June is Rotary Fellowship Month
This is my final monthly message as your District Governor. Thank you for your support this year! It has been great to make many new Rotary friends and see old friends as I have visited clubs around the district. Let’s keep in touch. There is more ahead for us to do to Make A Difference in our communities, our District, and around the world.
Congratulations to Craig Burnett, Oshkosh Southwest Rotary Club, who was confirmed as District Governor Nominee Designee (DGND) at the District Annual Meeting on May 4 at TriCon 2018. Craig becomes District Governor Nominee on July 1st and will serve as District Governor in 2020-2021.
Toronto – the Annual RI Convention – is rapidly approaching June 23 through 27. I look forward to seeing old friends from around the world and making to new friends. I am excited to hear this year’s plenary speakers – HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne; Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Dr. Isis Mejias, WASRAG ambassador; Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School; and so many more. Over 90 breakout sessions are planned, such as: Human Trafficking and Slavery; Money and Food Do Grow on Trees; Rotary Business School; Community Well Being; Supporting Peace Through Social Enterprise, and so forth. The House of Friendship, always huge, offers an opportunity to talk with people involved in service projects around the world and each of Rotary’s Focus areas. And, it will be another visit to Toronto.
District 6270 Rotarians “Making a Difference”. Eleven Rotarians from our District were selected to receive this recognition for 2017-18. Nominees described how each person
· Is an outstanding Rotarian
· Goes above and beyond
· Makes a real difference – in the club, in the community, in Rotary
· Shows that they are a role model for other Rotarians
Each of these people has Made a Difference in their club, their community and Rotary. Awards were presented to many at the TriCon 2018 District Annual Business Meeting. Congratulations to:
Pete Bosch | RC of Waukesha |
Kelly Hicks | RC of Neenah |
Sue Hebner | RC of Mitchell Field |
George Matthews | RC of Milwaukee North Sunrise |
Mary McCormick | RC of Milwaukee |
Michael Reinbold | RC of Sheboygan Early Bird |
TJ Rinaldi | RC of Wautoma |
Sandi Roehrig | RC of Fond du Lac |
Pam Seidl | RC of Neenah |
Barbara Senn | RC of Fond du Lac Morning |
David Wolbrink | RC of Hartford |
Trees. Thank you for all of your efforts to reach our goal of one tree planted for every Rotarian in our District. I know that some of you are still planting. We have until June 30 to complete our efforts for the 2017-18 Rotary Year. Please keep our tree planting project coordinator Brian Monroe monroe.earthbound@gmail.com, informed of your efforts. We are hopeful that our District will exceed the goal. We plan to do a final project report for our District that will be sent to RI President Ian Riseley and to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Thank you for Making A Difference in helping our environment.
TriCon. I am delighted that so many of you were able to attend TriCon 2018 at the Wilderness Resort. Thank you for your support. I know that many of you met new people and made new friends. Many people told us they thoroughly enjoyed our six major speakers – and the speakers were impressed with the conference and the turnout of Rotarians. The fact that we raised over $5,200 for Polio eradication in the Silent Auction was wonderful – we even enabled two people to become proud owners of new TREK bicycles. And our 85 Rotary Youth Exchange students raised over $1,877 for Polio Plus with their purple pinkie. Many of you helped us as conference volunteers – we could not have done it without you – Thank You TriCon Volunteers! Our goal was to create a fun, exciting, learning, celebrating District Conference experience for Rotarians from Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan – thanks for your participation and helping us to Make A Difference.
District 6270 Changing of the Guard. On Thursday, June 14, 2018, at the River Club in Mequon, Dr. Kola Alayande and I will participate in the formal ceremony of passing the baton from DG to DG and the introduction of our new 2018-19 District Leadership Team. I look forward to welcoming our next District Governor and thanking people who have been so supportive this year.
The Rotary Foundation - our Foundation. Only 30 days are left to make a contribution this year. You can donate through your club, or you can go online at www.rotary.org and make a contribution through Rotary Direct. But don’t wait – do it today to ensure that your contribution is credited to 2017-18. Remember our goals – RI President Ian Riseley asked each club to consider contributing $1,500 to polio eradication. We set a District goal of $250,000 contributed to The Annual Fund of our Foundation. Half of what we donate to the Annual Fund will be returned to our district in 3 years as District Designated Funds, to be used for District Grants, Global Scholars, Global Grant matches, and other activities. Remember also, if we don’t give, we don’t get – clubs must contribute to The Rotary Foundation to be eligible to participate in these projects. Make a Difference! Thank you for your contributions.
Let’s finish the year strong - achieve all of our 2017-18 District Goals: Clubs receiving a Rotary Citation, Rotarians planting trees, working on membership, and so forth. Let’s show the world how Rotarians in Wisconsin District 6270 Make a Difference.
June is Rotary Fellowship Month
What is a Rotary Fellowship? It is a group of Rotarians, Rotary spouses, and Rotaractors with a common interest. They join together to
· Share a common interest in worthwhile recreational activities (sports, hobbies, etc.)
· Further their vocational development through acquaintance with others of the same profession
· Make new friends around the world
· Explore new opportunities for service
· Have fun and enhance their experience in Rotary
Fellowships operate independently from Rotary International. Each has its own rules, dues, and structure. They are international. The commonality is that they are part of the Rotary family. Fellowships are described at https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/more-fellowships
Here are just a few that you might find interesting:
· Antique Automobiles Fellowship. http://www.achafr.eu/ . These Rotarians are dedicated to promoting the preservation and utilization of antique, classic and historic automobiles.
· Cooking. http://www.rotariangourmet.com/ Do you love cooking? Maybe you ought to join the Fellowship of Rotarian Gourmets.
· Educators. https://portal.clubrunner.ca/101279/ . Here is a group dedicated to education and making positive change.
· Marathon Running. https://www.rotarianrun.org/ . If you like exercise and running marathons - here’s the group for you.
· Musicians. https://ifrm.org/ Each international Rotary convention seems to have a gathering of Rotarians who play an instrument or love to sing. Impromptu entertainment happens in the House of Friendship.
Check it out. Network. Fellowship.
Jeff Reed
District Governor, 2017-18
Rotary International District 6270
June, 2018