Governor's Message - October 19, 2015

 
 
 
 
 
 
Please Participate In These Upcoming District Events
 
By Jim Fusco
 
 
I want to start this week’s message by giving a preview of upcoming district events. Please participate in them.
 
Food Packaging, November 14: This is one of the most popular events that our clubs and district have been doing. End Hunger New England Food Packaging events were held at the last two District Conferences and more than 35 of our clubs have participated. Now, we will be holding a district-wide one (register here) on Saturday, November 14 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. the Solomon Pond Mall, which is located on the Marlborough/Berlin line. I urge all clubs to participate. If you are able to make a monetary donation, please do so by e-mailing Steve Sager at ssager@sagerlegal.com. if you are able to physically participate in the packaging, please join us.
 
 
 
 
Purple Pinkie Day, October 24: We are now in the final push to end polio. Only two countries still have documented cases of polio (Afghanistan and Pakistan) and Rotary International is projecting that they should be polio-free by June 30, 2016. We all have our fingers crossed. Our district's Polio Plus Team members led, by Carl Good III, have been visiting clubs to talk about Purple Pinkie Day. We would love every club to have a presence on Saturday, October 24 to educate the public about polio. For more information, e-mail Carl at carlgood@yahoo.com.
 
 
Rotary Leadership Institute, October 31: The next RLI in our district will be held on Saturday, October 31 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Boxborough. You only have three days left to register, so please do so ASAP. To register now, click here.
 
Foundation Forum, November 4: The Rotary Foundation is the engine that lets us do good in our communities and in the world. At the forum, to be held on Wednesday, November 4 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Boxborough, you will learn the following: more about district grants - see how easy they are to get, and how they can help your club; global grants - find out how to partner with other clubs to make your money go further; and, some of the projects that have been done with grant money. This forum will help your clubs with grants - both district and international - and give you ideas to help you move forward. The overall goal is to show you how easy it can to get a grant, and how a grant can strengthen both your project and your club! For more information, contact District Foundation Committee Chair Roy Balfour at romart@aol.com. For the event flyer click here.
 
Interact Training, November 14: We train presidents how to run a Rotary club. So why don’t we train Interact advisors and leaders how to run an Interact club? That is exactly what this is all about. If your club has an Interact club or if you would like to know more about Interact clubs, then this event would be perfect for you. For more information, contact District Interact Committee Chair Ron Bott at ron@bottgroup.com.
 
District Holiday Party, December 6: The holiday party will be held on Sunday, December 6 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Leominster, so mark your calendars. This is a great event that should not be missed, so please plan to be there.
 
 
 
Now that you know what is in our near future, I want to let you know about last week’s events. On Monday, October 12, the Bandey-Hefler Farewell Party was held at the Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg. This is always a bitter sweet event because we celebrate the two-week visit by our friends from England and bid them adieu. Many of the hosts will have the opportunity to go to England in September 2016 for a two-week visit.
 
The Rotary Club of Athol-Orange held its annual Gourmet Dinner last week and I was honored to be a waiter. I'm shown, left, posing with club member Curt Rand during the sold-out event. Former club member Deb Blanchard bid the winning amount of $1,500 for accommodations for up to four people for one to two weeks in the English city of York, which was donated by two of our Bandey-Helfler visitors, Diane and Graham Fagence of the Rotary Club of Working. The three-bedroom condo with a small garden (British fot yard) and a balcony overlooks the River Foss, a few hundred yards from York's ancient walls and city center. My wife Karen and I can attest that is a beautiful city because in 2009, during a Bandey Hefler visit to the UK, our hosts took us to York.
 
Our District Membership Forum & Dinner was held last Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. We had a great turnout with 33 clubs being represented. Our guest speaker was Art MacQueen (shown in photo), Past District Governor of District 6970 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and what a great message he brought to us. This was followed by Round Table discussions that were chaired by District Governor Nominee Karin Gaffney and Jason Camuti of the Rotary Club of Westborough. Thank you to Satya Mitra and his Membership Committee for putting on a great event. The photos of the Forum & Dinner (click here) were taken by Rich Prager of RC Worcester and Richard Simon of RC Nashoba Valley. The video of Art MacQueen's presentation (click here) was also taken by Rich Prager.
 
I want you to know that we received a nice note from Katharine Perkins - daughter of Past District Governor Ed Hall - to thank our district for attending and sending flowers to the wake of Ed's wife, Dorothy Hall.
 
We made progress last week because a total of four new Rotarians were inducted by four 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.