Good morning ladies and gentlemen of NGO Club!

Before I really begin, I would like to thank Doug Rupert for his
year of service to our club and for his patience and guidance this
past year. Albert Einstein said: Try not to become a man of
success but a man of value. Doug is a man of value, who has
shown me the value of listening and working hard. He has
helped prepare me for my presidency with thoughtful advice and
training. As a token of my appreciation I found a small gift at the
International Convention in New Orleans- this banner of the 4-
way test!
Why did I join Rotary? As many of you may know, I was a GSE
team member to Scotland in 1996- thanks to the eforts of frst
Betsey White and many other Rotarians from this district and in
Scotland. I realized during this experience of simply being a
guest in 7 diferent Rotarians homes over the course of the 4
weeks that- MAN-these people know how to get things done! I
came to understand what real fellowship means, and that the
Rotary Clubs that are spread throughout the world can
accomplish more than any other organization in the world
because of this fellowship. I realized in Scotland that I wanted to
be a part of this group, that if I belonged to this group, I could
make the most diference in the world. I have always longed to
be part of a group that can accomplish extraordinary things, like
our new Rotary International president Kaylan Banerjee, whose
theme is Reach Within To Embrace Humanity. Like him, I want
to change the world, to make it a happier, healthier and more
peaceful place: and it is through Rotary service that this can be
accomplished.
Rotary has already done much to change the world. Polio is
nearly gone- we are this close. Thousands of projects serving
millions of people around the world have improved so many
diferent aspects of peoples lives, from simply providing clean
water or vaccinations to providing money for special scholarships
to send the best and the brightest to graduate school in foreign
countries. But to continue to expand Rotary Clubs and their
ability to keep making these kinds of service projects viable,
Rotary has had to consider changing itself. Plans are being
made to incorporate more fexible rules of engagement. I hope
that the Milford Club will embrace the changes that are coming
to make Rotary even better. We have an amazing club here in
Milford, and we do so much for our community and the world
beyond our community. It has been so successful because of
the dedication and vision of the pillars of our community and the
continuing eforts of all our members.
As your president this year I have 4 major goals. They are:
To encourage, recruit and retain members.
To participate in a new district-wide international project in
Pakistan which will include but not be limited to A National
Immunization Day, literacy projects and some vocational
projects.
To establish a Roteract Club in our community.
To improve public relations for our club and its activities.
To retain the excellent members we do have may require some
creativity in how we conduct business. In this ever-changing and
connected world, many new and exciting choices are available to
us. Two of the major themes at this years Rotary International
meeting, and therefore by induction, two of the major problems
facing Rotary clubs around the world, are retaining current
members and attracting the new generation. There was much
made of how to attract (and keep) generation Y into clubs. Look
around DO YOU SEE ANY MEMBERS UNDER 30 HERE?
Additionally, RI recognizes that a major problem they have is the
revolving door on membership. Every year they attract hundreds
of thousands of new members, only to see the same number
leave. The total enrollment has become static - not a good thing
in our expanding world at the International level. The same is
true at our local level as well; we recruit new members, only to
loose the same or an equal number of members each year.
Change happens all the time, at every level, in every part of
society. We must embrace change. We must fnd ways of
attracting new, younger members while keeping the members
we have. This could include revising our attendance policy to
include things like working at extra service projects, conducting a
number of new member socials that not only recruit new
members, but promote our clubs as well as RIs global
accomplishments. We need to continuously improve our weekly
program so as to insure that it represents time well spent at our
meetings and that fun remains front and center. At the
conference we heard of other clubs with similar issues. For
example, one in St. Paul MN, which, faced with dwindling
membership, elected to reset their structure so that their 4
monthly meetings included only 2 required program meetings
(lunches), one evening social soiree, and one community service
efort. Their membership doubled in one year.
I am frmly committed to leading a group of Milford Rotarians to
Pakistan to participate in several service projects there. I realize
this will be a difcult destination, fraught with obstacles, but I am
still determined to pursue this course. There are a number of
members of this club and others in the district who are equally
determined to make this happen. Anyone who has not already
indicated an interest in planning this trip please let me know.
A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps
friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love. St. Basil
The next goal will be the establishment of a Roteract Club.
Similar in nature to our new Interact Club, but designed for
young people ages 18- 30. David McBee will be heading up this
efort for our club and for the district as well. Finally, not enough
people in our community know what Rotary is or does. This
needs to change, so I hope to ramp up the visibility of our club
and Rotary International with support of public service ads
specifcally and in general more publicity including newspaper
articles Radio and TV spots and billboards. Additionally we
need to have an active Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Well, as they say, the more you say, the less people remember
so I will draw this to a close.
I hope all of you will be patient with me as I journey through this
frst real major leadership role of my life. I fnd it hard to believe
that you have the faith in me to do this job, as I have had so little
experience being presidential! But as I refect on my credentials
I should consider that I did lead a classroom of usually unruly
students for 15 years, and I have raised 2 fantastic children who
have brought me great joy. I guess that counts as leadership.
My goals are few but wide-reaching. I hope to enhance
membership by focusing on retaining and recruiting fantastic
people, establish a Roteract Club here in this community,
improve the public relations of both our own club and Rotary
International. Most importantly, I will lead a trip to a beautiful
country to visit beautiful people who will welcome us with
showers of rose petals and unbelievable hospitality- to Pakistan!
William Penn said it best - I expect to pass through life but once.
If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing
I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or
neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.
Thanks so much for putting your trust in me and allowing me this
great honor. There is no greater group of people on the planet
than the Milford Rotary Club!
Goals
1.Embrace change to encourage and support mew members
to join and to retain members we have.
a.Includes alternative attendance policies that count
community service participation.
b.Conduct new member social events to recruit new
members and promote our clubs many
accomplishments
c. Keep weekly program improving to insure tour time
spent in meetings is time well spent.
2.Participate in a district-wide new international project
focused on traveling to Pakistan for an NID, literacy project
and vocational project.
3.Begin work on establishing a Roteract club in this
community.
4.Improve the public relations of our club. Not enough
people in our own community know all that Rotary does!
Needs to change. Support of TV, Radio, Newspaper and
billboard ads to increase visibility.