Goodbye January. Wish the Bills were playing in February.I really thought the “Everybody Eats” thing was going to work, but as Josh said: To be the champs, you have to beat the champs. This is likely going to go up as a reminder on the team’s game day pin board.
In reflection, I am continually impressed with the passion and compassion of the Bill’s fanbase that shows beyond football, and I feel this is the heartbeat of the folks in the Western New York Community.
And there are many fans on the Canadian side of the border that are with you. It leads me to wonder though, what is on your gameday pinboard?
February is Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution month. I challenge you and your club to take a minimum of 10 minutes at a meeting sometime this month to discuss how peace is a core part of your club’s work as part of Rotary’s mission as a humanitarian service organization. To prepare, review this theme at rotary.org and look at the range of ideas your club can tackle. Ask what your club is doing in your community this year to help mediate and prevent conflict and address its root causes. Clubs can aspire to become a certified peacebuilding club. In addition, you can take a free short course HERE.
If you want to find out more about what is going on around the world related to this theme you may want to join our District’s International Committee.
A presidential peace conference Healing in a Divided World will be held from February 20-22 in Istanbul, Türkiye where Rotary will highlight the new Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center in partnership with Bahçeşehir University. This will be Rotary’s seventh peace center and will build on Rotary’s contributions to promoting peace and explore how to reduce polarization in communities, technology’s role in peace and development, how peace and environmental issues intersect, and opportunities to create sustainable peace. I am sure there will be a social media following so please tune in.
Then February 23rd will be the anniversary of the first Rotary meeting in Chicago in 1905 - 120 years ago. Please join with your fellow club members to acknowledge this date. Some clubs are doing a project around this date such as participating in Coldest Night of the Year efforts. Share your events and projects on social media and cross post these in the District 7090 calendar. Contact District Service Chair Phil Shames to give him an update on your club’s 2024/25 projects.
I am looking forward to completing my visits to all District clubs in the coming months and visiting with you at your events. I am also looking forward to seeing you at the District Conference on Saturday, April 5th. You are welcome to get involved with the organizing committee, make new friends, and practice new skills.
I am asking you and your club to invite your community partner organizations to attend as we will explore Volunteering in the 21st Century together. We should all be concerned about the changing issues in volunteering and excited about Rotary leading the way in bringing people together to provide connections, ideas, and solutions. A survey will be going around early in February asking for your feedback – and the registration and instructions will be posted mid-month.
If you have gotten this far let me offer a Valentine’s Day social tip: Next time you meet someone, instead of asking someone What do you do? ask them What do you love to do? …and go from there. If you want to find your answer and get the max out of your Rotary experience here are a few opportunities to add to your playbook: Bring a friend and schedule in the totally awesome D7090 webinars and our Zone 28 learning sessions, join the next D7090 Rotary Leadership Institute course starting in March, download and use (and then brag about) the ClubRunner app, explore what Rotary knows about you in your account at myRotary.org (and update your info), take a couple of 15-minute courses with the Rotary Learning Center, make sure your club qualifies for the (easy) Rotary Club Excellence Award and our District’s (a little more challenging, but the juice is worth the squeeze) Lighthouse Award, and join a Rotary Action Group or Fellowship. If you are leading your club this coming year (congratulations BTW) it should be the expectation of the team you are about to lead that you lock in attending the President Elect session on March 22nd. Game on 7090!