Help Push Us Over The Top On Purple Pinkie Day
 
By Jim Fusco
 
It has been a great week for our District. Our Bandey-Hefler Fellowship guests have now been here for 14 days and return home tomorrow. It's so sad to see them leave, but it has also been a great visit. Tonight, the Bandey-Hefler Farewell Dinner will be held at the Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, where we will celebrate with our new friends and wish them luck as they return to England tomorrow.
 
This past week, was packed with activities. The Bandey-Hefler group had a private tour of the USS Constitution and museum in Boston, many hosts brought their guests to their club meetings, several clubs had socials so club members had an opportunity to meet the Brits, and the fun went on and on. My wife Karen Fusco, of the Rotary Club of Fitchburg, and I along with our guests, Bruce and Dee Lawson, attended a Bandey-Hefler Social at the home of Paul and Cynthia Avella of RC Littleton. What a great time! 
 
Last Saturday night, Karen and I (shown, second from right and far right) along with our guests, Dee and Bruce Bulgin (shown, second from left and far left), attended Comedy Night by RC Ayer at the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley. We had great laughs and comedian Rob Steen made sure to point out that the I was wearing sneakers. The back inside cover of the event's booklet aims to attract future Rotarians (click here). What a great idea! Every event booklet should have a page like this.
 
This is it! Help push us over the top and make this the Rotary year we end with no new cases of polio. Our local communities need to be aware of our efforts. Therefore, I would like every club to participate in this year's Purple Pinkie Day on Saturday, October 24. If that date does not work for you, then any other date would be fine.
 
It has been a long but very successful haul in eliminating human suffering from polio. Globally, we have gone from hundreds of thousands afflicted to just a few. One side benefit of our polio-eradication program is that it has helped set up vaccination mechanisms in these countries that can be used for additional childhood vaccines. That is the "plus" in Polio Plus.
 
Last Rotary year, our district was second to last in the Rotary Zone 32 for donations to Polio Plus. We must go for the gold this Rotary year. Every club can make a contribution through either a Purple Pinky Day event or specific club donations to Polio Plus.
 
We are here to help. If you would like assistance, please e-mail either me at jim.fusco2@gmail.com or Carl M. Good III, PhD, chair of District 7910's Polio Plus Committee, at carlgood@yahoo.com. To learn more:
  • Click here for a guide for holding a Purple Pinkie Day
  • Click here for a Rotary Polio fact sheet
  • Click here for Rotary International's World Polio Toolkit, which contains great graphics
  • Click here for Carl Good's article on World Polio Day
Lets get it done! Let's make 2015's Purple Pinkie Day a success in District 7910.
 
Carol Toomey, chair of Rotary Zone 24's Polio Plus Committee, Carl Good and I thank you for your dedication to this effort. 
 
Nominations for District Leadership Positions: This is the last time I will mention this: Nominations are due by this Thursday, October 15 for district leadership positions. If you or someone in your club is a past president and is interested in being considered for a district leadership position, submit your nomination forms to Nomination Committee Chair Carol Toomey at carolrotary@aol.com. To download the forms, click here.
 
Membership: This is also the last time I will mention this: This Wednesday, October 14, our district's Membership Committee is sponsoring the 2015 Membership Forum and Dinner. At this event, we will be addressing membership issues such as attraction, retention and corporate membership. This is an event you do not want to miss. So please plan to attend. To register, click here.
 
We made progress last week because three new Rotarians were inducted by three different clubs. Keep up the great work in bringing new members! 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.