June is Fellowship Month

June is Fellowship month and a time to celebrate the Rotary year 2019-20. At the end of June, we will have Change of the Guard in the Clubs, District and RI. Through our fellowship, we will look back at the year and all the accomplishments we have made in the local communities and the world. As we face the obstacles of everyday life on our current situation, we can be very proud of our impact and reach. It is times like these, we as Rotarians show our strength, commitment, and endurance.

I am amazed by the creativity of the Clubs in our District. Many Clubs meet on virtual platforms for their weekly meetings, but also connect with their members for Fellowship through Quarantini Time, Snack Time and other creative ways to get together.

The District’s virtual annual meeting was held earlier this month and finances and budgets were presented and official business was conducted. We welcomed Mike Phillips as the new DGND for Rotary year 2022-23. Congratulations Mike, you will do a great job. We also elected PDG Angela Rester and PDG Daniel Christianson as our District’s Representatives for Council on Legislation / Council on Resolutions and PDG Mary Beth Seiser and PDG Nancy Rhodes as District Representatives to the 2020-21 Director Nomination Committee.

It was my honor and great pleasure, on behalf of Rotary International, to award PDG Nancy Rhodes, Rotary International’s “Service Above Self” award. Nancy is a powerhouse and a “super” Rotarian. I cannot imagine any one more deserving. Congratulations Nancy.

We are still on our Million Dollar Journey and now that we reflect on another successful Rotary year, it is a good time to make a donation to The Rotary Foundation. Join the journey as major donor or donate at any level you feel comfortable, but please do it now to be counted in this Rotary year. Remember we get money back for grants and scholarships three years from now.

Rotary Youth Exchange in our District, inbound and outbound, has for safety reasons been cancelled for the next Rotary year. It is such an important program. Let us use this coming year to plan for the next year and get more Clubs involved in the program. Thanks to Kelly and her committee for doing a fabulous job in a very difficult situation.

The program schedule for the virtual International Convention, June 20th to June 26th, has been published and can be found on RI website. Now is the time to participate in an International Conference from your armchair.

How proud we can be of being Rotarians. Together, under exceedingly difficult circumstances, we have moved the needle in the right direction. Thanks to you, we have Connected the World.