august 2012 frans feature -...
TRANSCRIPT
We are into our second month of the Rotary year and hopefully things are settling into a rhythm. This month is Membership and Extension month. Each club has been asked to set membership goals for the year and your mem-bership committees will be looking at ways to achieve this. While gaining members is important to assure the continued strength of our organization another key is retention. Rotary International is concerned with the membership growth of our organization. This varies from area to area across the world but North American membership is declining as it is in Europe and Britain. As a result, RI has put in place Regional devel-opment and retention plans. There will be 12 of these and each will address the particular need of the region. http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/120816_news_membershipplans.aspx will lead you to the site where you can access these plans if you are interested. The North American plan emphasizes the need for member-ship retention. Membership has declined more than 28,000 mem-bers since 2007. Quoting from the document “On average annu-ally almost 44,000 new individuals join Rotary clubs, while we lose an average of 51,000.” As a result, the Districts are being asked to concentrate on retention over the next three years. We are being asked to find out why members are leaving. There are a number of initiatives being suggested and RI coordinators in place to help
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 2 Fran’s Feature ~ continued from front page 5th Annual Calgary Microcredit Conference 3 New PolioPlus website 4 Rotary Music and Motion 5-6 Martha’s Corner ~ Peace Within, Between and Among Us 7 District 5360 Rotary Employment Partnership Update 8 Rotary Club of Pincher Creek raises $15,000
for PolioPlus 9 8th West Africa Project Fair 10 Canadian Landmine Foundation ~ asking for
the support of all Rotarians 11 Remembering Mike Smith 12 Celebration of Life ~ PDG Michael Hayden S Smith Future Vision - Global Grants ~ Transition from Pilot Phase 13 June 2012 District Attendance
Rotary International District 5360 Newsletter
August 2012
Fran’s Feature
Official Newsletter of District Governor Fran Leggett
Fran’s Feature (continued)
us with these. The District leadership working with the District membership and District training committee will work towards bringing this information to the clubs and help them implement the ones that are appropriate for them. Each District Governor for the next three years will be asked and has been asked to provide goals and a membership strategy. This year is the first step in the three year plan. District Governor Elect Pat Killoran has a Membership sub group of the Strategic planning committee that will provide recommendations to the District. This year the Member-ship Chair, Ross Kennedy and his committee will work with clubs to look at membership retention and recruitment. How can we find out why people leave? Each District has also been asked to Charter a new club each year. Only 46.7% of Districts in North America charter new clubs, they would like to see this increase to 100% but realistically to 80%. What is the outcome of the strategy? The North American plan would like to increase membership in this region by 30,000 over the next three years to 400,000 members. The overall RI goal is to have 1,300,000 million by June 30, 2015. Our District has been fairly stable and has increased its membership each year from July 1 to June 30. This year we added 40 new members which was 80% of the goal we set for ourselves. The previous year we also added members, however if you look at the figures overall at the end of June 2011 we had 2,246 members and now at the end of June 2012 we had 2,234, so we had a decline of 12 members during that period. Rotary would like to see the North Ameri-can retention rate to increase from 81% to 91.5% and we are in that upper level. I would like to see that the July 1 numbers next year exceed the June 30, 2012 numbers. We are planning to charter a new club this year in Chestemere and I believe some new and innovative ways are being introduced by clubs to strengthen and increase their member-ship. I would ask that you look at membership retention in the coming year. Please do exit interviews and find out why
members leave? This will hopefully allow us to look at the issues that are behind declining membership. Is it cost, time
or relevancy? Once we understand the issues we can address the problems and find solutions.
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Tickets Now On Sale! Tickets for the 5th Annual Calgary Microcredit Conference, scheduled for Saturday October 13, 2012 at the Danish Canadian Club, are now on sale until August 30, 2012 at a reduced rate of $65. This year we are pleased to offer a line-up featuring presentations not only from international microfinance organiza-tions in the developing world, but also from microfinance projects and cooperatives that are operating right here in Canada and the US. For more information or to purchase early-bird tickets, visit www.calgarymicrocreditconference.com.
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August is MEMBERSHIP and EXTENSION month!
Check out this article from Rotary International
on recruiting new members:
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/120809_news_membership.aspx
Visit Rotary’s new polio website and help us make history
Greetings,
We are “this close” to making history by eradicating the crippling disease polio once and for all. We are at a true tipping point: case counts have never been lower, the number of countries affected has never been fewer—the time to beat polio is now. Only smallpox has ever been eradicated, and we will make history again by vanquishing polio.
But to achieve a polio-free world, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative need your support to spread the word. Together, we must educate and activate individuals, organizations, and most importantly, governments, to keep up the fight to end polio now.
Robust and coordinated digital outreach is necessary to reach our goal. For that reason we created a virtual home -- endpolionow.org -- where people can rally together to finish the fight to end polio. This website is available in English now, with other languages to follow.
Here are a few key features of the new website:
1. Top stories: compelling content you can share about polio eradication
2. Interactive information: dynamic graphics that help you tell the story
3. See how your donation matters: visitors are encouraged to donate and see how the money is used to fight polio
4. Calculate your “social worth”: use your social media status to share Rotary’s polio story. Help us spread the word.
5. Polio communications resources: link to materials that will help you educate and activate others to end polio now.
We need your support and participation to make this site a success. Please visit the website, interact with the features, and share it through your own websites, blogs and social media channels. And please invite others to visit and participate.
It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s important.
Thank you,
Robert S. Scott
Chair, Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee
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www.rotarymusicandmotion.com
http://rotarymusicandmotion.com
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Martha’s Corner by Martha McManus Peace Within, Between and Among Us CHOICES -Creating options As a world peace scholar, I am often asked if I sit between conflicting groups in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Romania or the many places I have worked in peace building and conflict transformation. My task in my work is to pro-vide education, support, training and mentoring as people who live in their home country expand their skills and processes in their peace roles. I do not speak Tamil, Sinhalese, Arabic, Kurd, or Romanian; nor am I to-tally knowledgeable about customs, history of the culture or in depth understanding of community stories which can be unique even within a several block area. John Paul Lederach coined the term elicitive to describe the process of eliciting the wisdom of locals as to their own peace processes, perspec-tives and skills rather then arriving as some authority with processes and skills from books, processes and knowledge from other cultures and communities. I do not come in as an expert with my training from the Harvard Negotiation Program, and my three masters degrees, “Here I am to tell you how it is done.” The process is a hybrid of sorts with listening, focus groups, research and lengthy learning from men and women, old and young, all members of the communities who make up the population who have invited me in and asked for my/our assis-tance. As our conversations progress, I am asked, “what are you aware of that others have done in these circumstances?” In conflict, there is a time to avoid, accommodate, compromise, compete and/or collaborate, including combinations of these. I cannot advise a path to follow, but I can offer ideas that have worked with others. “One Black foot elder did this.” “Getting to Yes describes focusing on common interests at such times.” “I know the mediators in Sri Lanka take a break when this happens.” The hybrid combines local indigenous knowledge with ideas and possibilities from other’s wisdom and experience. The key here is to learn about and practice many possibilities in handling conflict. This is true whether we are dealing with in-ner conflict, conflict between people in families, communities or workplace; or conflicts among groups and nations. Violence erupts when we feel stuck, with no options; backed into a corner with no way out (in our perspective). Whether I am working with children dealing with bullying, couples in conflict, workplace harassment complaints, police in training; a key skill is learning to move from that trapped stuck place to the frontal cortex of our brain in creating options and imagining outcomes. Here is your chance: You are in grade 4 and when you wait in line to heat up your pizza pocket for lunch, this one kid stands behind you and stabs you with a fork. You feel upset and anxious as lunch time approaches. Brainstorm 10 or more ideas for this situation. (Guidelines for brainstorming: no judgement or discussion, all ideas count, just write quickly.)
Martha’s Corner (continued) Once you have exhausted ideas (do not stop until you have 10 or more), select the ones you like the best. Think of the outcomes for each choice. Practice the various choices. Be prepared with several ideas for the next fork poke.
The goal of brainstorming choices is to move beyond feeling stuck. By engaging creatively in looking at possibilities and practicing them, we develop confidence in our ability to handle a situation. In our inner conversations with ourselves thinking of choices frees us up to use our whole brains to move through feeling stuck in conflict to transform and confidence. We do not have confidence in one choice but in our ability to have choices and be flexible in working through challenges. In relationships, both parents will get through the divorce with integrity as we focus on common interests of the best for our children. When siblings conflict over the best care for an aging parent who can no longer live on their own, we are all focused on what is best for our parent. I have had the opportunity of sitting with siblings in disagreement about a will, yet all agree on NOT spending most of the inheritance on legal bills with fights in court. Tamil and Sinhalese populations at war in Sri Lanka, worked together developing options of how to rebuild their communities after the Tsunami. I have worked with conflict resolution training of police in Iraq, Sri Lanka, Romania, Colombia, Congo and across Canada. I ask what was the most useful aspect of the training and where they used the skills. They all tell how the increased skills have improved their handling of conflict on the job, and they describe the most useful skills as active listening and getting unstuck with choices. Then they say, it is good at work, but these skills have improved and saved my relationships at home! The word ‘Peace’ often conjures up resolving conflict in the Middle East. As Koffi Annan quits his job as the UN’s peace envoy in Syria, I know that ‘to everything there is a season’. Right now, even as people live in fear, fleeing, and fighting; there are peacebuilders at work in neighbourhoods across Syria and the region. Canada has a reputation as a people who respect difference, we have a great deal to offer in support of people who move toward democracy and transform their countries. Rotary’s diverse community of world peace scholars are active in their own communities, countries, regions and beyond. We continue to connect and support each other. I just received an email from a Rotary peace scholar asking for help and support in Sri Lanka as the country embraces post conflict reconstruction. Rotary has funded our peace studies, and we all continue to pay it forward in our work. The community of peace scholars created in Rotary’s international world peace scholarship are making a significant contribution to peace. In the ten years since we first scholars began our studies, Rotary has made a difference.
Back to Home Page Brainstorming “answers”
- bring a cold sandwich - laugh - go tell lunch supervisor - ask poker to poke higher on your back for an itch - turn around and tell them to stop - ask a friend to stand behind you - take a fork and pretend to dual with them - break their fork - ask your teacher for ideas on how to handle this - talk with your parent/ get help with ideas - ask your parent to pick you up for lunch & ask the pest to come too - get behind the pest and poke them
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The Rotary Employment Partnership (REP) is a District initiative with the Alberta Association for Community Living (AACL), a family advocacy organization that has represented the interests of families and individuals with develop-mental disabilities for over 55 years. To-date the Partnerships across D5360 (Red Deer) and D5370 (Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Lloydminster) have created a little over 200 jobs; an amazing Rotary accomplishment. I am very pleased to report that the D5360 REP in Calgary, which began a little over a year ago, met its target of 11 jobs for individuals with developmental disabilities. Of the all Partnerships, Calgary created more job opportunities than any other in its beginning year. Much thanks to the Calgary Steering Committee and the participating clubs of Calgary, Calgary Centennial, Calgary Crowchild, Calgary Olympic, Calgary Sarcee and Calgary West. One of the more recent jobs in Calgary was created through Rotarian Joyce Halpenny, Calgary Sarcee at MCAP Fi-nancial. Chelsey Ulch is thrilled to have her very first office job. Chelsey is being included at Bow Valley College with the assistance of AACL and is now in a position, like many students without disabilities, to offset some of the costs of her education. Her parents, who never thought she might be able to be included in college and then find employment, are truly grateful for the difference Rotary is making in their daughter’s life. If you’re in Red Deer and enjoying a night at the movies at Galaxy Cinema you might be lucky enough to be greeted by their recent hire, customer service representative Sam Ward, one of 16 individuals with developmental disabili-ties now employed as a result of Red Deer and Red Deer East Clubs. For far too many adults with developmental disabilities, adulthood brings years of loneliness and dependence on government assistance. Thanks to Rotary, Chelsey and Sam now have a place of belonging, meaningful work and an opportunity to contribute to society. As new Club Presidents begin their year I am hopeful each will be encour-aging their Clubs and Club members to become active champions of this life changing Partnership. We would like to extend the invitation to all club members to get involved and join us at the next Steering Committee meeting to be held in September 2012. Watch for more information, out shortly, on how your Club might be a recipient of the Frank Devlyn Rotary Employment Partnership Award at the next District Conference (the award was inspired by Past Rotary International President Frank Devlyn). It would be wonderful to see a commitment to creating at least as many jobs in the next year of the Partnerships, if not more than this past year. I would encourage you to contact either myself or Kate Hughson in Calgary at [email protected], 403.539.5869 or Marie McNicol in Red Deer at [email protected], 403.877.7717
Mark Starratt Chair, D5360 Rotary Employment Partnership; [email protected]
District 5360 Rotary Employment Partnership Update
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Rotary Club of Pincher Creek raises $15,000 for PolioPlus
Nearly 100 Rotarians and guests from around southern Alberta gathered on July 21for a prime rib bbq hosted by Paul and Anna Eggert. Paul Eggert headed up the fund-raising initiative, and a combination of support from Club members, corporate and personal donations resulted in collecting just over $15,000 for the Rotary Foundation, specifically aimed at supporting the final stages of the world-wide eradication of polio. This has been a 30 year commitment for Rotary that started on 29 September 1979: Rotarians and delegates of the Philippine Ministry of Health looked on as volunteers administered drops of the lifesaving Sabin polio vaccine to children in the Manila barrio of Guadalupe Viejo. Rotary's first Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grant project was underway… committing Rotary International and the government of the
Philippines to a joint five-year effort to immunize about six million children against polio. The success of this project set the stage for Rotary's top priority to rid the world of polio. As a result of Rotary’s efforts, more than two billion children have received the oral polio vaccine. Since Rotary launched its PolioPlus campaign in 1985, the number of polio cases worldwide has dropped 99 percent, and the virus remains endemic in only four countries -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. This important Rotary initiative has attracted the personal and financial support of many world organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates said, “There is a renewed commitment around the world to end the disease, and that the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative will energize other public health efforts.” The systems, research and logistics that have been developed in Polio eradication can also be applied to other epidemic diseases. Bill Gates goes on to say, "We need this type of success to work on malaria, respiratory and diarrheal diseases, and meningitis," he said. "The delivery structure,
the message, and the quality that comes from polio [eradication ]will be the foundation for other work." The Rotary Club of Pincher Creek was Chartered on August 14, 1998, and has just celebrated its 14th anniversary.
submitted by Bev Thornton from the Pincher Creek Club.
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For complete information on the project fair, please view the PDF on the District 5360 website.
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www.canadianlandmine.org
www.canadianlandmine.org infocanadianlandmine.org [email protected]
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Remembering Mike Smith
Mike, beloved husband of Kathy passed away in Calgary on Tuesday May 8, 2012, at the age of 72 years. Mike was born in the Seaport of Liv-erpool, UK. He attended the Christ’s Hospital School as a scholar of the Royal Mathematical School. He spent two years as a Cadet Sergeant in the Territorial Army. He obtained B.Sc. degrees in Geology, Botany and Zoology and (Special) Geology from the University of Reading. In a long career in the oil and gas industry, in 1965 he immigrated to Canada and worked for several oil exploration companies. Mike’s work as a geologist took him to many different countries including the U.S.A., Australia and Canada. Mike married Kathleen Fox in 1969. Mike relocated to Australia for five years and while there joined the Rotary Club of Perth East, West-ern Australia in 1982. Some nine years later, in 1992, he joined the Ro-tary Club of Calgary Centennial and was an active member of both the club and District 5360 for many years. Mike held many positions in Ro-tary he served as: Director, Club Community Services 1996/1997, Club President 1998/1999, Secretary, RI District 5360 Development Society -
2 years, and Assistant Governor RI District 5360 - 2 years. In 2003 – 2004 Mike was Dis-trict Governor, RI District 5360. During his membership with The Rotary Club of Calgary Centennial, PDG Mike Smith undertook signifi-cant projects with the club. One was leading an initiative in efforts to remediate an abandoned oil refinery site situated close to the downtown core to turn it into a park. With the support of other Calgary clubs this has now been turned into a public and educational park, the Ingle-wood’s Wildlife Park, which is now operated by the City of Calgary Park’s Department. Mike was a Paul Harris fellow, Sustaining member of the Foundation and he was presented with the Rotary International Service above Self award.
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PDG Michael Haydn (Mike) Smith Rotary Club of Calgary Centennial RI District 5360 1940-2012 General Biography The late PDG Mike Smith was born in Liverpool, England and obtained B.Sc. degrees in Geology, Botany and Zool-ogy and (Special) Geology from the University of Reading. In a long career in the oil and gas industry, Mike worked as a geologist for many companies in the U.S.A., Australia and Canada. Rotary Career and Service Activities PDG Mike first joined Rotary in Australia when he became a member of the Rotary Club of Perth East, Western Australia in 1982. Some nine years later, in 1992, he joined the Rotary Club of Calgary Centennial and was an ac-tive member of both the club and District 5360 for many years. Positions held in Rotary Director, Club Community Services 1996/1997 Club President1998/1999 Secretary, RI District 5360 Development Society - 2 years District Governor, RI District 5360 2003/2004 Assistant Governor RI District 5360 - 2 years Member, Discovery Grant Team to Guatemala During his membership with The Rotary Club of Calgary Centennial, PDG Mike Smith undertook two significant projects with the club. The first was leading an initiative in efforts to remediate an abandoned oil refinery site situated close to the downtown core to turn it into a park. With the support of other Calgary clubs this has now been turned into a public and educational park, the Inglewoods Wildlife Park, which is now operated by the City of Calgary Park’s Department.
Our District is part of the 100 Pilot Districts and during the Pilot Phase our clubs are restricted to doing Global Grant projects with other Pilot District clubs. This has left many clubs frustrated because their long term rela-tionships and projects are with clubs now in the Non-Pilot Districts. Fortunately the end is in sight. Here is our understanding presently.
- January 2013, Districts globally can sign the District MOU and become Qualified.
- Jan - April 2013, Districts will train their clubs to become Qualified and sign the club MOU (Memorandum of Understnading )
- April 2013, Qualified clubs in Qualified Districts can begin submitting on-line their Global Grant Proposals.
- July 2013 - The Rotary Foundation will begin approving applications and paying out funds.
Future Vision - Global Grants: Transition from Pilot Phase
Further questions may be directed to the District Grants Committee chair - Henry Popoff [email protected]
June 2012 Attendance—District 5360
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NR Member Count Last
Year
Member Count June
Gain/Loss June
YTD Gain/Loss
YTD Gain/ Loss %
Last Year Attndn. %
June Attndn. %
YTD Attndn. %
June Rank
YTD Rank
Meetings Held June
Airdrie 37 39 -6 2 5.41% 74.85% 73.64% 78.00% 7 3 3
Banff NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 26 43 0
Brooks NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 38.50% 0.00% 0.00% 26 43 0
Calgary 266 258 2 -8 -3.01% 48.87% 50.41% 44.19% 23 38 4
Calgary Centennial 49 45 1 -4 -8.16% 65.64% 72.37% 76.48% 9 6 4
Calgary Chinook NR 87 0 0 -87 -100.00% 68.30% 0.00% 53.63% 26 33 0
Calgary Crowchild NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 48.66% 0.00% 49.24% 26 35 0
Calgary East 31 39 0 8 25.81% 71.40% 66.45% 71.43% 17 11 4
Calgary Fish Creek 20 22 0 2 10.00% 63.28% 76.14% 77.85% 5 4 4
Calgary Heritage Park NR 52 0 0 -52 -100.00% 80.25% 0.00% 73.35% 26 8 0
Calgary Millennium NR 22 0 0 -22 -100.00% 64.03% 0.00% 57.32% 26 29 0
Calgary North NR 64 0 0 -64 -100.00% 68.73% 0.00% 54.51% 26 32 0
Calgary Olympic NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 36.37% 0.00% 19.73% 26 40 0
Calgary Sarcee 34 34 0 0 0.00% 60.35% 0.00% 60.06% 26 26 4
Calgary South 174 170 -1 -4 -2.30% 74.84% 74.33% 74.90% 6 7 4
Calgary West 76 75 1 -1 -1.32% 69.79% 64.66% 61.55% 19 25 5
Canmore 87 84 0 -3 -3.45% 68.93% 73.21% 66.28% 8 20 4
Cardston NR 20 0 0 -20 -100.00% 87.58% 0.00% 14.42% 26 41 0
Coaldale NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 36.33% 0.00% 0.00% 26 43 0
Cochrane 31 28 -2 -3 -9.68% 73.18% 69.52% 69.98% 14 14 4
Drumheller NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 26 43 0
Fort Macleod NR 24 0 0 -24 -100.00% 57.08% 0.00% 26.42% 26 39 0
High River NR 88 0 0 -88 -100.00% 57.93% 0.00% 51.56% 26 34 0
Innisfail 54 47 -1 -7 -12.96% 73.53% 70.91% 77.25% 13 5 4
Kindersley 25 28 -3 3 12.00% 57.88% 68.60% 65.50% 15 22 4
Lacombe 41 49 0 8 19.51% 78.10% 36.64% 70.57% 25 12 5
Lacombe Daybreak 26 22 -1 -4 -15.38% 56.18% 61.90% 71.92% 20 9 4
Lethbridge 113 113 0 0 0.00% 57.55% 48.85% 58.34% 24 28 4
Lethbridge East 27 29 0 2 7.41% 76.58% 100.00% 98.42% 2 1 4
Lethbridge Sunrise NR 33 0 0 -33 -100.00% 78.31% 0.00% 68.97% 26 18 0
Lethbridge Urban Spirits 35 44 -1 9 25.71% 52.98% 70.93% 69.29% 12 17 4
Medicine Hat 0 76 -1 76 0.00% 60.47% 67.76% 71.74% 16 10 4
Medicine Hat - PACE NR 19 0 0 -19 -100.00% 43.56% 0.00% 46.65% 26 36 0
Medicine Hat (Saamis) 28 26 0 -2 -7.14% 69.83% 80.77% 69.68% 4 16 4
Medicine Hat Sunrise 39 38 -1 -1 -2.56% 68.88% 56.03% 69.85% 22 15 4
Olds NR 35 0 0 -35 -100.00% 77.60% 0.00% 55.42% 26 30 0
Pincher Creek 26 30 0 4 15.38% 62.63% 105.17% 66.16% 1 21 4
Ponoka 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 26 43 0
Raymond NR 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 26 43 0
Red Deer NR 106 0 0 -106 -100.00% 60.12% 0.00% 55.13% 26 31 0
Red Deer Centennial 19 19 0 0 0.00% 71.97% 72.22% 68.87% 10 19 4
Red Deer East 0 41 -1 41 0.00% 60.00% 92.90% 85.83% 3 2 4
Red Deer Sunrise 35 49 -3 14 40.00% 70.60% 58.65% 61.73% 21 24 4
Rocky Rotary NR 13 0 0 -13 -100.00% 56.28% 0.00% 44.57% 26 37 0
Rotary Club of Okotoks NR 33 0 0 -33 -100.00% 65.50% 0.00% 59.86% 26 27 0
Stettler 38 38 0 0 0.00% 22.17% 66.00% 62.83% 18 23 3
Swift Current NR 18 0 0 -18 -100.00% 24.08% 0.00% 4.17% 26 42 0
Sylvan Lake 20 23 -2 3 15.00% 72.18% 72.03% 70.20% 11 13 5
TOTALS 1945 1466 -19 -479 -24.33% 51.54% 33.02% 48.19%