APRIL 1997ON THE CHUCK WAGON
The old chuck wagon is beginning to slow down just a bit, but we still have one major hurdle to get over, and that is the District Conference to take place at the end of this month. As I am writing this on April 9, I have just taken the conference program book to the printer. What a relief!
Our District P.E.T.S. and District Assembly were held on April 5, and many thought the new full day format was superior to what we had been doing in the past. The credit for the day has to go to DGN Ray Den Adel and District Trainer, PDG Ben Litherland. I really had little to do with the organization of the day, although I was one of the presenters. The new format was pretty much dictated by the new timeline of the International Assembly training for incoming governors, but the success of the event probably indicates we will continue the format for coming years.
You will see a more detailed report on the P.E.T.S. / District Assembly later in this newsletter, but I can tell you at this time that no club presidents elect showed up with their cat, dog or bird to the "PETS". I have always been afraid that would happen.
Things are moving along rather smoothly in preparations for the upcoming District Conference. The Rochelle Rotary Club and the powers that be in the city of Rochelle are going all out to make this a most memorable event for all Rotarians and their spouses participating. The goodie bags are filling up, the Historical Museum will be open, and an arts and crafts show is being planned. The new District Favorite Recipe Book which Jane has prepared with the input form many of you has gone to press, and it looks to be about an inch thick. One of the drinks in that book, Sam and Dave's Special Slush, should be produced and available in the Rochelle hospitality suite at the conference. The Rockford and Loves Park clubs will also be sponsoring a joint hospitality suite at the conference.
While most of the entertainment is very high quality stuff, a special feature scheduled to be presented on Saturday afternoon is highly questionable in nature. You have to see it to believe it. I will say no more. By the way, our inspirational humorist/impressionist, Rev. Dick Anderson of Aurora, recently did a stint as Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. for a special commemoration of the Lincoln assassination. I hope John Wilkes Booth didn't come back or we may be out of a couple programs.
Now, if you don't come to Rochelle at the end of the month, you will miss all this great stuff, plus a lot of valuable information on the super Rotary programs going on in our District 6420 and in the Rotary world. Let's celebrate.
REPORT ON GROUP STUDY EXCHANGE
WITH DISTRICT 3790 IN THE PHILIPPINES
We have good news and we have bad news, first the good news. Our team of four (one dropped out in January) left Chicago for Manilla on March 31, and for the most part seem to be enjoying the experience, according to reports that Cathy Hartman has had from Danira Parra, our team leader from the La Salle club. Their first days were somewhat of a hassle for Danira and Steve Cox, the attorney from Freeport as they attempted to assist in solving the problem which resulted in the bad news.
The bad news is that the members of the visiting team from District 3790 who were to have been at our District Conference are unable to come due to their inability to secure visas to enter this country from our U.S. Embassy in Manilla. While they were never told why their visa applications were denied, we have some suspicions. We never received any definitive information about these five people other than their names and their professions, although we requested it several times by faxes.
The scenario runs something like this. We were notified by fax fairly late last month that there was a problem, and Governor Chuck Engel was asked to write two letters to the U.S. Consul General in Manilla indicating our desire to host the Philippine team and outlining the parameters of the G.S.E. program. This he did. The letters were faxed to Manilla, and the originals of those letters were given to our team leader, Danira to hand deliver to the embassy upon here arrival, which she did. The Philippine team showed up at the embassy on April 3 along with attorney, Steve Cox for an appointment, but received no satisfaction. They returned a day or two later and stood in line for the better part of the day, and again were rejected. The only thing they were told was that they could reapply in six months. There is a slight possibility that they may be able to come in the Fall. Contacts were made to our national legislators requesting their intervention, but to no avail.
Governor Engel also contacted the G.S.E. people at our world headquarters in Evanston, and was told that this situation was fairly rare in dealings with the Philippines. It had happened in the past, however, and there is little that the Rotary Foundation can do about it. It appears that there are political forces at work there that we do not understand, and rather than create a possible international incident, they simply refuse to grant visas. We do know that visitors from the Philippine to this country must be able to prove that they have compelling reasons to return to their homeland after such a visit. We do not know for sure that that was the reason for this refusal, since no reason was ever given to them, nor is our State Department required to give reasons.
We will miss having our Philippine friends with us. All members of the District 6420 G.S.E. Committee want to thank the clubs who had made elaborate preparations to host the team from 3790. We are sorry for that inconvenience and the loss of this great experience, but, as you can see, the cancellation was completely out of the control of either this district or Rotary International.
Our team will be returning from Manilla on April 27, the last day of our District Conference. They will surely have many interesting stories to tell about the experience. Plan to invite them to your club to give a program after they have had a chance to rest.
P.E.T.S / DISTRICT ASSEMBLY REPORT
Saturday, April 5 saw our first combined P.E.T.S. and District Assembly take place at the Brandywine Inn at Dixon. The change to this format from the traditional separate Saturday morning meetings was prompted this year by the move of the International Assembly in Anaheim, California from the middle of February to the middle of March. It is at that conference that the five hundred plus incoming district governors from all over the Rotary world are trained. It is from that training that they are able to share the most recent Rotary leadership information with incoming club leaders in the district.
District Trainer, PDG Ben Litherland convened the meeting at 8:00 A.M. All of the morning sessions were conducted in the large meeting room for all participants. They learned from DGN Ray all about the 1997-98 theme, "Show Rotary Cares." The group learned about leadership techniques and the important role of the club president in the success of his or her club from Governor Chuck. He also walked them through the Club President's Workbook pointing out the important things that they need to be doing now to prepare for their year of leadership. DGN Ray then explained to the group how the governor, governor's reps, and district committees interact with the club. This was followed by the District Business Meeting, which is required at all District Assemblies.
The business meeting, while normally a rather uneventful session, was rather lively this year due to discussion and voting on the proposed budget and the Finance Committee's proposal of a per capita dues increase to fund the budget. While all club presidents had been sent a letter explaining the basic proposals earlier in the week, there remained considerable confusion about what it all meant. The issues were later resolved in the afternoon breakout session of Club Presidents Elect, who were the official voting delegates of their clubs. Last year's District Assembly established a special ad hoc committee to study the long range financial planning of the district, and their recommendations formed the basis for the actions of the District Finance Committee, headed by John Conlon.
In the end, a slightly higher budget than last year's was approved as well as an additional $3 dues levy starting on July 1 by a better than three-fourths vote of the Presidents Elect present and voting. That means that the per capita district dues for the 1997-98 Rotary year will be $14, still among the lowest dues of districts in Zone 27. Unfortunately, as usual, eleven of the 56 clubs in the district did not send a representative to the meeting to take part in this most important decision making process or receive this valuable leadership training.
The luncheon featured speaker was Dorothy Young of the Fulton Provisional club. Dorothy, a retired Service Supervisor at Rotary International, gave the group an interesting history and insight into the workings of the R.I. Secretariat in Evanston. She had presented a somewhat similar talk at the Bright Horizons Club charter night.
Afternoon breakout sessions, in addition to the Presidents Elect session, included group discussions for secretaries and treasurers, and the four avenues of service. These sessions were chaired by DGN Ray Den Adel, PDG Bob Smith, Nel Pitelka, Don Clayberg, Dick Graff, and Ralph Egeland. The groups came back together at the end of the day for some final words of wisdom before adjournment. At this time, DG Chuck Engel presented a special certificate of appreciation from the Rotary Foundation to PDG Dr. Jed Johnson for his volunteer work in Brazil.
ROTARY FOUNDATION FUNDING FROM
DISTRICT DUES TO CHANGE
For many years $1 per member was collected as part of the district per capita dues of $11. This was done by action of a District Assembly many years ago. Beginning July 1, 1997 that will no longer be done. This change is the result of action taken at the District Assembly upon advice from the Rotary Foundation that all funds contributed to the Foundation must be voluntary. While the Foundation did not turn down that money, the opinion was that if the I.R.S. became aware of the method by which those funds were collected, it could jeopardize their tax exempt status.
Since a number of clubs may want to get permission of their members to continue to contribute the $1 through the district, clubs will be given the option of adding the $1 per member to their $14 per capita billing from the district in July.
SUBMIT APPLICATIONS FOR R.Y.L.A. NOW
All clubs should have received their applications for this year's R.Y.L.A. camp to be held May 16, 17, and 18 at the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Camp south of Oregon, IL. If your club does not have the applications or you need more, please contact registrar, Kim Schmidt at (815) 624-7099.
District 6420's R.Y.L.A. (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) has been a very successful program in our district since 1989. It has been used as a model for a number of surrounding Rotary districts which have started similar programs. Though it officially became a Rotary International program in 1971, it was through the action and vision of PDG Bill Welk that R.Y.L.A. came to District 6420. The cost is $120 for a club to send a student to the three day camp. We especially encourage you to send high school sophomores, so that they will have two years remaining to share their leadership skills with their school and community. The deadline for applications is May 1.
MATCHING GRANT FOR W.C.S. PROJECT APPROVED
We have been notified by the Rotary Foundation that our matching grant for the well drilling equipment project in Brazil has been approved. Thanks go to Dr. Jed Johnson for all of his hard work to secure this grant. The application for this grant was complicated and time consuming for Jed while he was recovering from his recent surgery.
VISIT DISTRICT INTERNET WEB SITE
http://getonline.com/dist6420
NEW ROTARIANS SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER
WELCOME TO ROTARY
BELVIDERE Thomas P. Chapman
EAST MOLINEPamela A. Myers Marie C. Christian
ERIERobert T. Garcia Stephen H. Foster
Michael D. Blean
GALENAVickie Gratton Joe Terry
GENESEO Janet M. VanDerSchaaf
HARVARD Mark Wolter
LOVES PARKTony Sab George Brettrager
Michael Bequette
MOLINEVickie Miller M. Lauree Hanson
Bert Polk
MORRISON Michelle Buckwalter
OREGON Jeffrey K. Hallock
PRINCETON Cindi Simmons
SANDWICHPatt Butti Gregory A. Mayer
STERLINGKaren Chevalier Leonard David
STREATOR Ronnie Shambaugh
WENONARobert P. Krischel David F. Busken
ADDITIONAL CHANGES OR CORRECTIONS TO THE
1996-97 DISTRICT DIRECTORY
PAGE 35
ERIE - NEW MEETING PLACE
Erie High School - Home Economics Room 201
PAGE 36
GRANVILLE - NEW MEETING PLACE
Clover Club in Mark (1 mile west of Granville, 1 mile north on Rte. 71)
March Membership, Attendance, Foundation