The Highlighter
January 2012
Vol 85 No 7
Table of Contents
Governor's Message
Doug Fowler
Let
us all welcome 2012 with an emphasis not only on our family
and friends, but also to bringing a better awareness of Rotary.
As the world’s first service organization we continue to be asked
what Rotary is.
Many long-time Rotarians can remember when Rotary was the best kept secret in the world. What we did in our local communities and with international partners simply did not get shared outside this small group. In just the last few years Rotary has recognized that in order to continue our service of changing lives we need to do a better job of public relations.
Within the next few weeks many of you will start seeing the work that has transpired over the last few months where District 5300 has partnered with Districts 5260, 5280, and 5320 in a Rotary International Public Relations Grant to have several tractor/trailer rigs wrapped with Rotary advertisements highlighting both local and international programs.
I have found during my club visits over the past few months that many clubs in the district are known for their annual fundraising events that target specific programs. I encourage all of you to reach out to the district PR committee for help in any area as you bring about your annual programs, or are looking to initiate a new one. They have provided outstanding input, and can be an excellent resource for your use.
I have been asked many times what will Rotary’s emphasis be once we are able to say we eradicated polio. This subject continues to be studied by Rotary International and is discussed in many meetings. Needless to say we probably will not know what will follow the polio campaign until we have put an end to polio. It was almost 3 years ago that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation challenged Rotary to raise $200 million to match their $355 million polio contribution. Recent reports show Rotary contributions in excess of $195 million, and we are just completing 2 ½ years. We still have 6 months to go and I think we will be reporting we achieved the $200 million in contributions very soon. As of early December 2011 I am happy to report that District 5300 has contributed almost $492.8 thousand to this campaign. We cannot stop yet.
The world is aware of Rotary. Many of our communities are aware of the many programs we do in our local programs. Let us bring in the 2012 by being better prepared when we are asked, “What is Rotary?” Our wheelchair project was recently approved by the Rotary Foundation and plans are in process to distribute over 500 wheelchairs in Hermosillo, Mexico before the end of this Rotary year. We will need the involvement and hands on participation of District Rotarians.
So, what is Rotary? It is something different for everyone, but most importantly it is a way to “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity.” Your lives will certainly change.
Happy Trails!
Doug and Debbie.
January 21
Rancho Cucamonga Grape Fun Ride
January 27-29
January 29
February 4
February 11
February 24-26
May 6-9
Optional Pre and Post Rotary International Convention Tours
June 10
San Marino's Rotary Car Classic
Cowboy Logic
Next month's theme
World Understanding
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[Editor's Note] We would like to have participation and contributions from members of your Interact Clubs. Please encourage them to contribute to The Highlighter. Interactors can receive The Highlighter by sending their names, club names, and email addresses to highlighter@district5300.org.
In This Issue
Rotary Club of Mesquite Holds 5th Annual Glow-In-The-Dark Golf Ball Drop
Las Vegas Summerlin Rotary Helps Make Spirits Bright for New Vista Ranch
Industry Hills
Rotary Honors 20 Teachers
The
Tenth Annual Mini-Grant Awards Ceremony was celebrated by the Rotary
Club of Industry Hills. Twenty dedicated teachers from the Hacienda La
Puente & Bassett Unified School Districts were awarded Mini-Grants of
$300 each for classroom projects, materials, and supplies that go above
and beyond the regularly available curriculum resources. Numerous
applications were submitted through the K-Adult grades. The Industry
Hills Rotary review committee had to make difficult choices in selecting
the top 20 applicants to be recognized.
The Awards
Ceremony & Buffet Reception was hosted by Bassett Unified at Don Julian
Elementary School in La Puente. Rotary Chairperson Vicky Rossier and
Rotarian Superintendents Martin Galindo and Barbara Nakaoka welcomed the
honorees and their school administrators. Each teacher also received a
huge gift bag filled with a variety of appreciation gifts from Rotarians
and the community. A special thank you goes to Matt Briglio, Golf
Tournament Chair, and President-Elect Paul Gough of State Farm Insurance
for their help in raising funds for the Teacher Mini-Grant Program.
Rotary Club of Mesquite Holds 5th Annual Glow-In-The-Dark Golf Ball Drop
The
Rotary Club of Mesquite, NV held its 5th Annual Glow-in-the-Dark Golf
Ball Drop fundraiser on Nov. 5, 2011. This year, the Rotary Club joined
forces with the Brickyard Plaza and threw a block party leading up to
the ball drop. The block party was held from 4pm till 7pm. At the party,
hundreds of people gathered to listen to live music, eat free hot dogs,
and view beautiful art displays by the Virgin Valley Artist Association
and the students of Virgin Valley Elementary School and J.L. Bowler
Elementary School. They even had the opportunity to vote for their
favorite pieces with prizes being awarded by the Rotary Club. Kids came
out in droves for their chance to get their face painted and to win
prizes at the kids’ games, which were overseen by volunteers from the
Mesquite Police Department and the Mesquite Fire and Rescue.
The
evening concluded at 7pm when the lights of the plaza were shut off so
everyone could enjoy the view of hundreds of glow-in-the-dark golf balls
falling from the sky. After a countdown, which was started early by an
eager crowd, the trap door was released and hundreds of balls crashed
onto the specially-made green with ten holes. After the chaos settled, a
member of the Rotary Club made his way around the green, measuring
distances, and announcing winning numbers. Among the prizes were
beautiful works of art, power tools, rounds of golf, and even an entire
set of golf clubs. The center hole prize was $1,000. The winner of the
grand prize made his presence known with shouts of excitement and even a
few laps around the green.
The Mesquite Rotary Club
would like to thank everyone who made this event a success. Between the
volunteers who worked the party, the individuals and businesses who
donated funds and prizes, and the community of Mesquite, this event
could not have been a success without you. The Rotary club is proud to
announce that it raised over $3,800 from ball drop sales which will be
used for Rotary projects. The club also raised over $250 in donations to
the Polio Pig during the 3 hour event. Thank you again to everyone who
supported this event. And for those of you who didn’t buy a ticket this
year, look for it next year where we plan to make it even bigger and
better. Visit our website for more information at
www.mesquitenvrotary.org.
Arcadia Rotary Donates to Hospital’s New Tower
The
Arcadia Rotary Club contributed to Arcadia Methodist Hospital’s dream of
a new five-story patient tower with a generous donation of $25,000 to
the project.
The North Tower, as it’s called, opened
recently with 155,000 square feet of new workspace housed on six floors,
including a basement.
“During the 2008-09 Rotary year,
I recommended the donation to our board of directors and they approved a
pledge of $25,000 to be paid over a three-year period,” said Rotary past
president Bruce McCallum. “The funds were used to completely
furnish a patient room in the North Wing.”
The club’s
donation is recognized by a nameplate installed outside a fourth floor
patient room.
“Our club is very proud to make this
donation to Arcadia Methodist Hospital and happy for our role in helping
those patients that will benefit from the hospital’s expansion,” said
McCallum. “This is but one example of the many significant
contributions the Arcadia Rotary Club has made in its 85 years of
existence to the City of Arcadia.”
Busiest November
in History of Rotary Fremont
Members
of the Las Vegas Fremont Rotary Club had one of the busiest Novembers in
the history of the Club with a flurry of activities devoted to children.
Beginning the first week of November, we gathered together to wrap and
pack 203 shoeboxes with schools supplies, clothing, toys and personal
hygiene items for the Operation Christmas Child program. These boxes
were delivered to the shipping center on November 15th by Projects Chair
Rob Goldstein and Pres. Elect Lane Kay, and will be shipped to
underprivileged children around the world with delivery in time for the
Holiday season. As you can see packing was a family affair.
Then
on November 15th, we all gathered together to serve our 9th annual
Thanksgiving feast to 575 awesome kids at Kermit R Booker Sr.
Empowerment Elementary School. This event continues to be a Club
favorite. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Principal Marcus Mason watched as
each child was given a tummy-filling and heart-warming meal by our club
members and the Honor Society students from the Alexander Dawson School
at Rainbow Mountain. For some this is their first 'Thanksgiving'
meal. We also donated more than 50 bags of food items for the
weekend backpack program, as well as new coats and sweatshirts. The
event concluded with a $5,000 donation from our September "Kid
Connection" fund raiser to the teachers at Booker for classroom
projects. Principal Mason said their first use of some of the funds will
be towards the anti-bullying program recently instituted at Booker. Our
relationship with Booker started years ago with burrito lunches with the
kids, book donations to the library and a few mini-grants for the
teachers. Oh, look how far we have come!
Then,
PP Paul Bell (98-99) captained the November birthday bash at the Agassi
Club on November 16, which was also attended by PP Linda Bertuzzi
(10-11) and Fundraising Chair Robin Smith. An incredibly excited group
of kids enjoyed the usual fair of pizza, juice, cupcakes and ice cream,
plus the ever expanding birthday gift bags supported by multiple members
of our Club.
Finally, the remaining bins of canned food
and school supplies collected during the "Kid Connection" soirée were
delivered to Whitney Elementary School this past Tuesday. The canned
food was just in time to pack into Thanksgiving baskets being prepared
for numerous families struggling to provide meals at home.
Las Vegas Summerlin Rotary Helps Make Spirits Bright for New Vista Ranch
Hearts
are always a bit more open during the holidays. The big charities
get the lion's share of attention and support, and while they're
certainly deserving, Las Vegas Summerlin Rotary chose to work with the
just-as-deserving but more local New Vista Ranch. Founded in 1984 by
parents of disabled individuals, New Vista Ranch is a non-profit
organization dedicated to providing quality housing and support services
to developmentally disabled adults in Nevada.
When Las Vegas Summerlin Rotarian Kelly "K.O." Overpeck asked if our
club might be willing to support the New Vista Ranch holiday party, it
just felt like a perfect fit. New Vista annually hosts a holiday
party for the adults and youth they support. For many, this party is
their only chance to receive a gift and celebrate the holidays with
friends.
New Vista client gets to make a list for
Santa. Then New Vista's team of elves created a registry at Target.com
where potential donors can see what all the holiday wishes. Donors
adopt a New Vista client, select the gifts they wish to purchase from
that person's wish list, and if they want to buy it on line, Target
ships the gift directly to New Vista!
K.O.
brought the names and wish list in on cards pinned to a felt board.
Las Vegas Summerlin Rotarians picked a card…and the Holiday Express was
off and running. Through its Foundation, the club also donated $2,000
toward the Holiday Party to make sure that everyone had a gift.
At the party on December 16th, Santa was invited to hand out the
gifts and a wonderful holiday meal is served in hopes of filling the
void a little. K.O organized the party and the gift distribution,
saying, "The food was good, the atmosphere great, but the looks on the
clients faces when they received their presents was priceless."
Las Vegas Summerlin Rotary was glad to make the holidays a bit
brighter for the folks from New Vista Ranch.
In Memoriam Goldie Begley: Thank You District 5300 Rotarians
The
Begley family extends heartfelt thanks to the wonderful Rotary friends
of Goldie, the beautiful, enthusiastic, energetic and loving family
centerpiece and past president of the Boulder City Sunrise Rotary Club.
The outpouring of concern, encouragement, support and love during her
nearly nine month hospital struggle and upon her passing in November was
a true testimony to the many lives she touched in our 5300 community.
Following her February surgery Goldie faced nearly impossible odds for
total recovery but time after time not only faced them but valiantly
fought back. She seemed to be on her way to actually beating them
when in early November she encountered yet another devilish infectious
setback and her body simply was not strong enough to rebound. We
were blessed by having the Goldie angel walking with and guiding us and
pray you were, too. Thanks, Rotarians. Harold, Rick, Rob,
Dawn and Taylor.
Rotary Convention
Deadlines and Travel Ideas
District
Governor Doug Fowler 's goal is to have 120 District 5300 Rotarians
attend the Rotary International Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, May
6-9, 2012. Most Clubs will want to send their presidents-elect and
provide some support to attend. Other members may want to go as a group.
This year's convention is in city of Bangkok, a beautiful and
exotic location, sure to provide fun and entertainment for you and your
significant other. If you have not been to a Rotary International
Convention held in another country, this is a "must trip" to make!
Registration for the International Convention is now $195 until March
1, 2012 after which the price goes up to $245. So, if you plan to
attend, please go to the
Rotary Convention Link on the District 5300 website to register no
later than February 29th to get the discounted price. Last year's early
registration price in New Orleans was $300 so this year's registration
price is a bargain. Also available on this link is the list of hotels
and host events available during the convention.
Our
Zone, Zone 25/26 will hold its "Thousand Smiles" event on May 6th, more
information to follow later.
Also available for review
are five different pre and post-convention optional tours on the
district website. If you need airfare, special pricing has been
negotiated for District 5300 from LAX or SFO to Bangkok and return.
Click here for a one
page summary of optional pre and post-convention tours and airfare.
Custom travel to China, Australia, and other destinations is available
on request. Fax the Air & Pre/Post Convention Tour Informational Sign Up
sheet to me so we can begin booking your travel arrangements for you. Be
sure to list your email address and contact numbers so we can contact
you for booking. All information provided will be kept in strict
confidence.
For more information call: 702-256-2872
See you in Bangkok!