Past District Governor John Burns was the emcee and the District Governor Team hosted our annual District Governor Changeover Ceremony and Awards Presentations for more than 80 Rotarians and Rotaractors and their spouses from all over District 7070, on June 20, 2024 at the Royal Canadian legion in Whitby . We are pleased to present John's year-end closing remarks to everyone in District 7070.
Here are the highlights of Past District Governor John Burns' address to the Rotarians at the District Governor Changeover Ceremony.....
District Governor John Burns' Thoughts for End of Year!!!
Good evening.
Nice to see you all.
I suppose you want me to tell you all about the Rotary year which is almost over now.
Well, I can tell you it has been a hell of a year.
All these breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
The hours of driving.
The never-ending galas, silent auctions, rib fests and food truck frenzies.
Paul Harris evenings and new member inductions.
RLI, RYLS, DLT meetings, DG team meetings, President’s meetings and AG meetings and conferences.
I have become a world leader on ZOOM.
Have I missed anything.
Yes, a hell of a year.
I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute of it and will be sad to see it come to an end.
Pauline tells me that it has changed me. For the better. She says I have become much more considerate of other people’s problems and opinions.
I always thought I was. I guess it must have crept up on me and I didn’t notice.
My work has been made easy for me by the work and guidance of the DG team, the District Leadership Team and the Assistant Governors.
For their help, I am truly thankful.
I have enjoyed seeing first hand the differences in all of our clubs, and I am thankful for the welcome I have received from the members on my visits
They all have their little idiosyncrasies, while maintaining our core values.
I have observed the changes that are taking place, and realize that the club Presidents have been taking on board the guidance which they have received at President Elects Learning and zoom Learning sessions.
I can see that they are making changes, in how their clubs operate, in an effort to make the clubs more irresistible, fun and retain members.
You will observe changes to meeting schedules to make more options available to suit members and potential members busy life patterns.
There is much less of “We have always done it this way” and more of how can we make this better.
We have to have the courage to create change and it is happening in the right way. Club members are being involved in the discussions about the changes and together they are making it happen.
The trends on our membership growth look extremely good. They currently show that when we consider the growth verses the expected attrition, at the start of the new rotary year we will have around 2 % more members than at the start of the current year. This is very positive, as we have not seen this for many years.
This is thanks to the efforts of everyone to attract new members and keep existing ones.
On the Rotaract front, the picture is somewhat different. The Youth Services committee is working hard to turn that around, thanks to PDG Mark Chipman and Malaravan Balachandran
The district is very active on both District Grants and Global grants, which are well managed by PDG Lars Henriksson. Lars indicates that there will be much less DDF being returned to TRF than previous years which is a good sign that more clubs are taking advantage of the funds.
The district finances are stable and in good order thanks to the excellent work of our District Treasurer Larry Whatmore.
Big thank you to Linda Raney for organizing tonight and to the caterer Catered Delights for the excellent food and the Legion for hosting us.
Niecy, you are a gem. Thank you for preparing all the awards.
I thank my club for proposing me to be District Governor, and my mentor Ron Dick for the new name “Special Agent 7070”.
I sincerely hope that I am leaving the district in good shape as I pass it on to District Governor Elect, Virginia O’Reilly and I wish her success as she takes on the challenges of District Governor. I will always have your back Virginia and will be there when you need me.
Every District Governor has their differences, and bring their own styles with them as they look after the district,
… And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friends, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
What a year we had, the 2023-2024 Rotary Year will remain as a milestone in the history of Rotary:
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Past District Governor John Burns , Special Agent 7070, for an outstanding year as District Governor. He has encouraged and challenged us to "Create Hope In The World" in our clubs and in our communities, locally and globally. A job well done