Past District Governor Beth Selby and the District Governor Team hosted our annual District Governor Changeover Ceremony and Awards Presentations for more than 100 Rotarians and Rotaractors and their spouses from all over District 7070, on June 30, 2020 ONLINE. We are pleased to present Beth's year-end closing remarks to everyone in District 7070.
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Past District Governor Beth Selby for an outstanding year as District Governor. She has encouraged and challenged us to ensure that Rotary Connect The World in our clubs and in our communities, locally and globally. A job well done.
Here are the highlights of Past District Governor Beth Selby's address to the Rotarians at the District Governor Changover Ceremony.....
"I would like to begin my remarks tonight by thanking a number of District Rotarians for their tremendous support this year. We have no paid personnel at the District level.
We are all hard working volunteers with a passion for Rotary.
Members of the District 7070 Corporate Board, Mary Lou Harrison and Mark Chipman.
Board Officers including: District Treasurer, Larry Whatmore and District Secretary, Charles Bridle.
Chairs of District Committees including: Devon Biddle, Finance and Audit; Terry Caputo, Governance; and, Lynda Ryder, Protection.
Members of the District Leadership Team including: Ron Dick- Action and Partnership Committees; Charles Bridle and Deb Murray- Administration and Support; Virginia O’Reilly- Membership; Dave Andrews- Public Image; Doug Byers-Training; Michael Bell-The Rotary Foundation; and, Patti Wright-Youth Services.
Assistant Governors Nash Azam, John Burns, Ron Dick, Dave Hardy, Kimberly Hulsman, Dhamay Kanthan, Gord Leverton, Ron Miller, Pat Neuman, Nicole Patterson, Hadia Raheel, Linda Raney, Shirley Ross, Andy Tang, Gerd Wengler, and Patti Wright.
Thanks to the outgoing team members for your commitment to District 7070.
Thanks to members of the Rotary Club of Cobourg for their support, and, in particular, the District Conference Committee - Randy Oliver, Helen Lackey, Peter Dounoukos, Stephanie Johnston, Lynda Kay, Bruce McCartney, Kym Read, Brian Read, Roger Tessier, and Barry Vail. I have worked with many district conference committees in my professional career. You were the best!
Thank you everyone for your passion for Rotary, expertise, and support. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you.
What began as a traditional District Governor year, ended anything but!
From July to mid-October, I visited most of our clubs. Some were individual club visits and others were multiple club visits. Having visited all of our clubs as District Governor-Elect, my visit as District Governor was like coming home.
Mid-way through the year, I encouraged the Assistant Governors to expand the use of Regional Presidents’ meetings to create a model for future District Governors to visit groups of clubs rather than individual clubs. COVID-19 helped us achieve this goal; a model, I believe, that will continue into the future.
I was invited to attend numerous club activities and fundraising events. I was amazed at the diversity of the events, and the commitment of members to raise funds and contribute to community spirit. The pandemic changed our face-to-face events in mid-March, but with clubs’ ingenuity and flexibility, Rotarians and Rotaractors planned a variety of virtual meetings, events, and activities for their members and others in the district. Barry and I had the opportunity to participate in a number of virtual club activities including weekly meetings, a cooking club, together-apart dinners, and wine and cheese cocktail parties.
The Foundation Walk in September was a great success. Thanks to Past District Governor Michael Bell, District Governor Nominee Designate Iosif Ciosa, and the Foundation Walk Committee Members for organizing the walk at the Humber College Lakeshore Campus on a lovely September Sunday morning. Together, we raised $140,000 for the Annual Fund.
On World Polio Day, we held an event in the Global Classroom at Durham College. Thanks to the Rotary Clubs of Oshawa and Oshawa-Parkwood for organizing, and to Dave Andrews and Ron Dick for co-hosting.
Our District Conference was held at the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa on October 25th to 27th. We had outstanding keynote speakers including Amanda Lindhout, The Military Generals, and Erin Davis, excellent breakout sessions with skilled leaders, and lots of fun. We were thrilled to have Incoming Rotary International Director Valarie Wafer as the RI President’s Rep. My sincere thanks to the 2019 District Conference Committee for creating “the most awesomest” district conference.
With the support of the District Governor Team, District Leadership Team, and Club Presidents, and the expert guidance of Anne Birmingham from 2WA Consulting, we developed the 2020-2023 District 7070 Strategic Plan. Anne is a fellow Rotarian, current President of the Hamilton AM Club, and the District Governor Nominee for District 7090. We launched our two-page strategic plan as well as the results of a district members’ survey at the Virtual District Assembly on May 9th. The plan, survey results, and Anne’s presentation are available on the district website.
The late Past District Governor Bill Patchett had an unrealized goal for our District. Bill wanted us to just once raise a $1,000,000 for The Rotary Foundation. During a conversation with PDG Lynda Ryder at the RI Convention in Hamburg last June, ‘A Mill for Bill’ campaign was created.
The latest figure is $960,000 USD and rising. Thank you at all District Rotarians who gave ‘a little bit more for Bill’. As PDG Ted Morrison said, “CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE. WE DID IT! YOU DID IT!!”
The Rotary Club of Toronto has just given us $10,000. A huge thank you to the Club!
This translates into $1,350,000 CDN. What a wonderful tribute to Bill.
Thank you to everyone who has supported The Rotary Foundation in memory of Bill. If you haven’t made a donation, it’s not too late. The best way to donate is online via a credit card before tomorrow.
You can also send a cheque (personal or club) to The Rotary Foundation Canada. The cheque must be postmarked June 30 2020 and be received by 8 July 2020 to be counted in the campaign. The address is:
The Rotary Foundation (Canada)
c/0 911600
PO Box 4090 STN A
Toronto, ON
M5W 0E9
This year, we established four new district committees: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Environmental Action; Technology and Information Management; and, Leadership Development. Thank you to everyone who put their name forward to serve as a committee member. There’s lots of work to be done, but we‘re on our way.
One of my goals this year was to support our District’s Rotary Youth Exchange Committee realize their goal of 20 Outbound and 20 Inbound Students in 2020. The pandemic caused most of the students to return to Canada or their home country prior to the end of their exchange, and cancelled our participation in the program next year. I hope that the Youth Exchange program will be supported by District 7070 in the future for its intrinsic value to Rotarians and the students who participate in the program.
My weekly messages to Club Presidents and Assistant Governors offered district and Rotary International updates, and suggestions to assist them in strengthening our clubs. Our ‘Rotary Connects’ Zoom meetings were well-attended, and very successful in connecting members throughout the district on topics including membership and The Rotary Foundation.
We held a Charter Night for The Rotary Club of The Beaches (Toronto) in January. Thanks to District Governor Nominee, Ron Dick and Charter President, April Cook for assisting the district to create our newest club. Thanks to the District Membership Committee for also initiating the possibility of a new club in Vaughan.
When we started planning the 2020 District Assembly, we envisioned the inclusion of a Rotaract and Interact Conference to bring members of the Rotary family together. With COVID-19, we cancelled district face-to-face meetings and events. We are very pleased that District Rotaractors and Interactors are with us tonight.
This year, the District offered a 1:1 matching grant up to a $1,000 per club for a COVID-19 project. Forty-one or 75% of our clubs were granted funds for innovative projects to support their communities including - personal protective equipment for community organizations, food for hospital staff, bottle and food drives, local sewing groups, gift bags for women’s shelters, donations to local food banks, and connecting with seniors. Visit the District 7070 website to view the projects. Thanks to each of you for your efforts to assist our communities during this very difficult time. Thanks to Lars Henriksson for his expertise with the grant process.
Thanks to the ongoing work of our District Public Image Committee this year. Through our ongoing communication on the district website and social media platforms, we highlighted Rotary District 7070 as a thoughtful community leader. There will be more for us to do in the coming months.
It has been an extreme pleasure to work with the District Governor Team this year - Mary Lou Harrison, Mark Chipman, Ron Dick, and Iosif Ciosa. Initially, we met for breakfast in Whitby on a Saturday morning. Since mid-March, we have met via Zoom every Monday and Friday mornings at 8:30AM. My personal thanks to each of you for all your support, insight and hard work. We were a great team!
I would also like to personally thank PDG Michael Bell for agreeing to me my District Governor mentor. He told me that every District Governor has something significant to deal with during the second half of their year. As we remarked a few months ago, neither of us expected that I would deal with a pandemic. This gives news meaning to PDG ... Pandemic District Governor.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you to my husband Rotarian Barry Vail for his love and support on this journey. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Thank you for the honour and privilege of being our District Governor in 2019-2020. It was a great year with lots of amazing accomplishments. "