It's almost the "4th quarter" and we still have a lot of activities on tap. This period is also when clubs are planning for next year, but let's not forget to review what we all have accomplished this year.
When we write down all of the numerous service, fellowship and learning activities in which we participate, we create a legacy from which others can learn.
I have reminded your club leaders to think about Rotary Club Citations, District Club Awards and other special awards. Please offer your assistance to them to document and celebrate your Club's contributions and accomplishments.
Meet Rotary Change Maker Evan Burrell at our 3-District Conference April 1 Updated Conference Info:
On Saturday, April 22, 2023, Rotary Districts 7890, 7910, and 7930 will come together at the Burlington Marriott for a 3 District Conference.
This conference offers particularly exciting opportunities to learn how to use social media to promote your club, and to share service and fun ideas with other clubs throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut -- everything from RYLA and youth exchange to Pickleball.
Join us and meet keynote speaker Evan Burrell from Australia. Evan has become known as a service minded Rotary superhero. Here's a video from Evan.
Memorials: At this year's District Conference, April 22, at Marriott Burlington, we will remember those of our members who passed away since last year's conference. Please submit by April 15 the name of any deceased member of your club we should include, along with their dates, a photo, and a brief memorial note by email to memorials@rotary7910.org.
Join us on Saturday, May 6 at Assabet Valley Tech in Marlborough for our District Learning Assembly.
Enhance you Rotary knowledge, meet fellow Rotarians and refine your Club leadership skills. All Rotarians are welcome. Tuition is just $20, and our curriculum will cover a variety of topics relevant to all Rotary members. Our program begins with continental breakfast at 8:00am, and will conclude by noon. Separately, a new member welcome and grant qualification seminar will follow our learning sessions.
On Saturday, May 20, 2023, 12,000 Rotarians from 450 clubs across five states will be doing a wide variety of local service projects in their communities.
We would like to see all the clubs in District 7910 participate in this Rotary Day of Service - from Brookline to Sturbridge and from the Connecticut border to the New Hampshire border. There's a lot of information and action items, so please click through to read/learn more.
Clubs in the District are busy putting their plans together for the Rotary Day of Service May 20. The Fitchburg club met recently to discuss their plans to replace an aging sandbox in a public park in their town, and Fitchburg East has decided to join with them - planning, building, and planting. President Alexander Vera gathered an enthusiastic group, including Tracy Gagnon and Johnny Ahern (in the Day of Service tee shirts). Photo credit Danielle Ray/Sentinel & Enterprise.
Has your club registered its project? If not, please do so quickly so that we can include you on the regional Day of Service website, opening soon! Click here to submit your project.
The game of Pickleball has grown hotter than ever before, and it shows no signs of slowing down! The game is a great choice for people of all ages to play and have a great time together, and with its low learning curve, it's easy for anyone to pick up a Pickleball and start a game.
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM - BEGINNERS - First 20 participants to register will be scheduled. 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM - INTERMEDIATE + PLAYERS - First 20 participants to register will be scheduled.
Dr. Laura N. Vandenberg has agreed to give a talk on April 19, 7:00 pm at the Southborough Library, 25 Main St, Southborough, MA 01772. The title of her talk is:
"From BPA to Phthalates to PFAS: How Environmental Chemicals Are Harming Our Health and What We Can Do About It"
Dr. Vandenberg is an expert on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health & Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts – Amherst. She is also the Associate Vice Chancellor of Research & Engagement at the university.
Something new at the Westford Kiwanis Apple Blossom Festival this year. On Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 2:00 pm will be the 2nd Annual Westford Rotary Club Golf Ball Drop by Helicopter. Get your Golf Balls now….. see details on this flyer.
If your Rotary Club would like to sell golf balls as a fundraiser for your Rotary Club, please contact Mary Foerster at mary@maryff.com for details, selling forms and percentage earned on each group of balls.
All funds earned by Westford Rotary Club is used for Rotary projects and more.
Please join Charles River Rotary Club as we celebrate our 10th Scoopapalooza year and the start of Summer with an all you can eat ice cream festival on Natick Common Saturday June 24th from 11:30 AM to 3PM. Rain Date is June 25th. We expect to draw over 2,000 people to the event for frozen treats, community connecting, music and activities for the whole family. The event will raise significant funds for Charles River Rotary’s local philanthropic efforts, including a St.Patrick’s Day Dance for teens and young adults with special needs, literacy programs, scholarships for seniors at Keefe Regional Technical School, RYLA, Natick Food Pantry, local veterans and many local nonprofits. Tickets are $7.
Let’s join together for peace and make an impact! Volunteers are needed to plan an exciting event that will celebrate Rotary’s new Peace Center, scheduled to open in 2024 in Istanbul. Peace Centers are located at universities across the world – there are seven now and Istanbul will be the eighth. Rotary Peace Centers offer specially deigned curricula to train individuals devoted to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. To date, more than 1,500 people have been trained and serve in governments and NGO’s throughout the world.
This project, spearheaded by District 7930’s District Governor Elect Lori Karas, was inspired by a group in Israel who produces musical events. They create a three-part harmony by bringing people together in a large space and dividing them into various parts to sing. See https://youtu.be/XqvKDCP5-xE as an example of the program we are planning.
For Sandy Burgers, “the ability to connect” is one of the things she appreciates most about Rotary. And it shows.
Last Fall, Sandy was part of the Rotary team who brought fifteen-year-old Emily Stukalo from Kyiv to Massachusetts, where she is now a sophomore at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School.
Connections were at the heart of it all: Sandy’s connection to Steve Albright of the Rotary Club of Yarmouth/inbound chairman of Rotary Youth Exchange District (RYE) 7950; Steve and Sandy’s connections to Kyiv Rotary; and Emily’s family connections to that same Kyiv Rotary club.
As Sandy aptly put it, “this is a great example of how Rotary works—connections!”
Hard to believe given all she’s contributed, but Sandy was kind of a “reluctant Rotarian” at first.
In 2018, Needham Rotary Club partnered with Raghav Rao of Hyderabad, India and his Rotary Club (RC Jubilee Hills) to add solar panels to schools there to help provide power and light. Sadly, he recently passed away. One of his daughters lives in Needham, and the family reached out to us to propose a classroom expansion project in his honor. Currently, the elementary and high schools in Film Nagar (suburban Hyderabad) are serving a population well in excess of capacity such that students are taught for only about half of the required hours of instruction. The plan is to meet this instructional need by adding eleven classrooms and eight toilets at a total cost of $150,000.
Needham Rotary Club has committed $5000, and we would like to try to raise the incremental $7000 of funds together with like-minded clubs in our District sufficient to cover the cost of one classroom, about $12,000.
Rotary Club of Southborough's Lina Zolock spearheaded an effort to collect diapers sizes 4-6 as diapers are expensive. The club and clients from her business (Expressions Hair Studio in Reading, MA) collected 15 diaper boxes. That's over 1,000 diapers!
Lina and her business partner, Terry, met with Paula Borges-Stalker to transfer the diapers. The diapers will go to families at Finex House, Emmaus House, and Everett Grace Food Pantry as well as other organizations in the local communities that need them.
Our next project to help families in need is our Rotary Club of Southborough Handbag Drive - we are collecting gently used handbags, purses, and pocketbooks to add small personal items to unsheltered or homeless mothers for Mothers' Day 2023. All mothers deserve something special!
The club is actively collecting until April 30 and then we will gather to add items such as small lotions, hand sanitizers, tissues, and more to the handbags. For more information or how to get involved, please email us at rotarysouthborough@gmail.com.
The Westford Rotary Club partnered with FIRST Robotics Team 4905 (Ayer Shirley Regional School District) to raise funds supplying emergency assistance to citizens of Ukraine in need of clean water. Photo: one of the Aquaboxes with Potsdam German Rotary member
As we know, Russian forces have targeted public utilities in the Ukraine with the intent of making the residents uncomfortable. With public water supplies damaged, there is an urgent need in many communities for clean water. Rotary Clubs in the Ukraine are working with the Rotary Club of Potsdam Germany to coordinate the purchase and supply of Aquabox water filtration systems.
(Excerpts from the Zone 32 Public Image Team Update, aka "Actionable information and recommendations for Rotary Clubs.)
Public Image for Growth: A strong and vibrant Public Image is one of 2 proven key tactics for successful and growing clubs in Zone 32. The other is a large number of service projects! They go hand-in-hand, so....
Promote your service projects before and after the event.
Invite the public to participate.
During the event, use banners and signs to promote you as sponsors, and have club brochures or handouts available for participants and passers by.
Make sure you have a call to action so that they can communicate with you!
Calls to Action
Always include a Call to Action in all of your promotions and whenever you can in communications. Tell people what you want them to do! Such as: "Send email." "Click on a web link." "Register for an event." "Learn more." "Visit our website or Facebook page."
If you'd like to learn more public image strategies and tactics to drive growth, development and success, and/or learn how to use more Rotary Public Image tools and resources, contact the 7910 Public Image Team.
Dear Rotarians, 
On Saturday, May 20, 2023, 12,000 Rotarians from 450 clubs across five states will be doing a wide variety of local service projects in their communities. 
Clubs in the District are busy putting their plans together for the Rotary Day of Service May 20. The Fitchburg club met recently to discuss their plans to replace an aging sandbox in a public park in their town, and Fitchburg East has decided to join with them - planning, building, and planting. President Alexander Vera gathered an enthusiastic group, including Tracy Gagnon and Johnny Ahern (in the Day of Service tee shirts). Photo credit Danielle Ray/Sentinel & Enterprise. 
Please join us on Saturday, April 1 as 
The RYLA student registration deadline is in 2 weeks. Now is the time for you to:
Dr. Laura N. Vandenberg has agreed to give a talk on April 19, 7:00 pm at the Southborough Library, 25 Main St, Southborough, MA 01772. The title of her talk is: 
Something new at the Westford Kiwanis Apple Blossom Festival this year. On Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 2:00 pm will be the 2nd Annual Westford Rotary Club Golf Ball Drop by Helicopter. Get your Golf Balls now….. see details on 
Please join Charles River Rotary Club as we celebrate our 10th Scoopapalooza year and the start of Summer with an all you can eat ice cream festival on Natick Common Saturday June 24th from 11:30 AM to 3PM. Rain Date is June 25th. We expect to draw over 2,000 people to the event for frozen treats, community connecting, music and activities for the whole family. The event will raise significant funds for Charles River Rotary’s local philanthropic efforts, including a St.Patrick’s Day Dance for teens and young adults with special needs, literacy programs, scholarships for seniors at Keefe Regional Technical School, RYLA, Natick Food Pantry, local veterans and many local nonprofits. Tickets are $7.
For Sandy Burgers, “the ability to connect” is one of the things she appreciates most about Rotary. And it shows.
In 2018, Needham Rotary Club partnered with Raghav Rao of Hyderabad, India and his Rotary Club (RC Jubilee Hills) to add solar panels to schools there to help provide power and light. Sadly, he recently passed away. One of his daughters lives in Needham, and the family reached out to us to propose a classroom expansion project in his honor. Currently, the elementary and high schools in Film Nagar (suburban Hyderabad) are serving a population well in excess of capacity such that students are taught for only about half of the required hours of instruction. The plan is to meet this instructional need by adding eleven classrooms and eight toilets at a total cost of $150,000. 
Rotary Club of Southborough's Lina Zolock spearheaded an effort to collect diapers sizes 4-6 as diapers are expensive. The club and clients from her business (Expressions Hair Studio in Reading, MA) collected 15 diaper boxes. That's over 1,000 diapers!
The Westford Rotary Club partnered with FIRST Robotics Team 4905 (Ayer Shirley Regional School District) to raise funds supplying emergency assistance to citizens of Ukraine in need of clean water. Photo: one of the Aquaboxes with Potsdam German Rotary member
Help make Rotary's Public Image a priority!
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