Congratulations to Don Norton for being selected by District Governor Doug Lind as District 5610’s Rotarian of the Year. When I was asked to be the 2022-23 President over a year ago, I really wanted to say no - could I possibly have bigger shoes to fill than Don Norton’s? What a tremendous job Don has done the past two years. Like Moses in the desert, he held the club together and led us through the pandemic. Despite all the challenges, because of his leadership the club is better today than it was two years ago. Hybrid meetings and various lunch options are just a couple of improvements that come to mind. Many thanks to Sergeant-at-Arms Gregg Jongeling for their actual implementation.
But Don can’t get all the credit, because behind every good man is a good woman! How lucky we are to have Kay as a fellow member as well. What she brings to the club in terms of music, charm, and all her work as Public Image Chair is priceless. She also does a lot of great work for District 5610 that most of us seldom see or hear about.
We still have our challenges, first and foremost membership is down. COVID was and remains an impediment for many of our elderly members; indeed, many have resigned from the club. Please invite a friend, co-worker, or acquaintance to a Rotary meeting. I’m a member because Della Tschetter invited me to a meeting nine years ago and I appreciated the opportunity to learn about things going on in our community.
While the club does a lot of good work in the community (a special thanks to Michael Gonda, our Club Service Coordinator for finding lots of opportunities), I feel the club needs to find a big project to rally behind. More on this in August.
I have coordinated programs for 8 of my 9 years and have decided to retain my role as Program Chair largely because my committee is the best I have ever had and because of them the workload is light. If you have ideas for programs or speakers, please send me an email or visit with me on Tuesday. Good programs are going to be key for attracting and retaining new members.
As Past President Don Norton would say, “Thanks for making Rotary part of your day.”
-President Erich