Some 200 Rotarians and spouses descended upon beautiful Sun Valley in time for the Friday luncheon. Over the course of the next two days, Rotarians heard inspirational talks, viewed club showcase videos, Ted talks, enjoyed some great meals, fellowship, fun and, of course, the presentation of our Youth Exchange students. Outgoing District Governor Ken Howell presided and handed over the gavel to incoming DG Jim Hogge at the end of the conference on Saturday night.
I would like to congratulate Governor Ken and his team for an outstanding District Conference. The speakers were excellent and everything ran on time.
As Governor Ken ends at our District Governor, I want to thank him for his outstanding leadership and hope that the next year brings quiet time that was missing in the 2015-16 year.
The experiment with the Club Showcase and the TEDtalks was phenomenal. I can assure everyone that this will continue next year. I encourage the Clubs to start planning now for next year’s Conference.
I am planning my visits to all the Clubs. I have been looking forward to the Club visits since I was selected as District Governor. I want to hear about all the good things your Club is doing and share the successes from other Clubs around the District.
Don Reiman, long time Rotarian from Boise Downtown, kept the schedule running smoothly. His wife, Mary, a member of Boise Metro, was not scheduled to arrive until the following day so he took the opportunity to make LOTS of disparaging remarks about her. He complained about her cooking (special German sauce (Heinz)....... But he's the one who said Nothing that happens in Sun Valley...knowing that Mary would hear all about his unflattering comments when she arrived!
Many thanks to the Sun Valley Resort for the great job they do in hosting our convention. Our meals were awesome! Friday luncheon was a tender breaded chicken filet, Friday night featured Osso Bucco, Saturday was meat loaf for lunch and a tender Prime Rib for dinner. The deserts were not to be passed up!
Every year at District Conference, Saturday's presentation of the inbound and outbound Youth Exchange students is a highlight. John Lodal and Tom Rosenthal introduced us to 17 Inbounds and 15 Outbounds. This year they were excited to add Denmark as a partner country. We heard a half dozen of these sharp young people talk about their experiences and their dreams. When you hear them, it gives one a sense that our future is secure!
Thanks to Bruce and Barbara Turner of Idaho Falls Rotary for organizing this year's 5K. Fifteen runners, walkers/joggers/sloggers/crawlers enjoyed an early 6:00AM start but were awarded with pastries and juice at the finish! A beautiful course around Sun Valley's many walking paths. (Was it even light at that time?)
Bob Scott, a Canadian Rotarian and former Trustee of the Rotary Foundation, and former Chair of the International PolioPlus Committee, brought us news about the great progress that has been made in eliminating Polio. We're almost there, but not just yet. In fact, an increasing concern is the cases of Polio that are being caused by the vaccine itself. There's a new vaccine which was introduced just last month. The remaining problem countries are Afghanistan and Pakistan. The former is the most problematic, but Pakistan is a "war zone" where more than 200 volunteers have been murdered. Our District has done a great job in supporting PolioPlus - keep up the great work!
We did an awesome job selling those Raffle tickets! We sold a total of $53,900 worth!! Stephanie Adams from Pocatello sold the most tickets. Prizes went from ipods to fitbits to xboxes to monster TVs. The Grand Prize ticket, the AAA cruise, was drawn by Janice Fulkerson from Boise Metro and went to Lisa Schultz, Rotarian from Idaho Falls.
The Annual District Club Awards featured Boise Centennial Rotary taking the top spot! They were awarded the Humanity in Motion Award which comes with a check for $1,000. Congratulations! The Distinguished Club awards went to Nampa Rotary, Idaho Falls Rotary and Pocatello Centennial Rotary.
Our Saturday evening keynote speaker was Daniel Himelspach, a long time Rotarian from Denver. He acknowledged what we all know - that Rotary's membership is declining, particularly in the USA. To ensure a successful future, we have to embrace new expectations; recognize that "change is what it means to be a Rotarian". We need to put emphasis on participation in service projects, not attending our weekly meetings. We need to increase our diversity; be more flexible to those with limited resources and time; "get our ask in gear".
The 2016 Council of Legislation, which recently concluded, has made changes to the Rotary rules which allow for much more flexibility in terms of meetings and attendance; making Rotary accessible to more people.
Ron Price, a long time member of Nampa Rotary, gave a great talk after dinner on Friday. After reminding us of the Inspirational and Aspirational messages of Rotary, he talked about types of leadership:
Positional Leadership - follow the position, not the person (reminder to club officers: know your by-laws!)
Expert Leadership - people follow because of what you know; keep your expertise up to date
Character Leadership - values, self control, honesty, personal accountability
He talked about the characteristics of great leaders:
They "brood" chreativity
Convert problems into opportunities
Inspire people to make commitments
Serve a purpose that transcends self interest and self promotion
Friday night's dinner featured the Youth Exchange Students making a grand entrance with their national flags. The theme of this year's event was "Rotary Through the Ages". Rotarians were encouraged to dress the part. The award for best outfits went to John and Jennifer "The Flapper" Deroin
Its an interesting thing about the Rotary World. As of July 1st of each year, EVERY SINGLE ROTARY OFFICER, FROM THE RI PRESIDENT TO THE CLUB DIRECTORS, changes! Imagine trying to run a corporation with that kind of management turnover! But that's how we keep a constant flow of new blood and new ideas coming through our clubs and Districts.
The path to District Governor is a three year adventure. Once a nominee is selected by the District Leadership Council, the nominee spends the first year as District Governor Nominee (DGN), the second year as District Governor Elect (DGE) and finally, after two years of tutelage and training, the third year as District Governor (DG). They'll tell you that by the time they get to that third year as DG, its easy!
So, on July 1st, Jim Hogge of Boise Sunrise will take over from Ken Howell, who will now become the Past District Governor (PDG). And in the wings for the next two years are Terry Jones (DGE-Emmett) and Jennifer Derion (DGN-Nampa).
Don Reiman had some things to answer for when wife Mary arrived on Saturday........next year we'll start celebrating Rotary's 100th year in Idaho.....some great PR opportunities there.... Kevin Bradshaw, official District Videographer from Twin Falls, will be posting many of the talks on our website......thanks to Kristin Dudley for organizing the raffle tickets....Centennial's greatest achievement was to grow their membership by 25% this year! ......Jeff Dinwiddie from Boise Metro won the 65" TV - what in the world does one do with a 65" TV?? ......thanks to the clubs for the silent auction items..... I wonder how many of those little red raffle tickets were sold.....mine were worthless.........the Sun Valley bartenders weren't bashful on their prices.............Terry Jones got his milk at every meal.......start planning now to go the Rotary International Conventional in Atlanta (that's USA) next June 10-14....... does your club pay for members to attend District Conference? Maybe you should....to give the experience to newer members......start thinking now about documenting your club activities to share in next year's Club Showcase.......Terry Gilbert's club showed off some interesting art projects from the school kids.......many, many thanks to our major sponsors!...did you see the beautiful Camas Lily on your way home via Rt 20?
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