in our communities. They can’t afford to lose Rotary! My monthly presidents’ meeting is the 19th and the focus will be on best practices for hybrid meetings. Hope you can attend.
I would like to share that Rotary has adopted a new area of focus, supporting our environment. We all can plan district and global grants around this focus and I know many clubs have environmental projects. This is such great addition to help protect our world.
In closing I would like to share that Kris Ina Winter’s husband Brad tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident on July 21st. Kris, she now goes by Ina, is the recent PDG of District 5610 in South Dakota. Ina was a vital part of our district becoming president of the Norfolk club and RLI facilitator as well as holding many other roles in our district. She was part of the team I went to Nigeria with to do the NID. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ina. If you would like to send her a card her address is: Ina Winter, 12961 Darcy Dr., Hot Springs, SD 57747.
Our Rotary family is so important. Not only do we need to support others in our communities but especially our Rotary family.
“Look for the Good in everything” At Rotary we don’t just think big, we do Big! Have an outstanding August.
Roxy Orr, District Governor 5650