Introduction

September is New Generations Month, so think about ways your club can become more involved with the next generation of Rotary – our youth. Does your club sponsor an Interact club? If so, when was the last time you conducted a joint service project with the Interactors? Is your club involved in your district’s Rotary Youth Exchange program? Does it nominate outstanding youth from your community to participate in Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)? Has it conducted any recent service projects benefiting local youth? Don’t forget Rotaractors!

Your club’s involvement in youth programs not only can help attract younger prospective members who have families, but also can lead to increased satisfaction and retention among current members, who gain a sense of fulfillment by working with young people. As an added benefit, involving your community’s youth in Rotary’s programs and service projects teaches them about Rotary’s extraordinary work and prepares them to become the Rotarians of tomorrow.

But more importantly our involvement with youth makes these young adults better citizens of their community and the world.

District Chairs:

Youth Exchange:  Chris Edgell  http://www.rotary7040.com/program-ye.php

Interact:  PDG Bette Miller  http://www.rotary7040.com/program-interact.php

Rotaract:  Pat Brown   http://www.rotary7040.com/program-rotaract.php

RYLA:  Daniel Godbout   http://www.rotary7040.com/program-ryla.php 

All these committees need your support.  We need representation from each area of the district.  If you are interested in helping contact the committee chair.

 

Support of Youth with Handicaps:

This Summer, I was impressed with the support our district clubs give to youth with handicaps and their families. Especially the support given to two summer camp programs. On August 27th, I attended the 60th Anniversary of the Easter Seals Camp Merrywood in Perth.  I was amazed at the support this camp receives from Ontario Rotary Clubs.  In Northern New York, the Rotary Clubs in Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties support the NYSARC camp at Dodge Pond.  This year a basketball court was built for the camp. These camps not only provide a quality outdoor experience to the children with handicaps, but a rest for their families. 

 

From the Character Counts Newsletter:

Lets face it.  Personal trauma and tragedy – like illness or injury, death of a loved one, loss of a job, or an unexpected breakup of a relationship – are unavoidable. The question is: Will these private calamities erode our capacity to be happy or help us become stronger and better able to live a meaningful and fulfilling life?

Consider how differently carrots, eggs, and coffee beans are affected by the extreme adversity of being boiled.

Like the carrot, adversity can soften us. We can emerge more flexible, understanding, compassionate, and grateful or we can let our life spirit turn into a soft mush. Like the egg, the boiling water can make us harder, stronger, tougher, and wiser or we can become more cynical, pessimistic, callous, and inaccessible. And like the coffee bean, we can willingly transform our lives into something better or simply lose ourselves completely.

We can’t control what happens to us, but we have a lot to say about how we react and, therefore, what happens in us. The first step to turning adversity into advantage is to get out of the hot water as quickly as possible. Don’t dwell on catastrophe. Grieve, but move on. Don’t define your life by misfortune.

Second, force yourself to move forward. Draw on inner strengths, the people who love you, and your faith to help you transform your life into something better. Formulate a vision of a more purposeful life filled with people and experiences that will help you become more fulfilled.

 

Victoria and Iqaluit

September was highlighted by the events of two weeks.  First was my visit to Iqaluit, Nunavut and the second was the Zone 22 Institute in Victoria, BC.  I have spoke of both experiences since my travels and I have been changed by both experiences.  In many ways, both were learning experiences. 

In Victoria, I was struck by the beauty and the affluence of the community, but as the Honorable Steven Point,Lt. Governor, pointed out their are still opportunities for service in the native communities of British Columbia and one did not have to go too many blocks in Victoria to see the homeless on the streets.

And during my visit to Iqaluit, I was struck by difference of the scenery compared to my Adirondack upbringing, but the beauty of the trundra and the art made by the Inuit people.  There are many opportunities for service in that community also, especially help for the children.

I have invited the Iqaluit Rotary Club to become more active in our District and would like to invite District clubs here in the south to join the Iqaluit Club in projects in their community, helping the young children.  http://www.rotary7040.com/clubs.php?scope=nu&lang=en

I also took an expedited chef training course from Chef Ray Lovell, President of the Iqaluit Rotary Club.  I still can’t cook, but I can cut a mean arctic char.

Thank you to the Iqaluit Rotary Club and President Ray!