DISTRICT GOVERNOR'S MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
CHARLES R. ENGEL
DISTRICT 6420
JULY 1996
ON THE CHUCK WAGON
A great Rotary International Convention held in Calgary is
now history, and lo and behold, I am now your District
Governor. Whether or not we all survive the next eleven
months depends in large part on how well organized and
efficient we are, and if we have a sense of humor when
things get totally out of control. Most of you know of my
history both as a music educator and a manufacturer of
exotic musical instruments. I promise not to bring any of
my instruments to your club meetings, but there is still a
chance that you might see that side of me at the District
Conference in Rochelle in April, 1997.
I must take this opportunity to again express my sincere
thank you to PDG Ben Litherland, not only for his great year
as our District Governor, but also for having gone the extra
mile to make sure that I was well prepared to take on this
job. Ben, however, says he is not sure that the District can
survive three educators in a row as governors. I will try not
to give you as many tests as Ben did, but I will test you in
more subtle ways.
The Calgary convention was a memorable event, being
held in the famous Saddledome at Stampede Park. The
Opening Ceremonies on Sunday were the most
spectacular I have seen at a Rotary Convention, and Jane
and I had been to eight conventions previously.
It was highly choreographed with the use of skaters on the
ice to present all of the flags of the Rotary world. Song
and dance from various parts of the world were also used
to portray the universality of Rotary.
The first plenary session was the venue for the
presentation of the crystal awards for President, Herb
Brown's Calgary Challenge for membership growth. While
most of the districts receiving awards were in other parts of
the world, our zone 27 was well represented by District
6440, our next door neighbor to the east, as that District's
Governor, Mimi Altman was presented with one of the
crystals. Mimi was one of the first woman governors in
Rotary, and she is being succeeded by District 6440's
second woman governor, Karen Kline. We men better
watch out. These ladies seem to have
boundless energy.
The convention closed on Wednesday evening with an
outstanding musical presentation featuring the Calgary
Philharmonic orchestra and chorus and stars of the
Metropolitan Opera. Just prior to the closing event, earlier
on Wednesday, we were introduced to our new President,
Luis Giay and his family from Argentina and President
Nominee for 1997-98, Glen Kinross from
Australia.
If you have never before been to a Rotary International
Convention, you have missed out on one of the great joys
of being a Rotarian. Jane and I were hooked when we
attended our very first R.I. Convention in New Orleans in
1976 when I was President of the
Rochelle Club.
Outgoing R. I. President, Herb Brown asked us to "Act
with Integrity, Serve with Love, and Work for Peace"
during the past year. This we did in many ways. Now
President Giay asks us to "Build the Future with Action
and Vision." The program he has outlined for us to follow
as we do this is indeed a bold one. It is highly orientated
toward our youth and the new generations. I will be talking
to clubs about this as I make my annual
official visits.
In closing, you may be wondering where I came up with the
name for my column. One of the features of the Calgary
convention was a taste of the world famous Calgary
Stampede. One of the events we witnessed was the
chuckwagon races, which is a wild and woolly event. I
thought the year of my governorship might also be a wild
and woolly event, so be prepared for
anything.
ROCKFORD EAST/CHERRY VALLEY WINS THE
LITHERLAND CHALLENGE
The Rockford East/Cherry Valley Club was the winner in
the recently held drawing for the Litherland Challenge for
net membership gain in the 1995-96 Rotary Year. To
qualify for the drawing, a club must have achieved a net
membership gain of at least ten
percent.
A total of twelve clubs were in the running. They were
Dixon, Galena, Illinois Valley Sunrise, Kishwaukee Sunrise,
LaSalle, Pecatonica, Quad Cities, Rockford East/Cherry
Valley, Streator, Toluca, Twin Cities Sunrise, and Walnut.
Three of these clubs had a twenty percent or more
membership gain. They were Kishwaukee Sunrise,
Rockford East/Cherry Valley, and Twin Cities Sunrise. All
twelve clubs were given a number, and a number was
drawn for the winner.
The presentation of the $1,000 check to the Rockford
East/Cherry Valley Club will be made by PDG Ben
Litherland on the occasion of the Governor's annual visit to
the club on Tuesday, August 6. Congratulations to the
winner. The similar Engel Challenge for 1996-97 is
outlined in the Public Relations
insert.
ADDENDUM TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEW
DISTRICT BBS IN THE
PUBLIC RELATIONS INSERT
In addition to the telephone number provided, 1 (800) 852-
6056, you will probably have to set your communications
software to the following parameters: 8 Data Bits, 1 Stop
Bit, No Parity, Full Duplex. You can leave e-mail,
announcements of activities, and hopefully you will
eventually be able to report club attendance on the BBS.
Our District BBS is capable of data transmission at rates up
to 28,000 baud. Happy communicating.
LONGTIME ROCKFORD EXECUTIVE SECRETARY IS
HONORED
A. Warren Bate served the Rockford Rotary Club as it's
Executive Secretary for thirty-two years before suffering a
debilitating stroke in January. A Rockford Rotarian since
1949, Warren also was the editor of the club's weekly
newsletter, the Rockford Rotary Cog. Now a resident of a
Rockford nursing home, Warren also had a record of
perfect attendance in his club from the time he joined
Rotary until his recent illness.
In honor of Warren Bate's longtime commitment to the club,
Rockford Rotarians recently dedicated their 80th
Anniversary History booklet to him. He will certainly be
missed at club meetings.
ACCESS THE ROTARY NEWS BASKET ONLINE OR
ORDER A SUBSCRIPTION
In addition to our own district BBS, you are encouraged to
get the latest weekly updates on the goings on in Rotary
International by receiving the weekly Rotary News Basket.
This is a weekly newsletter that is available either in printed
form from the order desk at R.I. or download it online by
dialing 1 (800) 255-9952 using the same communications
parameters as our BBS. If done this way, it is totally free of
cost to the club. It is also available through the Rotarians
Online Forum on Compuserve. Type Go Rotary from the
Compuserve menu. The Rotary News Basket contains the
latest breaking news in the Rotary world and is an excellent
source of material for your club bulletin. It is changed
every Wednesday afternoon, so access it on a weekly
basis.
DISTRICT 6420 AMONG THE TOP THIRTY DISTRICTS IN
THE WORLD IN ROTARY
FOUNDATION GIVING
Congratulations are in order to District 6420 Rotarians for
making our district very special in the eyes of the Rotary
Foundation. With contributions totalling $356,867.60 as of
May 31, 1996, District 6420 is number three in the United
States and Canada and number twenty-nine in the world.
Much of the credit for our high status must go to deceased
Morrison Rotarian, Richard Blass, whose legacy to the
Permanent Fund of The Rotary Foundation totalled
$300.000. However, all District Rotarians can take pride in
our accomplishment. We have set the standard for years
to come and will have to work hard to meet this challenge
for the future. You will be hearing more about the
Permanent Fund of the Foundation later this year as we
get into the pilot project in the United States and Canada
to build that fund to $200,000,000 by the golden
anniversary of Rotary in the year 2005.
FOUNDATION TRUSTEES OVERTURN PREVIOUS
RULING
The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation overturned their
October 1995 decision which prohibited two recognition
items per $1,000 gift. As a result, you will now receive a
sapphire pin for yourself in addition to being able to name a
new Paul Harris Fellow for each additional $1,000
contribution beyond the initial $1,000.
OTHER DECISIONS
As of July 1, 1996, Sustaining Member credit (amounts
under $1,000 in the PHF/SM Amount of the Club
Recognition Summary report) from deceased or former
Rotarians will no longer be available for transfer to other
Rotarians.
Credits in the Available for PHF/SM column created during
or prior to the 1994-95 Rotary year will expire on June 30,
1997. Available credits created on or after July 1, 1996
must be designated within the three year funding cycle of
the Annual Programs Fund. What this basically means is,
you had better use those credits while they are still
available. Note that the existing Paul Harris Sustaining
Member program is NOT effected in any way by this
decision.
NEW ROTARIANS SINCE THE
JUNE NEWSLETTER
BELVIDERE
Dr. Irene Boswell, M.D. Ray
Barbara Levens Thomas
John D. Kolata Carol
Terri Gaby Charles
PECATONICA
Diane J. Clikeman-Miller Kieth
ROCKFORD
Matthew Corby Sherrie
Carolyn E. Green Ronald
Thomas J. Lindem Claire
Jerry Westholder Valerie
SAVANNA
Thomas S. Shorr, Jr. Catherine
CHANGES OR CORRECTIONS TO THE 1996-97
DISTRICT DIRECTORY
Since the directory was published in late March, there have
been a number of changes and corrections. Please make
these changes in your copy of the
directory.
PAGES 4, 17
CHANGE PHONE NUMBER OF DGN 98-99
Mel Sparlin
Res: (815) 654-2695
PAGE 9:
CHANGE FAX NUMBER
Rebecca Guither
(815) 872-0852
PAGE 10:
CORRECT RESIDENCE PHONE
James R. Gray
(815) 364-2476
PAGE 20:
DELETE
Robert Kurrle
PAGE 39:
MILAN AREA - CHANGE PHONE NOS. OF PRESIDENT
Robert Herath
Res: (309) 787-8308 Bus: (309) 787-
7174
PAGE 41
OTTAWA SUNRISE - CHANGE ADDRESS AND PHONE
OF SECRETARY
Judy Shiffer
1713 Guion Street
Ottawa, IL 61350
Res: (815) 433-6603
PAGE 42:
PLANO - NEW PRESIDENT
Michael Burgin Mike
820 N. Latham Christine
Sandwich, IL 60548 Bus: (708) 552-8088
Res: (815) 786-7630 Fax: (708) 552-3850
PLANO - NEW SECRETARY
Tina Smith Tina
6 E. South Street Bill
Plano, IL 60545 Bus: (708) 552-7571
Res: (708) 552-8483 Fax: (708) 552-8295
PAGE 43:
PRINCETON - NEW LAST NAME AND ADDRESS FOR
PRESIDENT
Caryl Harris
1045 Sherwood Glen Drive
Princeton, IL 61356
ROCHELLE - NEW SECRETARY
Richard A. Fluck Dick
1328 N. 14th Street Pam
Rochelle, IL 61068
Res: (815) 562-4956
PAGE 44:
ROCKFORD - NEW EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
Harvey D. Newcomb H. D.
Rockford Rotary Club Jane
608 Enterprise Bldg.
401 W. State Street
Rockford, IL 61105
Bus: (815) 965-0607 Fax: (815) 624-1176
PAGE 45:
SANDWICH - CORRECT MEMBERSHIP FIGURE
Should be 23 not 3
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PAGE 46:
STERLING - CORRECT SPELLING OF PRESIDENT'S
LAST NAME
Darryl Wahler (not Whaler)
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