It’s hard to believe but we are almost in the final quarter of the Rotary year and as a district, 7090 has certainly been ‘Making a Difference!’ We’ve taken giant strides in making up lost ground with membership. I’m so grateful to all the clubs who have made a positive contribution, including our membership committees led by PDG Kevin Crosby and our new Rotary E-club of Social Innovators (RESI). We’ve recovered much of the ground we lost over the last couple of years but there is still a long way to go. We all need to ask our ourselves as Rotarians, “When did I last ASK someone to a club function or tell them about Rotary?” Part of our role as Rotarians is to do that!
We do know that come year-end, a significant number of terminations will occur. They will affect not only the financial health of our clubs but that of the district, our zone and Rotary International! We do need to grow: to have more hands to do the wonderful work in our communities and the world, to lessen the load on many of our over-burdened members and to lead to lower club, district and RI dues. Yes, there is strength in numbers and each of us, by doing our part, can make our clubs a better and more fulfilling part of our Rotary lives.
A second focus for the final quarter of 2017-2018 is to ensure that the contributions to The Rotary Foundation and the Annual or Share Fund are adequate enough to provide significant funds for our district activities three years from now. Remember: half of what we as clubs and individuals contribute to this fund come back to our district to allow us to continuing “Doing Good!” Once June 30th arrives, our total contribution, divided by two, is what our District Foundation will have to allocate three years from now.
My final challenge is to remind clubs to be up to date on Rotary Club Central with their goals and accomplishments. You should also be cognizant of the Brand Center and Rotary Showcase to ensure your club’s ability to earn the Rotary Citation, the district Lighthouse Award and the Governor’s Trophy.
As I write this we are enjoying the last few days of our break from the cold winter weather of southern Ontario and western New York. It is always so nice to get away, yet there is no place like home and we are anxious to get back. Our trip began with a wonderful visit with Lucinda and Wayne General in Phoenix. As many of you recall, Lucinda was Ian Risely’s representative at our district conference in October. It was great to see them and enjoy their southern hospitality.
We then spent a week in beautiful Sedona and in spite of snowfall on two of the days, enjoyed the splendor of the rock formations and learned so much about the area of the red rock! We spent time in Sun Lakes with long-time friends before our sojourn to Tucson and more Rotary friends. Rotary is an incredible organization and no matter where you go you have the opportunity to make new friends and lasting relationships.
There are a number of important decisions and discussions that will take place at our District Council meeting on April 7th at the Best Western Hotel & Conference Center in St. Catharines. I’m hopeful that we have great attendance from the district leadership team. I remind everyone that these meetings are open to all district Rotarians. Thank you for all you do in Making a Difference in your communities and in the world!
Every one of us has had our Rotary “Moment” – that moment when it suddenly hits you, “This is why I do what I do!!”. For each of us, it’s something different. For many of you, it continues to evolve. Sometimes, they’re even “funny” and can leave you smiling saying, “I love these people!!”
The first weekend in March is the weekend District 7090 offers the final training for our presidents elect. I’ve attended this as an incoming club president and I’ve also attended for the past few years as a DG - in training. This year was “my year”. My opportunity to Be the Inspiration for our future leaders, and to Make a Difference! No pressure. Friday night we had a fantastic speaker, Rotary International Director Elect Jeffry Cadorette, who did an amazing job at inspiring the crowd. Saturday morning would be my opportunity to inspire our incoming presidents elect who would all be going to bed with this speech fresh in their minds. Again, no pressure. I tossed and turned all night, with knots in my stomach - knowing just how critical my talk on Saturday morning was going to be! If I don’t inspire this group, and the district fails and no body sets goals or grows membership, it will all be my fault. If I ramble and talk on and on about nothing of importance, and they fall asleep... all will be lost and it will all be my fault. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m an extreme type-A personality and bear the responsibility of just about everything on my shoulders).
Saturday morning came and thankfully, the words came too. I was charged up, excited, rolling along in my speech...really putting it out there... hitting all the targets... and then it happened. My phone rang. Loudly. From my back pocket. Mortified, I tried to ignore it while I reached around to discretely shut the ringer off. But of course, no luck. Deciding I needed to own the moment, I pulled the phone out in front of everyone - apologizing for the interruption - and acknowledged that I was receiving a call from... my daughter? (Funny... she knows where I am)... trying to FaceTime me? (Are you kidding me right now). In true Rotarian/Parent spirit, they began shouting “Answer It” - “Point the Camera on us” - “Take the call”. So.... I did! As they video feed opened and my daughter connected to see a room full of Rotarians - all waving and shouting greetings - the look on her face was priceless... like “Oh Boy, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea”. We exchanged pleasant greetings (through my gritted teeth) and she says “Whatcha doing?” (REALLY??) I replied, “Oh not much, remember that training I mentioned... of ALL of the incoming presidents that I had to do?? Well, you’re calling in the middle of it!!” Laughter from the crowd, blood draining look from her face and extreme embarrassment on mine. “Oh, so is this not a good time?” (More laughter as everyone can hear the conversation due to the microphone in my hand picking up the audio). “No honey, it's really not. I’ll call you back later - have a good time at your youth exchange orientation - love you, BYE!!” Just as I close in to push that precious red button to “end call” the microphone picks up a frantic plea from my daughter, “MOM. WAIT. MOM!! MOM!! DON’T HANG UP YET!!” I look out over the room, everyone is on the edge of their seats, you could have heard a pin drop... what’s wrong?? What’s happened?? I hesitantly ask, “What’s wrong Erin??” And my beautiful, sweet, precious 17 year old daughter says.... “What do you think I should wear today??” The room erupts with laughter which is immediately followed by all kinds of suggestion for her attire. At this point, beyond mortified doesn’t even come close to explaining how I felt. I politely told her to “figure it out” and I abruptly hung up!!
Fellow Rotarians, THAT was a Rotary Moment for me. Because in that moment, all of my presidents elect realized.... I am no different than all of you. I am a wife, a mother and I am a Rotarian with an amazing assignment for next year. I am not better than you, and I have no different issues than you. I have a family that sometime takes a backseat, but understands and fully supports “why I do what I do.” At that moment in time, I felt the love and overwhelming support from everyone in that room and the true spirit of my Rotary friendships took center stage. I am so thankful for each and every one of you and I can’t wait to serve you and our district as District Governor in 2018-2019!
Please follow my Facebook page at Melisa Schrock - Rotarian for these and other funny stories and all things Rotary!!
District 7090 is in process of creating a new three year strategic plan. In advance of its March 17th strategic planning session, 56 individuals from the district participated in sounding boards, confidential webinars where input was gathered from presidents, immediate past presidents, Rotarians under 40, Rotarians with less than 3 years of service as well as assistant governors and other District Council members.
The group that met to plan out the strategic plan were also given a number of interesting statistics about Rotary 7090 and the state of our district today:
Did you know that… the average age of Rotarians in our district is 58 years old and 33% of the Rotarians in our district our women.
Did you know that our District has had a 4% growth in membership year to date? That is an accomplishment worth celebrating.
Did you know that only 19% of clubs in our district are highly involved in youth services – participating in youth exchange, Rotaract, Early Act, etc.? Yet these younger adults are the future of Rotary.
Using statistics and input from sounding boards, five strategic directions with measurable goals were drafted on March 17. Stay tuned. There will be more in the month of April about the plan and the role each of you can play in strengthening our district.
IT'S SPRING, A ROTARIAN'S MIND TURNS TO...
Well of course it’s the Club Leadership Training (CLT) event coming up on Saturday May 5th. This event exudes that feeling of growth and renewal that comes at this time of year, and will provide the tools you need to enhance your Rotarian experience. During a recent discussion with our incoming DG Melisa Schrock I was reminded of a quote from Socrates about not focusing on fighting the past, but instead on building the new, or in Melisa’s words,“Stop watering the weeds!” Yes, registration is now OPEN so act now to register and learn how to ‘grow’ your Rotarian future.
To write a press release for the District 7090 Newsletter, pick a single newsworthy topic, compose a concise headline (optional), and write the body copy so it answers the basic questions about who, what, where, when and why you are announcing. (Assume your audience knows nothing about it). The release can contain helpful links to documents or websites. For the purpose of District newsletter, please include photo as a named attachment. Also preferred - a word document attached with the narrative.
CLUBS - act now - last chance to register students for SLAPSHOT 2018! Clubs can sponsor up to 5 high school students ages 15-18 for this fantastic leadership/growth program. Interact Club members are perfect candidates, as are POTENTIAL Interact members! It's only $350CND/$275US per person with benefits far beyond this investment. The SLAPSHOT weekend scheduled for April 27-29, 2018 is all about building leadership skills, self-confidence, and bonds among new cross-border friends - a perfect experience to get Interact Clubs started and to invite our youth to join the Rotary Family!
These links take you to details on both SLAPSHOT [and RYLA] including application and registration forms. The SLAPSHOT registration deadline is 3/31. Club, completing and sending this fillable form will reserve your space.
Everyone shops! Whether it is for our everyday necessities or special purchases, we are all buying goods and services. Why not save money and give back to Rotary at the same time.
Take Amazon.com for example. Amazon's program will donate a percentage of your purchase to your favorite charity? If you choose Rotary, Amazon will donate up to 6% back!
Rotary Global Rewards is a program that has enlisted many businesses to donate a percentage of the proceeds from online purchases by Rotary members to Rotary International. In some cases, the businesses also offer special discounts on sales of merchandise and services to Rotarians. Rotary clubs will receive recognition points for the contributions resulting from Global Reward purchases made by members.
Rotary Global Rewards are offered on many of your everyday items:
Retailers
Hotels
Flights
Florists
Entertainment
Sports Tickets
Dining
Car Rentals
Insurance Products
Health & Wellbeing
In order to participate in the program you must have your Rotary International login. You can register through RI at www.my.rotary.org and create a password. Once you are logged in, simply click on Member Center and then Rotary Global Rewards.
For questions, contact District Chair Shefali Clerk.
Through the great efforts of Tamara Coleman Lawrie (Rotary Club of Welland) and her District New Member On-boarding Committee and our amazing District Executive Secretary, Pene Hutton, clubs can now access a treasure trove of resources to support their membership development efforts. We’re talking guides, best-practices, checklists, surveys, videos, webinars, etc.
Go to our district website (rotary7090.org) and click on “Our Rotary Work” in the menu bar at the top of the Home Page. Then, select “Rotary Membership” from the drop-down menu. This opens a sub-menu that includes links to information for new Rotarians, Club Resources, Member Resources, and lots of other good stuff. You will be amazed at the number and variety of useful resources to help you recruit members, orient new members, and retain the members you have. Go ahead, make like a pirate, and help yourself to these treasures!
District 7090’s membership has continued to grow over the last month with the result that it has climbed back over 2,200 to reach 2,202 members as of March 15, 2018.
Our membership growth during the 2017-18 Rotary year has solidified Rotary District 7090’s position as the largest district in Zone 24 East by widening our lead over District 7070, which includes the City of Toronto, York Region and Durham Region, (only other district in Zone 24 East with more than 2,000 members) sitting at 2011 members, respectively, as of March 15, 2018.
Within all of Zone 24, District 7090 is third largest - trailing District 5060 (parts of B.C. & Washington State) with 2,706 members and District 5050 (parts of B.C. & Washington State) with 2,578 members, respectively, as of March 15, 2018.
District 5370 (parts of Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan & Northwest Territories) - with 2,104 members as of March 15, 2018 - is the remaining district in Zone 24 to exceed the 2,000 members level.
The Rotary Club of Brantford has been recognized for its contributions to the city’s economic development. The club was honoured with the Brantford Ambassador Award by the city’s economic development advisory committee at the recent 2017 Industrial Appreciation luncheon held at the Brantford Golf and Country Club.
Pictured are (left to right) President Lance Calbeck and Robert Ham - Economic Development Officer City of Brantford.
The Rotaract Club of Niagara was pleased and honoured to be a part of 2018’s Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY), which took place the evening of February 24th. CNOY is a nationwide event that raises awareness and funds for individuals and families experiencing hunger, homelessness, and hurt all across Canada. The walk began at 5:15 pm in 121 locations throughout the nation, and consisted of over 19,000 participants. Rotaract Niagara contributed seven walkers at three of the 121 locations: Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, and Welland. With the help and support of many sponsors including Rotarians, family and friends, and others, the event was a success. After the walk, Rotaract Niagara raised just over 1,800 dollars, tripling the initial goal they had set out to accomplish. Rotaract also ran a bottle drive, collecting bottles from sponsors and wineries in the region in order to increase funds.
Each location walked in support of an established initiative that provides support systems and resources for community members in need. St. Catharines teams raised money for Start Me Up Niagara, which provides support to those facing difficult life changes such as unemployment or mental illness. Pictured above, is the St. Catharines team looking enthusiastic during its 10K walk. In Welland, walkers supported Open Arms Missions, which aims to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the community. Pictured on the right, the Welland team with Leslie Bellingham of Open Arms Missions. Last but not least, Niagara Falls walkers raised funds for Project SHARE, an initiative that mobilizes resources for those under the poverty line.
As of yet, CNOY has reached 99% of its 4.5 million dollar goal, and is still accepting donations until March 31st. This walk takes place every year, and provides an opportunity for all participants to learn about the struggles that so many Canadians face, and contribute to the organizations that are working to identify and meet the pressing needs of millions of Canadians. Visit www.cnoy.org for more information.
Members of the Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew were honored to have well-known television news broadcaster, Mary Alice Demler, as a guest speaker at a luncheon meeting in February. Mary Alice treated the club to stories about her career in broadcasting and also shared about her efforts to promote volunteerism in the western New York community. Unfortunately her work schedule of 3:00 pm – midnight, precludes her attendance at meetings, especially to her former Buffalo Sunrise Club.
In recognition of her individual service and her former role as a Rotarian, individual members and the club presented a contribution to PDG Jack Amico for the Gift of Life program in her honor. Pictured is Mary Alice speaking to the club.
Tim Hoelscher, left, was honored by the Rotary Club of Hamburg recently when he was presented with the Paul Harris Fellow. President Jerry Bastedo, right, is shown presenting Tim the pin and certificate. Tim is a self-employed CPA and a 10-year member of the club which meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday evenings at JP Fitzgerald’s Restaurant in Hamburg.
The Rotary Club of Niagara County Central completed its 12th annual gifting of dictionaries to third grade students in the Niagara Wheatfield Central School District. Rotarian, the late Joseph B. Emmons, began this project locally in 2006. Emmons wife, Rotarian Marsha Emmons, proudly continues his worthwhile endeavor to bring these keepsakes of written knowledge to the students.
The Dictionary Project co-chairs, Marsha Emmons and David Evans, were joined by fellow Rotarians; President Pat Sullivan, Past President, Tom Grimm, and the Niagara Wheatfield Central School Superintendent, Daniel Ljiljanch to distribute 240 dictionaries. The third grade recipients attend Tuscarora Indian, West Street Elementary, Errick Road Elementary, and the Colonial Village Elementary Schools.
CEO Mary French founded The Dictionary Project in 1995 to provide personal copies of dictionaries to third grade students in South Carolina public schools. It has grown into a national organization. To date, over 28 million dictionaries have been donated to children in the United States and internationally. The Rotary Club of Niagara County Central has provided over 7,000 dictionaries to the third grade students in Central Niagara County.
Eighteen months ago, the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville accepted a challenge from a local, anonymous foundation. Dubbed by the club, the PolioPlus Challenge, the club endeavored to raise $10,000 by this spring in order to have this local foundation match the club’s funds up to $10,000. The conditions of the challenge - fundraising events had to be new ones, include as many club members as possible, and had to raise awareness about the disease of Polio. All of the proceeds were to be donated to the PolioPlus Fund of Rotary International to aid polio eradication efforts. With its successful ‘Pancakes Against Polio’ event, the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville, along with strong community support, raised more than the needed $10,000.
Pictured, a Brocton Interactor serving up additional helpings of pancakes at the club's fourth and final event, the ‘Pancakes Against Polio’ charity fundraiser breakfast on March 10, 2018, held in the Brocton Central School Cafeteria. It was a flipping success! 700-plus pancakes later, another $2,334.38 was raised to donate to the PolioPlus Fund to aid in the fight against Polio, and the challenge was met.
Representatives of the Rotary clubs in Simcoe, Ontario are planning to launch Rotary Lager at an upcoming Eat and Drink Norfolk festival which celebrates the culinary aspects of Norfolk County. Rotary Lager has been brewed by a prominent craft brewery and canned featuring the Rotary wheel along with the Four Way Test. Stocked by several private clubs and restaurants in the area, the beer will be sold at all Rotary fundraisers throughout the Summer. Rotary Lager is also available in the Rotary districts served by the Rotary Clubs of Guelph and Peterborough.
Pictured:Gerry Goddard, Rotary Club of Simcoe, Gail Catherwood, President, Norfolk Sunrise Rotary, Yvonne Di Pietro, Norfolk Sunrise Rotary, Hadley Jackson, President, Rotary Club of Simcoe, Dave King, President Elect, Rotary Club of Simcoe. Absent from photo, but equally involved is Alayna Simpson, President of Simcoe Rotaract
Pictured is Ellicottville Rotarian Jim Salamone presenting a $250 check to Judy Brown, Treasurer of the Ellicottville Historical Society in honor and memory of the club's good friend, Bob McCarthy. Bob, who passed away about a year and a half ago, is still a presence very much missed in Ellicottville. Rotary was one of several organizations that Bob promoted and supported. He always encouraged the club to consider assigning a portion of the funds it raised to the Ellicottville Historical Society. Jim Salamone commented, "Ellicottville Rotary intends to continue with Bob’s tradition of supporting this great group we also feel it is an integral part of our community."
The Ellicottville Historical Society & Museum started in September of 1956 and was formed for the purpose of studying & preserving the historical record of the Ellicottville and its vicinity. The Historical Society holds meetings every second Wednesday evening from May through October on various historical topics. The Rotary Club of Ellicottville is proud to help the society continue to fulfill its mission of studying and preserving local history for generations to come.
It all began at a autumn 2011 Rotary meeting that our Youth Exchange outbound student Coco Lee attended - she was there to share her year experience when the letter came in from a inbound New Zealand student that needed housing. Coco said to me, "Hey Nancy, you’d be a Great Host Mom." To be truthful I had never thought of it before … but upon reading Leigh’s bio and having been to New Zealand, it was meant to be .
So in January 2012, this tall blonde landed in Canada. We were both anxious and a tad nervous, but it didn’t take long before we both knew it was the best experience ever for both of us. Leigh’s year in Canada was enriched by all the young people who welcomed her, plus my own family. And, my home was filled with young people and laughter as the year flew by.
A year later Leigh’s mother came to Canada for a visit, and Leigh has returned to Canada two times. After I retired in 2016, I visited them in the Capitol of New Zealand, Wellington and visited the Rotary club that sponsored Leigh. What a thrill that was!
On February 28, 2018, the Mount St. Mary's Hospital Foundation honored the Rotary Club of Lewiston, NY & Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON at a gala dinner in recognition of its many years of community support. This is especially significant for the club, as April 20, 2018, will mark the 80th anniversary of its chartering.
Club President Ron was invited to the podium to make a few acceptance remarks. Pictured are (left to right) Mount St. Mary's Hospital Foundation Executive Director Julie Berrigan, Mount St. Mary's Hospital President & CEO Gary C. Tucker, and President Ron Danielewicz.
The Rotary Club of Welland hosted its first curling social (since 1965) on February 20, 2018. 75 people attended, drawn largely from the community. Participants ranged in age from 12 to 91 (of course that was Rotarian Freddie Farnham) and were, for the most part, first time curlers. Welland's Youth Exchange Student Manon Hody from Belgium eagerly participated experiencing curling for the first time in her life. 14 rinks faced off in a round robin set of games. The Welland Curling Club provided instruction for the curlers. Both the Fonthill and Fort Erie Rotary clubs entered rinks. There were also two Special Olympic rinks joining in the fun. After all the hard work of curling (and rooting for curlers), everyone retired to the lounge for wings, pizza, drinks and socializing.
On February 16, 2018, the Rotary Club of Buffalo tried something new as a fund raiser, a Roaring 20’s Gala was held at the Tonawanda Castle, complete with dance instructors to teach us how to do the Charleston! There was also a surprise in store. A gentleman from Batavia had the band stop the music, then got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend - she said yes! Guests, dressed in their finest 20’s attire, loved the event and many were already asking if we will have it again next year. The Roaring 20’s was a great success thanks to the work of Past President Laurie Albertsson and her committee!
Pictured (on right, in red) Rotarian Therese Vita and friends having a roaring good time.
Members of District 7090's newest Rotary club, the Rotary E-Club of Social Innovators (RESI) are participating at significant international events.
On February 10, 2018, RESI member Prabha Sankaranarayan, who is Co-Founder and CEO of Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI), was a panelist for the “No Sustainability, No Peace” breakout session at Rotary International’s Presidential Environmental Sustainability and Peace Conference on February 10, 2018 in Vancouver, B.C. Also, this month, Prabha is being joined by RESI club member, Vicki Isler, as members of the MBBI contingent participating in the United Nations’ 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. Where, on March 16, 2018, Prabha was a panelist for “Women Using Technology to Advance Agency, Advocacy, Capacity, & Peace” at the Church Center for the United Nations, 797 1st Avenue in Manhattan.
Grand Island Rotary’s Meat Raffle to support Growing Readers, has been declared successful. A full house gathered at the K of C Hall, bidding for excellent meat packages and waving dollars at runners. GI partnered with a Grand Island school committee dedicated to buying ‘Read-to-Me’ books to be given by local pediatricians to new parents, encouraging them to read to their babies and toddlers. The combined forces brought out both attendees and workers.
Recently, the Rotary Club of Lincoln welcomed John Teibert (pictured on left) District Director of the Rotary Foundation and Lincoln Rotarian Alice Klamer (pictured on right) to share their experiences and passion for The Rotary Foundation (TRF).
To find out more about this speaker opportunity, send John Teibert an email inquiry. He or someone from the District Foundation Committee would love to come talk to you about all things relating to The Rotary Foundation.
The Rotary Club of Lincoln inducted, not 1, 2 but 3 new members into the Rotary family at its meeting on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
Pictured celebrating (left to right) is President Sue Foster along with new members, John Maynard, Anna Murre and Valerie Pitt. Doing the induction duties, Membership Chair Michael Hahn.
Area 1 Assistant Governor Lisa Bishop was on hand to induct a very welcome new member, Tracy Winkworth, brought to the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise through her colleague and friend Jenni Mudge-Winters who came back to the club also this year, after a few years of sabbatical. Tracy is the owner and operator of the Cooking Studio as well as Liaison College South Coast, a chef school in Brantford. Maybe she will teach her new Rotary family a few tricks in the kitchen!
Pictured (left to right): Jenni Mudge-Winters, Tracy Winkworth and AG Lisa Bishop.
The presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow was made to Jim Oliver at RCNS breakfast meeting on February 27, 2018, by President Gail Catherwood for his dedication to the elimination of Polio.
Jim created the ‘Ride for Rotary’ as a fundraiser to support the End Polio campaign. It is an annual one day summer ride for motorcycle enthusiasts. Participants pay a nominal fee to register for the group ‘ride’, and then tour collectively, have lunch, and share in fellowship. All proceeds go to inoculate children against polio. To date, this event has raised enough money to inoculate 25,000 children.
Congratulations Jim! Thank you to all supporters and participants of the ‘Ride for Rotary’ campaign to End Polio Now.
The Le Roy Rotary Interact Club is comprised of over 100 Le Roy Jr/Sr High School Students who have shown an interest in community leadership and have a general desire to better their hometown community. Within their club meetings, they identified several issues and have ultimately decided that they would like to honor our local active duty military personnel through a project they’ve named, “Le Roy Rotary Interacts Hometown Hero’s Project.”
Student representatives from each grade 7-12, involved in the Interact Club attended the Le Roy Village Board meeting on February 5, 2018, to request their support. The students put together an impressive presentation describing the project details and how they plan to fund it. They brought along two local Marines to describe their experiences in the military. One of the Marines noted that he went into this line of work to serve his country, not expecting any recognition but that this is a wonderful, and much appreciated project.
The Rotary Interact students requested permission to utilize Main Street light poles, as well as support from our local Department of Public Works to assist in hanging the banners. The decision from the board was unanimously approved and the students were applauded for their great work.
For updates on this project, and to what it as it unfolds, be sure to check out the Le Roy Rotary Facebook page.
It’s hard to believe but we are almost in the final quarter of the Rotary year and as a district, 7090 has certainly been ‘Making a Difference!’ We’ve taken giant strides in making up lost ground with membership. I’m so grateful to all the clubs who have made a positive contribution, including our membership committees led by PDG Kevin Crosby and our new Rotary E-club of Social Innovators (RESI). We’ve recovered much of the ground we lost over the last couple of years but there is still a long way to go. We all need to ask our ourselves as Rotarians, “When did I last ASK someone to a club function or tell them about Rotary?” Part of our role as Rotarians is to do that!
To write a press release for the District 7090 Newsletter, pick a single newsworthy topic, compose a concise headline (optional), and write the body copy so it answers the basic questions about who, what, where, when and why you are announcing. (Assume your audience knows nothing about it). The release can contain helpful links to documents or websites. For the purpose of District newsletter, please include photo as a named attachment. Also preferred - a word document attached with the narrative. 
District 7090’s membership has continued to grow over the last month with the result that it has climbed back over 2,200 to reach 2,202 members as of March 15, 2018.
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Eighteen months ago, the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville accepted a challenge from a local, anonymous foundation. Dubbed by the club, the PolioPlus Challenge, the club endeavored to raise $10,000 by this spring in order to have this local foundation match the club’s funds up to $10,000. The conditions of the challenge - fundraising events had to be new ones, include as many club members as possible, and had to raise awareness about the disease of Polio. All of the proceeds were to be donated to the PolioPlus Fund of Rotary International to aid polio eradication efforts. With its successful ‘Pancakes Against Polio’ event, the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville, along with strong community support, raised more than the needed $10,000. 
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Area 1 Assistant Governor Lisa Bishop was on hand to induct a very welcome new member, Tracy Winkworth, brought to the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise through her colleague and friend Jenni Mudge-Winters who came back to the club also this year, after a few years of sabbatical. Tracy is the owner and operator of the Cooking Studio as well as Liaison College South Coast, a chef school in Brantford. Maybe she will teach her new Rotary family a few tricks in the kitchen!
