Fellow Rotarians!
I know most of us are tired of the cold and snowy winter most of us are having. Forty plus years ago, I have to admit that winter was my favorite season because I loved snowmobiling and downhill skiing. That was a long time ago and seems like a different life time!
We are well into the second half of the Rotary year and we need to be thinking about accomplishing our Rotary goals. Virtually every club I visited expressed concern about membership. Last week our Membership Chairman, Carmen Hansen, invited all the club membership chairs and presidents to a membership ZOOM. It was not well attended! It makes us wonder how seriously clubs really take membership. I think part of it is we don’t take the time to read emails from District Leadership. I know we all suffer from email fatigue, but we are here to help clubs in growing and to prosper. Carmen offers great information and advice about membership and has access to many resources from the Zone level and Rotary International. I have recordings of a recent great three-part ZOOM presentation about membership growth and retention that Carmen or I would be happy to share.
Moving forward DGE Rich Burn’s mind is on the upcoming PETS (President Elects Training Conference). He is putting together a great program for PE’s and he also welcomes President Elect Nominees to attend. The first step to plan PETS is to ask clubs to have their presidents for next year elected as soon as possible so that they may be informed and inspired to attend. As of now, about 13 clubs need to let us know who their PE’s are. I have emailed all those clubs and we will be following up with phone calls.
This month is Rotary “Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution” Month. February includes the first day that a Rotary meeting was held, February 23, 1905. It is now designated as the “World Understanding and Peace Day”. Rotary International supports Peace Centers around the world and provides Rotary Peace Fellow scholarships to attend. The mission of these centers is to “empower, educate, and increase the capacity of peace builders through rigorous academic training, practice and global networking opportunities”. These fellowships develop the skills needed to act as “leaders and catalysts for peace and conflict resolutions both in their communities and around the globe”.
Yours in Rotary!!
John Schneider DG 5610