Rotary Club of Conifer Meeting October 16, 2018

 

Before she could begin her presentation, Sandy discovered she has a few things in common with Conifer Rotarians. Like Sandy, Angela Bassano is from New Jersey. They were each familiar with the other’s home towns. And, like Sandy, Ed Steinbrecher attended the University of Wisconsin and is a Wisconsin Badger.

 

Sandy’s theme this year is “Connections,” which she characterized as complementary of the Rotary International theme, which is “Be the Inspiration,” because you cannot be an inspiration if you are not connected.

 

In addition to her commitment to Rotary and our District, Sandy took some extra time to promote some important upcoming events:

 

Sandy revised the District newsletter to make it more appealing and she would appreciate our reading it. It used to be 14 or so pages long and she has made it much shorter by incorporating links instead of full stories about club events. She wants clubs to use the newsletter to connect with other clubs. We can send any information we want included in the newsletter to Beverly Mendell. Sandy has also changed the DG’s Monthly Message from a letter to a short video.

 

Greg Podd from Evergreen (past RI Vice President for Zones 21 and 27) asked Sandy to tell us about the new Rotary pin. Instead of just the Rotary wheel, the pin is rectangular in shape and incorporates both the word “Rotary” and a depiction of the wheel. The purpose of the new pin is to pique the interest of others in Rotary, and initial feedback indicates that it is working.

 

Sandy pointed out that she was wearing Red Converse high tops that feature the “End Polio Now” logo. We are down from 22 cases worldwide to only 13.  Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries remaining with individuals suffering from the disease. Nigeria has been polio-free for 3 years. The shoes are a fundraiser. You can acquire your own pair at the Stomp out Polio website: http://rotary5400.org/page/stomp-out-polio/ The shoes cost $50 and the proceeds benefit Polio Plus.

 

Sandy explained that she put her hat in the ring for DG because she is proud of what Rotarians do and particularly that we are all volunteers. Rotary has a structure and sticks to it, including a leadership plan common to all clubs. All of the leaders are providing service. Every single Rotarian is willing to take on a job and serve Rotary. Most Rotarians she meets are proud to be Rotarians.

 

Sandy joined Rotary because someone invited her, but it took 2 years and multiple invitations to join. After she joined, one of the other members in her club told her he was looking for 10-12 people to go to Costa Rica to build a school. A trip to Costa Rica was not on her bucket list, but she went anyway. The Rotarians stayed in accommodations that were not glamorous but were adequate. They had a 2-hour commute to the school site, including a ride in a boat. When they first arrived, the Rotarians could see the locals watching them from the trees. One day, one of them walked out of the forest to ask who was going to build the school. The translator told him what everyone did for a living. Because no one was a builder, the local asked again who was going to build the school. Slowly, but surely, all of the locals emerged to help with the build. The Rotarians took breaks and played Frisbee and softball with the locals. Then the kids started showing up. Finally, the women started cooking lunch for everyone. After lunch, the women said they wanted to thank the Rotarians because they were changing the lives of the local children forever. The government had agreed to send a teacher if they had a school. After her trip to Costa Rica, Sandy felt as if she was no longer just a member of a club, but was a Rotarian. Since then, she’s been to many other projects around the world.

 

Sandy stays in Rotary because of the opportunities it offers to develop leadership skills that translate to many aspects of her life and the connections she makes, including those with fellow Rotarians and speakers. She thanked us for being connected to each other, to the community, and to the world. She encouraged us to share our stories about why we stay in Rotary and then talk about all the projects we do.

 

When she was in New York, Sandy read words on a banner that she believes apply to Rotarians and she shared them with us:

 

            We Rotarians . . .      We activate

                                                We persevere

                                                We partner

                                                We plan

                                                We organize

                                                We mobilize

                                                We teach

                                                We communicate

                                                We coordinate

                                                We listen

                                                We guide

                                                We strategize

                                                We mentor

                                                We elevate

                                                We shine

                                                We dignify

                                                We voice

                                                We enable

                                                We rally

                                                We resolve

                                                We educate

                                                We lead

                                                We unite

                                                We connect

                                                We inspire

 

In our District, we have almost 3,000 members and we have 61 clubs!

 

 

Guests: Curt Harris (Evergreen Rotary), incoming District Governor.