Sept. 29, 2015 meeting
Posted by Katie Rohman
on Oct 06, 2015
District governor visits
Speaker: Rod Bates, district Rotary
Rotary District 5650 Governor Rod Bates visited Blair Rotary for his last stop on a district tour. The Ohio native and Air Force veteran is the former general manager of NET public television. He gave each member a pin as a reminder to "be a gift to the world," which is the Rotary theme. He also gave the chapter a banner with the same message.
"I think it is a very worthy theme this year," he said.
Among Rotary International's goals this year: grow chapters' membership by 3 percent; continue polio eradication efforts in three countries left that have polio (Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan); and increase website and social media presence.
The district Rotary conference is Aug. 5 and 6, and Bates said he would like to see at least 15 percent of membership attend. He also issued a challenge to the chapter: "Compliment each other at each gathering," he said. "Our society is so stingy with that. Stop it. Rotary does wonderful things."
Bates said that successful Rotary chapters tend to have traits in common: "They like each other, they're having fun and they're doing good stuff."
Member news
• Rotarian Mick Jensen was recently married. Congrats, Mick!
• Former Rotarian Ellen Ryder has been visiting the club. She was the first female member in Blair Rotary.