Rotary Ride for Veterans/Cycle4Sight

  TO OUR FELLOW ROTARIANS AND ROTARY CLUBS

 

             PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING WITH US---AND MANY OTHER

   ROTARY CLUBS---ON A BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY IN THE NAPA VALLEY

 

                                            SATURDAY APRIL 21, 2012

 

                                                    AS WE SUPPORT

 

    THE PATHWAY HOME PROGRAM:  AMERICA'S FIRST PRIVATELY FUNDED TREATMENT

    AND REHABILITATION PROGRAM FOR RETURNING VETERANS SUFFERING FROM PTSD

    AND OTHER WAR DRIVEN TRAUMA.

 

    ENCHANTED HILLS CAMP FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: THE ONLY SUCH

    CAMP IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SERVING CHILDREN , FAMALIES AND VETERANS

 

                                                    OUR ACCLAIMED

 

                        WINE    ----    FOOD   ----   MUSIC  ----   CYCLING  ---   FESTIVAL

 

            ROTARY RIDE FOR VETERANS       -----    WINE VALLEY CYCLE FOR SIGHT

           WWW.ROTARYRIDE4VETS.COM                  WWW.CYCLE4SIGHT.COM    

 

 

      ATTRACTS OVER 2,500 GUESTS-----MORE THAN A DOZEN ROTARY CLUBS---AND HAS

                                               

                                                RAISED OVER    $ 400,000. !!

 

               USED TO SAVE AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OUR RETURNING VETERANS 

                 AND TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED 

 

                  THIS EVENT AND OUR COMBINED EFFORTS HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED --

                       THROUGHOUT OUR DISTRICT , STATE AND THE NATION

 

                         ** FEATURES IN LOCAL AND NATIONAL TV SHOWS

                         ** HBO DOCUMENTARY 'WARTORN 1864--2010"

                         ** SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE

     

                            RAISE FUNDS FOR YOUR "OWN CLUB PROJECTS"---

 

                 THROUGH OUR    "ROTARY CLUB-- PLEDGE PARTNER PROGRAM"

   

    GATHER YOUR OWN GROUP OF CYCLISTS---ROTARIANS AND OTHER MEMBERS OF

    YOUR COMMUNITIES, USE YOUR ENERGIES TO SOLICIT PLEDGES FOR YOUR AND

    OUR CHARATIES--USE OUR EVENT AND REGISTRATION SYSTEM---AND WE WILL

 

                 DONATE BACK TO "YOUR CLUB"  50 % OF THE PLEDGES RAISED  !!

 

        EVERY YEAR WE ARE HAPPILY ABLE TO SEND  $1,000.'S OF DOLLARS BACK

                      TO MANY CLUBS WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE.

                               TRULY----A----"WIN ---  WIN "  FOR EVERYONE

 

  SO PLEASE GIVE THIS OPPORTUNITY YOUR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION---AND COME

   ENJOY SOME "ROTARY FELLOWSHIP" IN THE BEAUTIFUL NAPA VALLEY---WHILE WE

 

               ALL JOIN TOGETHER TO  "SAVE LIVES---ONE SOLDIER AT A TIME"

 

    ALL OF THE MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED ARE ATTACHED----ARE ON LINE, ON OUR

    WEB SITE---AND FOR MANY CLUBS HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT TO YOUR CLUBS.

 

      REMEMBER---NOT JUST A CYCLING EVENT--BUT A WINE, FOOD, MUSIC FESTIVAL--

                                   WITH CYLING AS A MORNING OPTION

 

 

THE ROTARY CLUB OF NAPA

 

GARY ROSE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CYCLE FOR SIGHT WWW.CYCLE4SIGHT.COM
ROTARY RIDE FOR VETERANS WWW.ROTARYRIDE4VETS.COM
707-256-2147"SAVING LIVES ONE SOLDIER AT A TIME"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top five Rotary stories of 2011

Top five Rotary stories of 2011

By Arnold R. Grahl  

Rotary International News -- 20 December 2011  

From the tsunami in Japan to the launch of strategic partnerships that will help Rotary expand its reach, 2011 was an eventful year for Rotary International and Rotarians. As the year winds down, we share our list of the top five Rotary news events of 2011.

1. Tsunami strikes Japan

Rotary clubs and districts worldwide mobilized to bring aid to victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March. The 9.0-magnitude quake, the strongest in Japan's history, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread destruction, paralyzing much of the northern coast.

In response, The Rotary Foundation established the Rotary Japan 2011 Disaster Recovery Fund, which has raised almost US$6 million for long-term recovery projects.

The fund is being administered by a committee of local Rotarians who are identifying communities’ needs, managing the distribution of funds, overseeing and reporting on project implementation, and ensuring proper stewardship. Rotarians have already completed 10 projects with $400,000 from the recovery fund.

In addition, clubs and districts held benefits in support of tsunami victims, including a concert organized by Miki Okubo, a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar from Japan studying in Paris. Read more

2. RI theme

RI President Kalyan Banerjee unveiled the 2011-12 RI theme, Reach Within to Embrace Humanity, during the International Assembly in January. He urged the Rotary leaders-in-training to harness their inner strength to achieve success in Rotary.

• Read more 
• See the video
• Watch for coverage of next year’s theme, which RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka will announce at the 2012 International Assembly, 15-21 January.

3. The fight against polio

India has been making great strides toward polio eradication in 2011, with only one case of the virus reported from January through early December. Rotarians helped administer bivalent oral polio vaccine to more than 35 million children in the country during a Subnational Immunization Day on 13 November.

On 20 November, a team of Rotarians from District 3700 (Korea) served in a health camp in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, where children were immunized against the disease. The camp was organized by Indian Rotarians in cooperation with local health officials and UNICEF.

Rotarians also worked to get out the message about polio eradication for World Polio Day in October. In Australia, Rotarians and the Global Poverty Project carried out a petition drive to persuade world leaders to fully fund the critical work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Almost 25,000 supporters signed the petition, resulting in a A$20,000 (US$20,700) contribution to Rotary's US$200 Million Challenge by the Rotary Club of Crawley, Western Australia, which had offered to donate A$1 for each signature.

In Perth, the Global Poverty Project's End of Polio Concert on 28 October raised additional funds. The concert coincided with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the city; Rotarians had teamed up with the group to urge government leaders to put polio eradication on the agenda. After the meeting, the governments of Australia, Canada, and Nigeria, along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a combined pledge of more than US$100 million to support polio eradication efforts.

• Read more about gains in eradication efforts in India
• Read about Rotarians' response to World Polio Day

4. 2011 RI Convention

More than 16,000 Rotarians from around the world converged on New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, in May for the 2011 RI Convention. Rotaractors, Rotarians, and Rotary Foundation alumni participated in service projects to help families still recovering from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Among the highlights during four packed days of plenary and breakout sessions was a speech by Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in which he praised Rotary for its success in the campaign to eradicate polio and urged Rotarians to redouble their efforts to keep the disease from spreading. Another speaker was Michael McQueen, a leading authority on youth trends, who said Generation Y has much to offer Rotary. Read more

5. Strategic partnerships

The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees approved four strategic partnerships in 2011 under the Future Vision Plan. These partnerships will help Rotary broaden its impact in the areas of focus by offering service opportunities for Rotarians through packaged global grants.

Rotary clubs will be teaming up with UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education to train scientists and engineers to solve problems related to water and sanitation, particularly in developing countries. Grants will support scholarships for master's degree programs at the institute's campus in Delft, the Netherlands.

Through the partnership with Aga Khan University, vocational training teams will enhance the clinical and administrative skills of health educators at the university's campuses in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Rotarians will work with Oikocredit International to advance community and economic development through the Netherlands-based cooperative's network of microfinance institutions.

And the partnership with Mercy Ships will enable clubs to get involved in improving health care services in West Africa.

The packaged global grants are available to Future Vision pilot districts and clubs.

(the article is from RI website)

Rotary 2012-New Ideas

Get more out of Rotary in 2012

Start the new year off right: Check out these ideas for having a fun, successful 2012 with your Rotary club or district.

Read more

Learn about Rotary's areas of focus
Support the Foundation

Click on Read more and Supprt the Foundation.

(photo: from RI photo gallery)

Sustainability

Rotary water symposium in Israel stresses sustainability

By Abby Breitstein  

Rotary International News – 5 December 2011  

More than 100 Rotarians took part in an international water symposium in Tel Aviv on 16 November, discussing ways that Rotary can help meet the world's water and sanitation needs.

The symposium, sponsored by District 2490, was held in conjunction with WATEC Israel 2011, an annual water technology exhibition and conference that draws thousands of researchers, developers, politicians, and business executives from around the world.

RI President Kalyan Banerjee, addressing both symposium attendees and the larger WATEC audience, emphasized the need for Rotary service projects to be sustainable.

Sustainability "means that there will not be a problem finding parts, fixing something that is broken, finding the money for maintenance, keeping the project going," he said. "It means the community will take ownership of a solution, so that even though it might have come from Rotary originally, it no longer belongs to Rotary."

Community input

Banerjee used the example of solar ovens to illustrate why successful service projects need to begin with community input. Though solar ovens might look like a perfect solution to the problem of finding cooking fuel -- their energy source is free, inexhaustible, and nonpolluting; they are cheap to make; and they preclude the need to gather wood and cut down trees -- other factors might have to be considered, he said. Perhaps local foods need to be cooked at hotter temperatures than a solar oven provides, or the area is very windy and the ovens could blow away, or the local women traditionally rise before dawn to cook.

"These are all issues that you simply might not have thought of," Banerjee said. "When we are talking about solutions to a problem, we must recognize that solutions cannot be imposed. They have to be developed, they have to be appropriate, they have to be a product of communication and cooperation."

Ron Denham, chair of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group and a member of the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton, Ontario, Canada, said it is especially important to choose appropriate technology for water projects in low-income areas.  

"Appropriate technology means that the technology is within the capability and capacity of the people to use. It has to be very simple," he said. "The community also has to be able to afford to operate and maintain the facility." 

The day's events brought together a wealth of expertise in water technology in a country that is the world's leader in water conservation.

Conference organizer Avner Fuchs, past governor of District 2490 and a member of the Rotary Club of Gedera, explained that Israel exists in a "permanent state of water shortage. We cannot waste any water, so we look at ways not only to use less water, but to reuse water in every way we can." 

Fuchs said Israel recycles 75 percent of its uncontaminated wastewater, adding that the figure will rise to 95 percent by 2020. "Reclaimed water goes into things like cotton, trees, flowers -- anything that people don’t end up eating or drinking," he said.  

For more information:  

• Find out how you and your Rotary club can get involved in a sustainable water project through the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group. 
• Learn about Rotary's areas of focus, including water and sanitation.

Making time for family and Rotary

Making time for family and Rotary

By Arnold R. Grahl  

Rotary International News -- 8 December 2011  

(article taken from RI website: www.rotary.org)

When Bill Simmermon joined the Rotary Club of Highlands Ranch (Littleton), Colorado, USA, six years ago, he wanted to be an active member without sacrificing time with his family.   

So the father of two brought his sons along to lunch meetings and involved them in club activities. His eldest son, Denver, has taken part in community and international service projects, is a member of Interact , and has been the featured speaker several times at the club's weekly meeting. And Simmermon's wife has been an active part of the club. 

"My family is all in," Simmermon says. "My involvement with Rotary doesn't conflict with family time. It has actually enhanced our family time, because we are all there together." 

On RI's official LinkedIn group, several Rotarians also discussed the benefits of involving their family in Rotary. Henna Budhrani, a member of the Rotary club of St. Maarten, Sint Maarten, says she has included her children in the club's holiday food distribution to the elderly. Her kids will also attend the club's annual Christmas party for children from low-income families. 

(Denver Simmermon takes part in a medical mission in Nicaragua, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Highlands Ranch (Littleton), Colorado, USA. Photo courtesy of Bill Simmermon)

Like father, like son

Bruce Thomson belongs to the same club as his father, the Rotary Club of Lynnwood, Washington, USA, and both are past presidents. Long before he joined, however, Thomson notes he took part in the club's annual projects, along with his mother and four sisters. His children now help out in club projects. 

"Our club serves as the conduit for our family's community service," Thomson says. 

"Rotary has had a major impact in our family evolution and that has impacted the community." 

"Rotary has something to offer the whole family," Simmermon says. "For some of our members, the No. 1 reason they were interested in Rotary was that they could get their children involved in service projects. There's a big push in high schools to have children take part in community service, and it looks good on their transcript when they apply for college." 

And he notes that The Four-Way Test and Rotary's other guiding principles are useful for parents. 

"The same values Rotary stands for are values we believe in as a family," he says. "We want to pass along those values to our children." 

Family is on the minds of many Rotarians in December, as Rotary celebrates Family Month. In addition to recognizing the importance of families in Rotary, the month celebrates the family of Rotary, which includes Rotarians and all those involved in Rotary's work -- from Rotary Foundation program alumni to participants in Rotary youth programs around the world. 

For more resources: 

• See suggestions from other Rotarians about making clubs family friendly. 
• Watch the Rotary Minute, "Is Your Club Family Friendly?" 
• Read the discussion on RI's official LinkedIn group "Does your family get involved with Rotary?" 
• See photos shared by Rotarians in our Family of Rotary Flickr group. 

• Learn more about Rotary's guiding principles. 

DG Nominee Designate 2014-2015

Official Publication of District Governor Nominating Committee Results as required by Rotary International Manual of Procedure

The District Nominating Committee has interviewed Rotarians who were formally suggested by Rotary Clubs for the position of District Governor in 2014-15.  The chosen nominee is Kevin Eisenberg of the Rotary Club of Calistoga.  The Nominating Committee consists of the five most recently serving Past District Governors.  If any Club having suggested a different candidate wishes to challenge the decision and call for a ballot-by-mail of the membership, said club must notify the District Governor of its intention to file a challenge by December 19, and will receive further instructions. On December 20,  no challenges being brought, our district’s nomination will be official.

Respectfully submitted by District Governor Maureen Merrill

CANCELLED

January 4 dinner with RI President Kalyan Banerjee at DoubleTree Hotel, Sacramento is CANCELLED. DG Maureen Merrill informed us in her email.