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Things are heating up on the District Calendar. District Training Assemblies . . . Grant Management Workshops . . . Youth Exchange Conferences . . . Rotary Leadership Institute . . . District Conference . . .
Be sure to save the dates! Keep reading for all the details.
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Posted by Tom Schmidt
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February is when we celebrate the birthday of Rotary International! February 23, 2016 marks the 111th anniversary of Rotary. Rotarians are to be reminded of the call to “Service Above Self”. This declaration is to be much more than a statement to read about or even to remember. “Service Above Self” is to be our active engagement and investment in the lives of all people.
Paul Harris in addressing the 1914 RI Convention in Houston, Texas said, “If Rotary ceases to be a responsibility and becomes a mere relaxation or pastime, its usefulness will cease.” That message is true for today. The needs of the world are enormous and much greater than can be comprehended. But the spirit of service which responds with responsibility to take action results in victory after victory of helping humanity.
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Posted by Tom Schmidt
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 On the calendar of Rotary International February is designated as Peace and Conflict Resolution month. We wonder what the world would be like if Peace and Conflict Resolution was the norm. Instead, around the world refugees are finding a new life in new countries, children and adults lives are being cut short due to warfare, hate rules causing strife and separation, political preferences directed toward attacks and acts of denigration replace the pronouncements of peace.
Rotarians are called to do more than raise an awareness of the need for peace. So with Peace and Conflict Resolution as one of the six areas of focus, Rotary joins leaders, share ideas and takes action.
The Rotary District Leadership continues to take action for peace and conflict resolution. Sarah Sanderson Doyle, a Global Peace Fellow from District 6290 is on a two-year Rotary Peace Fellowship in Tokyo, Japan at the International Christian University studying and doing research on Peace and Conflict Resolution. Take time to view her experiences and provide encouragement for this life investment in changing lives and transforming the world. Follow Sarah's journey at her blog (also at District home page).
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.jpg) There are 11 Rotary Clubs within a 25 mile radius of Flint. Nothing compares to the power of Rotarian's joining together in support of a cause, and there can be no greater priority for these clubs than taking care of their immediate neighbors. Please review this detailed response from the Rotary Club of Flint which outlines several ways individuals and organizations can lend support.
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Brian Robertson (Sault Ste, Marie, Ontario) is the nominee for District Governor of District 6290 for the Rotary year 2018-2019. He will follow Gernot Runschke (Grand Haven) who will be the DG in 2016-2017 and Ed Swart (Holland) who will be DG in 2017-2018. Brian will become the official District Governor Nominee Designate as soon as the Club voting delegates to the District Conference on April 22-24 (in Muskegon) vote him in. He is the only nominee so we expect that his election will go smoothly!
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 The Significant Achievement Award recognizes Rotary clubs for outstanding community service projects. To be eligible, projects must:
- address a significant problem or need in the local community
- involve most or all of the club members in personal rather than monetary service
- be commensurate with the club's size and resources
- be capable of emulation by other Rotary clubs
- be currently active or reach a conclusion during the Rotary year for which the award is given
- be carried out by a single Rotary club
The deadline for the Significant Achievement Award is March 15. District Governor's must nominate clubs, so the application form is due to the District on March 10th.
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 I would like to share three great tools to help you do your job even better for 2016.
- First is a suggested TIMELINE TOOL Please jump in the timeline wherever you are at currently, and use this to guide your efforts in the New Year for best success.
- A concise POWERPOINT FOR LLC CHAIRS and other club leaders. Use this to bring everyone up to speed on LLC this year.
- POWERPOINT FOR APPLICANTS designed for use by all school officials and interested candidates. With current pictures and testimonials, it should help prospective candidates get a good idea of what we are and what we do.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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.jpg) Erin Fitzpatrick was a teacher at The Greenspire School in Traverse City when she became interested in "Outdoor Education." She decided to pursue an advanced degree in the subject and her research for scholarship opportunities brought her to the Rotary Global Scholar program. Erin was accepted into the Masters program at the University Of Edinburgh and began her studies in September of 2015.
Outdoor education is a method of presenting normal curricular material in an outdoor setting. Indeed, most of Erin's course work takes place on field trips where they learn their material in an outdoor setting. The University of Edinburgh is one of the most prestigious Universities for outdoor education studies. Erin is having a wonderful time keeping up with her studies, getting good grades and gaining invaluable knowledge about her field.
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| Bill Donberg, Past-President of the Rotary Club of Elk Rapids, and board member of Thirsting To Serve, and Pure Water for the World standing in front of an installed bio-sand water filter in Trianon, Haiti. |
In January 2016, The Rotary Foundation approved a Global Grant totaling $151,486 that will provide Hygiene Education and Clean Water to about 1,000 families in Trianon, Haiti. This will impact over 6,000 people, mostly children, that have faced devastating waterborne illnesses elevated by a recent cholera epidemic.
The focus on bringing this aid to the region of Trianon started with a project in 2013 led by the Elk Rapids and Traverse City Rotary Clubs, where 300 homes and a number of schools were beneficiaries of the program delivered through Pure Water for the World.
Approximately 1/3 of this project funding came from donations from more than 15 Rotary Clubs across the country. More than one half of the club contributions came from our District 6290, including Rotary Clubs of Elk Rapids, Petoskey, Traverse City, Frankfort, Charlevoix, Grayling, Mancelona and Traverse Bay Twilight.
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| The Central Ocean Toms River Rotary Club during a recent meeting. |
You might think that I, a 32-year-old member of a 110-year-old organization, would be preoccupied with trying to modernize my club’s way of doing things. But remarkably, my experience in Rotary is teaching me to spend more energy convincing my generation – which keeps trying to reinvent everything – that there is much to be gained in the lost art of personal connection.
We all use social media in our daily lives. Without a doubt, Twitter, Facebook, text messaging, etc. has great value in our social and professional circles. But long before there were Wi-Fi connections, laptops, or smartphones, a man named Paul Harris came up with the idea of professional leaders getting together face to face to make a difference in their community. The organization that arose from this modest idea took its name from the early practice members had of rotating meeting locations between their offices.
In an era of instant communication defined by not-so-blind carbon copies, accidental “reply-alls,” and desperate attempts to “recall” an email, many people seem to have lost the ability of competent verbal and non-verbal face-to-face communication with other human beings. Making good eye contact and managing a well-timed handshake are becoming endangered skills.
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 There are numerous thoughts or tools to use when considering a person for leadership responsibility. One of the methods is using five words that begin with the letter “C”. I’m sure that you can add to the list but here are five words to consider for a person match job relationship.
- Character
- Competency
- Chemistry
- Capacity
- Courage
​Keep reading for some valuable insights . . .
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 Effective 1 April 2016, distribution of the pin and pin backers created for the New Member Sponsor Recognition Program to honor Rotarians who sponsor (admit) new members will be discontinued.
Sponsorship activities will continue to be tracked. Sponsor names reported by club officers will continue to be recorded in the RI database, and clubs and districts are encouraged to continue recognizing the sponsorship of new members.
RECOGNITION LEVELS AND PINS:
After 29 February 2016, recognition levels such as blue, bronze, silver and gold will no longer be recorded. Distribution of recognition items will stop after all the pins and backers achieved on or before 29 February are processed. Club officers are encouraged to report sponsor information by 29 February in order to claim recognition items.
Interested in the future of sponsorship program?
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There is only one more chance to attend a District Training Assembly -- at Baker College in Muskegon on Saturday February 13. There is specialized training for President Elects, President Nominees, Secretaries, Treasurers, Youth Exchange Officers and Counselors. Additionally there are sessions designed to help optimize club website and newsletter design, and a track where the participants bring their most critical issues to the table for a facilitated discussion specifically designed around their interests and priorities.
Also critically important is the opportunity to attend a Grant Management Seminar immediately following the DTA. Attendance at one of these seminars is mandatory for clubs to be eligible for 2016/2017 matching grants.
Please refer to our home page (www.ridistrict6290.org) for details.
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.png) Whether you’re working on your club’s community projects, enjoying a night out with friends or sharing your Rotary story with someone new, you can take advantage of discounts and special offers on airfare, hotels, vehicle rentals, and entertainment.
Would you like to offer discounts from your business to other Rotarians? Help build the program by adding special offers from your own company to the growing portfolio of Rotary Global Rewards. To learn more, visit Rotary.org/GlobalRewards.
Please share this exciting news with your members. You’ll find promotional tools on the Rotary Global Rewards website that will help you introduce your Rotarian friends to the program.
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 Times have changed and so must ClubRunner. Clubs have asked for fresher, newer, and more modern website themes. Take your website to the next level with ClubRunner's modern line of website templates. Ready to get started today? They've already added two new themes to your library. Take a look at how clubs have already revamped their image!
As part of ClubRunner's ongoing expansion and update of its tutorial library, they've created a number of walk-through videos on Website Designer 3.0. This video gives you just enough of an overview to help you get started.
Are you new to ClubRunner and don't know where to begin? Consider attending their ClubRunner 101 Webinar on February 10th.
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Posted by Rotaract of Baker College of Muskegon
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Muskegon Rotaract club members have been volunteering at Kids' Food Basket for the past four years. We have grown to be very passionate about this organization and the attack on childhood hunger because it is such a major issue in our community.
Our club volunteers twice a week to pack sack suppers and also make sandwiches for the 900-1000 nutritious sack suppers that are delivered to three schools in our community. We are also having multiple fundraisers throughout the school year to raise money for Kids' Food Basket. We have a goal that we are going to try to hit in 30 weeks!
District 6290 Commentary:
Hat's off to this Rotaract Club which has taken the extra step to post this project in Rotary Ideas.
FYI - Posting a project in Rotary Ideas is one of the requirements for the 2015-2016 Presidential Citation Award.
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To qualify for the Presidential Citation Award, Clubs are asked to complete at least two of four possible goals in the Online Tool Adoption category. In short, the four goals are:
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In October 2015, as part of recognizing World Polio Day, Traverse City Rotary clubs joined in the annual "Ride to End Polio" campaign with an Indoor Ride (featured in our December newsletter) which raised over $5,000. The final accounting on the global "Ride to End Polio" campaign is nearly done and the planning committee has released this summary:
THE BIG RIDE!
We're calling this one "The Big Ride." It was bigger than each of the preceding rides in every respect, plus we had terrific weather.
A big thank you to everyone who rode, volunteered, pledged and particularly to the ten or so individuals that serve on our District 5500 committee that plan and execute this great even.
Here are some of the numbers that made this the most successful event we have hosted thus far. Read on for the details.
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important developments
Last month Rotary released $35 million in grants to support polio immunization activities and research in nine countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. The funds will build on last year’s historic achievement of stopping the transmission of the wild poliovirus in Nigeria and all of Africa. Read about the grants.
In just four months’ time, the world will embark on one of the most ambitious globally synchronized projects in the history of vaccines. April 2016 will see 155 countries and territories stop using the trivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) and switch to the bivalent version of the vaccine, in a single two week period. This will have an important impact on progress towards achieving the eradication of all polioviruses worldwide. Read more here.
KEEP READING FOR AN Endemic Country Summary (as of 1/31/2016)
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RI President-elect John F. Germ unveiled the 2016-17 presidential theme, Rotary Serving Humanity, to incoming district governors on 18 January at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA.
Rotary’s founder, Paul Harris, believed that serving humanity is “the most worthwhile thing a person can do,” Germ said, and that being a part of Rotary is a “great opportunity” to make that happen.
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* All numbers reported through January 31, 2016
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During the upcoming year, our goal is to release the District newsletter at the start of each month. The deadline to submit materials is the 20th the month to issue. If you have an example of a 'best practice' or have other great news to share, please complete our 'Club News' submission form (found at www.ridistrict6290.org under Public Image, or in the FAQ section in our monthly newsletter). Electronic photos are encouraged. Please try to limit your submission to 300 words or less.
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