Governor's Message - February 8, 2016
Governor's Message: Only 20 more weeks to go
By Jim Fusco
It is hard to believe that I have now been your district governor for 32 weeks, with only 20 more weeks to go. While I still have plenty of things to do, my wife, Karen Fusco of the Fitchburg club, and I are taking some R&R this week. Then, I will once again to hit the ground running. Fortunately, there is e-mail service and electricity where we are going. So even though I may be relaxing on a secluded island, I will have my laptop with me and will never be out of touch.
We just completed another busy week. Our District Conference Committee continued to visit clubs promoting the District Conference in May. Both The Membership Committee and the District Council held their quarterly meetings, and I made visits to the Acton-Boxborough, Athol-Orange and Bedford clubs. Last week, I also traveled to MIT with Victor Tom of the Bedford club and his wife, Sze-Wen Tom, to meet with the Cambridge school’s Public Service Department. After the meeting, Victor (shown, left, posing with me) and Sze-Wen gave me a guided tour of MIT.
Planning continued last week on our joint application District 7930 (Greater Boston) and District 7780 (Southern Maine) for funding to hold Young Professionals Summit this August. Also last week, Rotary International held a webinar titled “Best Practices to Improve Foundation Giving.” If you missed that webinar, click here to watch video of it, and click here to download the PowerPoint presentation for it.
Rounding out last week, I inducted David Vachris as the newest member of the Southborough club. And, I attended the Presidents Elect Training Seminar (PETS) Committee meeting as planning continued for Northeast PETS in March.
Even though I am away this week, important things are happening. This evening, our first Rotaract Advisor Training Seminar was scheduled to be held at Framingham State University. However, due to today's snow storm, the event has been rescheduled to Monday, February 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at FSU. It’s free and open to all Rotarians and Rotaractors.(Click here, to read my letter of welcome to seminar attendees.) And, this Thursday, District Governors Elect Pat and Skip Doyle of the Northborough club will host their first PETS-Prep session. Next Sunday is Valentine’s Day, so don’t forget those flowers and special gifts for that special one.
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. Please register for one of the two sessions planned in the next two weeks: either Thursdsay, February 11 at the Doubletree Hotel in Leominster; or Tuesday, February 16 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. To register for the February 11 session, click here. To register for the February 16 session, click here.
(Shown, left to right, are District Governors Elect Pat and Skip Doyle of the Northborough club during a PETS planning meeting on February 8.)
No changes to our grant system
While I reported on this in the last two newsletters, I believe it is important to state again:
There has been much talk around the district about changes to the grant process. There has been no change to our grant system other than Past District Governor Ralph Hammond of the Bedford club stepping down as chair of that committee’s Grant Subcommittee. What is a fact is that the Grant Subcommittee will be changing from a committee of one – Ralph - to an expanded committee in order to continue the subcommittee grant work that Ralph has singularly done. The workload is simply too great and too important to our clubs for one person to carry this burden as done by Ralph for nearly 20 years. This new structure will allow us to quickly approve grants, monitor grants, review final reports, and quickly disburse funds when grant applications have been approved.
As with every other committee in the district, I have insisted on total transparency and clarity and the very first mission of the new Grant Subcommittee will be to publish 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 elects go to PETS (Presidents Elect Training Seminar) so that planning can immediately begin on grants for the 2016-2017 Rotary year, which begins this July 1. The Grant Subcommittee will be there as a resource to help clubs apply, qualify for grants and obtain a fair allocation of The Rotary Foundation’s resources. Information on using this new grant module will soon be rolled out to the clubs.
As we make the transition from the current foundation leadership under outgoing District Foundation Chair Roy Balfour of the Shrewsbury club, whose three-year term ends this June 30, club to Incoming Chair Sanjay Deshpande of the Wachusett Area club, there is much to do. We also want to ensure that you are kept informed and have an input as we make this transition. For that reason, we will hold a Foundation Transition Meeting on Monday, February 22 and you are welcome to attend so your voice can be heard.To register <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 harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle. It is our goal to increase the “likes” and “shares” on our District 7910 Facebook page (which the Event page is part of) so we are running a contest, which will start this week. At the end of the contest on April 15 - a two-month extension of the deadline announced here last week - 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 Bell during the District Conference. To download the contest flyer in PDF format, click here.
Closing reminders
Final-Report Deadline: If you 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 you can receive your grant match from the District 7910. If you have any questions, please contact Co-District Governor Elect Skip Doyle of the Northborough club at skipdoyle2@verizon.net.
RI And District Semi-Annual Dues: I just checked the records and noted that 25 clubs have paid their Rotary International dues and 25 have paid their District dues. While this is a good start, all semi-annual dues should be paid by now. If you have yet to pay your dues, please do so ASAP. If for some reason your club did not receive your RI or District invoice, please contact me ASAP at jim.fusco2@gmail.com.
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. Click here to download the Worksheet in Excel format.
District Conference 2016 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 102 days away - and registration is open.To register, click here. Remember that our Early Bird pricing extends through February 13, so register ASAP. 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) handout containing "Conference Schedule," "Conference Pricing," "Frequently Asked Questions" and "Facebook 'Like' Contest" information. To download it, in PDF format, click here. (Please note: While the "Contest" page presently states that the deadline is February 13, it has just been extended to April 15 and we are working to update that page.) 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: Our District Banners have been busy. Last week you may have seen them displayed proudly at the Nashoba Valley club’s Food Packing event, at the Athol-Orange club’s Super Bowl Brunch and at the Fitchburg East club’s Super Bowl Brunch. 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: Tonight was going to be the night! But due to today's snow storm, our first-ever Rotaract Advisor Training Seminar will now be held on Monday, February 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Framingham State University, in a building to be determined. 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 next week’s newsletter to see an article and photos about of this event. For additional details on the now-February 29 seminar, click here. If you have any questions contact Carl Gomes at carlcgomes56@icloud.com.
Rotary Leadership Institute: 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, RI. 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!