Rotary District 6200 Newsletter

Governor's Update

New beginnings such as now are full of tremendous potential. I sense excitement in Rotarians and clubs across the District as this new Rotary year has begun -- an energizing feeling that I hope all of us share. "The beginning is the most important part of the work," according to Plato. We are off to a great start! Here are some highlights:

Good communications are vital to our success. The District Newsletter and District Directory have been redesigned to improve their effectiveness. This new Newsletter format is a work in progress, so please help us with your comments
(to Clsrotary@aol.com) to make it even better.
Literacy is our top goal. Read inside about the ambitious plans to benefit literacy of the Rotary Clubs of East Ascension and of Port Allen, two of many clubs that are undertaking similar efforts in the days ahead. A number of them plan to donate books to a needy school or library as their weekly speaker gift.
The Family of Rotary is another key goal. The willingness of so many clubs to work together this year is encouraging. Let's remember to care for our own members and their families, as well as for people around the globe through matching grants and other means.
The Rotary Foundation donations and Membership growth and retention are both poised for a stellar year. Our club presidents, and the respective District Committee chairs and members, are focused, eager and determined to take their clubs and this District to new levels in these vital areas.
Fun is essential to make it all work. Our new club presidents are still talking about how much they enjoyed their President-Elect Training Seminar (PETS). The Foundation Family Celebration last month in Baton Rouge drew a record attendance and rave reviews. Let's make our club meetings and activities fun, as well.

It's all up to us. Just Do It! is one of my all-time favorite corporate slogans. Twelve months from now, and for years thereafter, we want to be able to look back on this year with pride for what we accomplished in providing "Service Above Self" to a needy world. Our call to action is "Rotary Shares." Let's do it!

Yours in Rotary,

Charles L. Spencer

District Governor, 2007-2008

Feature Presentation: Camp RYLA Rocks!

District Governor Charles (wearing blue Interact shirt) is surrounded by youth and counselors from throughout District 6200 who recently gathered at Lake Fausse Pointe State Park near St. Martinville, LA, to attend Camp RYLA. "From learning serious teamwork, to laughing and spending time with many new friends... Read More.

The Rotary Foundation

Many of District 6200's clubs intend to submit matching grant applications this year, according to seasoned Foundation Chair, PDG Lance Linscombe. Strong interest has been expressed to him from... Read More.

District Currents

New Assistant District Governors Pat, Tom and Hilary (shown below) have been appointed to replace their term-limited predeceasors, Tom Bergeron, Doug Braymer and Mike Collins, respectively:

All 2007-2008 Assistant Governors and their contact information can be viewed here.

Membership Matters

A banner year in 2007-2008 for membership is predicted for District 6200 by District Membership Development Chair Joe Hidalgo and his Committee. They are sprinting out of the blocks to motivate each club to "Share Rotary" by... Read More.

Action Clubs

Installations recently held by many clubs around the District have provided the opportunity for a lot of fun, as well as leadership transition. Shown to the left is "Queen Bee" Bettsie Miller at her coronation as the new President of the Baton Rouge Sunrise Club, and to the right is a 3' long gavel that weighs 3 1/2 lbs presented to... Read More.

Literacy Now
Tremendous interest exists in Rotary clubs throughout District 6200 to undertake significant literacy projects during this new Rotary year. For example, the Rotary Club of East Ascension has committed to conducting 5 such projects in 2007-2008. A spelling bee for adults is an interesting project that was recently held by the Baton Rouge Capital City Rotary Club as further described below.

The Port Allen Rotary Club will award $1,000 grants to six elementary school libraries for the purchase of books to begin developing limited and dated collections. The funding for the grants will be raised through the Club's annual golf tournament in October. Club members will also act as reading buddies for at risk students at Port Allen Elementary School. Further, Club members will help promote LIVE HOMEWORK HELP (LHH), a free online tutoring and homework assistance service provided by the West Baton Rouge Parish Library through its web site, www.wbr.lib.la.us. LIVE HOMEWORK HELP provides students (4th - 12th grade) with one-on-one help in math, science, english and social studies, from 4:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. daily. The tutors are carefully screened and consist of qualified college professors, certified teachers and graduate students. The Club's members will obtain and distribute LHH posters, flyers and bookmarks to their customers and employees... Read More.

Lagniappe
2007-2008 District Directories are being mailed out to all club presidents and secretaries this week. They have been completely redesigned to make them easy to use. Any changes in the published contact information should be reported promptly to District General Secretary Karin Viator at rotary6200@cox-internet.com or 1-800-301-8560 and will be published in future issues of the District Newsletter.