Submitted by Irene Sottile, Assistant Rotary Coordinator 

Rotary Zone 28 - Districts 5580, 5950, 5960

On September 30th my husband Sante and I drove to Duluth to take part in our District’s One Rotary Summit (ORS).

Why did we go? We wanted to be inspired and get some fresh new ideas to take home back to our Fort William Rotary Club in Thunder Bay.

There is a new Rotary Campaign – we are “People of Action” –that is being rolled out to inspire and connect Rotarians.

There were 40 Rotarians at the ORS – including a super energized Rotaract group! We broke up into small groups and had a chance to meet new members and compare strategies.  Talk about enthusiasm and noise!

 

Branden Robinson, the in-training District Membership Chair, started to “Set the Stage” and spoke of Rotary’s ethical standards and how these stream into our personal lives.

Mike Cochran, Duluth Harbortown,explained how traveling to Bolivia gave him a firsthand view of how The Rotary Foundation provides a unique opportunity for personal involvement.  One learned just how hard it is for some people to survive and how Rotary changed their world by building a 17 kilometer road to give access to a Medical Clinic and to bring local agriculture to market.  We became aware that membership can be increased by letting people in the community know about projects like Bolivia and our local projects.

Craig Loughery, District Public Image Chair, had a bevy of ideas to use to let our communities know just how vital our Rotary Clubs are.  Just contact him!  We can certainly use our “People of Action” campaign to publicize our humanitarian and community actions.  Who wouldn’t want to be a member of an organization that seizes action to make a difference?

Together we watched a neat video “Seeing Red Cars” encouraging us to focus on the positive and therefore achieve what we want to do.  Small successes garner large successes and make things happen.

Our group of Rotarians discussed ideas that work, ideas to try and ideas that do not work.

Talk about inspiration and determination – just google the “Cliff Young Shuffle”!

Linda Marrin, our District Trainer, organized the ORS so well that we went home with a pocket full of things to try.

In closing, you simply must check out the Fargo-Moorehead AM’s creative and funny video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqag4TufB0&t=6s.  I can just picture the club making this video!  Inspiration to say the least!

Yours in Rotary,

Irene Sottile, Assistant Rotary Coordinator, Rotary Zone 28 - Districts 5580, 5950, 5960