Governor's Message - March 7, 2016
Governor's Message: Keep sending me information!
By Jim Fusco
I am proud to present you with our 35th Newsletter of my Rotary year. So many great things have happened and the time has flown by. I am so happy to hear the great feedback on the newsletter and I am happy that I decided to publish the newsletter weekly. There is so much to include that it needs to be published on a weekly basis. You are the ones who are making it a success because so many of you are sending me information to be included. Please keep the information coming.
I had a great week as I traveled last Monday to Framingham State University to attend our first-ever Rotaract Advisor Training Seminar. (Click here to learn more). Last week, we also held a RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Committee meeting, an Area 3 Team meeting and a Nominating Committee meeting. I installed two new Rotarians at the Ayer club and attended the Concord club’s Skate-a-Thorn, where Dick & Joanie Hale were presented their Major Donor recognitions. Of course, we also held several subcommittee meetings as planning continued for your 2016 District Conference in May (see article on front page).
This week, we will work on planning for the second set of Interact and Rotaract seminars, plan for the 2016 Fellowship Golf League, and hold a Resolutions Committee meeting. Tomorrow, we will hold an Area 2 Team meeting and, on Thursday, the presidents-elect, assistant governors and many other district members will be at the North East Presidents Elect Training Seminar in Framingham, where Rotary International Past President Rick King will speak on Thursday evening. Other speakers include RI Director Julia Phelps, RI Incoming Director Dean Rohrs and Mike McGovernof The Rotary Foundation. NEPETS is an eight-district training session attended by 450 PEs and 96 AGs from all of New England and southern Canada. Please see next week’s newsletter for an article on this event.
Presidential Citation: Last week, I explained that time was running out for clubs to qualify for the Presidential Citation that will be issued by RI President K.R. "Ravi" Ravindran to recognize the accomplishments of the Rotary clubs. Unfortunately, not one club has yet qualified, although many would if they would only enter their information into Club Central! Don’t let your clubs down!
Foundation: Incoming District Foundation Chair Sanjay Deshpande made a great presentation on February 29. To view it, click here. I am pleased to announce that Jorge Yarzebski of the Westborough club has been appointed as the District Grant Subcommittee Chair, which falls under the District Foundation Committee.
District and Global Grants for 2015-2016 Rotary year: Remember that the Final Report for your ‘15-’16 District Grants needs to be filed by this 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
Polio Giving: Because Carl Good 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. Now, 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 the article on polio in the left column of District 7910’s Home page and then make your donations.
District semi-annual dues: We still have four clubs that have not paid their district dues. I contacted each of these clubs and notified them of the problem. Hopefully by next week, all payment will have been made.
Club-planning worksheets: Hopefully, everyone is working hard in updating their Club Planning Worksheets. The deadline to send me your club’s worksheet is this April 1, so please mark down this important date. I would like to see every club submit their sheet to me by April 1. Please contact me if you have any questions at jim.fusco2@gmail.com. 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.
Facebook “Like” Contest: Hopefully, you have visited the Event page for our upcoming District Conference, which is part of our overall Facebook page. It is our goal to increase the “likes” on our Facebook page, so we are running a contest to increase those “likes.” The contest ends this April 15 and the club with the “most amount” and the club with the “highest percent” of members liking our page as of April 15 will win a free harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle during our District Conference. The good news is that since we started our contest we have increased our “likes” by 67, or 13.7 percent. Keep those “likes” coming!
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 74 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 eight-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; and a harbor cruise on the Pilgrim Belle (click here to learn more). Please check out my new series of articles titled “District Conference: Things I want you to know,” in the middle column of the front page, 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.
Rotary Leadership Institute: RLI is a great program and I encourage you to attend. RLI is geared towards all Rotarians - new members and current and future club and district leadership. The next RLI will be held in Lincoln, RI on Saturday March 26.To register, click here.
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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