Thanks to everyone who made the District Conference in Plymouth a great success.
To see a slideshow of the conference -- check out slideshow on  homepage of East Hartford Rotary's homepage

I am closing down the blog now  -it's time for you to follow a new Governor.
Eileen Rau begins her term July 1, 2012.
Best to her.

Video of highlights from District Foundation Dinner, March 29, 2012

See video by clicking here.

District Foundation Dinner

Thanks to everyone who came out for our very much delayed District Foundation Dinner. Believe it was well worth the wait. Thanks to keynote speaker, Trustee-chair Bill Boyd, we are now armed with both a three-minute elevator speech about TRF but also have stories for coffee breaks and lunch!
Check out the district website for more about that.
Chez Josef did a great job. And the Foundation Dinner Committee, chaired by PDG Bob MacDonald, ensured the event ran very smoothly.

We did show the conference promo video. If you have not seen that yet, you can view it on our District's Facebook Page. If you do not have access to facebook, it's also available directly on youtube, just click here on movie.

Rotary Awareness

Jerry Kristafer, Your Town host on Sunday mornings on January 15, 2012
interviewing Gov Sue

January Wrap Up

This month has flown by -- from the NEPETS Planning Committee meeting, first Saturday of the month,to Northeast Link meeting, third Saturday, for outbound GSE teams from northeast districts, and, of course, events just for District 7890 and our clubs, I have been on the go. Adding to the busy-ness, planning for the NID Team's trip to India. We head out February 14th. I will be with my valentine, aka Peter, on a 14-hour flight from Newark to New Delhi. We are so excited that we will be able to attend a two-day polio summit near the end of the trip. Also, in addition to the three to four days we will spend vaccinating children in rural areas outside Kolkata, we plan to spend a day at a clinic providing LN-4 "hands" to amputees. If you do not know about this miraculous Rotary project, check out their website. I will be bringing a hand to Mid-Year Presidents Meeting on Feb. 7.
I hope to return on February 28th to good news, i.e. record-setting registrations for the district conference. Please sign up now. Registration form is available as a download from our District Website.
Right now, I am in the midst of a series of conference calls with club presidents. These calls are intended to keep us all in touch, to help answer questions which arise, and to remind clubs through their presidents of important events coming up.

New Generations

Just back from the New Generations Exchange in Boxborough, MA. Over 60 Rotarians from districts around the northeast sharing best practices, and learning through Q&A. Excellent experience.
Why care? Rotary needs to grow to survive. RI Director Ken Grabeau informed us of the Board's goal of growing by 3% by June 30, 2015, i.e. from 1.2 million to 1.3 million Rotarians worldwide.

see a short video about new generations on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYZ_eI1S_qo&feature=digest_sat

Service Above Self -- learn about Rotary and District 7890 through video

http://blip.tv/bbrc/ep024-service-above-self-this-year-in-rotary-5726499

Clicking on link above will take you to the blip.tv page where video of an interview with Governor-elect Eileen Rau and myself can be viewed.

New date for our District Foundation Dinner with Trustee Chair Bill Boyd

The District 7890 Foundation Dinner, featuring Trustee Chair Bill Boyd, has been re-scheduled for Thursday, March 29th. Foundation Dinner Committee Chair Bob MacDonald and our entire committee are so delighted that Chair Bill has been able to adjust some dates in his spring visit to the United States to make this work. We hope everyone who registered for the dinner last Thursday, November 3rd, will be able to attend on this new date. If not, please request a reimbursement check from District Treasurer, Ray Evans. Ray's contact info is in our district directory. Send requests via email including name for the reimbursement check, a USPS mailing address and phone number. The deadline for requesting reimbursement is Monday, November 28, 2011.
Also, some of you who were not available for the November 3rd date may be able to attend on this new date, Thursday, March 29th. I hope so. With that in mind, there will be a new registration form for new attendees available on the District Website by the end of this week.

World Polio Day and Our District's Facebook Page

District Facebook Page

After our first Facebook Seminar, October 22nd, I changed our presence on Facebook from a Group to a Page.
Check it out;  hope you like it.
While there, click on link to column in Hampshire Gazette re. polio.

Share Your Passion for Rotary -- Refer a Member Today

In the last 10 years, more than 50,000 men and women have completed the Prospective Member form to find out how they could get involved in their local Rotary club.
Imagine how many more members we might attract if every club and district included a link to the form on their websites and Facebook pages.
“I’ve had 50 to 75 people complete the Prospective Member form in the past two years,” says Winston Connolly, membership development committee chair for District 7020 (Caribbean), whose district website includes a link to the form. “Many of them have gone on to become members.”
Whether it’s community work, networking, or friendship, potential members are drawn to Rotary for a variety of reasons. 
After a prospective member completes the form, that person’s contact information is forwarded to the district governor and district membership development committee chair, who send the information on to one or more clubs in the area. If a club is interested, it invites the prospective member to a meeting.
Read more about building membership in Rotary at www.rotary.org.

Rotary Leadership Institute -- become an informed Rotarian

New members -- do you want to learn more about Rotary and enjoy some fun and fellowship?  Club board members and officers -- do you want to be more Rotary savvy?
Sign up now for our District's Rotary Leadershp Institute at the MassMutual Center in Chicopee, MA on October 15th.
Register Online.

Cost is $65 is you register by October 5th.  Most clubs reimburse their members for attending.

Be an Ambassador for Rotary -- refer qualified friends -- and create a new generation of Rotarians

Membership Referral Form





and remember our new Fifth Avenue of Service -- New Generations

Gov Sue's Out-and-About

A site page on our District Website, "Gov Sue's out-and-about," is accessible from the homepage of the website, www.rotarydistrict 7890.org.  Just scroll down left side of the home page.  Right now, most useful items on the site page are calendars of my club visits for months of August, September, October and November.  This is updated weekly.

Governor's Visits with Clubs around District 7890 Continue

So far, with August half over, visits with Rotary Clubs of Tri-Town, Bloomfield, Litchfield-Morris, Holyoke, Easthampton, Enfield, and South Windsor have been my inspiration.  The visit to South Windsor was not official  provided an opportunity for me to observe a remarkable annual event at their Rotary Pavilion, a picnic for challenged youngsters with a variety of issues ranging from autism to Down's Syndrome, plus their parents and aides.   All were having fun dunking various Rotary volunteers while I was there.  The steak roast with Easthampton and the South Windsor picnic also were great opportunities to view the pavilions both clubs have renovated recently.  Wow! Really there's no other word for these amazing facilities.  Hope to have photos on our district website before too long.
Believe it or not -- planning for NEPETS 12, our annual eight-district training for all incoming presidents, has begun.  We found out at our first full Saturday session that this year's Governors-elect have a very exciting keynote speaker for Thursday evening, immediate past RI President, Ray Klinginsmith, will be focusing on Rotary's youth programs.  Presidents-elect mark your calendars.  Plan to be at the Presidents-elect Training Seminar on Thursday, March 8, 2012 for the optional afternoon sessions plus the opportunity to hear PRIP Ray.

Governor's Visits with Clubs around District 7890

Well, the best part of this Rotary year, for me, visiting with you at your club meetings, fundraisers and service projects, has begun.  In July, I had the pleasure of visiting West Hartford, Bristol, Danielson, East Longmeadow, Plainville, New Milford and Palmer for "official visits."  Additionally, it was my privilege to participate in the Kensington-Berlin Sunrise Installation on July 12th, enjoy East Hartford's Sergeant-at-Arms event on the Half Moon at Goodwin College, and again to be with my own club when we met Glastonbury for our annual softball challenge, enjoy the GSE Team to Nepal's presentation for PDG Prasad's Simsbury-Granby Club, and last, but not least, spend a few, fun hours helping at New Milford's Fried Dough Booth during a town-wide festival at the very end of the month.  Whew!
To keep track of my meanderings you can visit our district website and check my site page, "Gov Sue's out-and-about."  (Just look on left side of homepage under "SITE PAGES."  Monthly calendars of club visits are also available under "DOWNLOAD FILES." 

District Directory 2011-2012

Printed copies of our district directory are in the mail to every Rotarian in the district.  That's rather like "the check is in the mail," since it is being sent directly from the printer at  Pratt & Whitney, a division of  United Technologies, located in East Hartford, CT.  So, we hope it is in the mail.  P&W is doing this gratis for our district, and I am very grateful.

In the meantime, a digital version is available on the district website, and, directly from me if you have trouble accessing it from the website.

Enjoy!

Literacy Efforts Around our District

This week I am polling D7890 club presidents about literacy projects and will share best practices with them soon.  But, of immediate note, Pittsfield has gone beyond the usual third-grade dictionary project to provide an interactive talking dictionary when a student in 3rd grade is visually impaired.  Seems like a great idea, worth sharing.  If you club provides dictionaries to 3rd graders, please consider this option as well.

One possible source of such a talking dictionary is found online at
http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=246000

Happy New (Rotary) Year

Treated myself to a bit of Rotary browsing this holiday weekend.
I recommend  watching "Why Rotary Now?" on youtube.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3q0dMjZ_-I

Some clubs are actually spending a little time this month showing this video at a meeting.

Enjoy.

Young Professional Men and Women Invited to Apply for 7890 GSE

Local Rotary Clubs are seeking young professionals to participate in a cultural/professional exchange to Mexico, for four weeks (approximate dates are April 5 through May 4, 2012).
Through this program, the team will explore parts of Mexico—the states of Baja California; Baja California Sur; Sonora and Sinaloa. During May/June 2012, a team from that area of Mexico will explore our local Rotary District. While in Mexico, the team members will engage in an exchange for four weeks, sharing personal knowledge of their profession and our country’s customs. They will experience the customs, vocations and lifestyles of the Mexican people. The Team will be led by an experienced Rotarian from this area.
The purpose of the GSE, a program of The Rotary Foundation, is to promote international understanding and goodwill through person-to-person contact. While abroad, team members live with Rotarians and have the opportunity to meet their professional counterparts, experience the cultural heritage of the area, and learn about community and international Rotary projects. They will tour the Rotary district of their hosts, which could include moving to a new location every few days.
The Rotary Foundation provides round-trip air travel, and local Rotarians in the host country provide meals, lodging and group travel within their district. Team members pay for personal and incidental expenses.
Requirements for Applicants: People interested in applying should be U.S. citizens, between the ages of 25 and 40, and employed full-time in a recognized business or profession for at least two years. Applicants must live and/or work within Rotary District 7890, which covers Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut. The trip to Mexico will require all team members to be very physically fit. The terrain, the altitude and the living conditions in Mexico should be considered. While fluency in Spanish is not a requirement, it will be helpful for candidates to have some knowledge of the language. Language training grants are available through The Rotary Foundation.
In the past, District 7890 has had exchanges with many countries, including Thailand, Sweden, New Zealand, India, Brazil, Argentina, Japan and Nepal.
For an application or further information, please contact your local Rotary Club, or contact Alma Kruh, District 7890 GSE Chair, at alma_kruh@ml.com or call 860-284-2226. Information is also available at www.RotaryDistrict7890.org. Application deadline is August 1st, 2010.

Dr. Bruce Aylward and the "miracle" of polio eradication everywhere

 http://www.ted.com/talks/bruce_aylward_how_we_ll_stop_polio.html