• Create a giant birthday cake in the shape of a Rotary gearwheel to mark Rotary's 106th birthday, and invite the community or media to share it.
• Update your club's or district's Web site or social networking page with photos or video from your celebration.
• Work with your local chamber of commerce to declare a Rotary Day in your town. Publicize the proclamation at schools and businesses, in newspapers, and on Web sites and social networking sites.
• Use the newspaper supplement on Humanity in Motion V, highlighting local and international Rotary stories. Localize the piece by profiling exchange students, area projects, and those who have benefited from Rotary service. Create a list of club members and their occupations in the community.
• Conduct a billboard campaign highlighting Rotary's continued service locally and globally to show the good it has accomplished.
• Organize a Rotary Day party, and invite at-risk youth as the key guests.
• Initiate a local poster or essay contest promoting volunteerism in conjunction with Rotary Day.
• Invite a Paul Harris impersonator to visit local schools to tell children the story of Rotary and its 106 years of service. Also share the story of the founding of local Rotary clubs and their projects.
• Record interviews with longtime Rotary club members about their understanding of Rotary and the organization's contribution to volunteerism at home and around the world. Share the interviews with Rotary clubs, local libraries, schools, and local media.

• 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  

On January 22nd a group of Rotaract members, Interact members, and Rotarians gathered on the campus of Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, KY for the Rotaract-Interact District 6710 conference.

The conference opened with an address from District Rotaract Representative Megan Mortis, District Governor Woody Northup, and Kentucky Wesleyan President Dr. Cheryl D. King. Thomas Smith provided a presentation about the Owensboro Rotary club, and Hervey Howell presented information about Uganda and the efforts made by Rotarians to provide clean water for the people of Uganda.

The conference provided a valuable opportunity for Rotaract members and Interact members to share their accomplishments and to learn new ideas and projects, in order to strengthen their clubs and continue making a difference.

The guidelines are unchanged from previous years.

Pre-PETS

• Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in Elizabethtown | Howard Johnson off I-65
• Wednesday, February 16, 2011 in Louisville | Audubon Country Club
• Thursday, February 17, 2011 in Central City | Location TBA
• Friday, February 18, 2011 in Gilbertsville | KY Dam State Park Village, Green Meeting Room in the Clubhouse

All meetings will begin at 6:00pm and end by 7:00pm local time.

• Do I accept that a club cannot exist or grow without a stable membership?
• Does the club have solid membership base that will allow it to increase its service and fellowship?
• Does the club have a diverse professional membership that reflects the make up of the community?
• Is the membership committee actively involved in the recruitment process?
• Are the membership goals for the club clear, ambitious, attainable and communicated on a regular basis?
• Does the club have age diversity?
• As the leader of the club have you recruited a new member?
• Why have members left the club?
• Does the membership committee fully understand the membership challenges and have a plan for addressing them.

Remember a club that is more representative of the professional community is better able to identify and meet local service needs.

If any Rotary Club wishes to make any revision to the District Operations Manual, the proposed resolution should be adopted by the membership of the club and signed by the Club President and the Club Secretary. The D 6710 Operations Manual Review Committee is comprised of three members; PDG Tom Lett of the Rotary Club of Henderson representing the clubs; Past President Shannon Morgan, Attorney of the Rotary Club of Bowling Green, for legal review; and PDG Barry K. Holder of the Rotary Club of Frankfort representing the Governor and Administration of the Manual.

Any proposed revision should be prepared in Resolution Form and sent to the Committee Chairman, PDG Barry K. Holder, 1012 Silver Lake Boulevard, Frankfort, KY 40601-5303 no later than March 15, 2011 in order for the committee to have sufficient time for review and preparation for presentation to the Delegates Assembled at the Multi-District Conference in Nashville, TN.

Rotary President Elect Kalyan Banerjee announced the 2011-12 Rotary International Theme at the International Assemble in San Diego.

Reach Within to Embrace Humanity

In announcing the theme RIPE Banerjee has asked Rotarians to look within ourselves to understand that all of humanity has the same dreams, the same hopes, the same aspirations, and similar problems that we all have.  Whoever we are and where ever we live, each of us yearns for the same peace and contentment and for the same fulfillment in our daily lives.

Mohandas Gandhi said "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

In Rotary, we endeavor to live ethically and honestly, to share friendship and goodwill, to see the true worth of every human being.  We are not interested in the lowest common denominator, for Rotarians are uncommon people.  That is why we work to elevate ourselves and thereby, to elevate the world.  

We are seeing a prime example of this today in the events taking place in Egypt as those people try to elevate themselves into a more free society.

As each of you plan your year as Presidents of your local clubs, President Elect Banerjee asks us to have three emphasizes in our Rotary year.      

• First is the Family
• Second is for Continuity
• Third is for Change

Let us Reach Within to Embrace Humanity and in peace, harmony, and friendship let us bring change and a more joyful future for us all. 

I look forward to meeting all of you at PETS and working with you in the 2011-2012 Rotary year.

Rick O. Baumgardner, DGE 

District 6710

The Rotary Foundation promotes education and literacy for all by

• Ensuring that children have access to quality basic education
• Reducing gender disparity in education
• Increasing adult literacy
• Strengthening the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy
• Supporting studies related to basic education and literacy