Half the Year Gone!

Here it is mid December and you are wondering about the title to this post. "Obviously, the year is almost over, what the heck is he talking about?" Well, I'm talking "Rotary year" here. July 1 through June 30.

Last July I assumed my duties as District Governor for Rotary International District 5190. So, on January 1, 2013 I will be half way through my year. From my view point today, the first half is the busiest and most challenging. The biggest task, and the most visible one, is making the "Official Club Visits." This is a hard requirement. The DG must personally visit each club at least once during the year. It may be a "hard" requirement, but it is probably the most rewarding part of the job. Visiting each club and getting a first hand look at the great things they are doing for their communities, and for the world. In addition, without exception Rotarians treat the Governor with incredible kindness and courtesy.

With 58 clubs to visit, it truly is a task that takes quite a bit of planning and preparation. Kim pulled the heavy load in August of LAST year when she drafted our first schedule. Scheduling was not straightforward, as each visit included a two hour "nuts and bolts" meeting with club leadership prior to the regular club meeting. For noon clubs, this "board meeting" typically occurred  the morning of the meeting. For evening clubs, we met with the leadership in the afternoon before the meeting, and for clubs with breakfast meetings, we would meet the evening before. After many months of refinement and adjustment of the schedule, our journey began on July 10th of 2012.

A key focus of each visit, is "the speech". Much time, training, and energy is put into this duty of the Governor. The point is to educate, and hopefully inspire the club membership with a meaningful and well delivered talk. I spent many hours researching and writing my speech. At the time it seemed that it would be difficult to speak for an entire half hour (the traditional time allotted). My first two visits were to smaller, less formal evening clubs. This was an incredible stroke of luck.  The main reason being that I way "over wrote" my speech! Both clubs were very considerate and patient with me. I ran over 50 minutes the first time, and nearly 45 the second! Since they were evening clubs, I didn't have anyone who had to leave precisely on time get up and walk out before I was finished. I managed to get the timing under control soon enough for my first mid day club visit. However, for the entire journey, I was always right up against the clock with each club. Most Presidents managed to get me up to the podium with a few minutes to spare.

Greenville, my first "Club Visit".

My speech went way long the first time at
Greenville. You can see my handwritten notes.

I cut around 10 minutes off the speech for the
 second visit at Carson City Sunset.

Nobody left when I went long, nice crew!

My most memorable experience was down in Auburn. I was struggling with a back spasm between visiting the Rotary Club of Auburn, and Auburn Daybreak the next morning. I was in a lot of pain for the Auburn noon meeting and it was getting worse. I returned to the hotel to freshen up afterwards, and before the board meeting for the Daybreak Club. My back was hurting so badly I could hardly walk. In desperation I took two 5 mg anti-inflammatory pills (or so I thought!). Then I discovered that by mistake I had actually taken two 10 mg sleeping pills! I thought I would be a little drowsy, and still complete my board meeting obligation. However, after arriving and the opening pleasantries with the club president, I fell asleep right there at the table! Luckily the full board hadn't arrived there and the President, Assistant Governor, and Kim helped me sleep walk back to the car. I don't know how Kim got me to the room, but I didn't wake up until around 11:00 pm! I rolled over and went back to sleep until 6:00 am when Kim woke me up for the breakfast meeting! The meeting went well, and the president was very gracious and forgiving.

As I am being introduced at the Auburn meeting,
I am wondering if I will be able to stand up.

President of Auburn Daybreak, Steven Lease
was very nice to me after I slept through his
board meeting the evening before!

My most distant visit was to the Rotary Club of Ely Nevada. Over 400 miles away, Ely sits pretty close to the Utah border! It is a very nice city, and the club is one of the oldest in the district. We had a great visit, as the club held their meeting in the evening (they normally meet at noon) at the historic old post office building in town. It was all decorated for Christmas, and the dinner was a delicious prime rib. I felt good about this meeting. The club is pretty isolated from other clubs in the district, and I felt I connected with them. They are a strong club that provides a tremendous amount of service to their community. Truly an honor to spend some time with them.

The road to Ely was the longest, but it was a beautiful drive.

We had several weeks where we visited four clubs, and a few days where we visited two clubs (four meetings in all). However, we did a good job of spreading this wonderful duty out until our final visit last week (December 13th) at my own club of Loyalton.

My final visit was great. We met with club leadership at the President's (Mr Clean's) beautiful home at 10:00 am. We had a great productive discussion, and the nice thing was that I get to join in and continue these discussions later. We drove the 5 minutes to the Loyalton Community Church where the club meets, and got there in time to meet and greet my fellow club members. After lunch, I got to give a club award to one of the most wonderful people I have ever known. Elia "Nana" Miles. She is over ninety, and still makes every single meeting, and is always the first to volunteer to help in any club activity. She was very moved by the recognition, and I know the club was moved as well. A great choice by our president, Mr. Clean! Then, I was privileged to induct a new member into our club, Kim! The club recognized her continued service to the club and Rotary by making her an Honorary Member. She was very touched, and it was wonderful to see.

We had a great meeting at Mr. Clean's house!

Food and fun with my Club!!

Then I gave my speech for the last time. Kim said that I did a better job than I had at any other club. It was a very emotional moment for me, and I know that it showed. At the end, the club gave me a standing ovation. What a wonderful feeling.

Now it is on to Mid-Term visits, and the District Conference. It seems unbelievable that my official visits have come to an end. bittersweet!

That's All!