Let’s Make it a Magical Year!
It is my great honor and pleasure to accept the role of District Governor for the year 2024-2025. I have had the honor of serving under two terrific District Governors before me – Elliott Rittenberg and Victor Tom -- and I will be passing it on in one year’s time to Johnny Ahern and then to Penny Hamel, both of whom are also strong leaders that I know will build us up even more. Elliott, Johnny, Penny and I are your leadership team for the coming year. It’s not a one-person effort, just as leading each of your clubs is not a one-person endeavor. We all need backup. And I could not wish for a stronger team than this one.
TEAMWORK. You will hear that theme again and again from me throughout the year. Four months ago I had a very strong lesson in the importance of teamwork. I had been working for a year with six other districts to prepare for our Presidents-Elect Training Seminar (fondly known as “PETS”) – a training session for 500 leaders in seven districts. This was to be the premiere training event for all those who will be Presidents of your clubs during my year as Governor. Two weeks before that event I fell and broke two vertebrae in my back. I was literally flat on my back in the hospital, with no hope of showing up at the event.
Fortunately, I had not only been working with the PETS team, I had been meeting weekly with our District team. We had been sharing ideas; we were all on the same wavelength. We talked on the phone, and Johnny and Elliott and Karin Gaffney stepped into my role at PETS and did a fabulous job. PETS was great, and I learned more than ever before the value of teamwork.
For each of us volunteer leaders, playing our part for one year, it’s not a kingship or a queenship. It’s more like a relay race. Each one of us takes the baton from our predecessor and does our best during our lap, our year. And then we pass the baton to the next person in line. The changes we try to make are rarely accomplished in one year. Each of us moves the organization forward just a notch. Our goal is to keep the organization moving forward with strength along a path toward the common goal we all share – to make a difference in our communities and in the world.
As one example, Elliott has done a great deal to lay the groundwork this year for the District 7910 Rotary Action Group for Mental Health, which will be launched in the coming year. With Elliott’s help, we will continue this important work well beyond his year as Governor.
My goal this year is to support every club in becoming Simply Irresistible.
I want to help your club turn from recruiting members to ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS -- people come to you and ask to be part of your club! We have several clubs in our district who have already made that turn. It is doable.
We have assembled a strong group of past presidents who have volunteered to help you. These people, whose names are listed below, are our Assistant Governors. Each of them will work closely with 1-3 clubs. We want to help you STRENGTHEN your club—create that multi-person LEADERSHIP TEAM that will give you some backup when you need it and will assure that your club will be on course with strong leadership in future.
We will be asking you to focus on making the CLUB EXPERIENCE so wonderful that people always want to come back:
- To make all people feel welcomed and VALUED.
- To make your SERVICE PROJECTS ones that include not only the members who attend your meetings, but also their family members, and members of the larger community.
- To create service projects and educational programs that truly have a great IMPACT on our communities here and also out there in the world.
And we have to let people know what we are doing. Public Relations and Social Media will be very important components of all we do. For a long time Rotarians have been doing good very quietly. We need to learn to BLOW OUR OWN HORN: https://youtu.be/B2j3IEDjy0I?si=qMp6hfZkwkaBvrFf
In short, I want you to help me spread a little MAGIC throughout your community and make your club SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE.
YOU can do MAGIC. https://youtu.be/tt4cR9szMS8?si=qsq3hjEJle2B6yyf
Let’s sprinkle a little ROTARY MAGIC wherever we go.
Yours in Rotary,
Joyce
District Governor 2024 - 2025
Assistant Governors for 2024-2025:
Chair: Penny Hamel, DGN
- Roy Balfour: Southborough, Westborough, Worcester, Charles River, Wellesley
- Jack Colamaria: Northborough, Neponset Valley, Westwood
- Ron Faccenda: Sturbridge, Franklin, Milford
- Mary Foerster: Tyngsboro/Dunstable, Marlborough, Marlborough Rotaract
- Jim Fusco: Athol/Orange, Clinton, Leominster, Wachusett Area, Groton-Pepperell
- Karen Fusco: Fitchburg East, Acton/Boxboro
- Steve Glines: Nashoba Valley, Westford
- Penny Hamel: Dracut, Littleton, Lowell
- John Marchiony: Needham, Natick, Newton
- Mark Messina: Waltham, Watertown
- Diana Nestorova: Changemakers, Concord, Weston-Wayland, World Disability Advocacy
- Jim Pope: Billerica, Merrimack Valley
- Elliott Rittenberg: Fitchburg, Montachusett Area, Brandeis Rotaract
- Sharon Spaulding: Chelmsford, Bedford
- John Tata: Ayer/Harvard/Shirley, Shrewsbury
- Victor Tom: M.I.T. Rotaract
- Mark Vital: Framingham, MassBay Community College Rotaract
- Susan Wilkinson: Hudson, Boston University Rotaract, Brookline
- David Zonia: Blackstone Valley, The Brookfields, Southbridge