It’s in Your Hands

What’s Ahead?? Jan. 24th

DG Nancy will be in India from Jan. 28th-Feb. 21st. Updates may be delayed due to limited interact access. Please bear with me.

Polio Awareness Week

Polio Awareness Week is scheduled for Feb. 21-28th in your Area. Please work with your AG and plan an “As the Bell Tolls” event to make the public aware of Rotary’s dedication to eradicate Polio.

Thanks to AG Beth

AG Beth Steelman in Wilmington has organized the clubs in Wilmington to participate in an “As the Bell Tolls’ event for Polio Awareness Week on February 23rd. Thanks to Beth’s quick thinking, she has arranged for she and DG Nancy to be interviewed on WHQR 91.3 fm during the Midday Café. Way to go Beth. Please let me know what your Area has planned and take lots of pictures. Do you think your local Health Departments or Hospitals might want to become involved?? Don’t forget to invite the Rotarians going on the NID to share their stories during your event.

RAD—District Event –March 14th

The following is from RAD Chair James Bond:

Each year, District 7730 holds a speech contest that allows our area youth to think about the issues of Drug Abuse (including Alcohol) and speak before a group of Rotarian judges at James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville. This gives the participants an opportunity to put together a coherent presentation on the issue of drug abuse and some constructive suggestions as to how it might be addressed by all of us.

Earlier this year I passed on some information to our Area Governors for each area’s dissemination and review.

I will need to have some idea as to if you have some students who will participate by the end of February. However, if you know your club will be sponsoring anyone at this event, please let me know at your earliest convenience.

I will also need three Rotarian judges and a timekeeper for the event in Kenansville. If you have someone in your club who might be interested in assisting in judging or timekeeping, get them to drop me an email or give me a call.

At this time, the schedule of the event is:

12:00 – 01:00 Registration
01:00 – 4:30 Competition

The top three finishers at the District Contest will be eligible to attend the Multi-District contest in Chapel Hill on March 21. There are cash prizes in both the District and Multi-District competitions.

Essentially, this is a contest where students stand before a set of judges and give a speech of 6 minutes. The topic of the speech is:

“What Must Be Done to Prevent Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the U.S.?”

Some more information as to the specifics of the contest are:

HIGH SCHOOL SPEECH CONTEST:
These facts suggested more should be done to inform middle and high school students about the dangers of drug abuse.
The contest encourages students to
(1) consider the extent and seriousness of the use of mood-modifying drugs including alcohol;
(2) learn of current efforts to reduce and prevent drug abuse;
(3) increase concern for fellow students;
(4) prepare to inform peers of this dangerous problem; and
(5)listen and speak out against drugs and in doing so gain self-confidence & increase self esteem.

Student should assume they are talking to other students. NO props please. Students &/or teachers select up to 4 students to represent H.S. at a Club meeting. Notes permitted. SPEECH SHOULD NOT BE READ.

Find the RAD application and program overview on our website at:

http://www.rotary7730.net/programs/rad

Registration for both are at 12:00. Competitions begin at 1:00.

DISTRICT 7730 FINALS: 1:00 p.m., Sun. March 14, 2010, Kenansville, NC – James Sprunt Community College
AWARDS: 1st: $200; 2nd: $100; 3rd: $50;
MULTI-DISTRICT FINALS: 1:00 p.m., Sun., March 21, 2010, Chapel Hill Town Hall.
AWARDS: 1st: $300; 2nd: $250; 3rd: $200; 4th: $150; 5th: $100; 6th and over $50.

Haiti Relief and Caribbean Partnership

The following website will give you up to date information about the Haiti Relief efforts.
http://www.caribbeanpartnership.org/

PDG John Eller reports the following:
“Yes, all of us can afford much more that $5.00. So far I have collected over $2,000 from Swansboro Rotarians and more is on the way.

Swansboro Methodist Church on Jan. 16 conducted a special event with a concert and raised over $7,000. Many of our Rotarians are members of the Methodist Church and reached deep into their pockets to help Haiti.

Tuesday, January 19, The Board of Directors of the Marine Federal Credit authorized a $5,000 and asked the employees to match it.”

That is Rotary at work. Please let us know what your club is doing for Haiti so we can share our efforts with others in the District.

Foundation Update

There are 15 clubs who have not made their contributions to the Foundation as of yet. We are at 31.29% of our APR goal. Please make your contribution NOW instead of holding them until the end of the year.

Rotary Leader

Rotary Leader is a new online magazine for Club Presidents and District Leaders but will be informative for all Rotarians as well. You can subscribe to the online version and opt to receive it automatically. It replaces the current Rotary World magazine. It was announced at International Assembly.

Social Networking

Social networking is not the exception any longer but the norm. Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors, Youth Exchange and RYLA students are using Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and other social networking sites to keep in touch and network worldwide. Up to the minute posts about projects, events and making global connections has made this an important tool for communication.

Correction!!!! Correction!!!!!

Please forgive the email some of you received in error. I was playing with the database templates and saw one with the new theme along with DGE Magda’s name or so I thought. In my excitement, I hit “send” and to my surprise I was listed as DGE AGAIN!! Now while I have loved being DG, it will soon be DGE Magda’s turn. Please forgive my quick fingers.

Taken from the Rotary International website.

“After taking the stage to the tune of “California, Here I Come,” RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith announced the 2010-11 RI theme, Building Communities — Bridging Continents, during the opening plenary session of the 2010 International Assembly .
Klinginsmith said he arrived at the theme after reviewing RI themes of years past. He noticed that only a few spoke to non-Rotarians.

“As a result, I decided to search for a briefly stated theme that would fulfill two objectives: the first to explain Rotary to non-Rotarians, and the second to validate our work for Rotarians,” he said. “The words I have selected to describe Rotary’s current mission and to highlight our achievements are what we do best: Building Communities — Bridging Continents. “

The president-elect described how his 50 years of Rotary experience have contributed to his focus on communities at home and abroad. For example, as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, he studied for a year in South Africa, becoming the first student from his small town of Unionville, Missouri, USA, to study abroad.

The timing of the theme announcement, which took place in the evening, was a break in tradition from past assemblies and a reflection of Klinginsmith’s willingness to embrace change. He encouraged district governors-elect to reexamine traditional procedures that were no longer best practices and to begin new traditions where appropriate.

He also paid homage to Rotarians of the past who helped raise Rotary to a place of prominence on the world stage. He urged district governors-elect to meet the past RI presidents and other former officers in attendance to deepen their connection to Rotary’s past.”