2013-14 District 5550 Governor Visits Club
DG Ed brought us greetings from the District 5550 which covers North Western Ontario, Manitoba and most of Saskatchewan.
He outlined a number of Rotary initiatives of importance:
1. The first is the Polio Plus program - Rotary helped launch the eradication initiative in 1988, along with spearheading partners the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then, new polio cases have plunged by more than 99 percent worldwide, from 350,000 cases annually to just 223 in 2012. Only three countries remain polio-endemic: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
2. DG Ed discussed some of the findings of the Siegel - Gale report
- Clarify what Rotary stands for, why it’s different and why people should care
- Elevate awareness and understanding of Rotary’s impact in its communities and the world
- Motivate current members, donors, strategic partners and staff to be actively engaged with Rotary
- Inspire prospective members, donors and strategic partners to select Rotary as their organization of choice
3. He gave us a brief overview of Future vision - Rotary International is totally revamping the way it carries out its use the resources of Rotary to carry out both International and Community projects. Gone are names such as Ambassadorial Scholarships, and GSE teams. The kind of work we have done in these areas in the past, now will be under our District’s and ultimately club control, and will be far more flexible.
4. In closing Ed asked us to mark May 9/10 2014 on our calendars - a shortened District Conference in Winnipeg
Prior to his address to the club, Ed met with the club executive and spent considerable time on his Vibrant Club Award initiative. Club President John Borst, shared with him a draft and a number of corrections as a result of clarification of intent was achieved.
During the afternoon Ed and his wife Elaine viewed Rotary Park, The Centre to view the contribution the club made to the Dryden Performing Arts Theatre, and the Dryden Hospital where they viewed the native artwork and the CAT Scan machine. The day was closed off with a visit to Past District Governor Clare and Elaine Thompson’s (94) for supper and a lively chat.