By: Tom Port
Opening Events: Lucky “Can Do” Sandhu rang the “Lunch is Served’
“ bell and performed the usual obeisance to R. I. President Ian Riseley whose motto is: “Rotary, Making a Difference”.
Greeter: John Milich ably performed the Greeter’s duties and led us in the Flag Salute and Pledge of Allegiance. John retired from his position with a major corporation and took a job with one of its customers.
Patriotic Song: Don Jones led us in “God Bless America”.
Club Matters and Announcements:
On Line Auction: It is up and running. We are shooting for at least $100,000. Please help publicize it over social media and any other means available.
Six-Club Dinner: October 4 at Crow Canyon. Dave Cark from KTVU will be the featured speaker. No luncheon the following day.
Student of the Month: Tanner and his proud parent heard Leadership teacher Erin McFerrin praise their son as putting service above self, one who shows great initiative and is always willing to volunteer wherever there is a need.
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Member’s Night Out: Interact has a fund raiser coming up September 26 at “On-Fire” Pizza from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M.
Recognitions: Marco Bronzini, Marie Galbo and Mark Hornstra were suitably honored.
Dictionary Project: Bill Harlan advised the Dictionary Project is coming up and members should consider volunteering. This is a long standing project of our club and participation in it is extremely rewarding.
Honored Speaker: Lucky could not help upstaging the inimitable Doc Harlan who was assigned the task of introducing our speaker. Lucky first heard Brad Howard speak at a Zone 25, 26 program on the Monterrey peninsula in 2010, and had been very impressed by his message. Brad is a Rotary International Director and a member of Rotary of Oakland, Uptown. He has worked tirelessly in support of polio eradication efforts and has led many trips abroad to support vaccination clinics. He is a recipient of the Prestigious Inter-service Award.
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After a few humorous digs at Stanford alums (as Ca. Berkeley grad) Brad delivered a very important message on the “changing tides” at Rotary. As Rotarians are well aware, Rotary is not faring especially well in the country from which it originated and the countries where it once was the strongest. Though it is gaining strength in nations such as Korea, Taiwan and India, membership in the U.S. Australia, Canada and the U.K. is aging significantly. “Who is our real competitor?” asked Brad. It is not Kiwanis, he said, but modern day life. Gen X-ers and Gen Y-ers tend not to be joiners. They are more into social media than social clubs. Although Rotary was founded by relatively young men, people in those age brackets today are not seeing the relevance of Rotary to their lives and careers. So, we as Rotarians need to rethink both the way we do things and the reasons why we found Rotary relevant to our own lives. Rotary does have what most folks in their twenties and thirties are seeking, even if Rotary sometimes fails to make that fact apparent. Rotary has leaders who can serve as mentors to younger professionals and entrepreneurs. Younger members can leverage those connections. Rotary offers opportunities for personal growth in ways no Facebook page can match. During the many tours Brad has led in behalf of Rotary he has seen how the Rotary experience changes lives. Rotarians return with a different outlook. People in their 30s and 40s need that kind of validation. Also, participation in Rotary affects families in profound ways, as Brad discovered when his own three-year old was greatly concerned how her outgrown clothes had been distributed to kids on another continent.
Of course Rotary needs to rethink it rites and rules and adapt to the realities of the hyper busy young leaders of tomorrow, and Rotary is actively engaged in that effort.
So, with leaders like Brad as Directors the tide is indeed rolling in and the future of Rotary remains bright.
Raffle: Glen Weber won the Greeter’s gift and Jerry Marrs won the Progressive, but drew a blue ball. Next week the prize is worth $60.00