The RI Convention is only 4 months away. This is the time to get registered, find a hotel, and make travel arrangements. I may be getting ahead of myself, so I will go back a few steps to let you know why you should attend.
I have attended two RI Conventions—one in Sao Paulo, Brazil and one in Seoul, Korea. In Sao Paulo there were 14,000 attendees and in Seoul there were 45,000. They were both fantastic! The crowds did not impact the experience. Seoul was just as easy to get around as Sao Paulo. Each had phenomenal speakers, many world famous and many not so famous. Each had an outstanding message. I do need to tell a story of my trip to Sao Paulo. The first day of the Convention, Carla and I went to register. It only took 5 minutes, as did Seoul. Since we had two hours until the Convention started we went to the House of Friendship. This is a place with local food and a place to meet Rotarians. We were the first ones there. We sat down with a fruit drink at a table for six. Soon we were joined by two Rotarians from England. We talked and soon I had new friends. In the next two hours, I met Rotarians from every continent in the world except Antarctica and made friends. I was truly amazed! At lunch that afternoon, I was sharing my experience to a Rotarian from Kenya. I told him how amazed I was to meet all these people. He said it was not amazing at all—“As Rotarians we are all friends; we just have not met.” He was profoundly correct. As Rotarians, we have similar values and it is easy to make a new friend.
Please join me and Carla in Atlanta this year. Hopefully, you will have an experience like Carla and I had. You will certainly meet Rotarians from all over the world. You will hear from some outstanding speakers. Bill Gates is speaking again this year. There will be others that will inspire you to greater things in Rotary. You will make friends. You can do all this and not leave the United States. We will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Rotary Foundation and learn how the fight to end Polio is doing.
This is a great opportunity to see what Rotary INTERNATIONAL is. See the scope of Rotary and see what can happen if you can get involved.
Did you know that 48 Rotarians from Idaho are already registered for the Rotary International Conference in Atlanta? Would you like to join them to celebrate 100 years of the Rotary Foundation? Did you also know that Nampa Rotarian, Kenton Lee, Founder and Inventor of The Shoe That Grows will be in the House of Friendship, showcasing his social solution? Consider joining us in Atlanta, June 10th through the 14th to celebrate all things Rotary, and then be ready to come home and celebrate 100 Years of Rotary in Idaho, in Boise on June 22nd and 24th.
Eagle/Garden City Rotary Club will hold their 3rd annual TO DIE FOR CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL on Saturday, March 4, 2017 at the Meridian Senior Center from 5:30 to 8:30. This is expected to be the biggest festival so far, with various chocolate and dessert vendors offering tastings of their delicious wares. There will be a “wine wall” again this year, featuring wines worth from $20 to $100 per bottle or more which can be purchased by guests for a flat price. The exciting part is that the wine will be in bags so guests will not know what wine they are purchasing until they pay their money, choose the bag they like and open it. Adding to the fun and entertainment, will be a silent auction. The proceeds will be used to provide incentives for Eagle Academy graduates who have overcome tremendous obstacles to go on to college. To purchase tickets or for more information contact Cathy Sears at jcsears625@gmail.com or any club member.
Congratulations to the following twelve clubs that have added to their cumulative membership numbers since July 1, 2016: Boise Metro (6), Boise East, Blackfoot, Preston, McCall, and Boise Sunrise (2 each), American Falls, Buhl, East Idaho Falls, Pocatello-Centennial, Pocatello-Portneuf, and Emmett (1 each).
We can still reach our goals set by our current club presidents of 1,888 by June 30th if we are intentional about making it happen. Club leadership will receive the current numbers so they can share with their respective clubs. We can all be a part of the movement to share the power of Rotary and our impact in our district by each of us, bringing one new member into the Rotary family.
It is the time to share that, “Rotary is where neighbors, friends, problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change.”
Together we can recruit, engage and retain 125 new, excited, and committed Rotarians before June 30, 2017 to make a difference in the world.
It’s time you all met our new District 5400 trainer: Bob Lee. Bob is on the board of the Pocatello Rotary Club and recently retired from a long career as a teacher/administrator/curriculum writer for the LDS Church Educational System. Bob also served as a chaplain in the Idaho Army National Guard. He’s been a member of the Pocatello Club for six years. Bob retired three years ago but his wife, Peggy, said, “You can retire but you can’t disrupt my routine.” So, Bob found part-time employment as an operations officer for the Gem Prep Public Charter School in Pocatello, working with Kindergarten through Fourth-Grade students. He tutors young students in math and English and loves the chance to see young minds grasp concepts they’ve struggled with.
Bob and Peggy are the parents of 8 children, all married; and they have 30 grandchildren, with one on the way.
After watching and listening over the past year, Bob has learned to appreciate the great dedication of the District Officers. “I’m in way over my head,” he said when asked about this assignment,” but the people I work with have a great passion for service and making the world a better place. It’s an honor to serve with them.”
Not a novice to community service, Bob has served as chairman of the Advisory Board for the Idaho Museum of Natural History, the District Commissioner for the Tendoy District of the Boy Scouts of America, a member of the board of directors for the Idaho International Choral Festival and President of the California San Fernando Mission of the LDS Church.
We welcome Bob to this new assignment and hope you will take advantage his life-time of experience as an educator.
Every summer, 100 teenagers from around Idaho share a long weekend at the College of Southern Idaho for an intensive four day leadership camp. High school students who are incoming juniors to outgoing seniors are sponsored by Rotary clubs to attend the camp, with the Rotary club paying the $375 cost. The Rotary Youth Leadership Award camp, RYLA, is "For Youth, By Youth", meaning the camp is planned and lead by students who have previously attended. The camp is experiential; activities are hands-on and interactive, we avoid classroom style lectures.
The leadership training focuses on everyday leadership. To lead, you must believe in your own abilities. Being a leader means you work with others; seeing the world through their eyes. In the process, many life long friendships have been made. The RYLA experience is focused on guiding the students to discover a strong sense of confidence in oneself and expressing empathy for others, which is driven through the strong supportive environment created during the long weekend. RYLA allows these one hundred teenagers to identify and celebrate their abilities. In the process, many life long friendships have been made.
Applications and brochures are available on the District Website.
Applications for Rotary Foundation district grants are being accepted now for the 2017-2018 grant year. The amount available to us next year is $45,077. Applications are to be submitted online at http://www.matchinggrants.org. The deadline for submission of a completed application is June 1, 2017. Each club is encouraged to develop a qualifying project. Instructions to apply for a Rotary Foundation district grant are at the District 5400 website ( www.rotary5400.org -> Grants -> TRF District Grants -> District Block Grant Instructions 2017-2018 ). If you have questions about proposed projects or working through the application, please contact Jedd Thomas at (208) 339-1185 or at jedd.thomas@bankofcommerce.org. Clubs with overdue reports from previous years' grants are not eligible for a 2017-18 grant. The deadline for progress or final reports is May 15, 2017.
Last Saturday some 25 District 5400 leaders converged on twin Falls for a day of Visioning - where do we want our District to be in the future? And how do we get there? Our Facilitator was Rotarian Joe Kovarik from District 5960 (Minneapolis). He did an excellent job keeping us on track, filling white poster papers and reaching a logical conclusion. It was a fun exercise - create a headline you'd imagine seeing three years from now. For example, "the Average Age of Rotarians had gone down 10%", or "District Membership Had Increased by 10%", and many other clever ideas!
Two-thirds of the way through our Rotary Foundation Centennial year, it’s time to view our progress toward our goals and achievements.
Nearly ½ of the clubs are 2/3 of the way to their Annual Fund goal. Check the Monthly Contribution Report at www.rotary.org to see how your club is doing.
29 of 42 clubs have provided financial assistance to the effort to eradicate polio. Remember: our money is matched 2:1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Two clubs have become 100% Paul Harris Fellow Clubs. How many more will follow before the district conference to honor our late PDG Rusty Broughton? I know of six who are working on it!
We have 3 new Bequest Society members whose commitments to the Endowment Fund exceed $360,000; 7 new Paul Harris Society members who give $1,000 a year to TRF; 7 new Major Donors – 2 of them at level 2 and 1 at level 3. There’s still time to reach 100 total of these three designations of donors.
Grant season for 2017-18 has begun, and all 42 clubs should apply for a Rotary Foundation district grant.
District 5400 has 155 first-time Paul Harris Fellows since July. How many more are there to come?
The Rotary Foundation is OUR charity. Its grants support the causes we as Rotarians care about, enabling us to do the humanitarian service of Rotary in education, literacy, and the alleviation of poverty. Imagine the work we could do if all 1805 of us in District 5400 would give to Annual Fund-SHARE this year!
With support from the Rotary Club of Nampa, club member Kenton Lee will have a booth for The Shoe That Grows at the 2017 Rotary International Convention from June 10-14 in Atlanta.
The Shoe That Grows is a Nampa-based non-profit started in 2007 when Kenton was living and working in Nairobi, Kenya. One day while walking with the kids, he noticed a little girl in a white dress next to him who had shoes that were way too small for her feet. He thought: “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a shoe that could adjust and expand – so that kids always had a pair of shoes that fit?”
Kenton and his team struggled through rejection from shoe companies and failed attempts at prototypes, but after 5 years of hard work, they found a solution.
At the international convention, Kenton’s booth will be at the Friendship House.
“We essentially rely on connections and relationships with people who work with kids around the world,” Kenton said. “So this is a perfect opportunity to connect with people. There will be people from all over the world who care a great deal about "service about self" - especially to kids. And if they need good shoes for their kids - we think we have a great solution for that! We have been to a dozen or so conferences - and this should be the MOST people who are right in our wheelhouse of people who travel or live internationally and care a ton about helping kids.”
Rotary Club of Western Treasure Valley
PO Box 734
Ontario, OR 97914 14th Annual Chuck Smith Rotary Golf Tournament
Come and join us for a great day on the Country View Golf Course
Any day on the golf course is better than a great day at work…
June 9, 2017
Country View Golf Course
Tee time 9:00 a.m. (check in starting at 8:15 a.m.)
Proceeds benefit the Laxson Rotary Park in Ontario.
Presidents Elect Training Seminar (PETS) is just around the corner March 10-11. Who needs to attend? RI requires that all President Elects attend but my experience is that the next in line, PE nominee, participate also. The reason is that there is a lot of material to take in and two times is better than one. Secondly we all are busy people and like this year some PE’s are not able to attend. Fortunately they did attend as PE nominee’s.
The District trainer – Robert Lee has brought a plethora of ideas to PETS leadership training program. Some of the subjects that we will focus on will be – Why Rotary – Public Image – The Ups and Downs of Your Club – Club Central, and more (so bring your laptops). Yes, this is a two day training event but I guarantee you it will be fast moving and inspiring. This event has two goals – first bring you up to speed on what Rotary expects from you as an incoming leader and two become acquainted with your class mates and especially your Assistant Governor. Your partner or spouse are welcome to attend just let us know.
Thank you for being a Rotary leader who will “Make a Difference” by Ride’n for the Brand.
Posted by Terry Ziegler, District 5890 on Feb 26, 2017
Two Polio cases reported this week.
Japan - A US$ 33.3 million grant from the Government of Japan in humanitarian emergency funding to UNICEF was announced this week and will help to protect millions of children from Polio in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
Japan remains one of the champion donors to the GPEI and the Global Health agenda in general, with contributions to Polio eradication through UNICEF since 2002 totaling more than US$ 333 million. This funding – and the leadership provided by both the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) process and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s innovative soft loan in partnership with BMGF in Nigeria and Pakistan for Polio eradication – has proven instrumental in the historic reduction of wild poliovirus transmission globally.
Nampa Train Depot will receive a $1,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Canyon County Sunrise on Friday, March 3, 2017 at 11:00 A.M.
The donation is being made in the memory of Fred Christensen who was a dedicated Rotarian for over 50 years, organizer of the Canyon County Historical Society, and a devoted supporter of the Nampa Train Depot. After serving as a member of the Rotary Club of Nampa, Fred was a founding father of the Rotary Club of Canyon County Sunrise.
Fred's wife Dottie and sons Eric and Marc will be in attendance and friends and Rotarians are invited to participate. A Tribute Plaque presentation by Fred's Rotary Club President, Clovis Johnson, in memory of Fred will be presented to Larry Cain, President, Canyon County Historical Socie
The Rotary Club of Emmett proudly announces the 45th Annual Youth Benefit and Auction will be held May 6, 2017 in the Emmett City Park. The theme this year is “Flip Flops & Flamingos presents A BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL” in honor of our Brazilian Rotary Exchange student, Helena Miapoloma, a senior at Emmett High School. A “meet and greet” will begin at 3:30 pm, dinner starts at 5 pm and the auction will follow. We are now collecting items for both the silent and live auctions and if you would like to donate, please email Kathy Buck at klrainbow49@gmail.com. We have already had two tickets for the Mtn. Home Country Music Festival donated!
Posted by John D. Biggs, Public Image on Feb 26, 2017
Last year Rotary International unveiled a new catalogue of brand images that we are required to use. Understandably, it takes some time to replace all those old logos and lapel pins! But you probably forgot about those "Welcome" signs that are at the entrance to your towns on the main highway! These need to be replaced, too! The signs can be purchased from Rotary vendors. Looks like they cost about $200 each.
Remember the petition we all signed last year, asking the Idaho Legislature to approve Rotary license plates? Well, it passed the full Senate last week! Dave Shaw, who spearheaded the effort, reports, "Now it must go before the house and that is a heavier lift. We need all Rotarians to call their representatives in the Idaho house and support S1070." Let's make it happen!!
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Eagle/Garden City Rotary Club will hold their 3rd annual TO DIE FOR CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL on 
It’s time you all met our new District 5400 trainer: Bob Lee. Bob is on the board of the Pocatello Rotary Club and recently retired from a long career as a teacher/administrator/curriculum writer for the LDS Church Educational System. Bob also served as a chaplain in the Idaho Army National Guard. He’s been a member of the Pocatello Club for six years. Bob retired three years ago but his wife, Peggy, said, “You can retire but you can’t disrupt my routine.” So, Bob found part-time employment as an operations officer for the Gem Prep Public Charter School in Pocatello, working with Kindergarten through Fourth-Grade students. He tutors young students in math and English and loves the chance to see young minds grasp concepts they’ve struggled with.
Every summer, 100 teenagers from around Idaho share a long weekend at the College of Southern Idaho for an intensive four day leadership camp. High school students who are incoming juniors to outgoing seniors are sponsored by Rotary clubs to attend the camp, with the Rotary club paying the $375 cost. The Rotary Youth Leadership Award camp, RYLA, is "For Youth, By Youth", meaning the camp is planned and lead by students who have previously attended. The camp is experiential; activities are hands-on and interactive, we avoid classroom style lectures.
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Tee time 9:00 a.m. (check in starting at 8:15 a.m.) 
Nampa Train Depot will receive a $1,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Canyon County Sunrise on Friday, March 3, 2017 at 11:00 A.M. 
The Rotary Club of Emmett proudly announces the 45th Annual Youth Benefit and Auction will be held May 6, 2017 in the Emmett City Park. The theme this year is “Flip Flops & Flamingos presents A BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL” in honor of our Brazilian Rotary Exchange student, Helena Miapoloma, a senior at Emmett High School. A “meet and greet” will begin at 3:30 pm, dinner starts at 5 pm and the auction will follow. We are now collecting items for both the silent and live auctions and if you would like to donate, please email Kathy Buck at 
Last year Rotary International unveiled a new catalogue of brand images that we are required to use. Understandably, it takes some time to replace all those old logos and lapel pins! But you probably forgot about those "Welcome" signs that are at the entrance to your towns on the main highway! These need to be replaced, too! The signs can be purchased from Rotary vendors. Looks like they cost about $200 each.
