October 2007

October was another month of substantial travel that brought my wife, Joan, and me into contact with Rotarians in several parts of the world. After two days in Evanston, we flew to Connecticut to attend the Rotary Institute for Zones 31 and 32 in Groton. It was an excellent institute. One of the highlights for me was having the opportunity to read to third-grade students at the Stonetown Public Library.

On 8 October, after four beautiful days in Connecticut, we traveled south to Atlantic City where New Jersey Rotarians had assembled for their annual vocational meeting. That afternoon we drove to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to catch a flight to Los Angeles so we could address the biannual meeting of Rotary World Magazine Press editors.

While in the area, we also visited nearby Long Beach and attended the Rotary Institute for Zones 23 and 24. While there, I was fascinated by the location of the local Rotary club meeting. The Rotary Club of Long Beach holds its meeting on the old Queen Mary, which is used as a hotel while it’s dry docked in the city harbor. Also, before leaving California, I attended a Los Angeles Convention Committee meeting and listened to their plans for what is sure to be an excellent convention in June.

On Monday, 15 October, we returned to Evanston. In addition to attending to my many administrative duties, I was able to visit with the RI Microcredit Resource Group as well as the RI Finance Committee. On 17 October, we flew to Korea.

At the Rotary Institute for Zone 9 in Cheng-ju, I had the pleasant duty of presenting Past RI Director In Sang Song with the RI Award of Honor. We were extremely pleased to participate in the institute, which had more than 400 Rotarians in attendance and gave us a new insight into the work and enthusiasm of Korean Rotarians. In Cheng-ju, I also received an honorary doctorate of business administration from the Chungbuk National University.

We flew back to Evanston on 22 October but were not there very long. The next morning we traveled to Rochester, New York, for the historic Eastern Cities Fellowship dinner, where more than 800 Rotarians had gathered. We had an opportunity to shake hands with almost 100 new Rotarians!

On Wednesday, 24 October, we drove through New York’s beautiful Finger Lakes region and viewed the autumn colors. In the evening, we were in Endicott, where approximately 400 Rotarians from District 7170 had assembled for a Rotary Foundation dinner. Here, again, I had the pleasure of shaking hands with more than 50 new Rotarians.

The next morning we were off to New York City, where Rotary was being recognized by the UN Association of New York. Joan and I attended the award ceremony, and we received a beautiful crystal award for Rotary’s worldwide efforts in providing clean water. This was a real tribute to Rotary’s Water Resource Group, chaired by Past District Governor Ron Denham, and it brought accolades to our organization from a very distinguished audience, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

It was back to Evanston on 26 October to meet with the RI/Rotary Foundation joint committees and prepare for the RI Board meeting, which convened Monday, 29 October, and ended Friday, 2 November.

This may sound like a lot of travel, but I can assure you that Joan and I were energized by the enthusiasm for Rotary we saw everywhere we went, which makes us look forward to next month with great anticipation.