Governor's Message - April 4, 2016
Governor's Message: 38 of 51 clubs submit Club Planning Worksheets, great membership information for MarchBy Jim Fusco
As I come off of a busy week, I want you to know how proud I am of our clubs. I introduced a new procedure at the beginning of my year to help clubs have a great year. It was a tracking tool called the Club Planning Worksheet. There was a deadline to have the sheets submitted by April 1 and I am proud to report that 38 of our 51 clubs have submitted their form in time. Thank you!
In addition, the deadline to have the club goals and accomplishments entered into Club Central in order to qualify for the 
Presidential Citation was also April 1. The clubs worked hard to qualify for the Presidential Citation and I will be thrilled to announce the Presidential Citation recipients at the District Conference in May.
Presidential Citation was also April 1. The clubs worked hard to qualify for the Presidential Citation and I will be thrilled to announce the Presidential Citation recipients at the District Conference in May.I am also so proud to report the membership results for March. With the great work of our clubs, we added 18 new Individual Memberships and three new Corporate Memberships totaling 21 new Active Members and eight new Honorary Members. We did, however, lose six members so our net for the month was plus-15 Active Members and plus-eight Honorary Members. This is the best month in membership since my year began. Congratulations! I hope to see all of our new members with their sponsors at the New Member Reception at the District Conference in May.
With that being said, I want to tell you about my busy week last week.
On Monday, I participated in a Multi District Go-To-Meeting to discuss the possibility of holding a Young Professional Summit at MIT.
On Tuesday, I started my day by attending a presentation on the Shine Initiative at Fidelity Bank in Leominster. They have an initiative to open a drug -abuse and -treatment center called the Quabbin Retreat in Petersham. We are trying to figure out how District 7910 can help on this initiative. For lunch, I headed to the Milford Rotary meeting, where I introduced a potential member to the club. I then attended Fitchburg Rotary’s Paul Harris Night. I was unable to attend the Assistant Governors meetings on Tuesday night, but the meeting was in good hands with Assistant Governor Coordinator Dick Andersen.
On Wednesday, I visited Acton-Boxborough Rotary, where I had the honor of inducting four new Individual Members and one new Corporate Member. Later in the day. I p
articipated in a phone meeting with eight district governor nominees to start the planning fo NE-PETS in March 2017. I then attended Leominster Rotary's Vocational Awards Dinner. See next week's Newsletter for the full article on that event. (Shown, left to right, are Leominster Rotary Past President Mary Dean and current President Claire Freda.
articipated in a phone meeting with eight district governor nominees to start the planning fo NE-PETS in March 2017. I then attended Leominster Rotary's Vocational Awards Dinner. See next week's Newsletter for the full article on that event. (Shown, left to right, are Leominster Rotary Past President Mary Dean and current President Claire Freda.On Thursday, I attended our district’s fifth Social Media Seminar - and what a great event it was.
Friday was April Fool’s Day, and I did not even play one joke - nor did anyone play one on me!
This will be a quiet week and I will use the early part of it to work on details of the District Conference. On Friday, I am looking forward to the District Assembly. This is a great opportunity for members to learn about the operation of your District, so I encourage all to attend. There will be special training sessions for treasurers, secretaries etc.
Facebook “Like” Contest: I wanted to remind you that the deadline for our Facebook “Like” Contest is April 15 - and it is getting close. I have a 
suggestion: At your next club meeting, ask everyone present to take out their mobile phone or tablet, go to the District Facebook page and click “like.” This will help to keep the “likes” coming! (Click here for our Facebook "Like" Contest flyer, in PDF format.) Last week, we only had two new “Likes” so please encourage your members to “Like” us. Both the club with the “most amount” and the club with the “highest percent” of members that "Like" our page as of April 15 will win a free harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle during our District Conference.
suggestion: At your next club meeting, ask everyone present to take out their mobile phone or tablet, go to the District Facebook page and click “like.” This will help to keep the “likes” coming! (Click here for our Facebook "Like" Contest flyer, in PDF format.) Last week, we only had two new “Likes” so please encourage your members to “Like” us. Both the club with the “most amount” and the club with the “highest percent” of members that "Like" our page as of April 15 will win a free harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle during our District Conference.
District Conference: In just 46 days, we will be celebrating your year on May 20-22 in Plymouth and there are a bunch of things that you should know to make this an unforgettable experience. So here you go:- Package deals are available to save you money, so register now.
- Saturday afternoon will be free time: Either take a harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle and enjoy a lobster roll lunch or a deli lunch; or play a round of golf at Squirrel Run, click here to register.
- Business Meeting on Friday, and every club should send a delegate.
- House of Friendship on Friday and Saturday, and every club should have a display.
- Silent Auction on Friday and Saturday, and every club should donate an auction item.
- Hospitality “Sweets” on Friday and Saturday, and every attendee should enjoy the fellowship. Click here, to reserve a "sweet."
- Reception for New Members/Presidents/Presidents-Election Saturday
- Reception for Past District Governors as well as Major Donors on Friday
- Paul Harris Dinner on Friday
- Keynote speakers from Plimouth Plantation during the Friday and Saturday dinners
- And much, much more!
For the complete District Conference Booklet (see, left), click here.
Foundation Grants Qualification Seminar, formerly known as Grant Management Training, is required for a club to qualify for grants, as explained by .jpg)
Incoming District Foundation Chair Sanjay Deshpande in his presentation on both February 29 and at the recent Northeast Presidents Elect Training Seminar (Click here, to view and download the February 29 version, in PDF format). Two training dates have now been set: Saturday, April 30 at the Hilton Garden in Waltham and Monday, May 9 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster. For more information, click on the one you want to attend.
Incoming District Foundation Chair Sanjay Deshpande in his presentation on both February 29 and at the recent Northeast Presidents Elect Training Seminar (Click here, to view and download the February 29 version, in PDF format). Two training dates have now been set: Saturday, April 30 at the Hilton Garden in Waltham and Monday, May 9 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster. For more information, click on the one you want to attend.District and Global Grants for 2015-2016 Rotary year: Remember that your Final Report for your ‘15-’16 District Grants needs to be filed April 15, so you can receive your grant match from the District 7910. If you have any questions, please contact your assigned closer. Their contact information is in the 2015-2016 District Directory. They are:
- Roy Balfour: Hudson, Nashoba Valley, Natick, and Westborough
- Richard Simon: Groton-Pepperell, Montachusett Area, Neponset Valley, Tyngsboro-Dunstable, and Wachusett Area
- Joe Badenoff: Bedford, Brookline, Concord, Needham, and Newton
- Bob Anthony: Acton-Boxborough, Auburn, Ayer, Fitchburg, and Littleton
- Michelle Gasbarro: Framingham, Milford, Northborough, Shrewsbury, and Tewksbury
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Polio Giving: Because Carl Good (shown, left) has asked me to report on polio giving for Rotary Year 2015-2016, I am again including it here. When I made my official visit to your club, I explained that I would like to see every club set a goal for polio giving, and would like to have every club donate to Polio Plus. We have made some progress since last week: 38 clubs (39, last week) have still not set a Polio Giving Goal on Club Central; and 16 clubs (20, last week) have still not made a donation to Polio Plus. I urge you to check out Carl’s article on polio contributions - and make your donations!RI and district semi-annual dues: We still have two clubs that have not paid their District 7910 dues. We still have one club that has not paid their RI Dues and it is extremely important that the Rotary International dues get paid because clubs that are 120 days overdue could lose their charter. This is something that we do not want to see happen.
District Conference 2016 in Plymouth: It is hard to imagine but your District Conference, to be held from May 20 through 22 at the Hotel 1620 at Plymouth Harbor to celebrate your year, is only 67 days away. To register, click here. To view the promotional video, which was produced by Assistant Governor Richard Simon, click here. To view and download the 12-page Conference Booklet, which includes the answers to frequently asked questions, click here.
Don’t forget that this is a family-friendly District Conference, so think about bringing your kids and grandkids. Here are just a few of the exciting things that will happen at the Conference: Paul Harris Dinner; House of Friendship; Silent Auction; Hospitality “Sweets;” Receptions for Presidents, President Elects, New Members and Past District Governors; District Business Meeting, Golf (click here); and a harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle (click here). Please check out my new series of articles titled “District Conference: Things I want you to know” (front page, middle column), which will feature different District Conference highlights each week.
District Banners: Our district banners have been busy. They are now available for you, so if you have an upcoming event or fundraiser and want to reserve one of the banners, please contact PR Chair Laura Spear at laura@spear.net.
Thank you for being part of a great organization and for being a Gift to the World.
We are having a great year!
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