Thanks to those who helped make it memorable

by DG George Fletcher

June is Rotary Fellowship Month. It will be my last month as District Governor. The year has truly exceeded my hope of Making it Memorable.

The merry month of May started with the District Conference, and there were still memorable events.

• The North Greenville Rotary Club (the Byrds, Michelle Moore, Charlie Slate) and their inbound youth exchange student Abby Bapaeva held a fund raising dinner at the Zen for the Rotary Club of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan has had a recent coup and there are many people in hospitals. Hospital stays are paid for by the government, but food for the patients must come from families. Many patients do not have families nearby, so Abby wanted to raise money here to help. The dinner raised $1100, and was to be matched in Kyrgyzstan. The Club President in Bishkek is American and he called to thank the people at the dinner.
• May 25th was Rotary night at the Greenville Drive and the DG fulfilled a lifetime dream of throwing out the first pitch. The ball went over the plate and almost made it to the catcher. The 65 year old arm is not what it used to be (and was never as good as I am inclined to remember.) The Drive won a terrific game 1-0 by scoring a run with two outs in the 9th. Their pitching was substantially better than the DG’s.
• The GSE Team created memories everywhere they went. There will be a write-up of some of the highlights of both the Canadian and Australian teams elsewhere in the newsletter. The Aussies left on Saturday, May 29th, with eight District Rotarians to send them off. The Canadian team arrived later that night. Rob Antoniazzi called Lyn Kenney from Australia to say that he made it home safely and that it was an experience of a lifetime. Thanks to everyone involved. Thanks also to the Australian team who made our own lives richer for their presence.

Still to go. Final reports. Budget reconciliation. The International Conference in Montreal. Becky Faulkner’s installation banquet on Friday, June 25th. Please attend.

There are so many people to thank for their help in making this year memorable. I am going to thank groups and people in no particular order.

Assistant Governors. Collectively you did a great job and were always there when I needed you. We will submit the Memos of Club Visits on time for perhaps the first time ever. I should outline individual acts of significance, but just let me thank you as a group.

Secretary. Steve Sokol has elevated both the technology and the competence of the District Secretaries. Thanks, Steve.

Treasurer. Bobby Elrod does a great job of tracking the District financials. Thanks, Bobby.

Rotary Club of Greenville. My home club. I could understand if you never nominate another member to be District Governor, but thanks for your huge support of the Installation Banquet, the District Conference, me and, in general, having a great year.

Rotary Club of Spartanburg. Thanks for your support of the Foundation Banquet and for having a great year.

Rotary Clubs of Greenville Evening (Ann Golden) and Emerald City (Lorraine Angelino) for being Club of the Year and First Runnerup. You make all of us shine a little brighter.

Presidential Citations: 26 Clubs won Presidential Citations. At least one more (Rock Hill) would have won, but did not submit. Congratulations to all the PC winners.

Governor Awards. Congratulations as well to all of the Bronze, Silver and Gold Governor Award winners. They were listed in last month’s newsletter.

Mentors. Sue Poss, Myles Golden, Carol Burdette. I could not have done it without you.

Elizabeth Lyons. I will remember District Conference forever. You and your committee deserve halos. I should name all the committee people, but would probably miss someone. Thanks to all of them. It was the highlight of my year.

Awards Banquet. Claire Kuhl beautifully organized the Awards Banquet and then gave a moving sermonette at the District Conference on Sunday.

Golf Tournament. Michael Fletcher and Bill Harley organized the first annual Governor’s Cup Golf Tournament. The winners took home $400, entry fee to the Rotary Club of St. Andrews Golf Tournament. I hope the Governor’s Cup continues.

Youth Exchange. David Hudspeth, Paula Byrd, Charlie Slate, Michelle Moore. If there were problems this year, I never heard of them. The movie at the District Conference was fabulous. Thank you for your passion.

A particular thanks to Ralph and Paula Byrd for their years of Rotary service. They are going to move to California to be nearer their kids. California gains, SC loses.

Charles Warne. Thank you for your service on Hunger and Health, World Community Service and for hosting my trip to Haiti. Every Rotarian should hear the story of what Charles and Gillaine have done and will do with Partners in Agriculture. I am sure that you will have a great year as President of the Rotary Club of Greenville and I look forward to supporting the Warne’s efforts in Haiti.

Al Steele. Ditto thanks for your service on Water and for my tour of Honduras. What you have done in Marcala and Copan is a story for the ages. Thank you for including me.

Sarah Mansbach raised District literacy initiatives to a new level. Thank you and good luck with your new Ready for Reading program.

Bruce Baker, Bill Shilito and the three states raised another $400,000 for Alzheimer’s research. That story is elsewhere in the newsletter. Thanks Bill and Bruce.

Myles Golden and Bruce Baker co-chaired membership. It was the area that my incoming Presidents said was their greatest concern. In fact, the District database shows more than 100 members were lost this year. It would have been worse without the efforts of Myles and Bruce. Thanks to both of you.

Pam Porter has tirelessly run RYLA for as long as I can remember. She will retire this year and in fact had to leave Rotary last fall. She will coordinate her last RYLA in June. Thanks Pam for your years of service on this great program. 

Foundation. The numbers are still out, but regardless, Rich Waugh and his Foundation Chairs (David Brown, Craig White, Isaac Shaffer, Bob Hanson, Bob McClure, Dee Kivett, Barbara Shayeb-Helou, Ken Tucker) have done yeoman’s work in a recession year. Last year, Rich and his team orchestrated a 15% increase during a recession year. It was the highest percent increase in Zone 33 and 34. A particular thanks to Craig White for organizing the grants programs.

Polio. To date, we have raised $73,796 for polio. Thanks to Barbara Shayeb-Helou for her numerous club presentations on polio. Thanks as well to the Rotary Club of Spartanburg that alone raised $20,000, and to the other large clubs for ignoring the $2000 per club mantra and working to raise $37/member. Finally, thanks to Cathy Ronald for taking over the golf ball drop which will be culminated next fall.

Group Study Exchange. You don’t realize how good someone is until you have the opportunity to work side by side with a person who has everything under control. In spite of having difficult times with his job, Ken Tucker handled two GSE teams with a competency that makes you want to stand up and give him an ovation. Thanks, Ken.

Ambassadorial Scholars. Sometimes people find passion in a volunteer job. I think that is Dee Kivett and the Ambassadorial Scholars. Thanks, Dee, for coordinating not only present Scholars, but past and future as well.

Interact and Rotaract. I had no idea the number of Interact Clubs that we had until I made my official visits. I know it has been a huge job for Joel Rexford to coordinate the Annual Meeting of SC Interact Clubs. I also appreciate the efforts of Bobby Collins on the Rotaract clubs.

Public Relations. Once again, Betty Parker Ellis nailed a $9,000 Rotary grant and there were billboards all over the District. Thanks Betty for “Humanity in Motion.”

Buddy Smith coordinated Rotary Leadership Institute. This remains the most effective training program in the Zone. Thanks, Buddy.
Four Way Test. Thanks to Linda Gallichio for keeping the ethics in front of Rotarians.

Extension. Thanks to Bert Strange, AG Babette Sabia, Clover President David George and Lake Wylie President Les Smith for making the Rotary Club of Lake Wylie a reality. They will be chartered in late June or sometime in July.

Newsletter. Once again, PDG Sue Poss produced a beautiful newsletter with minimal and at least once, no input from the DG. She also represented the District at the Council on Legislation, Chaired the PDG Council, served as President of Greenville East, and was my personal advisor (a huge job). If there is rest for the weary, I would send it to Sue as thanks.

Montreal. Thanks to Peggy Brock, a native of Montreal, for promoting the international conference.

Don Koonce. Rotarian. Scot. Fellow traveler. Creator of sets and international connections to Australia. Donated time. Anything else that I asked. Thanks Don for being a friend.

Joe Johnson. Once again the District did not benefit as it should from license plates, but Joe tried.

Incoming Leadership. There is a queue of great future leaders: Becky Faulkner, Gary Goforth, Kim Gramling. I have no doubt that this kind of leadership will do a better job than I.

Terry Weaver. District Technology Consultant. If I had to name the five smartest people I have ever known, Terry Weaver would be on the list. He is our technological guru, website coordinator, trainer for the Treasurers, management consultant and one of my personal advisors at any time day or night. I could not have done it without either him or…

Pam Weaver. District Administrator. Crap detector. Counselor. Sounding board. Detail assimilator. Pencil whipper. Wife of District Technology Consultant. Pam was also available any time day or night. Pam would send out e-mails under my name so that I did not receive the bounces. Pam organized the club visits. Pam donated more time to the District than she billed. Pam now represents institutional knowledge, something that Past District Governors have not had. I will miss her incredible perspective on details, on people, on clubs, on the world of Rotary and mostly on me. She kept me sane and mostly (well sometimes) in control. I don’t know how to say thanks.

Sarah Fletcher. I admire Carol Burdette for doing this job without a spouse. Sarah was the third person in the management triumvirate. She did a great job, including helping me rewrite my DG speech after crashing and burning at my first visit to West Spartanburg. Every spouse of a District Governor pays a price. Sarah was no exception and I thank her for her efforts.

I suspect that I have missed someone, and if so, I apologize. I reserve the right to make amends in Becky’s first Newsletter.

I will close with two numbers. 17,035 Hours. $1,303, 334. For a 12 month period, this is the total number of hours expended by the Clubs in District 7750 for service projects and the money raised for charitable purposes. The numbers by club have been put on a slide show that was run at District Conference and will be put on our website. These numbers are a great tribute to the 54 Clubs in District 7750 and should be recorded in the Book of Life.
It was truly an honor to be your District Governor. I will remember it for as long as I live and with CART, that may become a real possibility. Regardless, thanks to all of you for making this year memorable.

Back to June newsletter main page.

District Governor George Fletcher
Rotary Club of Greenville

205 Rosebay Drive | Greenville, SC 29615
864.380.6392 |DG@rotary7750.org

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