Don't stop believing

an open letter to the membership of my Rotary club:

Our club's founding president has suggested I be a renegade and change this year's closing motto to "Don't stop believing," the well known lyrics to the Journey song of the same name. When I found out the motto this year is "The future of Rotary is in your hands" I admit that I liked "Don't stop believing" better.

Don't stop believing is a better motto for our club. When I was a founding member some 12 or more years ago, I was fresh out of college and I thought it was a great thing to put on my resume. I never considered that a decade later I would return to the club and become President in a year and a half. But more importantly, I never considered the things this club would keep accomplishing – the maintaining of a diverse and loyal membership and some strong civic programs. We have in our membership real estate agents, farmers, bankers, government employees that represent the county to a variety of audiences in the fields of economic growth and convention and tourism, and several other membership fields. This diversity in such a modest sized club is very impressive. Just as impressive is our senior scholarship program and our own version of "No 3rd grader left behind" with our yearly dictionary drive. Plus we have a yearly food pantry drive and other drives to benefit deserving recipients. For over 12 years, the membership has kept believing in itself and the good that it can do in this community

Before this Rotary year began, I shared with the membership my dream for a successful year. It is my hope and goal for the membership to take seriously our individual commitments to the program and bring a wealth of speakers. I hope for a hands-on volunteer program. By necessity, I've had to add a fundraiser to my personal list, by membership agreement we are planning a membership drive this year, and by request of District we added a news letter. So far, I'm a home run on 2 out of 5 programs. And I'm thrilled with the success. This is the second newsletter of the year, and we have had some great programs.

Each of us has a belief in something. Perhaps a belief in a powerful and loving God, who can't really be seen or understood. Perhaps a belief in a loving spouse or partner who looks forward your coming home from work each night. Or perhaps it's a belief that if you keep trying and keep working, that the children will grow up strong and smart, the crops will grow, the bills will get paid and in general, everything will be just a little better than it was before.

I share that belief in my life in general, and in our Rotary club. We've got a strong foundation, and with a little work, the year will be even better.

Don't stop believing
Club Rotary President