Rotary International District 7850
Including Areas of Southern Québec,
Northern Vermont, and Northern New Hampshire
Jamie Milne is one of two guests today. He is the District Governor for our Club. Rotary International’s theme this year is Rotary Opens Opportunities, which is also our District theme. In 2023-24, Jennifer Jones from Canada will be the Rotary International President, Jennifer will be the first woman president of Rotary International. Assistant Governor Susan Cherry will be our 2023-24 District Governor.
November 7 is the date for Rotary’s grant training for Club’s that want to apply for a grant this year. November 14 is the District training- for presidents and presidents elect, and District conference planning. Jamie also mentioned that our club is the recipient of 2000 disposable masks thanks to a donation from a Connecticut Rotarian.
Jamie’s dad was a member of Rotary and was a District Governor as well. Jamie was president of the Barre club. Interest and time for Rotary waxes and wanes but Rotary is seeing a resurgence of interest right now.
Jamie is striving for Clubs to initiate change and rolled this idea out at PETS. He had no idea that change would be the rule of the day during these times. He’s curious what changes have we seen that have been good and what changes are we struggling with.
Jim noted there’s been more participation in the meetings via Zoom. Susan said she’s been really impressed with the ability of members to navigate Zoom, and the participation has been great. Linda G. said that service projects have become more meaningful as it gives us an opportunity to get together.
Jamie wants us to think about what our club will look like in a year. One of Jamie’s jobs as DG is to bring the message of Rotary international president to all the clubs. We’re here to serve our communities and one idea is to have more, smaller clubs. The Sherburne Club is considering becoming a “cause” club- choosing a cause and working specifically on that cause, such as clean water, breast cancer, etc.
Strategic planning is another initiative being pushed right now.
Membership in Rotary has stayed fairly flat- grow Rotary! When new members come on board, be sure they fit, and take care of them. What does a member want from a club? How can a club retain members and keep them engaged?
World Polio Day was October 24. Mike McGovern is the chair of the World Polio foundation. Mike will be speaking in November at one of the New Hampshire clubs- Jamie will send a link.
District conference is April 23,24,25 at the Burlington Hilton. In person seems unlikely.