Map of Club’s in District 7980

Here we are on Sept 22, 2013 just about 3 months into the new Rotary year (that’s Stardate -309274.167 for the Trekee followers) and it’s been a nonstop adrenaline rush since the Installation back on July 1st at Anthony’s.  It’s certainly been a great deal of work but it’s far more fun than work. We’ve all heard the expression ‘you’ll get far more out of Rotary than you will ever put in’ and I can say that it is absolutely true.

I’ve met about 80% of the Rotarians in our district so far and I am amazed by the many great Rotarians doing spectacular things in changing lives of people in our communities and around the world. So far I’ve conducted 30.5 of 61 official visits to D7980 Rotary Clubs and have been to 54 of 61 clubs already (that number increases to 57 this week). As many of you know, I’ve been to many of the clubs multiple times between club visits, official club visits (speech time), fellowships, fundraisers and projects and I always try to make myself available for new member inductions (my favorite thing to do).

I’ve made it a point to meet with the board of directors for each club during each official visit so that the Assistant Governor and I can figure out how we can help each club meet their goals. This has generally been very productive as we have come away from those meetings with good take-aways for follow-ups. The most repeated take-aways have been around: membership development, public relations, social media, fundraisers, awards/recognitions and The Rotary Foundation. The AG’s and I have begun working on these items and will circle back to the clubs with answers and resources after the official visits end. On Oct 3rd we will hold The Council of Presidents (for Club Presidents) in Stratford and work as a leadership team on many of these of these items.

My guiding principal as District Governor has been to put the needs of our Rotary Clubs as a top priority in this job with the overall goal of helping every club be (or become) as vibrant as they desire so that they can do the best possible job in their community and in the world to ‘pay it forward’. There have been so many good Rotary Club stories to tell that our blog just scratches the surface in highlighting them. Of course none of the good work that we do would be possible without the many dedicated and skilled leaders at the Club and District levels.

It has been wonderful meeting so many good people and enjoying the warm hospitality that has been extended to Jennifer and me, we are truly grateful.

I look forward to working with everyone and accomplishing some amazing things over the next 9+ months.

Thank You,

Rick Bassett

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