District 5360 Governor's October 2003 Newsletter

October is the month when we recognize Vocational Service, the second avenue of the 4 Avenues of Rotary service. Membership in Rotary is governed by the classification system, whereby we ensure our clubs adequately represent the composition of our community and recognize the worthiness of all useful occupations.

In my official visit to each club I am making the point in my address that "the way we do Rotary is as important as the Rotary we do ………… what we do in Rotary is important and must be done with integrity".

The abandonment of integrity and ethics can have terrible consequences to our society as a whole. In the past few years the dishonesty and greed of senior management in a multitude of businesses and government has left a swath of victims without the employment and the pensions they expected. It has also reduced the value of those companies and this in turn has hit the value of most professional and government pension funds, and that of investment companies. Yet our very freedoms, democracy and standard of living rely heavily on the integrity and the health of our institutions and financial markets

To ensure we act with integrity, we should during October, visit the 4 Way Test and the Declaration of Rotarians in Business and Professions. We can do this by reading and thinking about these two documents, and then discuss the issues at our clubs. The next step is to take the 4 Way Test into our offices and out into our community.

The 4 Way Test is a precious thing. Like all precious things it can be easily misused by some to hide behind and justify inappropriate actions and behaviour. This is why once a year we need to discuss and interpret it correctly at a club meeting.

Bob Bissett of the Rotary club of Raymond offered this quotation, attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

Governor Mike has visited with 29 of the 47 clubs. The welcome has been most remarkable and sometimes a little overwhelming. The main thing on the minds of 26 of the 29 club presidents visited is membership growth and retention. So what distinguishes the odd three? Two are in small towns and have a long time reputation for being an integral part of the community; for providing interesting weekly meetings, highly visible projects, and being in the town newspaper almost every week. The other - "no one would want to leave (this club)".

Proposals for District Governor 2006-2007

All clubs in District 5360 are invited to send your proposals to the chair of the Nominating Committee, PDG Sandy MacKay at Ste 301 – 623 – 4^th ST SE, Medicine Hat, AB T1A 0L1. The procedure is as follows:

Mike and I visited the RYPEN camp this fall, and were tremendously impressed by what we found. We found young people, ages 14-17, enthusiastically participating in their groups. Everything was done in the group, which typically comprised 8 campers, 1 youth leader, and 1 adult leader. The group ate together, did group exercises together, played games together. Many of the young people had come from very difficult backgrounds, and were not the high achievers usually found in the district Rotary programs. RYPEN is one of only two programs offered by the district, which does not target the high achievers and the successful students. These teenagers had come to the Eagle’s Nest for the opportunity of a new approach, a new attitude, a new view of self, in fact, a chance at a completely new beginning. The wonderful thing is that so many of them jumped at the chance. They made the amazing discovery that they were valuable and worthy of respect, both as a group, and more importantly, as unique individuals. They revealed to themselves that they had courage beyond anything they had imagined. "You can do it!", "You’ve got it – it hasn’t got you!" These were some of the shouts of encouragement we heard.

As we have visited different clubs, we have been told about the changes seen in the individual campers upon their return. What a wonderful program! To provide hope to young people who need it – such a marvellous gift!

We are grateful for the opportunity to have participated in it. We are also grateful for the inspiring dedication and generosity of spirit of the Rotarians of District 5360, and their family members, who have been providing the leadership in this camp, year after year. They have given a great gift to the community, by using their knowledge, their energy, their time, their patience and their love.