Dear Rotarains, Rotaractors and the whole Rotary family in District 7070,
As the calendar changes to February, we enter the exciting and strategic time of preparing our leaders for the next Rotary year. International Assembly is the grand finale of our Governors journey to be the new district leader on July 1st and as is tradition the Rotary theme, focus and objectives of the next year are announced and incorporated into the message to prepare our leaders.
This tradition will continue this year, under the leadership of President-Elect Shekhar Mehta, but perhaps we will be setting new traditions as well. International Assembly, which has been held in San Diego for many years was to take place for the first time in Orlando, Florida. As you are aware, this event will now take place on a virtual platform (February 1-11). ..............
Rotary International and R0tary International President Elect Shekhar have worked very hard to ensure the governors elect not only achieve the same training goals from previous years but also to be completely engaged in the assembly program as much as can be done from a virtual point of view. It is anticipated that this event will continue to be the highlight of the District Governor Elect experience, with many social events, celebrations and facilitated interactions scheduled. In next month’s column we will reach out to a few DGE’s to get their perspective, please support them all in the next few weeks!
February 23rd is Rotary’s 116th birthday, a time of reflection and celebration. I find myself pondering the words of our founder Paul Harris;
“Rotarians are very much more favorably disposed toward action than they are toward words”
“The foundation upon which Rotary is built is friendship; on no less firm foundation could it have stood”
And my personal favourite;
“This is a changing world; we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.”
I do believe that if Paul Harris were with us today, he would be proud of the hard work and initiatives across our two zones, helping those with isolation, PPE, vaccination advocacy, food security and much more. I wonder what he would think of our online success?
Happy Birthday Rotary! Be well everyone!
Yours In Rotary,
Valarie
Valarie Wafer
RI Director
Rotary Club of Collingwood, South Georgian Bay
valarie.wafer@gmail.com