Well here we are halfway through the first month of 2018 and less than six months remain for us to Make a Difference. As you read this, DGE Melisa Schrock will be busy at the International Assembly in San Diego, along with 528 classmates, receiving the training for her year as Governor of our Best of Friends District. It’s hard to believe that a year ago, Loretta and I were there, going through intensive training and evening socials to prepare us for 2017-2018. I await Melisa’s return to find out about her experience and learn about the new theme for her year.
It’s a great feeling to know that the bench strength of the district has improved with the addition of Frank Adamson of the Fonthill club. Frank will follow Bob Artis as District Governor in 2020-2021. Now if we could only get more of our clubs creating their succession plans to have President Elects and President Elect Elects in place each year. Hats off to those clubs who have managed to do this.
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. I’d like to share with you some Rotary Moments I recently experienced with a group of high school students and Interact Club Members from Akron High School. This past Christmas holiday, I was fortunate enough to co-chaperone a service trip to the Dominican Republic with 9 girls, ranging in age from 17 to 21. Some were Akron High School alumni and some were current Interact students. All were engaged and excited to demonstrate Service Above Self. Our trip took us to Bani, Dominican Republic, where we worked at the Elizabeth Seton Nutrition Center, doing some hands-on service projects. The girls spent the past 6 months hosting various fundraisers to help raise money to contribute towards the future expansion of classrooms at this Center. In addition, they offered “sweat equity” by constructing walls, painting and transplanting fruit trees. The lessons they learned about service and helping others was priceless.
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy! Just the sound of that makes me all giddy inside!! Are you the kind of person who would enjoy developing a forward-thinking approach to District 7090’s vision and strategic plan? It’s time for us to review our plan and to set the vision for the next three years, and we could not be more energized to take on this challenge. We have achieved outstanding growth and development in key leadership areas, as well as improvement to our membership initiatives as a result of our last strategic planning done in 2015. Now it’s time to review our plan and goals as we move into a time of unprecedented changes to the way we “do” Rotary! We are looking for your valuable input and feedback to this process. If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out to IPDG Marlee Diehl. Marlee, along with her team, will be putting together surveys and focus group discussions on this very topic, and we want to hear from YOU! This is your chance to be a part of the exciting changes taking place in District 7090! Don’t wait… contact Marlee today!
One day, reading The Rotarian magazine, we came across an article on Rotary fellowships. We want you to know that the concept and practice of fellowships has moved our Rotary experience to a deeper level. First, we went on line to investigate the many fellowships that interested us. Would it be the beer, wine, social media or RV’ing? Why not all of them!!
The D7090 Member Recruitment Committee is excited to announce it has a team of 8 members so far: Gordon Crann (Chair), Catherine Bonifant, Keith Flexman, Paul Leon, Tammy Otminski, Wendy Sanders, Howard Weinstein and (as ex-officio) Membership Director PDG Kevin Crosby. The team held its first meeting online using Zoom on December 21, 2017. At the start of the meeting, PDG Kevin outlined the broad strategies and goals for developing members in District 7090.
Some of the ways discussed to help existing clubs improve their member recruitment efforts, included:
Online Recruitment Webinar;
Focus on Recruitment in Future Monthly District Membership Newsletter;
This past Fall semester the SUNY College at Buffalo’s Rotaract Club had an incredible semester with countless rewarding events to engage in. Rotaract members had a significant increase in the amount of participation this semester. Our events and fundraising drives additionally ended up being very prosperous.
Throughout the semester Rotaract members participated in a whole host of events. Total member hours of participation increased from 157 hours from the previous semester to 273 hours! Members participated in our Rotaract bake sales and volunteer work sites such as the Asha Sanctuary and Habitat for Humanity. Rotaract held two bake sales this semester within the September and November months. Combined sales raised over $500.
The Batavia Rotary Club hosted its 29th annual girls’ basketball tournament at Genesee Community College on January 3rd and 4th. The Four teams playing in this year’s event were Attica, Batavia, Cal-Mum and Notre Dame. Notre Dame dominated the final game to capture the Rotary championship trophy, beating Cal-Mum, 43-35. The consolation game was Batavia against Attica with Batavia pulling ahead in the last minutes of the third for the win over Attica, 44-36.
Rotary Club of Buffalo President Elect Bill Larkin (pictured left) and President Mike Sendor (right) spent the day at Buffalo City Mission working on Service Above Self day. Twenty-six Buffalo Rotarians and two youth exchange students volunteered at the Food Bank, the Buffalo City Mission, Goodwill and Ronald McDonald House. The club also has an ongoing mentoring program at Lorraine Elementary, which takes place during the school year.
The two Rotary clubs in Dundas, Ontario decided to have a social event for local businesses and professionals. Judy Shepalo the president of the Rotary Club of Dundas and membership chair Karin Schuett along with Neil Chopp joined with the Dundas Valley Sunrise director of membership Ralph Montesanto and member Jan Southall to discuss what could be done. After much discussion the committee decided the event would be a combination of Rotary awareness and vocational service with a soft sell for new members.
A list of town businesses and professionals was prepared and 200 invitations to attend the January 9 event at the Dundas Museum were hand delivered by committee members. Twenty folks RSVP’d while others just showed up.
On January 10, the Lewiston/Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club was entranced by two tales of achievement. Juanita Finn, winner of one of the club's Rotary scholarships told the club about her journey from an orphanage in Columbia, to an adolescence in Lewiston and on to becoming a biology major at John Carroll University. Then, the club heard from Irwin Printup, who told the club about how, after a stint in the Marines, she proceeded to become an artist and illustrator who has deepened the appreciation of the Iroquois Culture.
Pictured on the left (L to R) Lori Finn, Juanita Finn and Rotary Club President Ron Danielewicz, and on the right (L to R) President Ron, Irwin Printup and Rotarian Louise Maggard.
In early December, the Rotary Club of Kenmore holds its annual Christmas party to raise funds to provide a nice Christmas to local families in need. These families may be single parent households, they may be going through a tough financial situation or they may just need a helping hand during this time of year. Whatever the circumstance, Operation Santa is there to help and has been helping the community for over 30 years, thanks to Rotarian Joseph Starck.
This year, Kenmore teamed up with the Kenmore Fire Department. The fire department held its own community party to collect toys and, along with a generous gift from Northwest Bank and the very giving residents at Schofield Residence, Kenmore Rotary was able to assist in a much greater capacity. As a club, Kenmore purchased gifts for 21 children from 5 families. The fire department brought an empty rescue vehicle to Rotary Club of Kenmore President Tom Lang's office, and all the gifts were loaded for delivery. We are looking forward to another successful team effort for Christmas 2018.
The Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew is pleased to announce it has recently awarded two Paul Harris Fellows.
Pictured here (on the left), 50-plus year member and past president (1964-65) William Kotansky received a PHF+1, having received his first PHF in 1983. Of over 50 PHFs that the club has bestowed among members over the years, Bill received the 5th. Bill has been instrumental in many projects for Rotary including the construction of the club's concession stand. A stand that has provided funding for dozens, likely over 100 need-based college scholarships. Bill was also recognized for his long-standing membership and participation, by Rotary International earlier this year. The award was presented by Robert Benzel, club president and District Governor Nominee Robert Artis.
On the right, Mark Jerge, General Manager of Russell’s and Honorary Member of the club received a PHF as well. Mark is an Honorary Member that participates on a level with an Active Member. He attends meetings, joins in and helps in any way he can, that his time allows. Mark’s award was presented by Robert Benzel, club president and John Huber, past president.
Though it is not unusual for Rotary clubs, groups who strongly believe in community and world service, to have in their membership one or two sets of members who are also partners, what is unique about the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville is that it has a long history of having member couples. In fact, this Rotary Club may be the only club in Rotary District 7090 that lays claim to having six sets of married couples.
The Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club was chartered in 1929. Its club membership aspect is notable in that Rotary International did not admit women as members until May 1987. Prior to then, the Westfield-Mayville Rotary had “Rotary Anns,” women who helped with various Rotary service projects and fundraisers, though who were not recognized as members.
On Saturday December 16, 2017, the Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York held its annual Wreaths Across America ceremony conducted by director Tim Baxter. The Rotary clubs of Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara County Central participated as a community joint venture exercise. Although it was very cold outside, it was heart-warming to honor our fallen veterans. After the ceremony, everyone was generously treated to coffee and hot chocolate drinks.
We often take for granted the comfort in a home cooked meal. Growing up, you probably never understood why it was so important to Mom and Dad to have family meals together every night. You forget the camaraderie and enjoyment that comes from the laughter, conversation and home cooking shared around a dinner table. Moments and memories like these become especially important during times of crisis and turmoil. For this reason, the Rotary Club of Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) has adopted the Kevin Guest House as one of its original and on-going service projects. The Kevin Guest House is the nation’s first healthcare hospitality house inviting any patient or family member, local or out-of-town, a warm and peaceful place to stay while a loved one undergoes medical treatment. Since the inception of the BNMC Rotary Club, its members have volunteered each month to cook and serve dinner to any patient staying at KGH. The club values the importance of caring for others, and has been fortunate to learn how friendship and food can lighten the burden someone else carries.
The Rotary Club of Hamburg recently inducted two new members to club. Rotary President Jerry Bastedo, right, conducted the ceremonies welcoming Michelle Hanley, second from left and Amy Rooth, third from left, both realtors with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Far left is Rotarian Lisa Avery who sponsored the two new members.
For an event that was not going to happen again it is sure has left guests feeling just as cheery as previous tours and left a buzz in the air for the weeks to follow. The Dunnville Christmas House Tour was taken over by the Rotary Club of Dunnville. Rotarian Adam Heeg just had to see this tour happen again. The tour has taken place several times over the years with the intention to raise awareness of the great little town several thousand people call home and give surrounding communities something great to say about Dunnville, and did they ever have something to say! Comments such as, “You just gave the big city tours competition!”. And, “Each home was so unique with a different décor and theme.”
Grand Island School Holiday Concert showed more than talent – students thinking KINDNESS! The Rotary Club of Grand Island combined their December meeting with the Kaegebein School Holiday Concert, preceded by dinner in the cafeteria. Tables were decorated with KINDNESS CHAINS where Early Act students had made a link after they performed a Random Act of Kindness at home or school. School teachers and administrators are finding that the negative: Don’t Bully does not work nearly as well as the Positive: Try Random Acts of Kindness! A great chance for Grand Island Rotarians to see what really works well in developing kindness and service in youth, while minimizing awful instances of bullying.