Public Relations August 1997


 

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BRAZIL: Group Study Exchange

Our district will send a GSE team to Brazil in 1998.  We need on
Rotarian and four non-Rotarian team members.
This four-week exchange with District 4610, Sao Paulo, Brazil will
be April 28-May 28, 1998.  The GSE team will stay with Rotary host families
while studying Brazil's institutions, economy and customs.  They
will attend Rotary meetings. meet others in their profession,
share information and ideas and make new friends.
PLEASE NOTE: Our district GSE Committee requires that ALL
candidates be interviewed by the sponsoring club before their
applications are endorsed and sent on to the district.  Please do
not recommend an unqualified candidate.
We are looking for team members who are well-informed,
personable, and excellent communicators.  While fun and
rewarding, the experience can, at the same time, be both
strenuous and stressful.  Due to what amounts to a five week
commitment by team members for this exchange, we need an extra
commitment from you and your club to help fill the slots on the
GSE team.  Please give this the attention it deserves.

For Applications

Deryl Miller
3205 34th St
Rock Island, IL 61021
(309) 786-5335

Dave Shockey
6408 East Shockey Rd
Ridott, IL 61067
(815) 449-2410

Completed applications for team members must be submitted to
Deryl by Nov 16.  District interviews will be conducted Nov 23.
Team leader applications must be submitted by Nov 2.

September is New Generations Month

Next month would be perfect timing to invite your R.Y.L.A. and
World Affairs candidates in to speak at your club.  If you club
did not sponsor anyone (Shame on you), just ask a neighboring
club for the name of their candidates.  These youth have an
enthusiasm which could carry over into the formation of an
Interact or Rotoract club in your area.
It is also a good time to ask your Rotary Exchange students to
speak at your club, either those who went outbound this summer, 
or those foreign exchange students who are here right now.
Plan now to have a program in September about Youth Activities.

Rotary Mottoes

The first motto of Rotary International "He profits Most Who 
Serves Best." was approved at the second Rotary Convention, held 
in Portland, Oregon, in August 1911.  The phrase was first stated 
by Chicago Rotarian, Art Sheldon, whose speech in 1910 included 
the remark, "He profits most who serves his fellow best."  At
about the same time, Ben Collins, president of the Rotary club of 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, commented that the proper way to organize 
a Rotary club was through the principle his club adopted, 
"Service, Not Self."  These two slogans, slight modified, were
formally approved to be the official mottoes of Rotary at the
1950 Convention in Detroit - "He Profits Most Who Serves Best"
and Service Above Self."  The 1989 Council on Legislation
established "Service Above Self as the Principal motto of Rotary,
since it best explains the philosophy of unselfish volunteer

service.

International Convention Challenge

Governor Ray Den Adel has offered $500 to clubs that show the
greatest net membership gain between July 1, 1997 and March 30,
1998.  One club in each category, 30 and under or 31 and over,
will be eligible to receive the award.  The money is to offset
expenses in sending a delegate to the International Convention in
Indianapolis.

Streator Rotary Club

    The year in review

The following is an excerpt from the newspaper.  Streator enjoys a wonderful 
relationship with the paper, which prints the weekly activities of Rotary.  
This article reviewed the entire year, showing the community what Rotary 
has done for them.  It looks like a great promotion and membership 
development piece.

Streator Rotary Club has:
Sponsored the Streator High School academic team in the 34th annual 
Academic Bowl Classic, for the 34th time.
Collected items valued at $606 for the homeless shelter.
Collected coats and blankets for the needy for the sixth year, sponsored 
The Times-Press NIE (Newspaper in Education) program; sponsored the 
Northlawn math contest for the eighth time; rang bells for the Salvation 
Army; worked the concession stand at Engle Lane Theatre.
Received RI Presidential citation to Build the Future by completing three 
activities in each of the four avenues of service for the fifth year in a 
row.

The club was represented at Peru Rotary's 75th anniversary, Belvidere 
Bright Horizon's charter night, the Mid-Year district meeting, PETS and 
District Assembly, and the District Conference.  And has members on two 
district committees and a Governor's Representative.
They have 22 Paul Harris Fellows and 18 sustaining members (out of 46 
members)
They have donated money to the YMCA, Streatorland Community Food Pantry, 
LaSalle County Extension (4-H trophies), Project Neighborly Older 
Americans, Woodland Education Foundation, District 44 Education Foundation, 
Streator Municipal Pool fund, Streator High School Academic Team, St Mary's 
Hospital Cancer Treatment Center, Streator Crimestoppers, I-READ, United 
Way, Streator Community Players, Streator Grade School Band Uniform fund, 
SACCI Edge 2000, Streator Youth softball, SHS Post Prom '97, Woodland Post 
Prom, Riverview Cemetery, National Fire Safety Council, Visiting Ursa 
Association, American Diabetic Society and Streator Police Department 
Emergency Response Team.
They supplied teams for the Buster's brain Bowl and Woodland Country Quiz; 
held  the fourth annual gold fun day and social, and a membership seminar 
and social.
The article even pointed out that they did not find an applicant for the 
Ambassadorial Scholarship worth $22,000.

Now if only every community newspaper were so cooperative.





Clubs in Action so Others May Read

by Krista Miner Rittenhouse

Family Night - Bringing parents & children together to encourage 
literacy.

In 1989, The Literacy Connection children's reading program began 
pairing up "at risk" kids in Moline, IL. with a tutor to improve 
reading skills.  A primary reason TLC was needed was the lack of 
a strong language background in these children's homes.  Books 
were not accessible in the home and the children were not read to  
nor did they see their parents reading.  Volunteers and founders 
quickly realized the necessity of working directly with the 
family to encourage and support the kids' success.  A number of 
years later, their dream was achieved through the creation of a 
TLC offshoot called "Family Night."

The primary goals of Family Night are:
    To provide a comfortable, relaxed forum each month for 
families and volunteers to meet, learn from one another and share 
a meal together.
    To provide an opportunity for the parents to participate in a 
literacy activity with their child/children.
    To get more books into the home and encourage reading by 
providing books free of charge to participating families.
"We want to develop relationships with the family." - Carol 
Kepler, Executive Director of TLC.
it is this holistic approach to literacy that attracted me (a 26 
year old commercial construction Estimator Z* Safety Director) to 
the program.  I believe children learn what is modeled to them, 
and if we can make an impact on parents that reading is not only 
important, but enjoyable, we have won a major battle in the war 
on illiteracy.  While that is what attracted me, what I keep 
going back for are those sweaty little hands that grab for mine, 
the precious malleable minds that long for stimulation, the big 
smiles of excitement when reading is made a fun, family affair.  
Family Nights offer the chance for parents and kids to experience 
The Literacy Connection in a relational, family setting.

What kind of success rate does the program have?  Well, measuring 
the effects on an individual's life are hard to quantify.  
Perhaps they could be summed up through one woman's experience.  
Jane is the mother whose children are TLC kids.  She is 
illiterate, but has been very active in Family Nights over the 
past few years, rarely missing.  Last September, Jane enrolled in 
an adult basic education course - literacy for adults.  When 
asked about her new venture, she replied. " I want to learn how 
to read so I can read to my kids."  That is what this program is 
all about.

This is your site District 6420. E-mail your comments, questions, ideas and suggestions to me.

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