Neither rain nor hail nor proms could keep us from having a wonderful conference in Chattanooga. If you missed being there, we probably missed you too. It was absolutely great and even the plenary sessions were fun.

A huge thank you to Margie (Goldie) Ensley and David (Coop) Cooper for being the best Chairs anyone could ask for to make this truly a fun conference. Our two Masters of Ceremonies and the rather attractive ladies that assisted PDG David Stovall with the Ole’ Bags Tea were over the top (so to speak). Our RI President’s Rep. James Ives and his lovely wife Diane were such a lovely, gracious couple that everyone enjoyed being with them all weekend.A huge thank you to their aide, PDG Bill St. Clair for the wonderful assistance he provided to them and I might add they provided to him when Bill’s back went out and the RI Pres. Rep and spouse had to put Bill on a luggage cart and pull him to the meetings. Speaking of aides, I have to thank my sister Sharyn and my brother-in-law Bob for being good sports by being aides for me and Chuck. They said that they were not bored for even a minute.

The Rotary Foundation luncheon on Friday honored the Presidents that were in office when the Polio Campaign was initiated and PDG Joe Whittemore, PDG Dianne Cammarata, PDG Rich Panyik and PDG Scott Parmenter made each of so very aware of how important our Rotary Foundation has been over the years.

The clubs worked very hard this year and Cheryl Vandiver was able to give out numerous Gold, Silver or Bronze Ribbons for Club Award Points. Incoming Presidents would do well to read through the Points System and start keeping track from the very beginning of their year. Fourteen Presidents received awards for Leadership Excellence for something special that they brought to their club this year. It could have been for bringing in new members, it could have been fund raising, it could have been retention or just maybe how they made their members feel and letting them know their worth. I made it a goal to be observant as I visited the clubs and how members responded to their President. It was heart-warming and verifiable that my conclusions were correct.

It was great to have John Ware back handling the color guard and Leon Jourolmon in charge of the House of Friendship. Linda Welde-Fossier and her assistants did a beautiful job on the table decorations and you knew who had helped by the sparkles they couldn’t get off before the dinner started. The Shots Around the World directed by Chris Stallworth and the Choo Choo Juice Challenge handled by Paul Matthews were interesting activities shared by many. A big thank you to our District Office executives secretaries and to Micki Tanner-Baird and the registration team for making everyone feel so welcome.

There are so many more that should be thanked and I am trying to get thank you notes out to all but just know that each and every one of you helped to make this district conference successful and it was “yours”!!!!

Margie Eddy-Forbes

District 6910 Governor 2012-2013