Governor's Message - June 20, 2017

 

 

Celebrating Bobbie Knable And Tour De Natick

By Pat and Skip Doyle

We will never stop being amazed at the events that take place in our district. Last Thursday, we attended Brookline Rotary's 76th Annual Distinguished Public Service Awards Luncheon. The honoree was Bobbie Knable (shown on right in photo, right), a long-time Brookline resident who spent her life working toward equal rights. Her story was an inspiration, and her message could easily be a recruitment message for our Rotary clubs as she spoke of the need for age and racial equality in government.
 
An excellent article on Natick Rotary's annual Tour de Natick appeared above the fold on the front page of this Sunday's MetroWest Daily News. This event (shown, left), held on Father's Day, raises about $20,000 for local charities. (Photo: Dan Holmes, MetroWest Daily News)
 
This is our next-to-last Governor's Message, and we have a request for all of you. We have no idea how many members have been reached by our messages. Oh yes, we know the analytics, but who are you? Some of you go out of your, way when we meet, to let us know that you have read a particular issue. But we are curious: Who are you? Please, if possible, take the time this week to contact us, send us an e-mail at skipdoyle2@verizon.net, or call us at 508-393-9031, or, even better, let us know by stopping by next weekend's RYLA at Fitchburg State University and telling us you followed our messages.
 
Looking forward to hearing from you.
 
Speaking of RYLA, visit our RYLA website, find the location to sign up, and plan to spend some time with us this upcoming weekend. If the only time you have free is Sunday afternoon, then come to the closing ceremony, congratulate the students attending from your club, engage with their parents, and enjoy Rotary youth at work.
We hope to welcome many of you on June 23-25. We want to say thank you in person for all the work you have done this Rotary year.
 
Last but not least, please consider donating as a member or as a club to the Food Packing event to be held on the Friday afternoon of the RYLA weekend. There is a place on the first page of the RYLA website, where you can donate to the Rise Against Hunger Program for the RYLA weekend.  The more money raised, the more food that can be packaged. Many of our RYLA graduates cite the Food Packing as the single most important thing they did during the weekend. Let's help them raise a record amount of money and pack a record amount of meals.
 
Volunteer and donate today. Don’t wait! You won’t be sorry.
 
Please complete your Club Planning Worksheet for this 2016-2017 Rotary year, which ends June 30, ASAP and send it to Past District Governor Klaus Hachfeld at laserklaus@gmail.com. Clubs will receive the Best Club Awards at the installation of Karin Gaffney as '17-'18 district governor on July 15. Do not second-guess your club. Send the updated form today for review by the District Awards Committee. Your club may well be in the running for an award. Sadly, if your form is received after June 30, it would not be reviewed. In case you misplaced your Club Planning Worksheet, click here to download it in PDF format.
 
Hurry, hurry, hurry. No time to waste.
 
Thank You for Your Support of Our Million Dollar Dinner
 
It is our pleasure to share with you the highlights of our district's Million Dollar Journey Dinner on May 25 at historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester. This was a joyous celebration of the Centennial Birthday of The Rotary Foundation, and of our district having met - and surpassed - the Million Dollar Journey goal of raising $1 million in donations and pledges to the Foundation. We topped $1.3 million, and the new goal is to reach $2 million by June 30, 2018.
 
We would like to thank each and every one of you who attended the special evening. It was an unforgettable event, the likes of which many of us have never seen in our district.
 
What started out as a celebration to honor the 100th birthday of the Foundation and those who had so generously pledged or donated to the Foundation became a celebration of all that the Foundation means to our district. It is almost impossible to single out one part of the evening as a highlight as there were so many.
  • An inspirational speech by Rotary International Director Dean Rohrs, who is also director of Rotary Zone 24/32
  • The international flair of Indian dancers from the Natyamani School of Dance (shown, above)
  • The wonderful jazz ensemble from Joy of Music
  • The historical surroundings of Mechanics Hall
  • The wonderful food prepared by Struck Catering
  • The beautiful birthday cake (shown, below) provided by Concord Teacakes to celebrate not only the birthday of the Foundation but also the birthday of Past District Governor Carol Toomey
  • The district's amazing Million Dollar Journey Dinner Committee that pulled everything together, led by Assistant Governor Satya Mitra and Carol Toomey 
The evening culminated in the surprise announcement of the first named District 7910 Foundation Award: the Ed Hall Outstanding Foundation Achievement Award. It is named after longtime Worcester Rotarian and past district governor Edward C. Hall (shown, second from left, next to District Governor Pat Doyle).
 
Our only disappointment is that so many Rotarians from District 7910 were not able to attend. You missed a wonderful opportunity to join in fellowship with your fellow Rotarians.
 
Our wish is that the next time you are presented with such an opportunity, you will find a way to join us.
 
To view photos of the Million Dollar Journey Dinner, taken by Worcester Rotarian Rich Prager, click here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
To watch video of Dean Rohrs' keynote address, taken by Auburn Rotarian Steve Jones-D'Agostino, click here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
To read the Telegram & Gazette Q&A with Dean Rohrs, click here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To listen to a radio interview with Dean Rohrs by Steve Jones-D'Agostino,click here.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reminder for Club Presidents, Presidents-Elect and Concerned Members
 
This is a very important message for club presidents, presidents-elect and concerned members of all 51 Rotary clubs in District 7910. All clubs under the leadership of their presidents have two tasks they should absolutely complete before this June 30.
 
The first one is a district-related task. It is time for you to finish up your Club Planning Worksheets. Throughout the year, we hoped that you would use these sheets to first plan your year and then check to make sure you were on track to having a successful year. Now, it is time to review the sheets with your club, make corrections, and add new information.  You should have this completed by June 15,  you have until June 30 if there is any additional information you would like to add. When completed, you should send the form to Past District Governor Klaus Hachfeld.
 
Why would you want to send the form along to Klaus? you might ask. The answer is this: It gives the district a snapshot of what our clubs have done throughout the year. But beyond that, the district has a tradition of awarding plaques,  patches, certificates and a special district bell to clubs that have earned them during the year. In the past, these awards have been made at the District Conference. This year, since the deadline for completion of the worksheet was extended to the end of June, the awards will be made to the individual clubs at special club events. Please contact your assistant governor for help in completing this task.
 
The second task stems from a Rotary International request. Every club is eligible to receive the Presidential Citation. In order to receive this award, a club must fill out the information requested on Club Central - which will be posted there during the first week of June - by June 30. Our goal is to have 100-percent club participation from our district.  Please help us come closer to our goal. Assistant governors will be giving you a call to see how you are progressing, and to offer help in completing this task.
 
Four important things to know:
 
1. The weekly submission deadline for the Newsletter is Friday. As usual, text content must be submitted in Word format, and image content, in either JPEG or PDF format. Continue to submit your content to Immediate Past District Governor/Newsletter Editor Jim Fusco at jim.fusco2@gmail.com.
 
2. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards: The RYLA Club Pack has been updated and posted on RYLA7910.org. When you download it, you will notice changes from last year. Please read the material carefully and direct your questions to Christine Pinney, chair of the RYLA Committee,who may be reached at chair@ryla7910.org. The RYLA Committee is working to make RYLA 2017 the "best RYLA ever." Be sure to sign-up to volunteer. In this issue's "RYLA Right Now," read more.
 
3. Club Planning Worksheet: To download the Club Planning Worksheet, click here.This worksheet is made available to clubs so they can gauge their progress in achieving the goals they set last July.  This month is a good time to review the worksheet and see how far you have come and how much farther you need to go as a club. You may surprise yourselves and realize that you are well on the way to earning district recognition. We recommend the club president appoint the president-elect to be the "champion" of the Worksheet, and to use it as a guide for the club, and to report monthly to the club's membership and board on the club's progress.
 
4. As your district governors, we have resolved to:
  • Revisit as many clubs as possible by this June 30
  • Help our clubs achieve the goals they set last July
  • Do all we can to build membership in the district
  • Plan a grand event to celebrate our Million Dollar Journey
  • "Move the ball forward," in harmony with District Governor-Elect Karin Gaffney, District Governor-Nominee Steve Sager and District Governor-Nominee-Designate Pamela Anastasi
'GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE' PAGE (in case you want to share a link to this article)
 
District Governors Pat and Skip Doyle (shown, right) may be reached at pwdoyle2@verizon.net and skipdoyle2@verizon.net, 
respectively.
 
Click here to submit content for the Tuesday, June 27 issue. The submission deadline for this issue is Friday, June 23.