sandi83

It is with some trepidation that I sit down to write my first President’s Column for the Pinion. When I think of all the presidents who have come before me, I am, I have to confess, a little intimidated. And most immediately, I am realizing what high heels I have to fill after Past President Lisa’s year at the podium. Thank you PP Lisa for a wonderful year leading Niles Rotary. Your focus on membership growth grew our club by 14 new members and your commitment to the Rotary Foundation ensured that we exceeded our goal in Foundation giving. But, most of all, your warmth and charm each week expressed the enthusiasm you have for Rotary and the love you have for all the members of Niles.

I would also like to thank the outgoing board members for their service to the club. John Dutra, you held down the club service duties with aplomb. Terri Landon, you kept us busy with community service projects far and wide. And Past President Steve, you made sure that our social calendars were full of engagements. To the incoming board members — Paul Andrus and Sandy Stabile — thank you for stepping up and taking leadership of community service and club service, respectively. Past President Lisa, you are a natural for Social Chair, so we are expecting a eventful 12 months of socializing. And at the back table, I would like to thank Steven Springer for serving ably as Sergeant-at-arms for the last year. Dana Jones and Steven have been Co-Sergeants for the past six months, and now Dana will assume those duties herself. Thank you, Dana, for taking up the reins in that role.

When I look back at my year as president-elect, I am first of all astonished at how fast the 12 months passed and second of all thrilled by all that I have learned about the Rotary organization. My journey to Seoul, Korea for the Rotary International Convention was undoubtedly the highlight of my president-elect year. Being in the same vast room with 25,000 other Rotarians from all over the world was truly awe-inspiring. And hearing about the global impact of Rotary made me proud to be an ever-so-small part of the organization. With then-President Lisa, I met a Rotarian from Kathmandu who offered to host us if we ever visited his home town. Simon Cho (who, it turns out, is descended from Korean royalty) set us up for a Korean banquet and a tour of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. He even talked our Korean tour guide into singing a traditional Korean love song. Daren Young answered that by leading us in a rendition of Smile for the baffled and disbelieving Rotarians on our tour bus. It was a trip never to be forgotten.

In the year ahead, I hope to lead us all in a year of Rotary exploration, opening all our eyes to what Rotary accomplishes around the world and in our own region. It is a great honor to be your president this year. My door and inbox are always open; if you have any requests for the year, please feel free to get in touch.

Yours in Rotary,

President Angus

It is hard to believe that this is my last Pinion article.  It wasn’t long ago that the thought of standing at the podium to conduct a meeting was nothing short of terrifying for me, but with each passing week I found myself enjoying being at the front of the room looking out at all of your smiling faces more and more!  It was especially comforting to get a nod of support during one of my inevitable “hot flashes!” Throughout the year members would ask or comment on how busy I was due to my role as club president.  Additionally, several have asked if it was worth the time commitment that came with the responsibility of the president and whether or not I “got anything out of it.”  As each meeting passed, I found that I experienced an increasing amount of personal growth – that, I believe, is what I will value the most of my year as club president.  Yet, what I have come to cherish is the personal relationships that have deepened because I have had the opportunity to interact with each and every member of our club.

At this writing, I am sitting in my hotel room in Korea reflecting on the great RI convention that I just attended.  I am grateful for the time I got to spend with President Elect Angus in Korea.  As I am sure he will confirm, attending a convention provides an opportunity to meet many new Rotarian friends and better understand the worldwide impact that we as Rotarians have.  At the opening session, we listened to world leaders express their gratitude to Rotarians worldwide for being a “Gift to the World.” We made so many new friends.  Additionally, one of the benefits I gain from attending the conventions is deepening my friendships with those local Rotarians I travel with on these trips. I most appreciate that Rotary has given me the opportunity to meet and make friends with like minded community leaders in almost every country around the world.  Therefore, I urge you to consider attending the Atlanta RI Convention in June of 2017!

I have asked many of you throughout the year the question during recognition, “what do you enjoy about being in Rotary?” Obviously, the projects that we as a club have worked on, the money we have raised for the RI Foundation, Polio Plus, and countless other projects and worthy causes have been mentioned.  One thing that has become obvious when I would hear your answers …. I am constantly reminded how proud I am to be a Rotarian, and especially a Niles Rotarian.

This Rotary year has been a busy one…. which is why my year as president has flown by so fast.  My year was made so much easier due to the knowledge and expertise of many past Niles Rotary presidents who would take the time to meet with me. I am forever grateful for their guidance.   As a matter of fact, all past presidents told me early on in my journey that this would be my best year in Rotary.  I can now say based on experience, it has been my best year in Rotary! It is with heartfelt gratitude that I say to each club member YOU made my year the best I’ve experienced.  Thank you so much!

As we turn our attention to the end of this Rotary year, I am excited not only to attend the wonderfully kind and sensitive “celebration” of my year as president, but am looking forward to Angus taking the helm of our club.  We can all agree that his quick wit and wonderful sense of humor will be the hallmark of his presidency.  We are in for a year full of fun and laughs.  Speaking of fun, I am looking forward to my year as social chair.   I plan to have some new events as well as our tried and true events in this upcoming social year.  I would like to thank PP Steve for setting the bar high insofar as our social calendar and will work to “fill his shoes.”

I wanted to finish my last Pinion article thanking those who have assisted me during my presidential year.  Short of mentioning everyone in the club, I will simply state that my success as president is entirely due to each and every member of the club.  Like the spokes of the Rotary wheel, our club would not “roll” if it were not for each and every member.  Each of you has kept us “on the right track.”  I am forever in your debt for what YOU have given me this past year as your president.

 

I can hardly believe that this is my second to last Pinion article!

Hats off, congratulations and thank you to PE Angus for a great event! The highlight of last month was our 21st Annual Elimination Raffle and Dinner, which is our only club fundraiser for the year. This was a year of change, a new venue, the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Newark hosted our event. 402 individuals entered into a beautiful room decorated in an African animal motif that played on our Fund a Need project presented by our own Dr. Richard Godfrey making a request for help to send a container of medical supplies from MedShare to Kenya to be used in the Matibabu Hospital. The hope of raising $10,000 was quickly realized as paddle after paddle was raised by the many caring individuals in the room. Within a matter of minutes over $25,000 was raised! It was a heartwarming moment seeing the love and support in the room. We are waiting to hear the final numbers for the raffle baskets, silent auction and live auction.

We inducted 3 new members, Jeff Schinkel and Sam Forbes sponsored by Sherry Higgs, and Maria Mendoza sponsored by me! Maria was quick to follow the tradition started by Geeta Kadambi and Kimberly MacFarlane. Maria gave her Ice Breaker minutes after being inducted into the club.

Congratulations to new blue badge members Aggie Freeman, Geeta Kadambi, Wendy Mills and Josh Carlson! All of these new members are already contributing much to our club in many ways – we are so fortunate to recruit and retain such excellent members, thanks to the efforts of all of you.

A big thank you to Community Service director Terri Landon for the wonderful Astronomy Night at Blacow Elementary school. Several Niles Rotarians assisted the Robertson High School Interactors and Greater Fremont Rotaract club to teach close to 80 elementary students how to build marshmallow constellations, make astronaut pudding, along with several other fun projects. It was such a great event, Principal Jose Hernandez asked if we would come back and do it again in the fall!

An additional community service project on April 30 was the planting of trees in Niles Community Park in honor of Arbor Day; Community Service director Terri Landon had a team of several Niles Rotarians working with the Boy Scouts to get the trees planted.

Our Area 3 Day in the Park was busy, with booths and volunteers from the Area 3 Rotary clubs, Areas 4 and 5 Interact clubs, and the Rotaract Club of Greater Fremont to help children with fishing in Lake Elizabeth and to promote Rotary in the Tri-City area. Thank you to all who helped with the event.

I am pleased to announce that the Niles Rotary website won the District competition as the best website in the District for medium sized clubs! The District competition for best newsletters, Facebook pages, and websites was chaired by Sandi Pantages – thank you Sandi for taking on that task for the District.

I have just returned from the annual District Conference at the San Ramon Marriott. Past President Kimberly Hartz Foster and Area Governor Daren Young have been working hard to put together a great conference for our District 5170. I told Governor Susan Valenta that Niles club would have 50 individuals registered for the conference, and I am proud to say that we have 51 people registered! As always, Niles Rotary has kicked it up a notch!!! The conference was awesome, and I came away touched and inspired by the many ways Rotary serves humanity. There were many Niles Rotarians helping make the District Conference the best I have ever attended – their names are included in the article on the conference included in this Pinion.

Until next month …

President Lisa