Governor's Message - November 16, 2015

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
An Abundance Of Activities Last Week
 
By Jim Fusco
 
The Holiday Season is just around the corner and Thanksgiving is only one week from this Thursday. Many of the clubs are sponsoring Thanksgiving events and many have their Holiday parties quickly approaching. The next nine weeks will fly by and then we will be trying to remember to write "2016" instead of "2015."
 
While there were an abundance of activities last week, I want to mention two of them that I attended. Last Wednesday was Veterans Day and more than 30 of our clubs had specifically a veterans activity. There were so many that it was impossible to include all the details and photos, so we have shared the club links on the front page of this newsletter so you can view those events. I did attend the Rotary Club of Wachusett Area meeting last Friday: It was a packed house as Past District Governor Ed Hall made a presentation on his experiences in World War Two. What amazing photos! Great job Ed! Thank you all for supporting our veterans!
 
Last Saturday, the District Meal Packaging event was held at the Solomon Pond Mall. We packaged 48,264 meals. Thank you to the 24 clubs that volunteered and/or donated to this event to make it such a success. Plans are already in the works for a repeat event in November 2016 at the Solomon Pond Mall. Thank you to Steve Sager, Carol Toomey and their committee for their hard work in putting this event together. Thank you to Skip Doyle, Cheryl Rosen and Richard Simon for taking photos. The Rotary banners were proudly displayed and there were two Rotary information booths there to educate the public about Rotary. Several leads for potential Rotarians were obtained.To view the excellent photos of the event by Cheryl Rosen and Richard Simon, click here. To read the great write-up in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, click here.
 
Shown left, are event organizers Carol Toomey (far left) and Steve Sager (far right), posing with me. Shown, right, is me (center) posing with two of the event volunteers.
 
In addition to those two great events, I attended the following last week: a Visioning Training event last Monday - thank you, Bill Domings; the District Membership Committee meeting last Tuesday - thank you, Satya Mitra; and the Rotaract Club of WPI joint meeting with the Rotary clubs of Worcester and Nashoba Valley - thank you, Bob Mangan and Jim Stone.
 
We all know that November is Foundation Month. Several clubs were recognized at the District Foundation Forum on November 14 for their Foundation accomplishments. I now have the honor of recognizing recognizing 11 individual Rotary clubs for their 2014-2015 Foundation giving. I will personally visit as many as possible before November is over. Last week, I presented recognition banners to the three clubs with the highest per-capita giving: Wachusett Area $406.41 Montachusett Area, $402.71; and Fitchburg, $321.09.
 
 
 
Shown in photos:

Top left, left to right: Montachusett Area Foundation Chair Sanjay Deshpande and Montachusett Area 2015-2016 President Matt Smith, posing with me

Bottom left, left to right: Fitchburg 2014-2015 President Mary Heafy and Fitchburg Foundation Chair Mary Whitney, posing with me.

Right, left to right: Me, posing with Montachusett Area 2014-2015 President John Sbrogna

Slate of Officers: The 2016-2017 Rotary year is rapidly approaching and it is important that every club be thinking about who will lead your club during that year. Each club should now be creating its slate of officers for the '16-'17. Your slate should be approved by your board of directors and presented to your club membership for a vote prior to this December 31. So please ensure that your selection process is underway.
 
Club Planning Worksheet: During my club visits, I presented the Club Planning Worksheet and requested every president to use that worksheet as a tool to guide them to a successful year. One of the important ways to make this tool work is to appoint a "champion" to monitor progress and to report progress to the board of directors and membership on a monthly basis. If you have not yet put this into place, then please do so.
 
District Banners:  All of you have seen our district banners being displayed at club and district events. Last week, there were used at Veterans Day events and at the Solomon Pond Mall. I encourage all clubs to use the banners for your events. To reserve one of the banners, contact District Public Image Chair Laura Spear at laura@spear.net.
 
Interact Advisor Training (Tonight): District Interact Chair Ron Bott has put together a great program for tonight’s Interact Advisor Training event. We are making great strides with our Interact program. Next week, I will report on tonight’s event. 
 
District Holiday Party: This event will be held on Sunday, December 6 from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster. Please mark your calendars. Invitations were sent out to all Club Presidents and District Leadership last Monday. This is a great event that should not be missed, so please plan to be there.
 
District Conference 2016 in Plymouth: It is hard to imagine but the annual District Conference is only 185 days away and registration opens in just 15 days. For a sneak view of the 2016 Promo Video click here. Please check out the fun, exciting video that Assistant Governor Richard Simon has produced to promote our 2016 District Conference. To view it, 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! 
 
Jim Fusco, 2015-2016 governor of District 7910, may be reached at jim.fusco2@gmail.com.