SERVICE ABOVE SELF October 2013 The Spirit of www.rotary.org 7600 District Governor Charles (Chuck) Arnason www.rotary7600.org District Leadership District Governor Charles (Chuck) Arnason Blackstone District Governor-Elect Stephen Beer Innsbrook District Governor Nominee Gary Chenault James City County District Secretary Wayne Boggs Richmond District Treasurer Al Roosendaal North Suffolk District Foundation Chair James (Jim) Probsdorfer Warwick District Executive Secretary Maryann Tetreault District Office Williamsburg Newsletter Editor Merle Hirschman Huguenot Trail 7600news@gmail.com My Fellow Rotarians, I would like to share RI President Ron Burton's message on Vocational Service. "In Rotary, October is the month we set aside to remind ourselves of our second Avenue of Service: Vocational Service. While some Rotarians call this the "forgotten" area of service, I would disagree. In fact, vocational service is the avenue through which we serve so often, yet we don't always recognize it as service. Vocational service has its roots in the second object of Rotary, which encourages all Rotarians to hold high ethical standards in our business affairs and our professions, to recognize all useful occupations as worthy of respect, and to dignify work as an opportunity to serve society. In short, the idea of vocational service is that our jobs, in themselves, are a way of serving society. Whether we are serving customers, teaching students, or treating patients, whether we're involved in commerce, research, the media, or any one of countless other fields we take pride in doing our work with competence and integrity. Every occupation fills a need, and by doing our work well, we are contributing to our communities and our society. The role of vocational service in the club is important, even if it isn't always prominent. By maintaining high standards individually, we earn a reputation that we share collectively. By valuing all occupations equally and by maintaining a classification system in our clubs, we ensure that our clubs reflect our communities and can serve them well. A Rotary club of all lawyers wouldn't be capable of nearly as much as one that also had teachers, engineers, business owners, and dentists; in Rotary, our diversity is our strength. That diversity is an advantage not only to our service but to our members. It gives us all a valuable way to find the connections and opportunities that help us in our own careers. That aspect of membership is as old as Rotary. Paul Harris himself wrote often of the business advantages of Rotary membership, believing, as I do, that being a Rotarian means a person holds a certain set of values that will make him or her a good person to do business with. Today, with the world more connected than ever, Rotary membership is an honor that we should be proud to share." DG Chuck
The Spirit of 7600 October 2013, Page 2 Highlights of the District 7600 Conference 2013 The Rotary Club of City Center Newport News sponsored the Stop Hunger Now event at the District 7600 conference. Rotary club members prepared for the event by setting up the assembly tables, loading and unloading pallets of food, and preparing the stations so that volunteers could package the items to be distributed to hungry families. Over 50 Rotarians worked to package 10,000 meals. The meals will be shipped to an area that is in need of good, nutritious meals. "All in all, it was a great day," said District Governor Chuck. "Rotarians always seem ready to jump in and help out someone whether it involves working to put on a great conference, or working to feed the hungry." Pictured from left to right: Nancy Sprouse, Rusty Sprouse, Davetta Rhinehart, Judi Hines, Kevin Lyles and Elle Abney. Mechanicsville Becomes Fourth Triple Crown Club PDG and Committee Chair Karlis Graubics has announced that the Rotary Club of Mechanicsville has become the district s fourth Triple Crown Club. To become a Triple Crown Club, 100% of the members must be Sustaining Members of the Rotary Foundation, Paul Harris Fellows and Benefactors. This has been a long time in coming and a lot of people had to do a lot of work to make this happen, said Graubics. It is the culmination of three year s work, but the members of the Mechanicsville club believed in the cause and had faith that it could happen, he continued. According to Rotary International, there are only 21 clubs in the world that meet this requirement. Four of them are located in District 7600. The Rotary Club of Princess Anne at Town Center was the first club in the district to achieve this distinction. It was followed by the Rotary Club of Hanover and the Rotary Club of James River. The award was presented by Immediate Past District Governor Cap Neilson during the Conference. 22 Clubs recognized for positive Membership Growth--One of the highlights of the conference was the recognition of 22 clubs which had positive membership growth (i.e., net gain) for the 2012-13 Rotary year. Additionally, six clubs were cited as Premier Clubs for having met the criteria to strengthen their club's recruitment and retention through use of the Ignite Program. Awarded the Premier Club designation were Northside Norfolk, Fluvanna County, Colonial Heights, Princess Anne, Huguenot Trail and Prince George. PDG Jim Pierce Receives Citation for Meritorious Service James Russell (Jim) Pierce, RC of the Virginia Peninsula, was awarded The Citation for Meritorious Service for his work with The Rotary Foundation. The Citation for Meritorious Service is provided to only one Rotarian in each District per year for exemplary and significant service to The Rotary Foundation. This award may be received only once and less than 200 Rotarians are honored each year. Jim has served his club and district in various positions and roles. He served as Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Zone 33 during the 2010-2013 Rotary years. He serves the district as Major Gifts Chair and is serving as Foundation Chair of his club. He has also represented his club on international grant projects to Costa Rica. Jim has been a strong supporter of the Rotary Foundation and has presented on the subject before district and zone gatherings throughout the Eastern Seaboard. He is currently serving as Million Dollar Dinner coordinator for District 7600.
The Spirit of 7600 October 2013, Page 3 CLUB NEWS Rotary Club of Fluvanna County: District Grant Award for the Rotary Club of New Kent Rotary District 7600 announced that it has awarded a $5,000 grant to the Rotary Club of New Kent to help purchase a brand new Yamaha Baby Grand Piano for the New Kent High School Music and Performing Arts Departments. Grants Chairman Bill Liepis said; We are pleased to be able to assist the Rotary Club of New Kent in this community effort. The grant was supplemented with $500 from the Rotary Club of New Kent, $5,000 from the School Board, $3,000 from the New Kent Education Foundation and the High School gave the final $600. Rotary Club of Oyster Point Event.. 1st Annual Oyster Bash Friday, November 1, 2013 6:00pm 10:00pm Tickets - $50 in advance Mariner s Museum, Newport News Virginia www.oysterpointrotary.com Event will feature live music, beer and wine and of course fresh oysters along with other menu items. Please help our Rotary Club change lives.one oyster at a time! Attendance Highlights.. TOP TEN CLUBS IN ATTENDANCE AS OF 8/31/2013 Henrico East Rotary partners with Henrico East Business Association to provide calculators for the Fairfield Middle School math classes. 1. Henrico North 100.00% 6. South Richmond 92.70% 2. Lunenburg 97.23% 7. Bon Air 92.45% 3. The Historic Triangle 94.90% 8. Powhatan 92.00% 4. Petersburg Breakfast 93.08% 9. Goochland County 90.55% 5. James River (Richmond) 93.06% 10. Chester 90.24% Yorktown Rotary Club has moved. Our former location for decades (Bill's Seafood House) closed suddenly. Our new location is: The Riverwalk Restaurant, which is on the waterfront in old Yorktown, 323 Water Street A-1, Yorktown, VA 23690.
The Spirit of 7600 October 2013, Page 4 MORE CLUB NEWS. The Rotary Club of New Kent presented Freedom Flags to Sheriff Wakie Howard, and to Fire Chief Rick Opett. A Freedom Flag was also presented to Charles Adams, Vice-President of the Providence Forge Volunteer Rescue Squad. The flag has been adopted by the Virginia General Assembly as the official flag commemorating the September 11, 2001 attacks. The center stripes represent the World Trade Center, and the 5 sided design represents the Pentagon. Other stripes honor those who died on that day, including the first responders, the passengers who brought down the plane in Pennsylvania, and those in the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Picture One Right to left: New Kent Sheriff Wakie Howard, Rotary Member Stran Trout, Rotary Club of New Kent President Jackie Smith and New Kent Fire Chief Rick Opett. Picture Two Right to left: Rotary Member Stran Trout, Providence Forge Volunteer Rescue Squad Vice-President Charles Adams. The Rotary Club of Newport News received a $5000 grant to support their Access to Career Education (ACE) Scholarship from Rotary District 7600. Past District Governor Walter Cap Neilson presented the check to the club on behalf of the District. Accepting the check is Club President Sharyn Fox, ACE committee chair Michael Shapiro, Club member Mayi Henriquez and ACE recipient Sabina O Halloran. The Club established the Scholarship program in 2012 when they recognized that working adults who were not below the poverty line had no ability to qualify for educational assistance to upgrade their livelihoods. Working with the Peninsula Council for Workforce Development, in their first year the club funded $15,000 for the program, and awarded seven individuals educational assistance towards certificates in welding, weather proofing, nursing assistant, and other programs which will enable them to get better jobs at higher wages, at Thomas Nelson Community College. The club s goal is to expand the program by over 50% in 2013. District Grants Awarded Effective July 1, 2013 The Rotary Foundation implemented the new Rotary Grants (previously known as Future Vision) that focus primarily on three grant types district, global, and packaged. District grants fund smaller, short-term activities that address needs in both the local community and communities worldwide. Nineteen district grants totaling $87,905 have been awarded to clubs in District 7600 for the 2013-14 Rotary year. Some of the grant projects involve multiple clubs. The average grant size was $4,627. Some of the projects being supported by the district grants include: rehab at a community woman and child shelter, provide costs for needy children, rehab at a community rec center for youth and special needs children, purchase new shoes for needy children, rehab and equip a kitchen providing meals for at-risk children, equine assisted therapeutic activities for disabled individuals, support a community free dental clinic, rehab and purchase equipment for a classroom for special needs third to fifth graders, install benches and a gazebo for a community trail, tech training for underemployed/displaced individuals, provide bikes and nutritional education to at-risk children, rehab of a local tri-community boys/girls club, construct a walkway/bridge for a local park, expansion of a community non-profit food closet, and others.
The Spirit of 7600 October 2013, Page 5 ZONE NEWS 67,000 Rotarians being asked to feed a child on Valentine s Day 2014 Rotary International Vice President Anne L. Matthews from Columbia, South Carolina USA, is an educator by profession, and cares deeply about our children, especially those who are hungry, and she is asking all clubs and districts in Zones 33 and 34 to do something to help. Anne has set Valentine s Day 2014 as the one day on which each of the 1,579 clubs in the zones (representing 67,000 Rotarians) is being asked to engage in a hunger project to change lives. Each club may decide for itself how it wants to participate. It could be something as simple as donating money to an established hunger program (such as Feeding America) to something as complex as organizing a full-fledged meal event as a club service project. The focus will be on children but, as director Anne has said, if other hungry people are fed, all the better. Our children are our future! I have a deep passion for children who subsist from day to day because they are hungry. Children cannot learn when their little stomachs are empty. Rotarians need and can do something about this, Anne said. There is plenty of food to go around, and NO ONE should go hungry. I am asking Rotarians to give one day's attention, Valentine's Day 2014, to this critical need in our communities in Zones 33 and 34. While this is first and foremost an effort to feed children, it is also a chance for us to show thousands of communities throughout our zones what Rotarians can do when we ENGAGE ROTARY CHANGE LIVES. We have put together a flyer that provides details about the project and offers ideas clubs can use both to feed hungry children and to maximize public exposure for your Rotary club. We are not doing this to brag, but to help the public better understand what Rotary is and what Rotarians do to make their communities better. It is our hope that clubs will use this effort to develop their membership, and to promote giving to our Rotary Foundation. Anne believes that if we unite on this single day with a single focus we will not only ENGAGE ROTARY CHANGE LIVES but will also capture the attention of so many people who are willing to support our causes and want to become one of us. We expect some of our clubs will join together to organize a community wide effort, while others will participate in a less demanding although just as important way. Whatever way your club chooses to participate, we hope you will bear the Rotary banner proudly and tell your story boldly. After all, Rotary has heart and there is no better day to show this collectively than on Valentine s Day. Watch the Spirit of 7600 for more info.as well as our website (www.rotary7600.org)! PDG Ted Kirby recognized at Zone Institute PDG Ted Kirby of the Bon Air club (and Honorary member of the James River Club) with Rotary International General Secretary John Hewko at the Zones 33-34 Zone Institute in Boca Raton. Ted was recognized by Rotary International President-Elect Gary Huang during his talk at the event. It was 49 years ago that Ted was District Governor starting his term July 1, 1964. And Ted is still a very active Rotarian both in his clubs and the district..now that is a record!!!! Way to go Ted!