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September/October2007

A Newsletter for Rotary Leaders in

Zone 22

Editor: Elly Contreras-VermeulenSend you submissions before Nov. 15, 2007to [email protected]

I’m interested in the life of aRotary International President.You’re still early in your year,however, in the coming year,how many days will you beaway from home?I am away from home 70% ofthe time. Of course, “home”is Evanston, Illinois. I won’t bein Trenton, Ontario for morethan 15 days. This is really a30-month job. You arePresident Elect Nominee, 6months, Elect for 12, Presidentfor 12 months. So we’re nowon our last 10 months. Last(Rotary) year we were home 3times: once with Easter,Christmas, and 3 days in a rowanother time, so just 15 days.In Evanston, we are therebecause the board of directors,committees meet, and we tryand attend at least part of themeetings. The GeneralSecretary and I meet monthly.

How many different countrieswill you visit during your yearsas RI President?

Hard to say. I would think,over the 30 months, morethan 50 countries. I say thatbecause, during the periodJuly 14, 2006 and Dec 23, 2006,we visited 21 countries. Butthis year as President, I’ll visitmore of the larger Rotarycountries, so we’ll spend moretime per country. This summermost of our time has beenspent in US and Canada.When Joan and I were in Indialast May and June, we did visit7 countries, but we spent 12days in India of a total 23.

How do you use technology tomake your life on the roadeasier? I wish I had been bornyounger and had more expert-ise. I have difficulty with mymessages today in fact!(Points to his laptop) Darn laptop - it sends before I wantit to send! Anyhow, technolo-gy allows the President tokeep in direct communicationswith RI and its daily affairs,particularly with the main

Rotary International Zone 22Russia • USA • Canada • France

IMPORTANTDATES• • •

Peace SummitApril 25-27, 2008Windsor-Detroit

• • • International Convention

Los AngelesJune 15-18, 2008

• • • Zone 22 Institute

Sept 12-14, 2008Victoria, BC

Our Director

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www.rotaryzone22.org

RI President’s 30 Months in 30 MinutesAn interview with RIP Wilfrid J. Wilkinson.By PP Kevin Hilgers, RC of Grande Prairie.D5370 PR Chair. [email protected]. 11th, 2007, Richmond, BCWith thanks to 5370 DG David R. Taylor forarranging this interview.

Continued on page 4

- Exclusive Interview with RIP Wilf- Message from DIrector Monty- About the Editor- 1st Major Donor in Russia- Heart to Heart

- Halifax Zone Institute- Presidential Conference Update - Zone Awards- Rotary’s Youth- A Chat with Bob Scott

IN THIS ISSUE:


Northern Lights NewsNorthern Lights News September-October, 2007

MESSAGEMESSAGEfrom RI Director

MONTYMONTYDear Zone 22 Governors:

It’s been almost a hundred yearssince P.A.C. (Pac) McIntyre, a youngbusinessman representing the var-nish manufacturer, Berry Brothers,returned from Detroit via Chicagoto visit his cousin Will Lauder. Willwas in the postal service and was amember of the Rotary Club ofChicago. Will told Pac about Rotary.They had lunch with Paul Harrisand Secretary Ches Perry, and thenvisited headquarters where Pac wasgiven some Rotary literature.

That was about all it took. Pac wasso excited about Rotary he cameback to Winnipeg and held aninformation meeting with his busi-ness associates on November 3,1910. On November 15, 1910 theRotary Club of Winnipeg wasformed.

To anyone acquainted with the pre-cision by which Rotary now movesand the thoroughness of the for-mula in surveying, organizing andchartering new clubs, all of the his-tory of Canada’s first Rotary clubseems a little haphazard- little orno instruction, no standard consti-tution or bylaws to adopt, no galacharter event, no visiting digni-taries, no presentation of a charter.Just a few visionary men clusteredaround the grand idea of “Rotary”.

2010 marks the 100th Anniversaryof Rotary in Canada, the countrythat made Rotary- International.And to celebrate that with theworld, Montreal has been awardedthe 2010 Rotary InternationalConvention.

For all that past Rotarians inCanada have given us, for all weenjoy in Rotary in Zone 22 today,and for all that Rotary can share inthe future, I urge every Rotarian tocatch the vision of this “once in alifetime” event, and Share Rotaryin every possible way to supportthe 2010 Rotary InternationalConvention in Montreal.

Thank you for what you do forRotary.

Monty AudenartRI Director 2007-2009

About the EditorPDG Elly Contreras-Vermeulen is a graphic designer by trade. As a member of the Rotary Club ofStony Plain in District 5370, she served as editor of their club bulletin with the agreement that shewould stop once her club had won the District award for best Club Bulletin for clubs under 50members, which they did after the third year. This inspired her to produce a newsletter of her dis-trict during her term as District Membership Chair, which was passed on to other Districts as well.

Elly also serves other organizations as newsletter editor. Designing photojournals,brochures and newsletter is oneof her hobbies. When Director Monty suggested she serve as the editor for the Zone newsletter for the next fewyears, she knew she had some giant shoes to fill and asked for advise from her predecessor PDG,Chris Offer.Chris started Northern LIghts in November of 2002. Prior to this PRID Bill Gant sent out a periodic email messagecalled “Bill’s Bytes” and before that Bob Scott also produced a periodic email broadcast. According to Chris all the Zones in US-Canada have a newsletter. The name derived from the Zone 22 Northern Lights breakfast that had been held for a number ofyears at the International Convention. For consistency the name was appropriate as the NorthernLights can be seen from everywhere in Zone 22 on occasion. The Northern Lights Newsletter has been a great attribute to our Zone thanks to Chris who has pub-lished it for a total of 5 years. Thanks for all your hard work and mentorship Chris.

1st Major Donor in Russia!Gayle Knepper 2006-07 DG fromDistrict 5010, presented the firstmajor donor award during the dis-trict conference in Altai in June. This District also introduced theDistrict's Paul Harris Society this

spring. From a charter group of 36members, three members are fromRussia. Also, a Russian Rotary clubonce again has the highest percapita giving in this district. This isthe third year in a row for aRussian club to be in the leadershipposition. “We still have work to dowith many of our clubs in Russia”,

Gayle said, “but this really sets astandard for the next step of devel-opment and also sets the bar highfor our North American clubs! We're very excited about this news,and know that it leads the way formore to follow inthe future”.



Heart to

HeartRotary has made a deep impressionin its mission of alleviating Poliofrom this planet earth, thereby sav-ing children from probable futuremiseries so as to provide healthyand happy environment to thefuture generations.

We have heard about heart ail-ments developed in stress bornadults but to our great surprise anddismay, many new born childrenalso suffer from congenital heartdiseases, which in most of the casesare curable through surgery. Butwhat concerns these unfortunatefamilies the most is the lack ofproper information and the cost of

surgery involved, which is impossi-ble for them to meet. Poor chil-dren suffering with this diseasemay not survive for long or do notlead healthy lives.

We are now proposing to extendnecessary financial support andguidance to these needy childrenup to the maximum age of 16 yearsthrough a special committeeappointed for this purpose. Wepropose to take this as our thrustarea for the next 2 years to providerequired support to at least 1100children, to begin with.

We ask you to please appoint aspecial district committee and for-ward the name and their contactdetails to the Chairman PDGMadhu Rughwani or concerned

committee member of your region. You may continue operating thisprogram, if already undertaken inyour district, in the manner asdecided by your district. However Iwould like to request you to sendus the detailed information and itssuccess stories so that the same canbe shared and effectively imple-mented in the other districts aswell.

So let us share our knowledge, ourresources and our concern directlycoming from your Heart to save aHeart of a child giving him/her anew lease on life.

Affectionately yours in Rotary,

Ashok Mahajanwww.ashokmahajan.com

The Halifax 2007 Zone Institute isnow part of our history. For thoseable to attend, we shared laughter,knowledge, experiences, joys, frus-trations and tears. The theme of“Catch The Wave” provided thebackground for presentations anddiscussions including the topics ofwhat we can do with four genera-tions of Rotarians within our organ-ization and what we need to do tofinally eradicate Polio.

We were also presented withopportunities to participate in local Club Community ServiceProjects, complete with picnic lunch and a lot of laughs and,maybe a little perspiration. The Institute was extremely wellprogrammed, with presentersincluding RIP Wilf Wilkinson, TRFChair Bob Scott, Lynn Lancasterfrom Bridgeworks, Dr BruceAylward from WHO, and SanjeevChowdhury from Foreign Affairsplus 72 other presenters and pan-

elists. Our thanks to PDG AlanaBergh for the inspiration, coordina-tion and cooperation.PDG Reid Asselstine deserves ourrespect and admiration for theimplementation of a powerfuldevelopment program for our cur-rent and future officers of Rotary.Reid and his team of Trainers pro-vided a stellar program. They setthe tone for the remainder of theweek and undoubtedly for the next

few years. We are going to ride the wave of enthusiasm!For each of us, there was one special moment that will affect ourdaily actions and one item wewould like to see improved for thenext Institute. So, the challengecontinues for RID Monty and PDGJoan Firkins to address what can be bettered and to continue the fellowship. The 2007 Institute Committeethanks you for your participation!

Dorothy Britten - Institute Chair

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Northern Lights NewsNorthern Lights News September/October 2007

office in Evanston. Every day thereare new problems. Today I have aletter via email from someoneexpelled from her club. She thinksI should help. In days gone by, thatwould have taken 10 days to gethere and I wouldn’t have beenexpected to reply for another 10days. This requires almost instantanswers.

Do you carry a Blackberry device? No, I can’t type with 2 thumbs.

What items do you refuse to travelwithout? I would say there’s nothing I wouldnot travel without, but I have toadmit that going to “Rotary” coun-tries and cities makes our travelmuch much easier. In certain coun-tries Rotarians are in prominentplaces, and they can even meet youat Customs for instance and assist.It’s always comforting when theimmigration and customs officercarries your bag (laughing)throughout the procedures.

How much time during your yearwill you spend in Evanston /Chicago, (RI headquarters)?In total, about 2.5 months of theyear. That includes short trips inthe area. Most of that time is inconnection with Board meetings,trustees and the other major com-mittees such as Strategic PlanningCommittee, finance committee andthis year special emphasis on thecombined youth committees.

Could you describe your team thatassists you from day to day withyour schedule. Rotary has a very good way in that,when you become nominee, youget an assistant appointed to you.That staff member follows youthrough the whole 30-month peri-od and is a great help. When youchange offices, so does she. But

over and above, there is the man-ager of the President’s office, andthat very experienced personensures that the service provided tothe Nominee, President Elect andPresident are at a high level andalways available. However, all themembers of the President’s officeteam work together and there are,in addition to the specific assis-tants, other people. One pays par-ticular attention to the personswho are assigned to represent thePresident at District Conferencesand other world-wide events whereRotary is required to make a pres-entation. In addition, there is aperson who is responsible for main-taining the physical office of thePresident, including the 2 condosthat Rotary provides and the 2 carsthat the President and PE drivewhile in Evanston. This personalso assists in the acknowledgingand receiving of gifts even thoughRotarians are asked NOT to providegifts, and, if they must, they shouldmake donations to the Foundation.However, only this week, I received2 Stetson hats and the co-ordinatesfor a water well that will be drilledin my honor in Nicaragua. Also,with regards to President’s office isthe President’s Aide. The Presidentis invited to choose a volunteer per-son to be their aid, and theirspouse acts as an aide to thePresident’s spouse. This has been,for me, a tremendous benefitbecause I was able to choose some-one who had recently been a pastRI Vice President. He has devotedtremendous amounts of hours,along with his wife, to helpingJoan and I do everything fromselecting colors of our (Rotary) jack-et, to working out travel arrange-ments, to helping prepare the pos-sible persons for appointment to RIcommittees, and recommendingthe best person to participate inZone institutes and District

Conferences. That person is PastVice President John Germ, with hiswife Judy, from Chattanooga,Tennessee. He was VP in 2004-05and he was chair this yea of theCouncil in Legislation.

What would you describe yourmain role to be as RI President? You are the main spokesperson forthe year.

How accessible do you make your-self to DG’s and membership? Doyou get a lot of correspondence?Emails? Questions? Yes, I get a lot of emails every dayand I try and get to them as quicklyas I can. The manager of thePresident’s office is most helpfulbecause I am often in places with-out Internet, and she assists withphone calls or faxes so I am keptabreast. When I do run across aRotarian who is relocating, or apotential Rotarian, I call the DG orthe Club President and give myreferral, which often proves quiteeffective. This morning I had anopportunity to call a Rotarian whocelebrated their 80th birthday and25 years perfect attendance, andjust received the Service Above Selfaward. Doing that enables me tofeel like I am keeping in contactwith Rotarians.

You said (Past RI President) BillBoyd’s advice was, “Being RIPresident can make your head andyour waist grow." Almost everyRotary occasion involves a meal.What regimen, if any, do you haveto maintain your current waistline? I try and work out every day. I tryto only have one dessert a day andstay away from bread and butter.But of course Rotarians are gener-ous and concerned and, as a result,you can see my lunch was deliveredto my room today to do this inter-view due to my aid. That’s the kind

30 Months in 30 Minutes - Continued from page 1

Continued on page 5



of care you get as President. But Ihave a series of exercises I do, andat home I have an exercise bike.Or, here in the hotel, I often use atreadmill.

At the end of “your” year whenRotarians look back, how wouldyou like your year to be remem-bered? i.e. 2007-2008 was the yearPresident Wilf did …I really want to see Rotary moveahead. I hope that some of thethings the Board of Directors for07-08 (enact) will see benefits 3 or4 years down the road. I don’twant to have a “membership cam-paign.” I want to changeRotarians’ way of thinking towardsmembership, so that whateverincrease we have this year will beeclipsed the following years. Iwant to see us reach out to Africain the current year. And I hopethat we will be able to have a proj-ect in Nairobi September 20th thatwill include a Project Fair, and thatit will be repeated year after year,bigger and better each time,because the work there and theneeds there are so great. I hopethat the Peace Conferences that wewill be having in Bulgaria, Turkeyand Kenya for those particularregions of the world will be contin-ued, hopefully in different cities,and that they will grow in impor-tance in the years to come. I alsohave a selfish hope: that the PeaceConference that we will hold inWindsor, Ontario will be a signa-ture event of my year, as will the RIConvention in Los Angeles in June2008. If these prove successful andwe have an increase in member-ship, then I will be satisfied wehave had an excellent year.

What plans do you have for life“after” Rotary InternationalPresident?

I don’t know, but I am sure therewill be other challenges. Myinvolvement with the CheshireHome for Physically HandicappedAdults came as a result of my DG(District Governor) role in 1971-1972. Rotarians in Toronto hadbuilt the first Cheshire home inNorth America. Some people inBelleville had a son that neededthat type of help, so they weredirected to me in (hometown)Trenton, and I became the found-ing chairman of the second homein North America. I had an oppor-tunity, when I was Vice President ofRotary International, to work with(former US President) Jimmy Carterin Winnipeg for Habitat forHumanity. Next year the people inmy region of Quinte decided to getinvolved in the Habitat ForHumanity, read about my involve-ment in the newspaper, and calledme to get involved. After my yearsas Vice President, the Quinte BalletSchool Of Canada had some finan-cial difficulties, approached me tobe on their board, and, as luckwould have it, when I retired fromaccounting in 2001, they were inneed of someone to raise funds tobuild a new ballet school. Istepped down as the ExecutiveDirector of the school to assumethe role of President Elect. But Iam proud that, in a picture thatthey gave me of all the students,Miss Universe from Japan is stand-ing next to me. She was attendingour professional ballet school. Shegraduated 2 months after I left.She went home to Japan andbecame Miss Universe. Long storyshort – I don’t know what will hap-pen, but I certainly feel confidentthat some organization will requiremy services as a volunteer, probablyin the area of fundraising, and Iwould be very happy to assist. Andmy wife will be happy to get meout of the house.

30 Months in 30 Minutes - Continued form page 4

PrPresidential esidential Membership Membership ConferConference ence UpdateUpdate

The priorities mentioned in Rotary’sStrategic plan for 2007-2010 includethe focus on expanding membershipglobally in both numbers and quality.

President Wilf has made it one of theprimary issues and he is particularlycommitted to emphasize eachRotarian’s responsibility to sponsornew members into our organization.

Over the last few months, sevenPresidential Membership Conferenceswere organized throughout NorthAmerica , targeted to club and dis-trict leaders instrumental in makingmembership decisions.Each of the conferences held withinCanada, The United States and theCaribbean were an incredible success,with an unexpected high turnout.

From the many speeches and session,came some excellent ideas, includingthe importance in bringing in moreyounger members, the need forchange in club operations and per-ception of members as well as theneed to involve and educate mem-bers.

President Wilf asks everyone to takeaction and implement the new ideaswhich are available on the website inthe form of a report, compiled fromthe speeches and round table discus-sions.Only with action at club level will thehard work and efforts pay off.

Remember that every one of us isresponsibly for sharing the manyideas as well as inviting others intoRotary.

Elly Contreras-VermeulenRIMZC



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While the average age in Clubs inNorth America is 45, there are manyclubs that have some young dynamicmembers (other than the UrbanSpirits Clubs which consists mostly ofmembers under 40). The EdmontonSouth Club counts amongst its mem-bers a young lady by the name ofPauline Parreault who has not yetreached the age of 30, as an activemembers of this club. I found it inter-esting to hear the whys and hows. SoI asked her a few questions and theseare her responses:

How did you get involved? I was first introduced to Rotarywhen I was the president of a serv-ice club in my high school. I was

sponsored to attend a district RYLAevent, which proved to be a pivotalpoint in my life and equipped mewith more leadership skills and con-fidence to drive my performance tothe next level. From there,Edmonton South approached meafter my service club delivered ourthank you speech, to see if I wouldlike to participate in the RYE longterm program. I eagerly agreed -and went to Germany in 1998. Fromthere, both my counsellor and someof the Rotarians I befriended kept intouch with me, and gave me anopen invitation to come to the cluband visit any time - and I did!Despite going to University in

Vancouver, whenever I came backhome, I would also make the effortto visit the club and keep involvedin the club's activities. Their friend-ship/fellowship and encouragementin both my personal and profession-al pursuits kept me interested in theclub. Once I gained full timeemployment upon graduation, I wasapproached to be an honorarymember, and that was quicklyturned into “active membership” inAugust 2005. All in all, I have beeninvolved with the Rotary club ofEdmonton South for 10 years -something I am extremely proudabout, especially for a Rotarian ofmy age.

Rotary’s Youth by Elly Contreras-Vermeulen and Pauline Perreault

Continued on page 7

2 X 4

BUILT ROTARY WITH A 2 X 4 PLANZone 22 has always been a leader in Membership initia-tives. In the Centennial year, the program of Charteringour future by chartering one new centennial club inevery district resulted in an increase of members inalmost every district over a two year period. Zone 22 isonce again going to lead the way in membership initia-tive. A four year plan for membership growth throughextension has been developed and our current Districtleaders are in the forefront.THE GOALEvery District in Zone 22 to charter two new RotaryClubs every year for the next four years. (Eight newclubs per District in FOUR years).An ambitious goal, but one that can be achieved withplanning and preparation.District Governors and their Membership team whoachieve the goal of 2 new clubs withing their year, willbe recognized at the Zone Institute following their yearof service.They will be encouraged to bring the banners of theirnew clubs for display during the presentation.The host District may invite their newest chartered clubto be part of the recognition evening at the ZoneInstitute.

BRING IN THE YOUNGER GENERATIONWith membership numbers declining in North America ,it is important that we involve the younger generationto be part of our great organization.For many Districts around the world, Interact andRotaract are a household word and new clubs are beingchartered on a regular basis. Most Rotarians in NorthAmerica have been used to the idea that we are theleaders of our country. Eventually that leadership roleneed to be handed over to the younger generation,ages 18-30 which outnumber us by 16 million. They arethe ones who will shape the history of Rotary for thenext hundred years. We need to give them the opportu-nity to show what they are capable of and watch them,willing to step up to the plate and take over from uswhen we are no longer able to serve on the many inter-national or community projects. Lets invite them andcharter an Interact or Rotaract Club.The GoalEvery District in Zone 22 to charter at least one Interactand one Rotaract Club.For the District with the largest number of Interact orRotaract Clubs, RID Monty has approved an award to bepresented - for the first time - at the Zone Institute inVictoria. To find out how to charter a club, visit theRotary website >RI Programs >Interact and Rotaract.



Why did you get involved? At first it started out as a way togive back to Rotary - in return forthe amazing gifts I receivedthrough both the RYLA and RYEprograms. Living a year abroadwith Rotary had opened my eyes toall the opportunities that are avail-able through this extraordinaryservice club, and I really felt that Ifound a home where I coulddonate my time and talents to. Asthe years progressed, the fellow-ship has greatly enhanced my expe-rience, and many Rotarians havetaken the time to mentor me in mycareer and professional develop-ment, and provided informationresources for me to further myself -and I can't express enough howvaluable this has been to me as ayoung professional. Additionally,the opportunity to practice publicspeaking and conduct some busi-ness networking has been invalu-able for me as well. This has givenme a huge advantage over mypeers.

What keeps you involved?Definitely the projects that my cluband RI are involved in. I have greatambitions within Rotary and manyroles I plan on filling. I am heavilyinvolved in the district youthexchange program, and that hasbeen a very fulfilling and valuableexperience to me. It has been themost unique way that I can getinvolved and help contribute to

other's experiences as a RYE stu-dent. Are there other younger membersin your club? - There was one mem-ber younger than I; however, shemoved to Toronto to pursue a newjob. We have one other memberunder 30, and the next youngestgroup is probably at least 10 yearsour senior.

I love my relationship with theolder generation. Keep in mindthat I have had the pleasure ofmeeting and lunching with thesemembers for ten years now, as wehave been able to build strong andsupporting relationships. I alwaysenjoyed meeting our new membersas well, and spreading my enthusi-asm for Rotary and our club. Thetrick in our club is to sustain theenergy and youth, which is defi-nitely a challenge. Many membersfeel that they have made their con-tribution and have "had their day"in Rotary. Not unlike other clubs,we are struggling to turn thisaround.

What efforts has your club made torecruit younger members?We have had discussions aroundthis and placed a focus on it, butour results haven't been as strongas they could be. Most of recruit-ment has been via word-of-mouthinvitations to known associates,and that usually attracts the oldergeneration to our club. Having said

that, our club has really embracedthe younger members and wel-comes them with open arms andhopefully our enthusiasm spreadsto them in turn.

Do you get to bring new ideas tothe club? I sit on the board and have had aboard position for the last threeyears. Other than the board, Ialways feel comfortable if I haveany ideas to share to approach ourpresident or another club/boardmember in charge of the project.There is always a place for every-one's suggestions in our club, andwe have open minds to exchangeideas.

How do you go about bringingyounger members to the club?I am a firm believer in sharing mystory to inspire others in my posi-tion to join. It is especially easy toattract alumni of the RI programs(youth exchange/Rotaract/RYLA).The key is keeping in touch withthese individuals, and showing aninterest in their life and activities,and letting them know the club hasa membership spot waiting forthem whenever they are ready tojoin. Rotarians need to show inter-est, keep in touch with the alumniand provide an open invitation.

Pauline Perreault can be reached at [email protected]

2008 RI Convention in Los Angeles, 15–18 JuneSee the Stars! Share the spotlight with fellow Rotarians in the entertainment capitalof the world.Los Angeles is the ideal stage for Rotary International’s annual extravaganza. Like the family of Rotary,this sprawling metropolis of 3.8 million people boasts a diverse ethnic mix and cosmopolitan flair. L.A. isthe second largest city in the United States and teems with activity and culture - from its star-studdedmotion picture industry to its picturesque beachfront communities and resorts. Download the officialbrochure at www.rotary.org for more reasons to come to L.A. in 2008.

Register early for the convention to take advantage of special pricing!First deadline: 15 Dec. 2007 - Second deadline: 31 March 2008

Rotary’s Youth - Continued from page 6

Lights, Camera, Action!

Lights, Camera, Action!



A chat with Robert S. ScottInterview by PP Kevin Hilgers, RC ofGrande Prairie. D5370 PR [email protected], 2007

Bob Scott has been a member ofthe Rotary Club of Cobourg, Ont.,Canada, since 1971. He’s a long-time active supporter of Rotary’sbattle against Polio. Scott becamechair of the International PolioPlusCommittee on 1 July 2006. He isalso serving as chair of The RotaryFoundation Trustees this year.

Q: First, sometimes Rotarians at thegrass roots level wonder how some-one ends up so actively involved atthe International level of Rotary.You joined Rotary in 1971, and cur-rently are chair of RI’s Polio Plusand the Rotary Foundation… howdid you get from 1971 to today?

A: I started like everyone else. Atfirst I had no idea what Rotary wasabout. I was asked once, then a sec-ond time to be a member. Ithought I was too busy though, soskipped the first time (we had emi-grated from Scotland at the time)The second time around though hegave me no choice. My sponsor said“You will come along - and youWILL be a member”. Eventually Igot a bit more interested in the

club – someone proposed me forthe club board, and 78/79 I wasPresident of my club, a great year.Then I did various District commit-tees. After 10 years a few Rotarianssaid, “You‘ve been around so longyou should try for Governor.” I wasaccepted as Governor first attemptfor year 87/88. Then I got onto afew committees with RI. Of sheerluck they asked me to be on a fewcommittees at the Internationallevel. Then we looked at Directorfor the Zone – (Canada and Alaska),A committee asked me – we had avote – and I won the vote. So, Iwas elected President of the club,elected Governor, elected Director.Everything else was appointed… I was asked to be Vice President ofRI, and 10 years since then I havebeen involved with Polio Plus …..Just like at the club level, you haveto #1 show interest – and you willprobably be asked to serve at theDistrict and higher levels, and ofcourse # 2 – you need to have time,(I retired completely in 97) andsome finances as well to do this.

Q: Are you almost “full time” withRotary?

A: Absolutely – 7 days a week – 24hours a day! A normal day at homewhen I am not traveling… well,starts at 8 this morning with you.I then get on the computer foremail, and reports and committeesuntil mid day. Then I go into retire-ment mode for a few hours –lunch, cross words, etc. Thenaround 3 back into my office anddo 2 or 3 hours. So yes, I do about8 hours a day. When I am travelingit can be difficult but I carry a laptop and go nowhere without it.

Q: Yesterday when I spoke withyou, you mentioned Mexico andBrazil as 2 destinations in the com-ing weeks, how much travel areyou doing? Where does it takeyou?

A: Let’s look forward - this weekMexico – Wilf Wilkinson asked meto represent Rotary at a medicaloriginations’ program where Rotaryand its Polio Plus will make a pres-entation – so I will represent him.The weekend after is Brazil… andthen it’s Halifax for the ZoneInstitute. After that it’s SpringfieldMissouri. More meetings similar tothe Halifax Zone Institute, which ismuch like a district conference yet –zone conferences. Then 4 or 5 daysat home. Then Los Angeles, NewYork, London, Tokyo and back.Then off to India, and I’ll be homefor Christmas. The second half ofthe Rotary year will be similar but afew more African countries.

Q: I hope RI has a budget for you!

A: I get airfares paid; Zone puts meup in a hotel, although in Canada Ilike to pay my own way. But thisyear as a Chair in my own countrythey insisted on paying. My wife -under rules and regulations - getssome of her fairs paid. Of coursewe share the same bed so that’s noextra cost, but Rotary does haveprograms that cover the costs ofspouses, and thankfully so. This sortof work cannot be done withoutspouses. I couldn’t do it withoutAnn’s support.

Q: What do you tell people whenthey ask these two questions: Willpolio be eradicated, and when?

It WILL be eradicated. Our problemis Nigeria and India managed toexport it to countries without rou-tine immunizations… And that hascaused us problems. We haveshown time and time again we caneradicate it. We know how to. Ifyou consider India itself, there isonly a small area where there is stillPolio. Having said that, in the worstpart of India we haven’t had a newcase of the worst kind, type 1 -since October. I absolutely am con-

Polio

Man



fident that we will eradicate Polio.As for when, I can’t say – and I willtell you why. WHO (World HealthOrganization) said at one time2000. Rotary set a date of 2005purely to meet our anniversarydate and that was based on puresentiment, and we failed. We weredown to 4 countries from 195, andit’s easy for nay sayers to point tothat. So I don’t give a date. I asked WHO to stop giving a date,and after many conversations withWHO and UNICEF they now do notpublish dates.

Q: In our District 5370 since the2005 goal of eradication came andwent, Polio Plus has been in theback ground more so… But Polio isstill endemic in 4 countries. Youbelieve Polio will be eradicated.What can or should the averageRotarian do?

A: Get interested, learn about it.We have to! Every Institute,(where we teach and train DistrictGovernors) this year, includes PolioPlus back on the agenda. The pastfew years it was dropped off theagenda. So now it’s back on and Iam delighted. Every Rotarianshould write the newspapers, talkto your media, send letters.(Remember to write and thankthem too). Speak to your membersof parliament. We have been talk-ing to Jim Flaherty; Encourage yourlocal MP to talk to Jim. You know,it was Canada who got Polio ontothe agenda of the G8! Even myown club has moved on to AIDSand water and land mines and theyare great things, but whatRotarians have forgotten is, thatthis is our one and only “corpo-rate” program. It was my requestthat we brought it back to theCWL. At the last Counsel onLegislation (which meets every 3years) 93% voted in favor of keep-ing Polio Plus alive.

Q: You took over as FoundationChair from Bichai Rattakul ofBangkok, Thailand. While the chal-lenges of Polio Plus can be moreobvious - politics, religion, wars -what are the greatest challengesfacing the Foundation?

A: I think maintaining balancebetween all our different pro-grams. We have such a huge num-ber of programs. If you take match-ing grants, it took 30 years to get10,000 matching grants. In the past5 years we did 10,000, such hugegrowth on the humanitarian side asopposed to education side ofthings. So we have a committee tolook at the Foundation to reviewthe best way to react and organizethe Rotarians. Rotarians are goingthe way of the humanitarian route.Rotarian demand good value. The Peace Scholar program hascaught the imagination ofRotarians, but it is a very expensiveprogram as well. It will meanRotarians - if they want to keep itgoing - will have to come up with agood sum of money. Right nowthey’re looking for 90 million dol-lars.

Q: One of the goals of Foundationis “Every Rotarian Every Year, $100USD” – where are we at with that?

A: “Every Rotarian Every Year” hasbeen phenomenally successful. Itreally has worked. It came throughCWL 2 councils ago, some guy said‘Minimum $100 for the 100thanniversary of Rotary”, and senti-ment got away with that. So itstuck, and it got in the literature tothis day. But I prefer to avoid that“$100”. It can reduce the ability toget the big bucks, and it can alsoturn off many in countries likeIndia where $100 is a lot of money.So In the next few months, I wantto keep the “Every Rotarian EveryYear” program going, but minimizethis “$100 every year” issue.

Q: A “Paul Harris Fellow” is recog-nition of $1,000 US to theFoundation - that figure has beenthe same for many years, is thereever talk of increasing that figureto meet today’s dollar values?

A: With inflation that would havebeen over $8,000 in the 1950’s! Yesit’s been talked about frequently,but the majority doesn’t want tochange it. We’ve added a few moreprograms though to reflect thetimes... For instance the Paul HarrisSociety, where the Fellow commitsto $1000 per year, every year.These and other wrinkles haveadded to donations over the yearsand yet allows the original PHF (at$1,000 USD) to stay in its currentstate. It’s part of the tradition ofRotary▲

Welcome to VictoriaEveryone favours Victoria, Canada’sisle on the Pacific, and as Convenerto the 2008 Victoria RotaryInstitute, Liz and I are delighted toinvite you to come and participatein all of the activities. InstituteChair Joan Firkins, Program ChairRoss White and the HOCCommittee have made no smallplans in organizing a passionateseries of speakers, discussiongroups and fellowship events thatwill inform, inspire and ignite yourenthusiasm, passion and hope forRotary. It’s where I am going to getrecharged. Looking to see youthere!

Monty Audenart, RID

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