REGISTER NOW FOR THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE
 
WHILE THE PACKAGE DEALS HAVE EXPIRED, YOU CAN STILL REGISTER TO ATTEND
 
TO REGISTER FOR MEALS, CLICK HERE
 
TO BOOK A HOTEL ROOM, CALL 508-747-4900
 
Register Now! Click here
 

Governor’s Message: Register now for District Conference
 
By Jim Fusco
 
Final reminder: Acton-Boxborough will have a great speaker at its lunch meeting this Wednesday, May 4. Their speaker is Past District Governor (2008-2009) UB Bhat of District 3910 in Bangalore, India, who will talk about his experiences as a passenger on the Indian Airlines flight that was hijacked. He was held hostage for nearly two weeks and has a great story to tell. If you plan to attend this presentation, please let club President Diana Nestorova know so the restaurant has a reasonable count. Contact Diana at diana_nestorova@hotmail.com. They ring the bell at 12 noon.
 
For more information on PDG UB Bhat (shown, right), click here and click here.
 
'17-'18 RI President to attend NEPETS '17: Ian H. S. Risisley, Rotary International president for 2017-2018, from the Rotary Club of Sandringham in Victoria, Australia, has confirmed that he will be at next year's Northeast Presidents Elect Training Seminar, which will begin on March 9, 2017 in Framingham. It is always an honor when the incoming RI president joins us as the keynote speaker at the Thursday night dinner. This event sells out, so mark your calendars.
 
Membership held steady last week. Hopefully, the increase will resume this week. Let’s continue to do great things in our communities and get these stories published in the local media. Then, we will continue the upward trend in membership. Remember that all you need to do is identify a person who you believe would make a Great Rotarian and ask!
 
Last week started with a Trustees Meeting on Monday, an Assistant Governors meeting on Tuesday and a District Conference meeting on Wednesday. On Thursday, I attended the annual social for the Past Presidents of Fitchburg Rotary but I unfortunately had to miss the Acton-Boxborough Rotary Food & Wine Tasting Event. And on Friday, I attended the "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" fundraiser by Fitchburg Rotary  Montachusett Area Rotary, so I missed the "Roaring 20s" event by Wachusett Area Rotary.  In photo l-r DG Jim, Leslie Storrs (Pres. Montachusett Area), Wayne Carney (Pres. Fitchburg)
 
On Saturday, I attended the Foundation Qualification Seminar in Waltham presented by Incoming District Foundation Chair Sanjay Deshpande. There were 13 clubs represented and now these clubs are partway to being certified to qualify for grants during the 2016-2017 Rotary year, which begins this July 1. It is important that clubs have a representative at these Qualification Seminars. The next Qualification Seminar will be held on next Monday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m. the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster. 
 
I have lots to do this week. First, I will be meeting with the District Scholarship Committee to set up a plan to reactivate the Morley Scholarship and discuss the Global Scholar Program.  I also want you to know that our inbound Global Scholar, “NJ” Ganglha originally from Tibet and sponsored by Beijing Rotary with Waltham Rotary as the host club, will be soon finishing up his schooling at Brandeis University and returning to Beijing. I want to thank the Waltham club for being his host during his stay. The good news is that we now have an incoming Global Scholar from Japan, Tatsuya Hayase, sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Nagoya-South and Nagoya Meito, who will be attending Brandeis and will be hosted by Newton Rotary. Thank you, Newton President Indira Desai.
 
Our monthly Steering Committee meeting is this Tuesday, May 3. I, as district governor, will meet with District Governors-Elect Pat and Skip Doyle and District Governor-Nominee Karin Gaffney to plan for the future of our district. This meeting is especially important at this time because we will be making the transition to new district governors this July 1. 
 
This Wednesday, May 4 will be an exciting day for our district as the District Council welcomes Julia Phelps (shown, right), Rotary International director for Zone 24/32. She will address our District Council and our district leadership as well as deliver a message from RI President Ravi Ravindran.
 
This Thursday, May 5, I will be attending a Northborough Rotary event. This Friday, May 6, Athol-Orange Rotary has their “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” fund-raiser.  Even though I have a conflict, I will try to drop in to the Athol-Rotary event for a short while. And this Saturday, May 7 is Kentucky Derby Day, so I hopefully will have time to relax with my Mint Juleps. Next Sunday, May 8: Don’t forget that it is Mothers Day,
 
While I shared this chart this last week, I want to show it again because I am so proud of the grants projects that our clubs have done during my year! We have 27 District Grants for the 2015-2016 Rotary year - and every club is in compliance with either Final Reports being submitted or Interim Reports being filed. Here are some of the great projects that our clubs did with our grant funding during the current Rotary year:
 
Club
Project Title
Natick
Make A Difference Project
Nashoba Valley
Healing Garden Project for Area Hospitals
District
Governor’s Special Project for Food Packing Event
Hudson
Armenia Water Project
Westboro
Promoting Fuel Assisting Support for Senior Citizens
Athol Orange
Backpacks for Breakfast Project
Sturbridge
Saint John Paul II Food Pantry
Tyngsboro Dunstable
Special Needs Fishing Project
Montachusett Area
Dictionary Project #1
Groton/Pepperell
Teen Age Anxiety Project in Groton Area Schools
Wachusett Area
Wachusett Area Food Pantry and NEADS Project
Neponset Valley
School On Wheels Project for Needy Students
Concord
Putting Green for Minute Man Arc Special Need Community
Brookline
School Construction in Nepal
Newton
Dictionary Project
Needham
Back Packs for Maine Project
Bedford
Track & Field Equipment for High School
Auburn
Robert Goddard Park Renovation, Plan A
Acton
Acton Food Pantry Project
Littleton
Food Bank Project
Ayer
Big Book Project with Regional High School
Fitchburg
Fitchburg Food Pantry Project
Milford
Swim Program for Local Community
Northboro
Crock-Pots for Clients of Northborough Food Bank
Tewksbury
Food Bank Project
Framingham
 Air Conditioners for Seniors in Public Housing
Shrewsbury
School Project in Haiti
 
Don’t forget that to participate in grants for the ‘16-‘17 cycle, at least one, hopefully two, members from the club need to attend one of the Grant Qualification Seminars. To register for the Seminar on May 9 in Leominster, click here. For this week’s “Foundation Update” by District Foundation Chair Sanjay Deshpande, which contains a listing of the 31 proposed District Grants for ‘16-’17, click here.
 
Our District Awards Committee is still hard at work reviewing the Club Planning Worksheets and other submitted awards. These awards will be presented at the District Conference. If a member of your club or if your club is receiving an award, the Awards Committee will be contacting those club presidents to let them know so you will have time to register for the District Conference to show your Rotarian support. To register for the District Conference, click here.
 
Facebook “Like” Contest: The winners are: Westborough wins for most amount of “likes” by a club and Auburn wins for the highest percentage of members who “liked.” Congratulations! Each club wins two tickets to the harbor cruise aboard the Pilgrim Belle during the District Conference in May. I am sad to report that we only had one new “like” last week, but I know we can do better. Just because the Facebook contest has ended, do not stop asking people to “like” our page.
 
District Fellowship Golf League:  Don’t forget that the 2016 League (for flyer, click here) starts on Thursday, May 12 at Sterling Country Club in Sterling (click here to register.) We still have openings for the Golf Outing on Saturday, May 21 at Squirrel Run Golf Course in Plymouth, during the District Conference (click here to register).
 
RYLA Volunteers Needed: Rotary Youth Leadership Awards is only nine weeks away. The program is being finalized, but now we need volunteers. Christine Pinney has asked me to remind you that, as a rule of thumb, a club should have two volunteers for each RYLA student they are sponsoring. To volunteer, click here.
 
District Conference: In just 18 days, we will be celebrating your year on May 20-22 in Plymouth. There are a bunch of things that you should know to make this an unforgettable experience. So here you go:
  • While the Package Deals have now ended, you can still register for your meals. To do so, click here. If you need to book a room, you would have to call the Hotel 1620 at Plymouth Harbor at 508-747-4900.
  • 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-Elect on Saturday. (Invitations were sent out on April 16).
  • Reception for Past District Governors as well as Major Donors on Friday. (Invitations were sent out on April 16).
  • Paul Harris Dinner on Friday.
  • Keynote speakers from Plimouth Plantation during the Friday and Saturday dinners.
  • Discount tickets to the Plimouth Plantation (click here)    
  • And much, much more!
For the complete District Conference Booklet (see, left), click here.
 
Foundation Grants Qualification Seminar: Formerly known as Grant Management Training, this is required for a club to qualify for grants, as explained by 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). The final of the two training dates is next Monday, May 9 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster. For more information, click here.
 
RI and District Semi-Annual Dues: Just an early reminder: The next RI and District dues bills will be sent to you in July and they will be based upon your membership numbers as reported to RI as of this June 30. The amounts cannot be adjusted so please assure that the membership records are complete and accurate as of June 30 so you do not end up paying dues for members who will not be returning.
 
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 18 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 11-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 Outing (click here); and harbor cruises on the Pilgrim Belle (click here). Please check out my article titled “District Conference: Things I want you to know” (front page, middle column).
 
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!
 
Jim Fusco, 2015-2016 governor of District 7910, may be reached at  jim.fusco2@gmail.com.