Governor's Message - February 15, 2016
Governor's Message: Plenty of things still to do
By Jim Fusco
As you may know, my wife, Karen Fusco of the Fitchburg club, and I took a cruise last week for some R&R, and now our ship is being docked at its birth in Fort Lauderdale. Internet service has been intermittent during the cruise, so I apologize if I have not been timely in responding to e-mails I have received. I will be back home tonight and will be able to do a better job responding to your e-mails.
It is hard to believe that I have now been your district governor for 33 weeks and I have only 19 more weeks to go. I still have plenty of things to do.
We just completed another busy week. Prior to our ship’s departure, we fortunately had time to visit with our friends, Mark and Irma Scolnik. Mark was a member of the Rotary Club of Westford before moving to Lakeland, Florida, where he is now a member of the Lakeland club. It is always inspiring to discuss Rotary with members of other clubs – especially, in other districts. You can learn so much! I suggest that you think about visiting Rotary clubs other than your own.
Unfortunately, our Rotaract Advisor Training Seminar, originally scheduled for February 8, had to be postponed because of the snow storm. It has 
been rescheduled for Monday, February 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Framingham State University. To register and for more information, click here.
been rescheduled for Monday, February 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Framingham State University. To register and for more information, click here.
Last Thursday, District Governors-Elect Pat and Skip Doyle (shown, left to right) held their first PETS-Prep session at the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster. Our District Conference Committee continued to visit clubs promoting the 2016 District Conference in May. And I hope you did not forget that yesterday was Valentine’s Day!As you know, Roy Balfour of the Shrewsbury club will be completing his third year as chair of our District Foundation Committee this June 30 and Sanjay Deshpande of the Wachusett Area club will be assuming that position on July 1. We want this transition to be as seamless as possible so we will be holding a Foundation Transition meeting on Monday, February 22 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. We encourage you to attend this meeting.
Important message to presidents-elect
Your attendance at PETS Prep is a required part of your club-president training. The purpose of PETS Prep is to assure that presidents-elect are prepared to attend Northeast PETS in March and to ensure that you are informed of your Rotary obligations as you prepare to lead your club during the 2016-2017 Rotary year, which begins this July 1. If you did not attend the first session last Thursday, please make sure to register for the second and final one, which will be held this Tuesday, February 16 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. To register for the February 16 session, click here.
No change to our grant system
There has been no change to our grant system other than Ralph Hammond of the Bedford club stepping down as chair of the District Grant Subcommittee. We will be changing from a committee of one (Ralph Hammond) to an expanded committee in order to continue the subcommittee grant work that Ralph has singularly done. This new structure will allow us to quickly approve grants, monitor grants, review the final reports, and to quickly disburse funds when grants have been completed.
Our goal is to publish the Grant Guidelines so that every club knows how to apply for grants, what is needed to do to qualify, how much money is available, and the allocation for each year as set by the district governor elect. The goal is to publish these guidelines before our presidents elect go to PETS so that planning can immediately begin on grants for the 2016-2017 Rotary year. The Grants Subcommittee will be there as a resource to help clubs apply, qualify for grants and obtain a fair allocation of Foundation resources. It is the goal of the Foundation Committee that every club will participate in a District Grant. Our district has added the Grant Module to our ClubRunner account to make it easier to apply for District Grants. Information on using this new Grant Module will soon be rolled out to the clubs.
Final Report deadline is April 15
If your club has a District Grant for the 2015-2016 Rotary year, you should working on your Final Report, which is due by this April 15 so that you can receive your grant match from the district. If you have any questions, please contact Co-District Governor-Elect Skip Doyle at skipdoyle2@verizon.net.
Fill out your Club Planning Worksheet
So far, 23 clubs have sent me their in-progress Club Planning Worksheets. That is a great start. If you have not been filling out your worksheets, please start doing so now so you can forward them to me. The Club Planning Worksheet is very important to me, so I would appreciate it if every club would respond to me. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. To download the Worksheet in Excel format, click here.Enter our Facebook Contest
Did you know that we now have a new Facebook Event page for the 2016 District Conference? To view and invite your own Rotarian Facebook “friends” to that page, click here. At the District Conference, one of the Free Time activities during the afternoon of Saturday, May 21 will be a Plymouth Harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle. It is our goal to increase the “likes” on our Facebook page (which the Facebook Event page is part of) so we are running a contest, which started last Saturday. At the end of the contest on April 15 - a two-month extension of the deadline announced here two weeks - the club with the “most” and the club with the “highest percentage” of members “liking” our Facebook page will win a free harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle during the District Conference. To download the contest flyer in PDF format, click here.
Register for 2016 District Conference in Plymouth
It is hard to imagine, but your annual District Conference at The Hotel 1620 at Plymouth Harbor to celebrate your Rotary year is only 94 days away - 
and registration is open. To register, click here.
and registration is open. To register, click here.Please check out the fun in the informative "Plymouth Rocks" video that Assistant Governor Richard Simon of the Nashoba Valley club has produced to promote our District Conference. To watch it, click here.
In addition, we've produced a six-page, black-and-white (making it less costly to print) District Conference Booklet containing the schedule, pricing, frequently asked questions, and Facebook Contest" information. To download it in PDF format, click here.
Meanwhile, members of the District Conference Committee members have been visiting clubs to promote the annual event. We will have a great time and want to ensure that you do not miss out. Don’t forget that this is a family-friendly conference, so think about bringing your kids and grandkids. Did you know that at the District Conference there will be a special reception for club presidents, presidents elect and new members?
District banners available
Our District Banners have been busy. To reserve one of those banners, contact Laura Spear of the Nashoba Valley club, who chairs our district's Public Image Committee, at laura@spear.net.
Rotaract Advisor Training Seminar reset for February 29
Our first Rotaract Advisor Training Seminar will now be held on Monday, February 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Framingham State University. It's free and open to both Rotarians and Rotaractors. We have a great program planned, and I am extremely happy with the planning that Rotaract Chair Carl Gomes of the Nashoba Valley club has done to make this happen.
Training programs such as this one help maintain the positive energy that exists for all of these district events. Click here, to read my letter of welcome to seminar attendees. This event will be videotaped and many photos will be taken. Look at the March 7 newsletter to see an event article and photos. For additional details on the February 29 seminar, click here. If you have any questions, contact Carl at carlcgomes56@icloud.com.
Next Rotary Leadership Institute on March 26
District RLI Chair Doug Detweiler of the Concord club and I have stressed the importance of having Rotarians attend RLI. This program is geared toward all Rotarians - new members as well as current and future club and district leadership. The next RLI will be held on Saturday, March 26 in Lincoln, Rhode Island. To register, click here.Thank you for being part of a great organization and for being a Gift to the World.
We will have a great year!
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