Dear Past Present and Future Leadership,
 
Zone 34 has organized its first Peace Symposium in Atlanta in honor of Rotary International President Tanaka’s theme, Peace Through Service.  This symposium will be at the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel, One Hartsfield Centre Pkwy, Atlanta, GA 30354 on Saturday, February 23, 2013, from 8am – 3:00pm.
 
A very exciting program has been arranged by Co-Chairs Margie Kersey (District 6900) and PDG Betsy Owen (District 6930). Among the events will be a "peace dance” performed by an African American troupe, Interact and Rotaract Clubs presenting their prize winning projects, and a video displaying the peace projects of the clubs of Zone 34.  Our presenters will be Peter Kyle speaking on Partners and Peace”, Dr. Abidemi Fasanmifrom Nigeria, speaking on "Gender Equality and Peace”, Jay Hakes speaking on "Energy Sources and Peace, and Wes Boughner speaking on  projects clubs might accomplish for peace. Along with many other fun activities a peace pole will be planted to welcome visitors to the 2017 Rotary International Convention to symbolize our present and future commitment to the peace initiative.
 
If any of your New Generations groups (Interact or Rotaract) or clubs would like to help make origami cranes for the event, we will be happy to accept them if mailed to arrive by February 18. Instructions are attached. Please mail finished cranes to Christine Barrett – 3591 Montana Rd., Buford, Ga 30519, 865-293-2401. If your New Generations groups are sending in their Peace Projects, please send them by February 8 to Rich Panyik – 227 Chandler Walk, Loganville, GA 30052, [email protected].
 
If any of your clubs have pictures of their peace projects for the slide show, please (by February 8) mail them or email them to Margie Kersey – PO Box 464381, Lawrenceville, GA 30042,404-680-7336, [email protected].
 
We are asking you or your appointee to work with the committee to ensure that there is a big contingency from your district in attendance.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Atlanta on February 23 to join in the festivities to celebrate Peace Through Service. Registration information is attached to this email or http://www.IsMyRotaryClub.org/Register/GuestMemberExternal.cfm?EventID=77199599 will work. Be sure and mention "Rotary District” when making your reservations at the hotel to receive the discount rooms of $89.00. You can also register through your Dacdb under the date under on the calendar tab. See you there!
 
RID Anne L. Matthews
ALM/bo 

The Rotary Club of Kingston Invites District 7020 to:

Celebrate Rotary Awareness Day

Monday, January 28, 2013

Wear your most outstanding Rotary regalia to work

and attract attention to Rotary.

Wear your pins, badges, medallions, Paul Harris Fellow pin and medallion,

shirts and hats where possible.

Presidents, Secretaries, Vice Presidents and Sergeants wear your Chains of Office.

Throughout the day talk about Rotary, service, volunteering, Family of Rotary

and invite non Rotarians to your next meeting. Then share the reactions you get on your club’s website and face book page, along with pictures.

Share your feedback with the Rotary Club of Kingston at : [email protected] or [email protected]

District Governor Vance Lewis has endorsed this initiative as a part of Rotary Awareness Month.

The Four Rotary Clubs on St. Maarten/Saint Martin are planning one of the largest Youth conferences St. Maarten has hosted for the second time called RYLA. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary's leadership training program for young people. RYLA participants can be ages 14-30, but most clubs and districts choose to focus on a narrower age range, such as 14-18 or 19-30.

RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to demonstrate Rotary's respect and concern for the youth, provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders, encourage leadership of youth by youth and recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities.

The St Maarten/St Martin hosted RYLA will take place February 14-17, 2013.

The conference will target persons between the ages 14-17 years old from 10 countries in the Caribbean. In addition to Intercators from St. Maarten and Saint Martin,  participants are expected to come from Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Us Virgin Islands, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Island, Turks & Caicos and Anguilla.

Between seventy and one hundred and twenty participants are expected to attend the conference and preparations are in full swing.

Intercators on St. Maarten/Saint Martin are making their preparations for the Valentine’s weekend during which the 3 day conference will be held. The conference is being made possible through the generosity of sponsors such as CIBC, Nagico, Sol and Russell Bell Transportation.

In addition to being fun filled and an opportunity to make new friends the young leaders will be brushing up on their leadership skills such as listening and feedback. Effective public speaking, conflict resolution, dealing with bullying in an assertive but non aggressive way and much more are on the agenda. But it’s not only the leadership skills that will be polished, also team-building, culture and challenge exercises as well as community services projects are part of this grand event. The evenings are filled with more relaxing yet exiting activities which will put vocal cords and dancing skills to the test.    

Chers Rotariens du District 7020

DG’S MESSAGE FOR JANUARY 2013

Happy New Year! First, let me take this opportunity on behalf of both myself and my partner Monica, to wish you all a very peaceful, healthy and Happy New Year.

We have reached the halfway point in the Rotary Calendar. I would suggest that all clubs review their Club Planning Guides to see how many of your goals have been achieved. Let us also review our progress in increasing the Rotary awareness during the first 6 months of the 2012-2013 Rotary year, and what more can be done in the next 6 months. This will ensure that we can reflect positively at the end of the year, with pride, on our accomplishments during the Rotary year.

Currently, Monica and I have visited 81 of the 82 clubs in the District and like you, I feel this is a great time to reflect on and take stock of the last few challenges we have to complete before turning over our gavels and chains of office. And in the same spirit, join me in congratulating all our incoming club leaders and officers duly appointed. DGE Jeremy and Michelle along with 531 other DGE’s head off to San Diego this month to attend the International Assembly. This and every year in January is the final training for the DGEs prior to them taking office on July 1^st. It is a fantastic opportunity to mix with senior Rotarians from around the world to learn about Rotary and to share ideas. We wish Jeremy and Michelle a safe and enjoyable trip and look forward to them coming back full of knowledge and enthusiasm for the year ahead. 

Some of our District’s accomplishment year-to-date are:

·      Chartering of new Rotary Community Corps and Rotaract clubs

·      Completion of travel by one of our 2 outbound GSE team.

·      Our 3 Ambassadorial Scholars are well underway with their studies

·      Increased giving to the Foundation Rotarians in the District

·      Increased our membership across the District

It has been a fascinating and at times awesome but humbling experience to see our great District at work. Everywhere we have traveled we have felt the warmth of your hospitality. We have seen many of the very valuable projects in which you are engaged in and I can say I am truly impressed.

Looking forward, January is “Rotary Awareness” month. Having seen many of your activities, it is clear Rotary is very much alive in our District. But how many people outside of Rotary know what we do? What is the public’s perception of Rotary? Can we improve our efforts in making people aware of what Rotary actually does and our achievements? How many people know of the significance of Rotary’s involvement in the eradication of polio? Sometimes we are reluctant to tell our story of Rotary’s work in our local and global communities.

Communication is a wonderful tool and we should use it to the fullest extent to tell the world just what a great organization we are. And we should also talk about our personal Rotary moment. These are things that help to increase awareness of Rotary around our communities.

Rotarians, let us pause and reflect; some 3 years ago, on January 12^th a terrible earthquake destroyed many lives in Haiti. Rotary was there in the beginning doing what we do to change lives for the better. Today, this story is no longer front page news for mainstream media, but we as an organization – Rotary, is still in Haiti!  We continue to build wells to provide clean and safe water; we build latrines for sanitation and schools for education, all with the aim of changing peoples’ lives for the better.

This is what we do as Rotarians - and we should be proud to tell our stories as we recommit to our motto of Service Above Self and as we continue our Rotary journey. Let’s continue to move onwards and upwards as we build Peace Through Service.

January 2013

Dear fellow Rotarians,

I am a Japanese businessman, and I wear a suit almost every day. The Rotary pin is always on my lapel. It is there because I am proud to be a Rotarian. Anywhere I go, people will see the pin and know who I am. Other Rotarians will see it and know that I am a friend, and people who are not Rotarians will see it as well. I want to be sure that all of them also understand the meaning of this pin.

This is why I am asking all of you to wear your Rotary pin and to raise awareness of what the pin means. I believe having that pin on your lapel changes you. It makes you think more before you speak and before you act. It makes you remember, all the time, that you are a Rotarian – and that as Rotarians, we are here to help.

All of us should be ready to talk about Rotary. When someone asks you about that pin, you should be ready to answer them. What is Rotary? What does Rotary do? These are questions that each of us should always be prepared to answer.

We cannot go to prospective members and ask them to join Rotary only because we want more members. We have to show them that Rotary is a wonderful organization, and that they will be happier because they belong to a Rotary club.

When we ask people to join Rotary, we are doing this to help them as well. I think all of us are grateful to the person who asked us to join. I know that my life is much happier, and has been much more productive, because of Rotary. It is clear to me that the day I joined the Rotary Club of Yashio was a day when I took my first step down a different path in life – a path of greater connection, greater satisfaction, and a deeper sense of fulfillment and peace.

This is a feeling that I want to share with others. And I know that one way to do that is through bringing in new members. But we must also do it by raising awareness of Rotary and Rotary’s work, by focusing on our public image and wearing our Rotary pins every day.

Sakuji Tanaka
President, Rotary International 

ANNOUNCING – PEACE SYMPOSIUM