I’ve thought a lot about Hope since RI introduced this year’s theme at the RI Assembly in January. At first it seemed somewhat elusive – a little hazy and out of reach until I met Marek Wsiclo, my counterpart from Krakow-Wawel Poland. He found Hope in Rotary, in Poland, in the Ukraine and in New Hampshire.
My first glimmer of understanding that kind of Hope began in a breakout session at the Assembly when Marek saw I was from New Hampshire. His eyes lit up and he said, “I know people in New Hampshire.” That’s just the beginning of this story.
Welcome to our new Rotary Year - Create Hope in the World
By: Sarah MacGillivray, Secretary, and Public Image Coordinator, District Foundation Committee, RC of Bath Sunrise
What better way to start a new Rotary year than making sure we have all the information we can. Visit the RI Learning Center’s page on OUR Rotary Foundation: https://learn.rotary.org/members/learn/catalog/view/69 The Learning Center has multiple pages of helpful resources, not just on OUR Rotary Foundation.
I am proud to say that our own District website has fabulous information on our own Foundation pages. Please visit: https://rotary7780.org/page/resources-for-club-foundation-chairs-1 whether you are a new Foundation Chair, Club President, new member, or just need some refresher information on OUR Rotary Foundation.
If you still feel like there are questions that you need answers to, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of the members of our District Foundation Committee. For contact information log onto the District Clubrunner site and enter the members area. Click on the Organization tab and then the District Committees tab to find the link to the Foundation Committee.
There was a lot – and I mean A LOT – of terrific content during this year’s Convention, but I’ll leave the big picture comments to others. Because I spend a lot of time assisting Carolyn in the Basic Education and Literacy Rotary Action Group booth, there’s a lot of time to chat with lots of people from many clubs. Here’s two take-aways we’ll be using in Yarmouth:
There are 26 Rotary Action Groups. We will ask all of our members to be a member of (at least) one RAG. There isn’t a single club in the world that can accomplish every possible project everywhere. But we can certainly take some pride in being a part of an international organization that empowers its members to serve our broader communities. All RAGs have some type of newsletter – all we’re asking is that our members see some projects other than our own, take some pride in being a part of the organization that makes it happen, and occasionally report back to our members with items of interest. To track this information, we are asking our Club Secretary to create a field “Rotary Action Group(s)” within the Member Profile section. For more information about Rotary Action Groups, go to https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/empower-leaders/rotary-action-groups.
Cassandra Varanka, one of 50 world-wide winners of the Rotary International fellowship in Peace and Conflict Resolution, will speak via Zoom on July 20, 2023. For the Zoom link to access this talk, contact George Szok of the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club atgszoksbox@gmail.com.
Sponsored in 2021 by the Rotary Club of Bridgton-Lake Region and the choice from District 7780, Cassandra has now completed her first semester of studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
Some newer Rotarians in our District are actually long time Rotarians who transferred from elsewhere. Such is the case of Ron and Patti Smith, both now members of the Fryeburg Area RC. Covid had them realize they could move to a part of the country they love and still remotely maintain their company in eastern Pennsylvania. With a few questions like, how did you get involved in Rotary and how did you end up at the Fryeburg Area club, the rest was easy.
How They Got Involved, And What Did that Involvement Entail?
Ron was a founding member of the Blue Bell RC in eastern Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. In his 33 years of Rotary, he has served as Club President, in many other club and district roles, and went on to serve as District 7430 Governor in 2006. After that, Ron contributed in many roles including District 7430 Rotary Foundation Chair and Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Zone 32, where he assisted leaders in 20 Northeast USA districts in all aspects of the Rotary Foundation. Ron and Patti are Major Donors and Bequest Society Members to the Rotary Foundation. For his work Ron is a recipient of the Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service.
Ron’s passion for international service has been fulfilled through Rotary by his serving as District 7430 Youth Exchange Chair, ESSEX (Eastern States Student Exchange) Youth Protection Officer and Country Contact and D-7430 World Community Service and Matching Grants Chair. In these roles he has organized many youth exchanges and through the Rotary Foundation he has had the privilege of contributing to many grants including a humanitarian grant to Bosnia/Serbia for delivering over 1,000 wheelchairs, visiting Bosnia in 2011. Ron has organized and led three Vocational Training Team / humanitarian Rotary Foundation Global Grants to bring improved Maternal and Child Healthcare in Uganda. Ron also planned and completed several other grants, distributing Solar Suitcases in 25 Health Centers in Uganda and installing Solar Powered Well systems in Mbale, Uganda. Through this international work Ron has received Honorary Memberships in the Rotary Clubs of Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and the Kampala North (Uganda).
Patti joined Rotary after hosting students in the Youth Exchange Program and she with Ron has hosted over 40 exchange students. She served as the Blue Bell Rotary’s Club’s Youth Exchange Officer, its President and as Club Secretary. Her Rotary passion led Patti to other District 7430 roles as Youth Exchange Chair and as Assistant Governor. Patti also caught the International Service “bug” going on a Rotaplast mission to Peru in 2005 and served on D-7430’s Rotaplast committee to raise funding and awareness. For her roles in Youth Exchange, Patti is recipient of Rotary’s Service Above Self Award.
On September 21, 2023 the Rotary Clubs of Seacoast New Hampshire and Southern Maine, comprising District 7780, will present our 2nd annual conference on Building Recovery Ready Communities. This all-day meeting will focus on strategies to reduce stigma around Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and mental health challenges in the workplace. Presenters will share stories and practices that have helped to promote sustainable recovery and retention at work. They will provide resources to employees and employers on recovery friendly policies, creating a tool kit with action steps to support recovery and overall wellness in the workplace and in the broader community. Please save the date. More information to come soon.
DGN Emma Bodwell, RC of Bridgton-Lake Region, will be replaced as Chair of the District International Service Committee by Jeremy Gould, RC of Freeport, as of July 1, 2023. Emma will remain on the committee.
The Committee has several subcommittees including:
Club Liaison Sub-Committee with Bill DiBiasio (RC Hampton), Jeremy Gould & Steve Wight (RC Bethel).
Media Sub-Committee with Carol Madsen (RC Bridgton-Lake Region). A new member is being sought with social media skills who can help with the DISC Facebook Page and DISC Page of the District Website.
International Outreach Sub-Committee with Karen Arnold (RC Westbrook-Gorham), Emma Bodwell and Jeremy Gould.
International Café Sub-Committee with Emma Bodwell and Bill Dunn (RC Yarmouth). The lastInternational Café of 2022/23 Rotary Year was on Saturday, June 17, 2023. For the link to the recording, reach out to Emma at ebodwell@icloud.com. For a schedule of the Cafes beginning in September or if you would be interested in presenting your project, contact Emma?
District Resource Network (DRN) Sub-Committee with Emma Bodwell, Peter Johnson (RC Yarmouth) and Ron Smith (RC Fryeburg Area).
Project Fairs Sub-Committee with Peter Johnson
Tentative 2023/24 Meeting Dates: July 20th, August 31st, October 12th, November 30th, January 11th, February 22nd, April 4th, and June 27th. These will be via Zoom unless otherwise stated. For more information about DISC, contact Jeremy at Jeremy.gould15@yahoo.com.
Connecting the Dots-Foundation Committee
By: PDG Peter Johnson, RC of Yarmouth
By: Carol Madsen, Ron Smith and Patti Smith
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