Submitted by: Blaine Johnson, District Governor 2018-2019
On October 24 we celebrate the sixth annual World Polio Day. Rotary International will be live streaming the event from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this year. You can find more information at https://www.endpolio.org/world-polio-day.
This year has proven to be a difficult battle as we Drop to Zero. To date there have been 19 cases of the wild polio virus reported - fifteen in Afghanistan and four in Pakistan. Last year at this time only 11 cases were reported; a reminder of why we must be tenacious in seeing this campaign to the end. National Immunization Days in August alone vaccinated 9.1 million children in Afghanistan.
There remain three endemic countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. The last case of the wild polio virus reported in Nigeria was August 2016, and we look forward to the day when Nigeria will be declared polio free.
Rotary’s focus in October is Economic and Community Development. We often overlook the economic impact that the End Polio Now campaign has made.
Barry Rassin, Rotary International President 2018-19
One early June, more than 30 years ago, I had a business trip scheduled to Las Vegas. I had been a Rotarian for about six years, and I thought of myself as an active member: I attended every meeting, I’d served as club secretary, I knew everyone in my club. But for me, Rotary was very much a community organization. It connected me to Nassau and perhaps even to the Bahamas — but no farther.
I had never given much thought to Rotary beyond the Bahamas, and it had never crossed my mind to travel to a Rotary convention. But that spring, I realized that my trip to Las Vegas would coincide with the Rotary International Convention and thought, why not? I sent in my registration and paid my fees, never suspecting that the experience would change my life.
When I walked through the doors of that convention, I was stunned. It was one thing to know that I was part of a global organization with over a million members around the world. It was something else altogether to stand there in the middle of it.
President Ian Riseley wanted Rotarians to look towards the environment so he created “The Rotary International President's Tree Planting Challenge 2017-18!” Rotarians around the world enthusiastically took President Riseley's tree planting challenge to heart, placing service above self by serving the environment and planting many millions of trees. Healthy trees are the foundation for a healthy environment and a healthy environment will create a healthy community.
District 5580 Rotarians attended a One Rotary Summit in Fargo on Saturday, October 13 and participated with great energy. Many of the attendees attended last year’s session and understood the excitement and ideas that are generated by the summits.
One Rotary Summit is a focus on the way we keep our organization strong. Rather than a session repeated annually it is a summit to share ideas and approaches to strengthen our clubs with new presentations and information shared each year. Fargo attendees were very engaged and shared many ideas. The ideas shared were captured and were emailed to attendees by District Executive Secretary Gloria.
Many ideas included ensuring we understand that sharing the news of our great foundation projects, both locally and internationally, can enhance our Public Image which generates interest in joining our clubs. Presenters and attendees shared actions that have been effective to do just that!
Past District Governor Debra Warner and District Trainer Linda Marrin are In the Zone … and so are you!
You are a part of a large and amazing organization! Rotary International has 1.2 million members organized into 35,000+ clubs in over 400 countries.
Those 35,000+ clubs are organized into 535 districts to support them in fulfilling the Object of Rotary*. Our District (#5580) is made up of 66 clubs. District leadership is selected from Rotarians in our clubs. These leaders are charged with supporting our clubs by offering information and assistance to issues identified by club members throughout the district.
The District 5580 4-Way Essay Contest materials are now available and ready for you to download and print. The essay contest is open to students in their final 2 years of high school, and the District winner will receive a $1,250 cash award (includes Regional Award of $150). Six Regional Winners will each receive a cash price of $150.
Clubs are encouraged to begin contacting their schools and distributing materials as soon as possible. Your club’s participation is a statement of interest in the ideas of our young people and demonstrates our belief that it is important to reward our youth for expressing their views in a constructive and meaningful way.
Students in their final 2 years of high school are eligible to participate, preparing an essay of 500 to 1,000 words in length, and using a topic of their choice that incorporates the use of the Rotary 4-Way Test:
You don’t have to travel to Philadelphia to take part in Rotary’s World Polio Day event on 24 October. You can watch a livestream of the proceedings with the Twin Ports Rotaract Club in Duluth, MN on October 24th at 5:30pm. Check out the event page on Facebook for more information.
District 5580 had its first Rotaract District Conference October 12-14 at Broadwater Lodge in Hackensack, Minnesota. Rotaract clubs in attendance included Twin Ports Rotaract Club and Rotaract Club of Thunder Bay. The conference was held to connect clubs in the district and provide an environment for collaboration and discussion.
Submitted by: Scott Soderberg, Communications Chair
Photos courtesy of Rotarian Karl Everett
The 17th Annual Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival took place August 24th -25th on Barker’s Island in Superior, WI. Produced by 3 Rotary clubs, Duluth Harbortown, Superior Club #40 and Superior Sunrise Centennial Rotary. 65 teams on the water included North Shore, Bemidji, Duluth #25 & Eco Rotary (combined) along with Canadian teams from Thunder Bay and Winnipeg, a great contingent from the breast cancer survivor groups and even a crazy Irishman who magically appears every year and answers to Michael Murphy!
Thank you for your donation to support the development of Sacred Beginnings, Spirit Lake Group prenatal care program!
Thank you for contributions from Pelican Rapids, Bagley Rotary, and Devils Lake Rotary for making this possible! Other groups joined, including CHI St. Alexius and Altru in Devils Lake and March of Dimes, to provide nearly $10,000 for program development! Last Friday, Rotarians from the Devils Lake Rotary (and me, from FMAM Rotary in Fargo), joined to do a check presentation to Spirit Lake; I’m attaching the beautiful photo of the event!
Allyson Bartlett, program director at Sacred Beginnings of Spirit Lake, is helping to share the excitement of group prenatal care to other indigenous groups in the area and she is already working with groups that are part of the Rotary Global Grant to develop prenatal care!