Rotary Peace Fellow Matthew Johnssen, PhD., announces a presentation, Building a Just Peace in Mexico and Beyond by Pietro Ameglio on Tuesday, October 25 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Worcester State University. The event is free of charge!
Realizing that we are all busy and that it is a holiday weekend, we are extending the application deadline for District Leadership Positions.
The future of our clubs depends on qualified candidates serving in leadership roles throughout the District. In order for our clubs to grow and have more impact addressing local and international needs, there must be Rotarians who will fill leadership roles and provide vision and management skills in support of the business aspects of running our District.
Check out the first promotional video for the 2020 Rotary International Convention, to be held next June 6 through 10 in Honolulu, HI. Click here to watch this one-minute video.
The City of Honolulu and Host Organization Committee welcome you with aloha to enjoy the sun, sand and fun of their island paradise.
The Rotary Leadership Institute offers a leadership development program in three full-day sessions (Parts I, II and III), which are usually taken over the course a several months to a year or so. The courses are designed to provide Rotary knowledge, and to develop leadership skills. It's also a great networking opportunity!.
Given that the retention rate of those who graduate from the RLI is more than double that of non-attendees, be sure that your Club encourages as many attendees as possible. You will not regret it, as the experience is always great and motivating.
District Governor-Elect Diana Nestorova is attending the Governor-Elect Training Seminar, part of the Rotary Zones 24 & 32 Conference in Niagara Falls, Canada. Congratulations, Diana! It's official!
Because of RYLA 2019, We have reason to celebrate!
We, Rotarians of District 7910, have directly impacted the lives of 800 people as a result of our 2019 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards in June at Fitchburg State University!
The Rotary Club of Charles River was recently out in the community of Natick at Natick Days with their fundraiser food-concession booth. Members grilled hot dogs, made fresh popcorn, and served drinks.
Our District's Public Image Resource Team is here to help!We are a group of Rotarians who have lots of experience in social media, working with Clubrunner as users and webmasters, and Rotary.org and website development/content. Our goal is to help you understand the tools that are available so you can make your club’s outreach more effective.
Here’s what we can help you with and/or coach you on:
Summer is almost over and clubs across the district are working to finalize and implement their goals. This is a great time to consider a Visioning Workshop.
A Visioning Workshop can help ensure that your club’s goals are reflective of the values of your members, and that the goals have strong buy-in from the people in your club who will be carrying out these goals. If you are finding that your club’s goals are generating only a lukewarm response or that members aren’t stepping up to implement them, a Visioning Workshop could help get your club moving forward.
Members of District 7910 had a great time at the Lowell Spinners game on Friday, August 9! Even though the team lost, it was a gorgeous night - and everyone enjoyed themselves. And the best part? We raised money to eradicate polio!
Shown are: Past District Governor Karin Gaffney (left), District Governor Pam Anastasia (center) and District Public Image Chair Sue Peghiny (right).
I am excited and honored to have the privilege of working with all of you over the next year! My two primary areas of focus are Membership and Public Image.
We do a great job attracting people to be Rotarians, but we need to make sure that we keep then active and engaged. Also, I believe that Rotary is still somewhat unknown in many communities; people have heard of it but they don't know who we are or what we do. I would like us to do a better job of letting people know what we do - and using social media to get the word out. I think that if every club sat down and made a list of all the projects that they supported in their local communities, people would be surprised and amazed at all we've done. Every club is active and engaged in their community; we just need to do a better job telling our story.
Random Acts of Kindness is quickly helping expand the influence of the Rotary Club of Framingham! Recently, the club engaged in two separate acts to help solve an Iraqi immigrant mother's transportation problem, and to help repair housing for an elderly couple.
Needed Home Repairs
Framingham’s Jim Goodreau and his wife, Christine Goodreau, were in dire need of a helping hand, and quickly. Jim is recovering from cardiac arrest— Christine gave him CPR until the EMTs arrived—and couldn’t risk the exertion needed to repair the un-lockable front door or the damaged storm door in their Landseer Avenue home. Moreover, the dishwasher wouldn’t work. Unfortunately, the couple couldn’t pay for the needed repairs because Christine had just lost her job.
During Rotary 2018-2019, the District 7910 Membership Committee introduced several initiatives to help clubs attract and engage membership. These initiatives will continue, and new ones will be introduced in 2019-2020.
New Member Orientation Events were held during Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, with 60 total attendees. These events introduce newer (two years or less) and prospective members to the various facets of Rotary in a fun and interactive way. Clubs are encouraged to send their newer and prospective members to these events. Feedback indicates that attending these events significantly improves member retention. The next events are scheduled for October 3, 2019, and April 4, 2020 (during the District Assembly).
Recently, 18 members of the Rotary clubs of Bedford, Burlington, Burlington Breakfast, Tyngsboro/Dunstable, and Kobleskill, NY plus the Rotarcat Club of MIT, representing three districts, joined more than 200 volunteers from the local community plus corporations Anika Therapeutics and BAE Systems to package more than 40,000 meals. Rise Against Hunger will distribute these meals to school meal programs in developing countries. This brought our seven-year total to more than 400,000 meals.
Rotary club members from Districts 7910 and 7930 joined together last week to cover a week’s worth of meal shifts at the New England Center and Home for Veterans (NECHV) in Boston in honor of Memorial Day. Ten meals were served by District governors and the following clubs: Billerica, Wellesley, Nashoba Valley, Tewksbury, Newton, Winchester, Brookline, Charles River and Lowell.
District 7910 Rotary clubs were active this year utilizing The Rotary Foundation's funds that came back to our District in the form of District Grants. During Rotary 2018-'119, 21 District Grants were funded and executed by the clubs, to better our communities. The service projects broadly fell into four of the Rotary Foundation's six areas of focus. Clubs made an impact in Disease Prevention, Treatment and Health, Maternal and Child Health, Basic Education and Literacy, and Economic and Community Development.
In addition, we implemented two Global Grants - one was our District Service Project that built stoves in Guatemala in order to reduce respiratory illness in the community. Ten Rotarians traveled there to work with Rotarians from the host club. The other Global Grant that was approved this year involved the Rotary Club of Concord's egg-farm project in Haiti.
May is here! We have a lot going on in the District. Clubs are busy with their fundraisers and finishing up their service projects. Everyone is making the push to finish out this Rotary year strong and train the new leaders to do more than we did this year.
Rotary's theme for May is Youth Service Month, Rotary's annual celebration of all the ways in which we support young people to fully explore and develop who they are and what they have to offer this world. Young people are our future and the future of Rotary. Rotary International President, Barry Rassin Says, "Everywhere I go, I meet people of all ages whose lives have been changed by our youth programs. They tell me how, five or 15 or 25 years ago, Rotary Youth Exchange taught them a new language or introduced them to a new culture. Their eyes light up when they talk about how New Generations Service Exchange helped them advance in their career, or about how membership in Rotaract first ignited their passion for giving back to the community". It is fitting that this year's Council on Legislation elevated Rotaract clubs to the same level as Rotary Clubs. The change broadens the definition of membership in Rotary International to include Rotaract clubs, and is intended to increase the support that Rotaract clubs receive from RI and to enhance their ability to serve. Of course, much more was done during this year's Council on Legislation. To learn more about what happened, CLICK HERE for more on this year's COL.
Last week we celebrated Rotary at our District Conference! It was a wonderful weekend shared with Rotarians from five (5) districts representing all of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island, southern New Hampshire, Southern Vermont, and Northern Connecticut. We started out last Friday with our celebration of Paul Harris and The Rotary Foundation, followed by our annual business meeting of the clubs, a gala dinner dance, and Saturday's Game of Throneless interactive focus on homelessness. CLICK HERE for more on the District Conference.
In other District news, the District Rotary Foundation Scholarship Subcommittee awarded a $35,000 Morley scholarship to O'Mara Taylor of Wayland for her graduate studies at Oxford University! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT O'MARA AND THE MORLEY SCHOLARSHIP. Congratulations to O'Mara.
Lastly, there are four reminders for our clubs: 1) Please update your 2019-20 Officers and Directors in ClubRunner. The District Directory is being prepared and we want your most current information in this Directory. Please contact your assistant Governor if you are not sure how to update your information; 2) Please start filling out the club planning guide and get it ready to submit on July 1. Your club members worked hard this year, and it is important to give them the recognition they deserve. This planning guide serves as the basis for District recognitions. DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE; 3) Save the Date of June 18, 2019 for District Governor Elect Pam Anastasi's Installation Celebration!l and 4) Save the Date of July 31, 2019 for the District Awards Dinner!
We are rapidly approaching the end of the year for our Rotary Foundation Annual Fund contributions.
I know that many of you intend to make a gift and have a consistent history of contributing annually, but perhaps you just haven’t gotten around to it yet! The end of this Rotary year is right around the corner, and I urge you to consider making a gift to The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund.
What a weekend; what a conference! Those who attended had a fantastic time mingling not only with clubs in our District, but with Rotarians from clubs in all of the Rotary districts that surround District 7910!!!
We started off with the Paul Harris Luncheon (with about 200 Rotarians) and heard presentations of the significant Rotary Foundation funded projects in each of the Districts. District 7910 highlighted the Guatemala Stove Project, and we also heard about a vocational training team trip to Cape Town, South Africa, and the Safe Passage project in Guatemala. Jorge Yarzebski from the Westborough Club was presented with the Ed Hall Rotary Foundation Award. Click here for more information on Jorge's award!
The annual meeting of the clubs followed the luncheon. Reports of the Membership, Foundation, Youth, Assessment, and Nomination Committees were presented, as were the Secretary's and Treasurer's reports. New resolutions were adopted, and the meeting concluded in time for Rotarians to partake in some refreshments before dinner.
Congratulations to Westborough Rotarian Jorge Yarzebski, the 2018-2019 recipient of the Ed Hall Outstanding Foundation Achievement Award! Jorge was recognized at this year's District Conference for the numerous efforts to better the world through The Rotary Foundation. He has been involved with at least seven Global Grants or their predecessor Matching Grants, including being one of the founders of the Global Emergency Medicine Initiative (GEMINI).
Past District Governor Jim Fusco was presented the 2018-2019 Rotarian of the Year Award at the District Conference by District Governor Steve Sager! Everyone knows the tireless effort Jim makes to help the clubs and the district, and this year he went above and beyond the call of duty.
District 7910 is pleased to announce that O'Mara Taylor of Wayland is the recipient of the $35,00 2019 David & Eleanor Morley Endowed Global Grant Scholarship. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Framingham, O'Mara is a graduate of Vassar College. She plans to spend the 2019-2020 academic year in graduate studies at the Saïd Business School of Oxford University. Her Rotary Area of Focus is Maternal & Child Health.
The next trip to Moca, Puerto Rico is scheduled for May 16-20, and volunteers are needed. The project, funded by a Rotary Foundation District Grant, partners with three Rotary clubs in the Moca area, and delivers approximately $20,000 worth of items to replace articles destroyed by Hurricane Maria, including beds, mattresses, washing machines, refrigerators and stoves. There are spaces available for volunteers to help. Please contact Gary Hough as soon as possible if you are interested in this mission. Gary can be reached at 508-335-5336 or holdenhunt@aol.com. Read the continuation for more information.
It’s almost time to Eat, Meet & Party (the event formerly known as “The District Conference”)!
We’re doing “The District Conference” a little differently this year. Eat, Meet & Party is all about celebrating our club & individual accomplishments, recognizing some folks who have gone above and beyond the call for our district, and meeting & enjoying the company of Rotarians across our district (and some from a few other districts too, if you’re so inclined).
Every single member in the district is welcome and encouraged to attend! Have you registered yet?
On Friday, May 3rd we’ll recognize our Paul Harris Society Members & Fellows and announce this year’s Foundation Award Winner.
Then, we’ll have a quick District Business Meeting. PLEASE send at least one representative from your club to vote! (Credentials document attached). While only 1 member from each club can vote, ALL are welcome to attend. This is a GREAT way to learn about how your district works and how your dues are managed.
That evening we’ll put on our party clothes and dancin’ shoes for cocktails, dinner & dancing (we have an amazing, award winning-band…don’t miss this!). Rotarians are known as people who know how to have a good time. Let’s live up to that reputation!
Saturday, May 4th starts with an opportunity for you to participate in something completely different. “Game of Throneless”, a full engagement simulation that will totally challenge what you think you know about homelessness and test the boundaries of your comfort zone.
Then, we head over to Fenway Park for a tour of one of the most unique ballparks in the country (batting practice, anyone?), and finally close out this fun weekend with a relaxing Boston Harbor Cruise that evening.
There’s a LOT to love here – and everyone will love it more if YOU’RE there!
To get details, register, and book a room at the hotel (if you wish), click HERE today!
Welcome to April! Spring is here. Our team has returned from Guatemala on a very successful trip, and the District Conference is coming up. But first, a word about Rotary International's monthly theme for April: Maternal and Child Health. It is one of The Rotary Foundation's six (6) areas of focus. Every day mothers risk their lives giving birth and millions of children die each year from treatable, preventable causes. At least 7 million children under the age of five die each year due to malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. To help reduce this rate, Rotary provides immunizations and antibiotics to babies, improves access to essential medical services, and supports trained health care providers for mothers and their children. Rotary’s projects ensure sustainability by empowering the local community to take ownership of health care training programs. More information on Rotary's work in maternal and child health is found <HERE>
Guatemala Project. While our global grant to build stoves in Guatemala focused on disease prevention, it was clear to all of us that we were impacting maternal and child health also (and saving the environment). All of our Rotarians who travelled to help install the stoves were impacted by the people we helped. The saying that when you set out to help others you end up helping yourself rang true with this trip. Some of our first time global grant participants were stunned at the squalid living conditions of the people. Others were impacted by how grateful the entire villages were with what seemed like a small act to us. I was personally impacted by a scene repeated several times during our visit. We walked into one home (typically an adobe structure with a tin roof that had one room for living (for a family of 10) and another for the cooking area. When we walked in one of the kids ran out to get their father off his job to see what we were doing. The father (or grandfather) would come rushing to the house and start talking a mile a minute in his native Tz'utujil language. About 80% of all communication is non-verbal, and even though none of us spoke the Mayan Tz'utujil tongue, we all understood that he was thanking us and telling us how this was helping his family. A few pictures from the trip are on the continuation page of this article, and we will have a full story up on the website soon. In all, Rotarians from our district installed 100 stoves in 2 Mayan villages of San Pablo La Laguna and San Marcos La Laguna. There are an additional 85 stoves that will be installed by local Rotarians and our partner HELPS International.
District Conference. The program for the District Conference is shaping up, but we need every Rotarian from the District to attend and participate! Please, please, please do not wait any longer to sign up. We need to provide head counts to the hotel and make final plans. Talk to your club about rescheduling your meeting so you can all be part of the Friday luncheon on May 3, 2019 celebrating not only our Guatemala Stove Project, but other Rotary Foundation funded projects this year. We also need you to send delegates to our annual business meeting of our clubs. Friday evening is a spectacular dinner dance gala. Trust me, you do not want to miss this opportunity to celebrate Rotary and reconnect with Rotarians from other clubs. There is something for everyone!
Saturday has an awesome program! We will start with a wonderful breakfast, but then our youth (Interactors, Exchange Students, RYLANS) assisted by Rotaractors from all five (5) districts will be there to focus on homelessness in a program entitled the Game of Throneless. Like a reality fair, our youth will be randomly assigned "homeless" for you to interact with. The morning concludes with a soup kitchen style lunch with the kids and adults, and a frank discussion on how we can be part of the solution. There are also optional trips to Fenway Park for a tour and batting practice, and a Boston Harbor Cruise, adn everything else you expect from a District Conference .
Please sign up today at <THIS LINK> or just tell everyone to sign up at bit.ly/D7910-Conference2019, and please share the flyers below with your club.
Have a great April. Click the Read More Link for Guatemala Pictures. Check the website, facebook and Instagram regularly for updates on what's happening in District 7910. Remember to submit your club's stories and event flyers.
At the end of February, a group of Rotarians and friends traveled to Cartagena, Colombia on an international service project. This trip was the brainchild of Framingham Rotarian Dick Manelis, who works to offer an international service opportunity every year or so. The first trip, in 2001, was to a small village a few hours south of Veracruz, Mexico. Service activities have included building homes, renovating a girls' orphanage, staffing remote eye clinics, replacing school ceilings, painting schools, building playgrounds, and handing out well over 1000 stuffed animals at orphanages, hospitals and schools. They’ve been to every country in Central America except Haiti, and four countries in South America.
Joining him this year in Colombia was Chris Swain (Framingham), Emilee Twamley (Medway), Susan Hartmere (Woburn), Jenny Whitcomb and Sharon Tardie (Lunenberg), Lunenberg, Brittany Smith (a PHF from Sacramento) and Steve D’Agnostino (Nashoba Valley).
The trip was a collection of different volunteer experiences, as well as opportunities to learn about and explore the Colombian culture.
If you'd like to gain powerful insight into making changes in your club join RI for a webinar on Courageous Leadership on Wednesday, March 27th at 3:00pm
Forty percent of club leaders say that “attracting new members” is the biggest challenge their clubs face. But is recruitment the issue? Or is it actually learning how to create healthy clubs that offer a vibrant membership experience, one that is irresistible to both members and visitors? Do we have the courage to ask ourselves the necessary, hard questions in order to move forward? This webinar will:
• Inspire you and your club to think in new ways about growth • Understand how transformation can happen • Take action to implement new approaches to lead your club or district
Using stories of transformation from Rotary and in their professional careers, trainers Louisa Horne and Doug Logan outline one strategy for making necessary changes to the club experience while including members in the process.
Welcome to March! I am keeping this month’s message short to highlight two all district events that every Rotarian should attend, and the club planning guide. The two events are the District Training Assembly and the District Conference. Registration for both is now open so please register quickly.
There is much more news that could be highlighted in this month’s edition, and all of those great stories are on our District Website at Rotary7910.org. I urge everyone to check into the District website on a regular basis to get the most up to date stories of interest to our clubs. Of course, we are also highlighting our collective experience on social media: Facebook (click here) and Instagram (click here). Like, follow, and share!!
DISTRICT TRAINING ASSEMBLY - SATURDAY, APRIL 6TH, 7:30 AM - 12:00 PM
What better way to welcome new members to the family of Rotary. It’s time again to pull your team together and register for the District Training Assembly. Once a year we take a morning to share ideas, fellowship and hopefully a few laughs. This year we have a fantastic program in place for everyone.
The Assembly is a great way to get all of your club members, officers and committee chairs networking, engaged and aware of what’s happening with the clubs in our District. This District Wide training event is for ALL Rotarians. Whether you are a new member, committee chair, club officer, or veteran Rotarian there is something at the Assembly for you! Learn more about how you can help enhance your club’s membership experience, public image and social media efforts, and implement new ideas for engaging service projects. Learn about next year’s grants scoring rubric to obtain a District Grant. Club Secretaries and Treasurers have programs targeted to make their jobs easier. If your club is not yet qualified to apply for foundation grants, a member of your club will be invited to attend the foundation qualification seminar. Running concurrently with the Assembly is our second New Member Orientation program. Please send as many of your members as you can to the Assembly, and your new members to the Orientation program.
This year the Assembly will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott in Marlborough. The cost is $20 per person with a maximum of $100 per club for those who preregister. The new member orientation is $10 per person. It comes with a fresh continental breakfast, loads of ideas and the highly coveted “time with friends”
The event is only a few weeks away, so please register now.
Register for the New Member Orientation (in Rotary less than 2 years) <CLICK HERE>
MULTI-DISTRICT CONFERENCE – FRIDAY MAY 3 – SATURDAY MAY 4, 2019
We have a fantastic event being planned for all Rotarians from five (5) Rotary districts. That is over 280 clubs covering the entirety of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, plus northern Connecticut, Southern Vermont and Southern New Hampshire. If you have ever been to PETS (the Presidents-elect Training Seminar) you know the energy and excitement that can happen when you get Rotarians from all over New England to train. Imagine what it will be when we all come together to celebrate!
The Conference starts on Friday May 3, 2019 with a Paul Harris Luncheon celebrating the Rotary Foundation. Many clubs have already indicated plans to cancel their weekly meeting and hold it at the Conference. Consider asking your club to do the same! Following lunch, we will have our District’s annual business meeting where delegates from your club should attend. The evening’s activities start with cocktails and continue to the huge dinner dance gala celebration of everything Rotary. The Boston Common Band – one of the best entertainment groups for private functions in the area – will be there to entertain and keep us dancing until after midnight! Of course with this being a District Conference, there is a likelihood that some of you will be up much later . . .
Saturday begins with a brunch. Young Rotarians – Interact, Essex exchange students, and RYLANs – will present to us their morning activities and how our Rotaractors helped mentor them! If you are still up for more, there are optional activities after brunch and the youth summit, such as the hotel’s indoor waterpark, a Fenway Park tour, Fenway Park batting practice, and a cocktail cruise on Boston Harbor.
The conference is conveniently located at the Ferncroft Doubltree Hotel in Danvers, Massachusetts.
There is also a special on hotel rooms for this conference. To take advantage of the special pricing, <CLICK HERE FOR HOTEL RESERVATIONS>
CLUB PLANNING GUIDE AND RECOGNITION
In addition to training and celebrating, there is one more item as we hit the home stretch of the Rotary Year. That one item is our Club Planning Guide. This guide was passed out to the Club Presidents at PETS last year to help them plan your club’s year. It has been posted on the website and your assistant governors have been telling your club about it. Now that your club’s next leaders have been trained at PETS, it is important that you enlist them to help accomplish your club’s goals and finish the year strong, so your club can start even stronger come July 1.
The Club Planning Guide is also used to provide needed recognition to our clubs for all the hard work your Rotarians put in this year. Recognitions are important, especially in volunteer organizations. Please work with your President, President-Elect and club leaders to complete this year’s guide. <CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CLUB PLANNING WORKSHEET>
I am off to Guatemala with Rotarians from around the District to help reduce respiratory illness in the rural areas around Panajachel by installing fuel efficient and vented stoves. Follow us on social media for the latest updates on the project. Remember, please send in your stories. Please send flyers for your events. Please remember to invite our Rotaractors to help on your service projects! Have a great month!
The answer to the question of how early Rotarians consumed Rotary is pretty easy. It was through our traditional clubs centered around a meal and back then it was typically lunch or dinner. The advent of breakfast clubs was a bold experiment to widen our appeal to those who could not fit into what then was our typical model of delivery, how we were consumed.
My own early exposure to Rotary was through my Dad’s Rotary Club. It was a large lunch club. Consum-er patterns were different then. I remember listening to baseball games on the radio with my Dad. Now, while many still attend games or watch on TV, a large segment of sports enthusiasts of all types consume sports via social media, on highlights shows, or streaming over the internet. Back then TV was three major networks and some UHF channels, now it’s hundreds of channels and numerous ways to view offerings from TV’s to computers to handheld devices.
For the second year, Rotary District 7910 is preparing to provide meal service for a week to veterans at the New England Center and Home for Veterans (NECHV) located near Government Center in Boston.
The Week of Rotary covers 10 meal service shifts spread out between Monday May 27th and May 31st in honor of Memorial Day. Fifteen Rotary clubs participated in this program last year and found great meaning and inspiration in this service opportunity. By proudly partnering with NECHV, clubs are helping to ensure that veterans of every era have the resources they need to live with dignity and independence.
Do you know anyone who might be a candidate for our D7910 Morley Scholarship? Rotary District 7910 is pleased to announce that Global Grant applications are now being accepted for the David & Eleanor Morley Endowed Global Grant Scholarship, now open from February 1st through March 31, 2019. This $35,000 one year scholarship is open to any resident of the 117 cities and towns represented by District 7910 who is planning on graduate study abroad.
Unique to D7910, the Morley Scholarship was established by a generous WPI graduate and Rotarian. It is managed by The Rotary Foundation Permanent Fund in cooperation with the D7910 Rotary Foundation Committee (Scholarship). The window of application of two months will be followed by an interview, and the announcement of one qualified candidate. Read more for the qualifications and application information.
We have lots of information in this Newsletter! I would love to say it is because we have so much going on in the District (which we do), but also time demands did not allow me to get this letter out sooner (oops!). When I put these together, I have no idea who, if anyone, will read the letter, but, apparently based on the emails I received asking where is the February newsletter, more than just a few of you read this! Before I get into the substance of this month's message, I just want to encourage EVERYONE to send me articles and pictures on what your club is doing. You work hard to give back and your club should get some recognition. More importantly, what you do inspires others, so together, let's Be The Inspiration and share our stories!
February 23 is Rotary's anniversary. This year marks the 114th anniversary of Rotary's founding. We have come a long way since rotating meetings in people's offices. Just pause for a moment and reflect upon all the great things Rotary clubs have done over the past 114 years to build and strengthen communities. None of us were involved in the first Rotary project of building a comfort station in Chicago, but
So you joined rotary? You had a fireside chat or a breakfast with an experienced club member. He or she told you what you needed to know to function as a good club member. Needless to say you did not learn everything about rotary in that hour!
Or, maybe not!! If you think there is more to learn, like what is Rotary's Manual of Procedure, or just how to learn more about Rotary and what other clubs do, read on. There are many resources to learn more about this great organization. Just attending meetings and talking to your fellow club members will give you a little bit of knowledge each week. But if you want to know more and faster, there are some ways to get to know more.
Imagine having your newborn placed in a neo-natal intensive care unit. You and your family are traveling, or maybe you live nearby but can’t spend every waking hour in the hospital. How can you watch your baby’s progress and growth? If your child is in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit of the University of Massachusetts Memorial Children’s Medical Center in Worcester you are in luck — thanks to Rotarians throughout District 7910.
When Shrewsbury Rotarian Roy Balfour helped to coordinate the neonatal intensive care unit web cam project (NICView) at UMass Memorial back in 2014, he didn't know that one day he would become one of the benficiaries of this multi-club project. Since it's inception, NICView has allowed families from across the state, country, and even around
Many of you know or participated in the Bandey-Hefler Friendship Exchange between Rotarians in the suburbs of Boston (District 7910) and London (Districts 1110 and 1145). Since 1977, approximately 20 couples have been traveling across the Atlantic from England to the U.S. followed by 20 couples the following year going from the U.S. to England. In the fall of 2018, it was our District’s turn to host. Rotarians that hosted are eligible for an all-expenses-paid 12-day trip (excluding air fare) to England in 2019.
In addition to Bandey-Hefler, the Rotary Friendship Exchange is now another international exchange program for District 7910 Rotary members and friends that allows participants to take turns hosting one another in their homes and clubs. Rotary friendship exchanges are organized around at least one of three themes: culture, fellowship, and vocation.
Participants may travel as individuals, couples, families, or groups, and may be Rotary members or not. For help in finding potential international hosts and planning your itinerary, contact the District 7910 Rotary Friendship Exchange Chair, P.J. Avella, of the Littleton Club at avellap@comcast.net.
It took nine (9) months, but District 7910's Global Grant to support the Guatemala Stove Project received the final approval from The Rotary Foundation on Tuesday, January 29, 2019. The global grant, officially entitled “Construction of stoves to prevent respiratory diseases in Guatemala” enables the clubs in Rotary District 7910 to work with the Rotary Club of Nueva Guatemala of District 4250 to install efficient stoves that are vented out of the residence, and to establish a committee to monitor and improve the respiratory health of the communities where the stoves are being installed in 3 rural villages near Panajachel Guatemala. Huge kudos and thanks to Westborough Rotarian Jorge Yarzebski for shepherding through the grant application to make it comply with the new Rotary Foundation guidelines.
A group of approximately fifteen (15) Rotarians for clubs in District 7910 will be traveling to Guatemala to install the stoves March 23-30, 2019. There are still spots available if you want to join in the travel. Please email Jim O'Connor <HERE> for more information about the travel. If you and your club are not sending someone, please consider making a donation to the project of any amount. The donations will help defray the expenses of the volunteers traveling to Guatemala and provide additional resources for the project. Donations can be made to the Westborough Rotary Fund, Inc., 21 East Main Street, Westborough, MA 01581. Please specify the donation is for the Guatemala Stove Project.
In 2011, Kiran Singh Sirah turned 35 — “halfway through our life’s journey,” he says, citing Dante’s Divine Comedy. The UK native had been living in Edinburgh and Glasgow for a decade, working on a variety of cultural endeavors. “I felt I had done everything I needed to do and learn in Scotland. It was time to take my experiences and move them to the next level.”
That’s when Sirah heard about the Rotary Peace Fellowship. Since the program began in 2002, more than 1,200 peace fellows have received fully funded scholarships to study at one of six peace centers at universities around the world. With help from Rotarians in Scotland, Sirah eventually landed one of those scholarships and headed to North Carolina, where he earned a master’s degree in folklore studies and a graduate certificate in international peace and conflict resolution.
The Paul Harris Society has grown to over 21,000 members in 138 countries worldwide and 16% of donations to The Rotary Foundation came from this special group last year. Are you looking for ways to encourage growth in the society within your club? Or new ways to keep society members engaged? If so, join us on Tuesday, 12 February from 10:00 am - 11:00 am CST, for a webinar hosted by the Foundation’s Annual Giving team. During the webinar, Rotarian panelists will provide tips on how to recognize new Paul Harris Society members, how to engage them after they join and continuously for years to come. In addition, we will include a brief history and update on the Paul Harris Society.
Rotary Connects the World! 2019-2020 Rotary International President Mark Daniel Maloney announced next year's theme to the District Governors Elect at the Rotary International Assembly. The theme for the 2019-2020 Rotary year is: Rotary Connects the World.
President-elect Mark writes: "I encourage you to share our theme widely with your fellow club members and throughout your districts to help create enthusiasm and excitement for the year ahead. . . . It is only by working together that we can truly accomplish great things."
Rotary's Race Across America ("RAAM") team seeks to raise $1,200,000.00 for polio in the annual 3,000 mile bike race! Here is what the RAAM team tells us about what they are doing:
The Race
We have entered a four-person bicycle team in Race Across America (RAAM) (www.raceacrossamerica.org) for 2019…our fourth year in a row. Many Rotarians followed us last year and gave to PolioPlus in support of our effort to eradicate Polio. RAAM is one of the 25 most difficult events in the world and about 30 countries are represented in the race. With 3000 miles distance and over 170,000 feet of climbing (that’s six times Mt. Everest), it is an intense, grueling, and challenging bicycle race. However, it is not as grueling or as challenging as living with polio.
The Rotary Club of Framingham—serving Holliston, Hopkinton, Ashland, and Framingham—presented its second Random Act of Kindness (RAK) award in December to a little girl suffering from a number of serious physical and developmental problems, including severe breathing difficulty stemming from a mutation of the pigngene. The club’s provision of a portable oxygen concentrator for Bialennys Polanco Mercado, now two years old, will make travel with her mother Yanitsa to doctors and hospitals for treatment much easier than with the very heavy, bulky unit they have been using. The new unit cost $2,595.
Posted by Logan Johnson, Communication Specialist for Rotary Alumni Relations on Jan 10, 2019
or the past few years, Rotary International has been promoting Reconnect Week as a time to remind Rotary clubs of the value of reaching out and “reconnecting” with alumni of Rotary programs like Interact, Rotaract, scholarships, Rotary Peace Fellowships, youth exchange and other regional programs. But celebrating alumni and making them feel welcome to your club is something you can and should do year-round. Alumni of Rotary make great leaders and innovators and may possess the skills you need for your next service project.
So in that spirit, we collected five events that impressed us during this year’s Reconnect Week in October to encourage you to think of ways you can reconnect with alumni in the new year.
District 7020 Alumni Association – Video Conference
District Alumni Chair William Inniss of Cayman Islands has made it a tradition with his district’s alumni association to hold an annual video conference for Reconnect Week. Since his district is made of many islands, travel between them is more difficult for in-person meetings, so this is simply the best way to keep up. During the meeting, members of the alumni association discuss their past experiences and decide how best to partner with local Rotary clubs.
Northern Illinois Rotary Alumni Association – Networking Event
Members of the Northern Illinois Rotary Alumni Association, Rotaract Club of Chicago, and Rotarians in the greater Chicago region came together for an evening of networking at One Rotary Center in
The Rotary Citation recognizes Rotary clubs that support each of our strategic priorities by completing certain activities. One of the three strategic priorities is to Support And Strengthen Clubs through membership-related activities.
To meet the membership requirements for the 2018-19 Rotary Citation, at least 3 of the following goals must be achieved:
Achieve a net gain of 1 member
Maintain or improve your club’s retention of current and new members:
Improve your club’s retention rate by 1 percentage point or
If your club’s retention rate was 90 percent or more in 2017-18, maintain it
Achieve a net gain in female members
Have at least 60 percent of club members report their birth dates through My Rotary
Vocational service can mean many things to many people. In Rotary, Vocational Service means holding ourselves and our businesses to the highest ethical standards. As the 4 way test instructs us, in all we think, say or do . . . Maintaining ethical standards is ever so important in today's society where we prefer to repeat inflammatory discourse rather than engage in discussion to understand opposing views and seek compromise. It is beholden upon us as leaders to set an example for young people and others.
Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that half a Rotary year has passed already. We have accomplished much, and yet there is so much more we need to do.
While the Rotary year begins on July 1, the calendar year has just begun. Many of us make resolutions for the New Year. I hope each of you will include Rotary in your resolutions. Here are a few suggestions:
Resolve to bring in at least one new member;
Resolve to contribute more to The Rotary Foundation;
Resolve to get involved in one more community service project;
Sanjay Deshpande, our District Rotary Foundation Chair, was honored today by his Wachusett Area Rotary Club with a significant Rotary World Appreciation Honor. Sanjay is relocating to Orlando later this month. As much as Sanjay has done for the clubs in our district helping with Foundation grants, scholarships, training, and fundraising, he has done more in his club. The club also awarded five (5) Paul Harris Fellows at their meeting. It was a wonderful tribute to a wonderful Rotarian who will be very missed by our District. Safe travels Sanjay!
Wachusett Area Rotary Club Honors Sanjay Desphpande
How would you like to have not only your own Rotary Club members contact information but also the entire District at your fingertips? You can and so much more by downloading the new and improved ClubRunner Mobile App. You can also access club and district leadership, stories and events all with just a few clicks. Connecting to them is as easy as clicking on the phone number or email address.You can download it on the AppStore or GooglePlay and be on your way in minutes. Now would also be a good time to make sure that your profile is current, and if you do not have a picture saved, or your birthday listed, considering updating your information now! Reach out and collaborate with other like minded Rotarians from around our district and be the People of Action that your are!
The Rotarian Action Group Addiction Prevention (RAG AP) was recognized by Rotary International January 2016. Focus area is disease prevention and treatment. RAG AP is supporting actions from Rotary clubs and districts in the EU, US and in India. 3 global grants are progressing as well for prevention as for treatment. The Focus of the RAG AP however is on prevention.
Addiction is a very complex problem involving and influencing many families. In every Rotary club we will find one of our friends with an addiction problem or at least addiction problems in his/her family or amongst the friends. We are all in touch with the problem as well in the North and the West, the opiate problem is an example, as well in East and South. The products can be very different, but it is not only about using products but also about behavior when addicted to the internet games or film series, ....
What will you do about it, what can your club do, how can your district support and stimulate clubs to take action to implement prevention programs in your local region. RAG AP will help you and will provide you with all information and materials you need to make a well considered step to involve your clubs and districts in the struggle to protect children as early as possible from getting addicted.
Welcome to December! Rotary's Disease Prevention and Treatment Month! December is a time to celebrate the holidays and wrap up the calendar year. It is also the time to make sure next year's leaders are training and planning, as well as helping our current leader's execute. We will be hearing more about the training opportunities shortly.
The big event is the District Holiday Party on December 16, 2018 at Arturo's in Westborough starting at 5:30 pm. We want all of you there to join us in celebrating the holidays! <CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION>
There are still openings for travel with our District Service Project installing stoves around Panajachel, Guatemala. <CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION>
I wish everyone a happy holiday, and a safe, healthy and happy new year! I look forward to seeing all of you at our Holiday Party!
[The following story has been adapted from an Article on the Framingham Rotary Club appearing in the Ashland Local Town Pages -Ed.]
The Framingham Rotary Club is making life a little safer for an elderly Ashland family. If the weather cooperates, the family’s crumbling front steps will soon be repaired, thanks to an award from the Rotary’s Random Act of Kindness program.
Posted by Matthew Johnsen, Ph.D., Rotary Peace Fellow
"Don’t be content in your life just to do no wrong, be prepared every day to try and do some good"
Three years ago, I traveled around the world. I was powerfully affected by what I experienced. As a sociologist, I knew about global connectionsand the ways different parts of the world depend and interact with one another. What I experienced most deeply on this journey, however, were personalconnections. The storiesof students, tour guides, taxi drivers, hosts, friends, random people met in restaurants, border agents, even people I met on the street flooded my consciousness during the trip. These narratives brought the world together for me, one story at a time.
I experienced tremendous hospitality, a warm welcome, openness and friendliness on a journey that took me through 19 countries across three continents. I learned that the life experiences that join us together are much greater than the differences between us. I learned to value each interaction as an opportunity to contribute something positive. I also met people who were making a difference in the world: some small and some large. My friend Somit in Varanasi shared a vision based on his own life: expelled from school because his parents could not pay school fees, he now provides schooling to as many children as he can at no cost. He has organized many entrepreneurial efforts (a small guest house, a restaurant, yoga education, travel services and more) as social enterprises— directing the profits from each to teach young children in schools he organizes. His vision of peace is making the world better.
We recently received an email from Camilla Vogt, the recipient of our District’s endowed Global Grant Morley scholarship. This scholarship provides funding for a year of foreign study pertaining to one or more of Rotary's Six Areas of Focus. Camilla, shown here writes "I hope your fall is going well! I can hardly believe it is almost November. My first month here has flown by. We are halfway through the academic term, and school is taking up a tremendous amount of time. I have already written three papers and have an economics test every week. I am trying my hand at rowing, which means early (and chilly!) mornings, and organizing a student speaker series at my department. Each day is rich and full, and I am loving it here so far!"
PDG Dick Manelis has lead international service projects from District 7910 for almost 20 years. He meets a lot of interesting people helping him out along the way. Here is Dick's message about one of those people:
INTRODUCING: Carlos Centeno. I met Carlos in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He was an active member of the local Rotaract Club and had volunteered to work with us on our humanitarian project in Copán Ruinas for 3 days. We would cover his expenses. He not only worked with us for three days but lived with a friend, worked the full week and refused to accept any compensation.
Please join us in congratulating Susan Peghiny as the Nominating Committee's selection for the 2021-2022 District Governor for Rotary District 7910! Susan is a past President of the Rotary Club of Newton and is currently serving as the District Secretary and an Assistant Governor. The Nominating Committee interviewed candidates and selected Susan as the best qualified of all the candidates in the pool this year to lead our district!. If confirmed, Susan will assume the role of District Governor Nominee Designate (DGND).
Susan lives in Newton with her husband Ron Faccenda (who is PE of the Newton Club) and her father, Jim. All three of them work in the family clock and watch repair business located in their home. Sue has had a wide variety of jobs and experiences, but it wasn’t until she joined Rotary that she finally figured out what she wanted to be when she grew up: a Rotarian.
Adapted from an article by Alyce Henson, Rotary International staff photographer
Using photography to tell a story can feel complex and challenging, but it doesn’t have to. By following a few guidelines, having a focused mindset, and applying a bit of confidence, you can take great pictures. Below are some photo tips based on recent images the author took in Nassau and Seattle, as well as some from our own district. Try these tricks, and you might be surprised what you can capture.
If you see a great moment happening naturally don’t be afraid to ask people to continue doing the action that caught your eye in the first place. In this case, the photographer saw these two Rotarians passing a seed pod to one another. She asked them to pass it back and forth a few times and to look at each other. It only took an extra minute or two to get a successful image.
The Rotary Club of Langhorne, Pennsylvania meets for lunch at a restaurant in a historic mansion, but at times attendance was at risk of falling below the minimum 20 meals required by the venue. “We were losing members because they couldn’t make meetings,” recalls Club Membership Chair at the time, Bill Kaufmann.
Board discussions yielded ideas but no firm solutions. Then one member started sending his office manager to meetings in his place. “That was my ‘aha’ moment,” says Kaufmann, now Club President. The Club then decided to let members designate a business associate or family member to attend meetings and participate in projects in their stead – or alongside them.
The Club now recognizes the stand-ins, named “Clones”, who must have a family or business relationship with the primary member and pay $25 in annual dues to the club to cover the cost of name tags and
ROLL TO THE POLLS! On Election Day (Tuesday, November 6th), the Rotary Club of Westborough helped voters access the polls at Westborough High School. Rotarians, wearing brightly colored Rotary Club vests, helped with wheelchairs, golf carts and umbrellas from their cars to the High School entrance and to the gymnasium where the polls were located. Upon exiting the polls voters were helped to return to their cars. The finishing touch…a pop-up tent to keep voters dry, donuts and free coffee and welcome smiles! This is the second time the club has hosted this event. It’s a simple one, provides necessary service and offers great visibility. The Club is already in the planning stages for Roll to the Poll 2020!
The Framingham Rotary Club of held its Annual Pancake Breakfast on November 3—it was the seventh in the series— at Keefe Tech High School’s East Room, which is the showpiece and training center of the school’s culinary and hospitality department. Some 300 guests, individuals and families from the City and adjacent towns enjoyed pancakes with genuine maple syrup, hash browns, sausages, juice, coffee, tea, and milk. All of the proceeds will support scholarships to selected high school seniors in Framingham, Ashland, Holliston and Hopkinton.
Welcome to November! We are 1/3 of the way through this Rotary year of being the inspiration! It is far too early to pause to reflect upon our accomplishments as so much more is being planned by clubs in our District. We have had a few Rotary Days already, and several more are being planned. Clubs have been raising money to pay for their service projects, and those fundraisers have been fun. All of us who, together, pitch in to take a small part in producing these Club service projects and fundraisers, ARE the inspiration.
The Rotary Foundation. November is The Rotary Foundation Month. This month we celebrate a vital part of our Rotary community, the Foundation. Many of the projects we do, and much of the impact Rotary does in the world, is funded by The Rotary Foundation money. Money that you and your clubs donate to the Foundation! Clubs in our District are celebrating The
Child trafficking happens here in the U.S. and in virtually every other country. The Rotary Club of Northborough together with the Northborough Junior Woman's club are partnering to present a fair Trade luncheon and a screening of the award winning film "Not My Life."Many people are familiar with UNICEF’s work providing children with things like emergency aid, clean water and medical care, but UNICEF also has a strong record protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse. The End Trafficking project
On Monday evening, 10/29/18, 8 district Rotaractors from 3 of our five clubs met with District Governor, Steve Sager; Governor Nominee and Youth Chair, Diana Nestorova; and Rotaract Chair, Susan Rack, in Framingham for pizza, information sharing and fellowship. The clubs represented were Boston University Rotaract Club, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Rotaract Club, and the community based Wellesley Rotaract Club.
Interested in hosting an exchange student? A student from Peru is looking for a host family starting in January 2019. KIKE is 17 years old, is a soccer player, has Good English skills, no medical problems, looks to be a good academic student. Please ask around to see if your club can find a host. For more information, please follow the link to contact our District Essex (Eastern Student Exchange) Subcommittee Chair, Marcia Davis and District Governor Nominee and Youth Chair, Diana Nestorova.
Rotary has a new partnership with Habitat for Humanity International that will enhance club and district service activities by providing access to Habitat’s resources and programming. Clubs can work with Habitat affiliates and local communities to design and provide long-term, affordable housing to families in need of shelter. And now they can use global grants to fund the types of low-cost shelters that Rotarians and Rotaractors have been building with Habitat for Humanity for years.
On Tuesday October 16th the Hudson Rotary Club celebrated the official charter of the Hudson Interact Club. The student organization joins 12,300 Interact Clubs in more than 133 countries. The club will host and participate in various service projects with the assistance of their advisor Pamela Porter. Rotarians celebrated the occasion by presenting the students with certificates, pins, tshirts, and a club banner. The students meet Wednesdays at 2pm in room F105 at Hudson High School. To learn more about the Hudson Interact Club visit www.HudsonInteract.com. Founded in 1923, the Hudson Rotary Club is a service organization that supports the community of Hudson as well as other regional and international service projects.
In addition to the awards that we have typically given out every year, Rotary International is offering new awards to recognize members and clubs within a district. Start thinking now about how your club can recognize your members and the service you do! Members of the Rotary community help make clubs stronger, communities better, and peace possible. Thank them for their dedication and valuable contributions by recognizing them with a Rotary award.
On October 21st, the Marlborough Rotary Club participated in the first annual “Trunk or Treat” event, sponsored by the Marlborough Junior Woman’s Club (MJWC) and the One Hines Women’s Network. The event was held at The Campus in Marlborough, a business complex located off of Rt. 20, just west of Rt. 495.
Trunk or Treat provided safe, free, family-friendly trick-or-treating, craft activities, food trucks, pumpkin carving contests, costume contests, music and more. There was a photo booth, and free pumpkins and decorating kits were given out so that families could continue the fun at home.
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, with support from the Sudbury History Center and the Sudbury Senior Center, hosted a Sudbury Repair Café on October 20, 2018. This free event was held at Sudbury Senior Center in Sudbury. Residents of Sudbury and surrounding towns were invited to come and find out what a Repair Café is all about.
At a Repair Café, everything centers on making repairs. Knowledgeable volunteers help repair items such as clean and mendable clothing, knitted and crocheted items, lamps, small appliances, computers and other electronics, bikes, outdoor power equipment, toys, and jewelry. They also can sharpen knives, scissors, and garden tools. Visitors pay only for needed parts, and when possible are encouraged to bring parts with them to save time.
October 24 is Rotary’s 5th annual World Polio Day. What are you and club doing to help eradicate polio?
To start, you can livestream Rotary International’s World Polio Day event, which is marking the occasion from the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, starting at 6:30 PM. The event will highlight the steps being taken to reach Rotary’s goal of polio eradication. We’ll also celebrate 30 years of achievements by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)
Closer to home, you can host your own viewing of the event, sponsor your own fundraiser, or participate in the events that neighboring clubs are running. For example, the Brookline club has sponsored a video running on a screen outside in Coolidge Corner and asked pedestrians for donations. The Nashoba Valley club works with the schools in its regional school district to get donations from the students in exchange for a purple pinkie. To our north, the Gloucester club runs an annual polar plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter, raising thousands of dollars. Other clubs have sponsored races, “mic-athons,” and speaking events.
Polio, Service Projects, Foundation Dinner and Training are the core messages this month.
Polio. October is World Polio Awareness Month, and October 24 is World Polio Day. Many clubs are planning activities to raise awareness, and raise funds, to help with the global efforts to eradicate Polio from this planet. Our leadership team has been planning a couple incentives to encourage more activities this month.
I challenge all clubs in the District to donate, collectively, $25,000 to PolioPlus during the month of October. That is an average of just $500 per club. If we achieve that goal, I will jump in the Atlantic Ocean in February as part of the Polar Plunge in Gloucester.
If that was not enough, we will award a pair of tickets to the limited seating World Polio Day event in Philadelphia on
JOIN US INSTALLING STOVES PROJECT IN PANAJACHEL, GUATEMALA
MARCH 23-30, 2019
Please join Rotarians from Rotary District 7910 with our hands-on District Sponsored Global Grant Project installing stoves in the rural villages around Panajachel, Guatemala. This International Service project is done in collaboration with several Guatemala Rotary Clubs.
Are you a Rotarian interested in installing stoves in homes where currently an open fire in the center of the house is used for cooking. Cooking on an open fire in an unventilated area increases respiratory diseases and burn injuries, particularly with mothers and children. It also results in rapid deforestation as open fires are inefficient. These stoves will improve the ventilation in homes thereby decreasing the carbon monoxide, it will reduce injuries, and will decrease wood consumption by at least 50%.
The answer to the question of how early Rotarians consumed Rotary is pretty easy. It was through our traditional clubs centered around a meal and back then it was typically lunch or dinner. The advent of breakfast clubs was a bold experiment to widen our appeal to those who could not fit into what then was our typical model of delivery, how we were consumed.
My own early exposure to Rotary was through my Dad’s Rotary Club. It was a large lunch club. Consumer patterns were different then. I remember listening to baseball games on the radio with my Dad. Now, while many still attend games or watch on TV, a large segment of sports enthusiasts of all types consume sports via social media, on highlights shows, or streaming over the internet. Back then TV was three major networks and some UHF channels, now it’s hundreds of channels and numerous ways to view offerings from TV’s to computers to handheld devices.
Take a look at retail. Oh my, how times have changed our consumer patterns. Brick and mortar stores will probably always have a place, but look what online buying has done to the way we consume retail products. You can look at almost any area of your life and see, feel, and measure how dramatically the change has been in how you consume information, products, and services.
Highlights from the June and “July” 2018 Rotary International Board of Directors Meetings
The 2017–18 RI Board of directors held its fifth and final meeting on 21 June 2018 in Toronto, ON, Canada. The 2018–19 RI Board held its first meeting on 29 June 2018 in Toronto, ON, Canada. At these meetings the Board reviewed reports from six committees and recorded 39 decisions.
Winning the Gold Best Club for 2017-2018 was an incredible experience, and one that didn’t seem possible just a few years ago. Newton is an old club – we were established in 1926 – and had been know as a “check writing” club. That was a very good thing for a very long time - the club made a real difference in the lives of many people over the years. But the world was changing, and Newton Rotary had to evolve…to make ourselves more attractive to members, and to energize the existing membership. That journey happened to lead us to Best Club.
Why bother with awards anyway? Winning awards has never been important to our club. But it’s amazing how proud our members are of these achievements. To have your time and effort recognized and appreciated is a powerful thing. Our morale is incredible (great for going into a new year), and we’re using these “wins” as a marketing tool to attract new members and supporters.
So what did we actually do? Here are what I’d call “the biggies” that were key in moving us forward (along with suggestions on how you might apply them):
World Polio Day Competition – Your Club could win $500 for its WASH Projects!
What is World Polio Day?
World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24th. World Polio Day was established by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. Use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Polio is a disease caused by a virus that affects the nervous system and is mainly spread by person-to-person contact. Polio can also be spread by drinking water or other drinks or eating raw or undercooked food that are contaminated with the feces of an infected person.
$$$$$ - THE PRIZES!
$500 US for the best project (i.e. the one with the most impact)
WHAT VALUE DOES YOUR CLUB HAVE FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS?
By Michael Walstrom, president of the Rotary Club of Downtown Boca Raton, Florida
Rotary, like any business, has customers. For us, those customers are our members and we must provide value to assure satisfied customers. The key to attracting and retaining young professional “customers” is presenting a Value Proposition that is attractive.
From the Young Professional (YP) Membership Development project, a 10 question survey designed by District 6930, we learned that young professionals are looking for networking and mentorship, but have concerns about time, money, and family commitments. Fortunately, Rotary has considerable value to offer in all of those areas.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at a global level, over 300 million people are estimated to suffer from depression, equivalent to 4.4% of the world’s population. Depression is ranked by WHO as the single largest contributor to global disability1. Given the severity of these statistics, creating innovative ways to address the prevention of mental illness and the promotion of mental health and wellness is of critical importance. Following its pioneering spirit and mission of global change, Rotary has boldly stepped up to this challenge in two important ways:
(1) introducing prevention as a broader and important component of health to include mental health, not just physical health
(2) funding projects that reach children and adolescents - and the adults who care for them - to specifically address depression education
District 7910 Outbound Exchange Students Prepare to Depart!
On Wednesday July 25 five young people attended the final outbound orientation in preparation for their year-long study abroad sponsored by Rotary's Student Exchange program, the Eastern States Student Exchange ("ESSEX"). All of the students are excited about their year abroad. Kira and her twin Noah are sponsored by the Bedford Club. Kira will be travelling to Bolivia, while Noah will be living in Belgium. Kelsey, sponsored by the Acton-Boxborough Club, is headed to France. Lauren, sponsored by the Needham Club, is excited to be going to Switzerland. Ben, sponsored by Framingham Club, will be studying in Columbia.
Does your Interact club have a representative on the district teen council?
If not, please get a teen nominated before the September 15 kick-off event; provide the name and contact details by email to BobAnthony@AdolescentWellness.org or by calling 781-727-8617.
These teen leaders will:
lead the activities that day
prioritize projects during the year
define the co-host role for the May 4 multi-district event
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. During the past 100 years, the Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
Why should I donate to The Rotary Foundation? Your donation makes a difference to those who need our help most. More than 90 percent of donations go directly to supporting our service projects around the world.
How does The Rotary Foundation use donations? Our 35,000 clubs carry out sustainable service projects that support our six causes. With donations like yours, we’ve wiped out 99.9 percent of all polio cases. Your donation also trains future peacemakers, supports clean water, and strengthens local economies.
What impact can one donation have? It can save a life. A child can be protected from polio with as little as 60 cents. Our partners make your donation go even further. For every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $2.
What are the areas of the Foundation’s focus? Promoting Peace, Providing Clean Water, Saving Mothers and Children, Supporting Education, Growing Local Economies, and Fighting Disease. Even the United States has problems in all six areas of focus, the reason for Global Grants, assistance going in all directions to help promote a better world.
The Framingham Rotary Club, continuing its annual effort to help keep very low income seniors in public housing cool and healthy during hot weather, last week delivered thirty-seven 6000 BTU air conditioners for installation at units managed by the Framingham Housing Authority (FHA). The project, a collaboration among the Rotary club, the FHA, and the Callahan Center (the Framingham Council on Aging Senior Center), has now delivered 212 units over the past six years.
By Geoffrey Johnson Illustrations by Rocco Baviera
When it comes to finding new members for his Minnesota Rotary club, Tom Gump doesn’t just walk the walk, he trots the trot: the turkey trot. Gump is a former president of the Rotary Club of Edina/Morningside, which makes boosting membership a priority. In fact, that’s the fourth item on a list of 10 tips to attract and retain members which has been prepared – and practiced – by the club. It’s tip No. 10 that finds Gump clad in a turkey suit. More on that shortly.
The tips work: During Gump’s 2016-17 stint as club president, Edina/Morningside added 31 members. Eleven of them were women; 10 were under 40 years old. With 94 members, the club “went from being classified as a medium-size club to being one of District 5950’s large clubs,” says Gump, who will be the 2020-21 district governor. “There were 13 clubs larger than our club in our district, and now there are only four.” The tips have proven so effective that Gump has taken the Edina/Morningside show on the road, using a PowerPoint presentation to coach other clubs on specific ways they can expand their membership. “I have been called a good salesman,” says Gump (who, for the record, is a real estate lawyer and a developer). “But to me, recruiting new Rotary members is not really selling. It’s matching up potential members with what he or she wants in a club.” So if you’re looking to add members to your club, consider taking a page from the Edina/Morningside playbook. Read on for the club’s 10 tips, as well as five suggestions for increasing membership from other Rotarians and Rotary clubs.
Pre-Conference September 18-20, 2018 | Conference September 20-22, 2018 Hotel Bonaventure in Montreal
The 2018 Montreal Zone Conference is a unique event, and we want to invite you to be a part of it. Whether you’re an incoming District Governor, District leader, Past District Governor, or a Rotarian with an interest in becoming more engaged in Rotary….the Montreal Conference is for you! The theme “People Coming Together” fits our goal of providing you with an extraordinary and unforgettable event. This is why we're inviting everyone to be a part of the excitement!
Formerly known as the Zone Institute, this gathering was originally designed to motivate, inspire, and educate past, current and incoming district governors. That hasn't changed. Historically, however, attendance at a Zone Institute was restricted to those in the District Governor line. This year we've decided to open the conference to all Rotarians to facilitate engagement between our Governors (and their knowledge, leadership skills, and commitment) and club and district Rotarians. Visit the Montreal 2018 web page to learn more about this exciting conference and register today!
2018 Montreal Zone Conference - All Rotarians Invited!
Southborough Rotary club members helped support the Southborough Library by volunteering at the Strawberry Festival organized & held by the Library at the end of June. In the 80’s, the Strawberry Festival was a popular town event, so the Library was keen to try and restart it – Festival 2.0! Club members helped serve strawberry shortcake & strawberries to the public. And since literacy is one of Rotary's key areas of focus, the club also decided to donate 2 raffle baskets of children’s books for the event. The children’s books were all on topics along Rotary ideals like: helping others, 1 person making a difference in the world, tolerance, resolution conflict, people working together for positive change. The Strawberry Festival also featured Coco's Tropical Ice, petting goats & veggie stamping for kids, as well as the big book sale inside the library. Over 200 people enjoyed the event and many said they hoped it would be held again next year. The club also produced the fun look back video which was given to the Library and Southborough Access Media after the event.
Experience tasting over 200 crafted beers, ciders and malt beverages from 73 + breweries & enjoy delicious food from 24+ of the area's finest restaurants! Click here for more info & tickets!
The Rotary Community Corps of Sturbridge and Southbridge is tending to 21 raised beds in the Community Food Collaborative garden! Volunteers of all ages are working in the garden, including two families and a girl scout troop. One team weeds the beds, and another team that takes turns watering the garden on a regular basis - especially during the extreme heat. The Rotary Community Corps is also cleaning up the areas leading up to the garden, weed whacked the brush, and spread mulch to make it look better.
Follow this link: https://ga.vyond.com/videos/0U9HY8JzbSKsto a monthly series of animated membership-related videos being produced for clubs in Zone 32 by Lawrence Furbish, Assistant Rotary Coordinator, Sanford-Springvale Rotary Club, Maine in District 7780. All of the videos in the series will be very short (2-3 minutes) so that your Club should be able to view them and discuss how to implement the content during regular club meetings.
On Monday, August 20, the Cohasse Country Club in Southbridge will again host the Rotary Club of Sturbridge for its ninth Charity Golf Classic. Chair of the event, Dave Zonia, reports that the field of 64 golfers is filling up quickly so it’s best to make your reservations now to be included. The day begins with a tee time at 10:30 AM, a BBQ luncheon on the course and a full prime rib dinner prepared by the club’s Executive Chef. We’ll have auctions and the awarding of prizes following dinner. Cost for this prestigious event is $600 for a foursome and $150 for an individual signup, upon which you will be assigned to a group.
Sturbridge Rotary Builds New Playground at the YMCA
The Sturbridge Rotary Club recently helped build a new outdoor playground at the Tri-Community YMCA Child Development Center, 115 Marcy Street in Southbridge. The new outdoor playground, built with the help of the Sturbridge Rotary Club, will be enjoyed by more than 150 kids a day.
“This playground will help the Y provide safe and healthy spaces for our children to learn foundational skills, develop healthy, trusting relationships and build self-esteem," Glenn Juchno, Executive Director of the Tri-Community YMCA. “We are fortunate to have great partners like the Sturbridge Rotary Club who understand the impact of youth development in our community.”
A princess, 3 prime ministers, and a former first lady join 25,000 in Toronto to celebrate Rotary’s good work and plan more of it
Toronto, the Capital of Nice, opened its arms this week to welcome 25,188 Rotarians from around the world, who came to Rotary’s annual convention looking for inspiration — and finding it.
Whether it was by seeing old friends in the hallways, making new connections in the House of Friendship, or listening to eloquent speakers at general sessions, attendees found plenty at the 109th Rotary International Convention to remind them of the fellowship that binds them and the diversity that Rotary embodies. Nearly 90 Rotarians from clubs in District 7910 participated in the festivities!
Has your club recently hosted a service project that you want to showcase to be the inspiration to other clubs? Are you planning something in the near future that you would like to share with your fellow District 7910 Rotarians?
Our District 7910 eBulletin, Website, Facebook and Instagram depend on the content provided by our clubs, so please submit your stories and we will publish them on the district website, in the next eBulletin, and on social media. Stories that showcase your club's service projects should be submitted in plain text along with a photo. If you are promoting an event, please send the flyer along with a sentence with the details of the event. Please send your stories to ssager@sagerlegal.com with the words Rotary Story in the subject line.
In an effort to increase membership and highlight Rotary’s inspiring work, RI President Barry Rassin is urging clubs and districts to organize fun, informal community events called Rotary Days. District 7910 Clubs hosted 3 very successful Rotary Service Days last year and we are encouraging clubs to consider hosting them this year.
The District 7910 Membership Committee will meet on a quarterly basis (September 12, 2018; January 17, 2019; April 8, 2019) to discuss with Club Membership Chairs the best practices and success stories both outside and within the District and then how to share this information at the club level with the help of Area Membership Coordinators (AMCs). AMCs will coordinate with Assistant Governors and meet with Club Membership Chairs and Presidents on an individual or group basis to offer support in implementing membership attraction and engagement strategies in the clubs.
We celebrated the 2018-19 Rotary Club Presidents, Steve installed Betsy Moquin as President of the Rotary Club of Westborough, and Steve was installed as the 2018-19 District Governor.
Steve's daughters, mother and brother came and celebrated along with 125 Rotarians from across the District!
Steve Sager Is Installed as the 81st Governor of District 7910
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! You guys rock!!!! 31 of our clubs applied for District Grants for the 2018-19 Rotary Year with total participation of 36 clubs. The total budget for these 31 applications is greater than $170,000.
Now, the seven club Foundation Chairs who are on the Grants Review Panel need to do the hard work of helping the grant writers refine the applications and then allocate our limited resources. The total requests for grants is more than double what we have available for District Grants. We will make sure that the Grants Review Panel allocates the funds in an equitable and transparent manner with “best use of funds” being the guiding principle. You may not get all you requested, but we will help you execute your project with Rotary Foundation funds!
The grants that were proposed are varied and interesting. Here is a short review by Rotary Area of Focus.
Disease prevention and Treatment
Among the grants proposed under this area of focus four clubs wrote grants to address the opioid crisis, others proposed care kits for emergency room visitors in need, first aid course, emergency location devices for individuals with cognitive dysfunction, emotional support dogs, clothing for the needy.
Basic Education and Literacy
Clubs wrote grants for solar panels for electricity in a school in India, sending children to camp in summer, scholarships, dictionary programs, little libraries, summer reading programs.
Economic and Community Development
Clubs wrote grants to improve a gazebo, community gardens, a wheelchair swing, cupola repair, ramps for wheelchairs, benches, improve a walking trail, planting saplings.
Maternal and Child Health
Feeding the hungry is a prominent need identified by our clubs. Entered were food packaging events, back packs for the weekends, community suppers, community gardens to support food pantries, and beds for children.
As you can see we are touching many people in many ways. It makes us all proud to be a Rotarian. And we will continue DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD and BE AN INSPIRATION..
Wow Wow Wow! 2018-2019 Presidents ROCK! 31 clubs have applied for District Grants for the 2018-19 Rotary Year with total participation of 36 clubs. Deadline for application was June 1 and the response was tremendous!
The grants that have been proposed are varied and interesting. Here is a short review.
Disease prevention and Treatment
Among the grants proposed in this area of focus four clubs wrote grants to address the opioid crisis, others proposed care kits for emergency room visitors in need, first aid course, emergency location devices for individuals with cognitive dysfunction, emotional support dogs, clothing for the needy.
Basic Education and Literacy
Clubs wrote grants for solar panels for electricity in a school in India, sending children to camp in summer, scholarships, dictionary programs, little libraries, summer reading programs.
Economic and Community Development
Clubs wrote grants to improve a gazebo, community gardens, a wheelchair swing, cupola repair, ramps for wheelchairs, benches, improve a walking trail, planting saplings.
Maternal Child Health
Feeding the hungry is a prominent need identified by our clubs. Entered were food packaging events, back packs for the weekends, community suppers, community gardens to support food pantries, and beds for children.
As you can see we are touching many people in many ways. It makes you proud to be a Rotarian. Be the INSPIRATION!
2018-2019 Grant Year off to a STRONG and INSPIRING START!
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Imagine having your newborn placed in a neo-natal intensive care unit. You and your family are traveling, or maybe you live nearby but can’t spend every waking hour in the hospital. How can you watch your baby’s progress and growth? If your child is in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit of the University of Massachusetts Memorial Children’s Medical Center in Worcester you are in luck — thanks to Rotarians throughout District 7910.
We recently received an email from Camilla Vogt, the recipient of our District’s endowed Global Grant Morley scholarship. This scholarship provides funding for a year of foreign study pertaining to one or more of Rotary's Six Areas of Focus. Camilla, shown here writes "I hope your fall is going well! I can hardly believe it is almost November. My first month here has flown by. We are halfway through the academic term, and school is taking up a tremendous amount of time. I have already written three papers and have an economics test every week. I am trying my hand at rowing, which means early (and chilly!) mornings, and organizing a student speaker series at my department. Each day is rich and full, and I am loving it here so far!"
Using photography to tell a story can feel complex and challenging, but it doesn’t have to. By following a few guidelines, having a focused mindset, and applying a bit of confidence, you can take great pictures. Below are some photo tips based on recent images the author took in Nassau and Seattle, as well as some from our own district. Try these tricks, and you might be surprised what you can capture.
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, with support from the Sudbury History Center and the Sudbury Senior Center, hosted a Sudbury Repair Café on October 20, 2018. This free event was held at Sudbury Senior Center in Sudbury. Residents of Sudbury and surrounding towns were invited to come and find out what a Repair Café is all about.
October 24 is Rotary’s 5th annual 
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When it comes to finding new members for his Minnesota Rotary club, Tom Gump doesn’t just walk the walk, he trots the trot: the turkey trot. Gump is a former president of the Rotary Club of Edina/Morningside, which makes boosting membership a priority. In fact, that’s the fourth item on a list of 10 tips to attract and retain members which has been prepared – and practiced – by the club. It’s tip No. 10 that finds Gump clad in a turkey suit. More on that shortly.
The 2018 Montreal Zone Conference is a unique event, and we want to invite you to be a part of it. Whether you’re an incoming District Governor, District leader, Past District Governor, or a Rotarian with an interest in becoming more engaged in Rotary….the Montreal Conference is for you! The theme “People Coming Together” fits our goal of providing you with an extraordinary and unforgettable event. This is why we're inviting everyone to be a part of the excitement!
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Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! You guys rock!!!! 31 of our clubs applied for District Grants for the 2018-19 Rotary Year with total participation of 36 clubs. The total budget for these 31 applications is greater than $170,000.
Wow Wow Wow! 2018-2019 Presidents ROCK! 31 clubs have applied for District Grants for the 2018-19 Rotary Year with total participation of 36 clubs. Deadline for application was June 1 and the response was tremendous!