District Governor Linda Murray presented two Rotary awards to club members Teri Treat and Sandee Lindhout. Teri, who has been a member of the club for almost 30 years, was honored for being the person “behind the scenes” who makes everything work, and for being club president and leading our fantastic 100th anniversary celebration.
Sandee was honored for being the “backbone” of our club, holding everything together as club secretary. She has worked with the club for over 50 years. Both awards are well-deserved.
District Governor Linda Murray then presented Sara Mahoney with a Paul Harris + Seven pin, an amazing feat. Congratulations, Sara!
Former President and District Assistant Governor Del VandeKerk introduced guest speaker District 5050 Governor Linda Murray. Linda grew up in the Los Angeles area, but moved with her husband to Everett in 1980 to start Evergreen Security. She has been active in the Everett community on the board of the chamber of commerce, DARE and the Boys and Girls Club. She has been in Rotary 25 years, serving in such capacities as District Administrator, Assistant Governor and on the District Visioning Committee.
Linda Murray started out her talk urging members to “Be the Inspiration.” She shared this year’s Vision Statement: “Together we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.” She recited some of our club’s community activities (e.g., Bell Ringing, Vegas Night, Galbraith Mountain parking lot major project, hosting and sending Rotary exchange students and Stop Hunger) and told us we were doing a great job as a club. She then presented the Rotary Club Citation to last year’s president, Teri Treat.
Governor Linda had several messages for us. One was to encourage everyone to work together for a common goal. She suggested that the club put together a 5 Year Plan, through two stages: first, a strategic planning meeting where many members shared ideas; and second, a meeting where those ideas would be considered and put into a plan of action.
Linda urged the club to do everything it could to increase membership. She pointed out that in the 2017-18 year, the District has 2511 members. She set a goal for the 2018-19 year of having 2575 members, an increase of 64 members over the whole District, which would be one member per club. She noted that although many clubs are proud of recruiting new members, equally important is retaining current members. Losing current members is a major concern.
Linda said that the District can help by providing clubs with presentations on increasing membership through workshops (what works, what doesn’t). One resource is the Rotary Learning Institute (RLI), which provides information and training on leadership skills, the history of Rotary, interaction and learning about the other clubs in your area. She pointed out that 35% of Rotary members leave Rotary in the first five years of membership. Gong to RLI helps retain membership by getting members more involved and invested in Rotary. Linda urged members to be open to new ideas.
District Governor Linda reminded us that, “Everything your do in Rotary affects Membership.” She urged us to make our club “The Service Club” that people in the community think of. To that end, she showed us the logo for the Bellingham Rotary Club that the District developed as our Master Brand. She urged us to use that logo on our website and in all our communications. She urged us to talk to people about what we do. Making our best Rotary moments personal and telling people about them is the best way to connect with people who do not know much about Rotary. She suggested posting action pictures with captions on our website, and to send some to the Peace Arch Journal. She told us to wear our Rotary shirts in public so people know who we are and who we represent. They will ask us what we are doing and give us a chance to spread the message. She said the District will be organizing workshops to help us put together a Technology Team to improve our message on Facebook, our club website and Club Runner.
Linda commented that the Rotary Foundation is trying to boost interest by forming an “Every Rotarian Every Year” status, where clubs will qualify if every member gives at least $35 per year and the average member donation of the club is at least $100.
Linda stated that International Rotary President Barry Rassin wants to see clubs double the number of Rotaractors and Interactors, getting more young people involved in Rotary. We need to treat them like Rotarians because they are Rotarians. The sad fact is that very few Rotaractors become Rotarians. Linda pointed out that 68% of the workforce is under age 50 and 34% is under age 35, a perfect age for Rotaract. She reminded us that YAIL is a great activity for young people and should be encouraged.
She said that the District provided Saturday seminars twice a year on Facilitation skills, which she urged our members to take advantage of.
The District Governor said that the last Saturday in April 2019 will be Rotary at Work Day, where our club, perhaps in conjunction with other clubs in our area, would pick a project to benefit the community and work on it for a day.
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