The Spectrum - February Rotary District 6710 Newsletter

February 2010

Issue: 7

A Note From the Governor

Greetings! DG Chuck Cicchella

February is World Understanding Month and it's worthy of note to recognize that Rotarians all around the globe are responding to the tremendous earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010.

As we witness this tragedy and extend our prayers and support to all the victims, one can't help but view with pride the commitment of Rotarians everywhere as they extend themselves in "service above self" by providing needed supplies, dollars, and even manpower.

What continually amazes me is the versatility of our Rotarians and our Rotary clubs as we address emergencies such as Haiti and continue to work even harder to fulfill our promise to the children of the world to eliminate polio, support the Rotary Foundation to extend our humanitarian work to other parts of the world, and work extensively to support the needs of our own local communities.

Rotarians, my hat is off to each of you and I encourage your continued efforts to support our fellow human beings and hard work to make this world of ours a better place to live for we truly are our brothers' keeper.

Chuck

Charles E. Cicchella

6710 District Governor

February is World Understanding Month

One of the many wonderful things about Rotary is that it extends far beyond just your local club in your local community. With more than 1.2 million Rotarians in over 33,000 clubs around the world, there are endless opportunities to promote world understanding.

Here are some ideas of how your club can promote World Understanding month:

Make connections with Rotarians in other parts of the world. This can be for fellowship as well as for project opportunities. Social networks are an easy way to connect via the internet.
Have a program about Rotary's Global Networking Groups
Learn about the Rotary Friendship Exchange
Nominate a candidate for the World Peace Fellow Program (see article above)
Encourage club members to attend the International Convention in Montreal in June.
Invite a UN Speaker to your club
Have a program on a different culture
Reach out to international residents within your own community, and consider inviting them to join your club
Volunteer to host the Group Study Exchange Team when they visit in May
The list goes on and on!

Presidents-Elect: Register Now for PETS
MS PETS

The President Elect Training Seminar (PETS) is designed to provide essential and current information to incoming club presidents in order to prepare them to have an effective and successful year. Presidents-elect will have the opportunity to hear addresses by top Rotary leaders and motivational speakers, attend small group discussion sessions and roundtables on various topics lead by knowledgeable and experienced discussion leaders, and network and exchange ideas with presidents-elect from six Rotary districts.

Attendance at PETS is MANDATORY for every club president-elect per the Rotary International Standard Club Constitution, Article 9, Section 5 (c).

Registration for Rotary Mid-South PETS is now open. The registration deadline is March 1, 2010. Make your reservation early to ensure a place in the hotel. Its fills up fast!

Registration and other information is available online at www.midsouthpets.org.

District Governor Nominations for 2012-13

District 6710 Rotary Clubs are invited to submit suggestions for nominations for our District Governor to serve in 2012-13.

To be eligible for the position of district governor, a Rotarian must

Be a member in good standing of a functioning club in the district
Have served as president of a club for a full term, or as president of a charter club from the date of the charter to 30 June, for a period of at least six months
Demonstrate knowledge of and the ability to fulfill the duties outlined in the RI Bylaws, section 15.090
Have completed seven years of membership at the time of taking office

For more information, please refer to the RI Bylaws, section 15.070 and the RI website.

According to RI bylaws (13.020.4), the suggestions (for DG 2012-13) shall be submitted in the form of a resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the club naming the suggested candidate.

The resolution shall be certified by the club secretary and sent along with the completed "Governor-Nominee Data Form" (available on the District website), to PDG Anne Robertson, Chairperson of the District Nominations Committee at 204 Englewood Blvd., Fulton, KY 42041.

All nomination materials must be received by February 22, 2010. You may call PDG Anne at (270) 472-1986 if you have questions about the process.

Second Round of District Simplified Grant Applications Sought

- LAST CHANCE for the 2009-10 Year

The 2009-2010 year got off to a good start! District Simplified Grants totaling $8,400 have been awarded to six Rotary Clubs for a range of projects now underway. Although each is creatively unique, the projects have one important commonality: each boasts the active "shirt-sleeves" involvement of Rotarians in such meaningful community services as providing weekend food backpacks to at-risk children, mentoring third graders in literacy with donated dictionaries, or acquiring math calculators for economically disadvantaged students.

Currently there is still $5,600 available for DSGs to award for the balance of the 2009-10 year.

The remaining DSG funds will be awarded on a rolling, first-come, first considered basis, starting February 1st. When the Grant Subcommittee has fully awarded the funds, any additional applications received will be ineligible for consideration and the applicants will be notified accordingly.

Visit the district website for a list of important special considerations for the Second Round of DSG applications.

To facilitate your Club's DSG application, you will also find several useful documents on the district website.

Second Round Applications should be directed to Dennis J. Dolan, District Grants Subcommittee Chair as soon as they are fully complete with appropriate signatures. The application and all required supporting documentation should be sent, preferably by email, to rotarydennis6710@bellsouth.net, or via regular mail to Dennis J. Dolan, Rotary District Grants Subcommittee, 2400 Chadford Way, Louisville, KY 40222.

Applicants Sought for District Scholarships

Your District 671 Rotary Foundation continues to recognize the importance of higher education and the quality students graduating from our Kentucky schools. This year our district foundation will offer seven $1,500 scholarships for the academic year 2010-2011 for use at accredited Kentucky colleges and universities. Awards will be made to high school seniors and present college students.

Eligible Interact or Rotaract members should contact their sponsoring Rotary Club for more information on applying.

You can find the application and all details on the district website:

http://www.rotarydistrict6710.org/view/251

This is an opportunity for your Rotary club to help some deserving student who may someday make a positive difference in your community and beyond. Please help assure the continued success of this worthwhile program by returning your candidate's completed application by or before March 5, 2010. If you have questions, call me at 270.723.1899 or email ksharon1@comcast.net.

Sincerely,

PDG Kay Sharon
Chairperson, Scholarship Awards Committee
District 671 Foundation

Heart of America Breakfast
For those of you that are planning to go to the Rotary International Convention in Montreal this coming June, there is an event you should try and attend. The Heart of America (Rotary Zones 30-31) Breakfast event is scheduled for June 22, 2010 at the Palais des Congress de Montreal.

This breakfast is a good opportunity to meet many of your colleagues from the area at the Montreal 2010

International Convention. The keynote speaker is RI President-Elect Ray Klinginsmith, who is from the Heart of America (Missouri).

They have asked me to coordinate the ticket sales for this event. Tickets are $35.00 each. Please send your request to me along with a check to District 6710. I will then forward your tickets to you.

Please share this with any members of your club who will be attending the convention.

The more numbers of our Rotary family we can have at the breakfast, the more fun it will be! Come to Montreal and bring your family- after all, the Future of Rotary Is In Your Hands!

Rick O. Baumgardner
District Governor 2011-2012
P.O. Box 721
Elizabethtown, KY 42702
rickb@baumappr.com

District Conference - We Need YOU!
We have several volunteers to serve at this year's District Conference; however, we need more Rotarians, spouses, kids, and grandkids who are willing to act as Sgt.-at-Arms, take minor roles in the program, or bring a door prize (approximately $50 value).

If you can help with any of the above, please let DG Chuck, Don Dykman (confernece Director of Operations), or Administrative Assistant Mary Kathryn DeLodder know as soon as possible.

TRF's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund Update
TRF Logo

As of 25 January, Rotarians worldwide have contributed a total of $99,483.26 to Thr Rotary Foundation's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. This amount includes wires, stock transfers, checks and credit card contributions. Additionally, TRF has received $1,465 from text contributions increasing the total amount of contributions to more than $100,000!

Since 1978, Rotarians have been actively working together to meet critical needs in Haiti by participating in over 250 Rotary Foundation Matching Grant projects. Rotary's disaster recovery efforts are sure to help survivors regain their lives by drilling clean water wells, rebuilding sanitation systems, establishing new schools and medical clinics, developing vital food sources, restoring economic development, and more -- all things that Rotarians do best and will continue to do long after first responders, such as Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other disaster relief organizations, have left Haiti.

It is of great advantage to have fellow Rotarians living and working amidst the ruins of Haiti who can best identify the areas of greatest need and tell the rest of us how we can be the most effective in the assistance we provide. They will be there to receive our grant monies, our supplies, and will make sure that our contributions are used for the purpose and projects for which they were intended.

Please continue to contribute to The Rotary Foundation's Annual Programs Fund to create more DDF funds that can be used to develop future humanitarian Matching Grant projects for Haiti. It's the way Rotarians respond to disasters and never forget those in need.

Deadline for Resolutions
Notice to all Club Presidents and Club Secretaries- Due to our District 6710 Annual Conference being held later than usual, this year, the deadline for submitting resolutions has been extended from the established February 15 of each year to March 15, 2010.

Any resolution or proposed revision to the District Operations Manual must be on the respective Club's Official Stationary and signed by the Club President, the Club Secretary, or both and be postmarked no later than March 15, 2010. Please mail to PDG Barry K. Holder, Chairman, Resolutions and Operations Manual Review Committee, 1012 Silver Lake Boulevard, Frankfort, KY 40601-5303.

If you have any questions or comments, he may be contacted at: 502.695.3294 (R) or, 502.330.4439 (C).

Working for peace through theater
District 6710 Peace Fellow Featured in Article on RI Website

Rotary Peace Fellow Russell Vandenbroucke with a child in Thailand

Vandenbroucke uses the stage to convey his desire for peace.

"The consequences of violence are always negative," says the author of Soldier Circle, a play that humanizes the effects of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq on the individual soldier, and Atomic Bombers, which was turned into a public radio program for the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.

"To say my plays send a message is too simple. I don't write about things that are simple -- or at least I make them more complicated," he adds. "Most humanitarian problems resist simple solutions."

Vandenbroucke, a professor of theater arts and department chair at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, USA, decided to apply for Rotary's peace and conflict studies certificate program at Chulalongkorn University while he was co-teaching a course on war and conscience in the spring of 2006. In putting together a list of resources for his students, he came upon materials for the program. "I thought, my students do not qualify, but I think I do," he recalls. With the support of his dean and the university, he took a sabbatical to attend in 2007. Read the entire article.

March is Literacy Month
Reading

Each year the RI President outlines special areas of emphasis, and for the past few years, literacy has been one of these areas. In addition, one of our district goals this year is to have 75% of clubs participate in a local, regional, or international literacy project.

Almost 800 million people worldwide are unable to read or write, a lack of skills that makes them especially vulnerable to hunger, disease, and extreme poverty.

Nearly two-thirds of these -- 500 million -- are women. Without literacy and access to a basic education, these women are poorly equipped to access resources and make decisions that improve the lives of their children and families. Today, 72 million children of primary school age are not in school.

Recently, DG Chuck received a summary report of literacy projects from around the world compiled by the Literacy Resource Group. You can read the report, which contains lots of ideas for club projects, here.

The Literacy Resource Group connects Rotarians with the information and tools they need to actively promote literacy at home and abroad. It asks Rotary clubs to learn about literacy and education issues in their communities and help increase access to quality learning opportunities for those in need. Clubs are also encouraged to work with the International Reading Association and the Dollywood Foundation's Imagination Library to conduct literacy projects worldwide.

Contact our Literacy Resource Group coordinator for guidance on how your club can get involved in a literacy project.

Shawn Corrigan Asmuth
Zone 30 Coordinator- Literacy
PDG- District 6880 ('05-06)
dgshawn05@charter.net

Other Literacy Resources:
Zone 30-31 Website Literacy Page
RI Literacy Resource Page

Get Ready: World Rotaract Week Vandenbroucke with a child in Thailand

March 8-14

Every year, World Rotaract Week honors the chartering of the first club in North Carolina, USA, on 13 March 1968. To commemorate Rotaract's anniversary, partner with your sponsored Rotaract club and attend each other's meetings, complete a service project together, and encourage a nearby Rotary club to sponsor a new Rotaract club in its area. Participating Rotaract clubs can receive special recognition from Rotary International if activity summaries are submitted to RI staff by 15 April.

Download the World Rotaract Week Celebration Recognition Form.

Directory Corrections

Please update your records with the following information:

The Rotary Club of East Louisville Sunrise now has a new permanent meeting location - Heitzman Bakery, 9426 Shelbyville Road in Louisville.
DGN Rick Baumgardner's e-mail address is rickb@baumappr.com.