Greetings, fellow Rotarians.........................................................................

I would like to share with you some of my goals for the 2007-2008 rotary year.

Inform and educate: A series of “This is Rotary” talks will inform our newer members about some of the traditions and accomplishments of our club. Likewise, we’ll focus on the many valuable programs sponsored by Rotary District 5020 and Rotary International.

Attendance: If you’re not attending our club meetings and other events, you’re not getting full value out of your Rotary membership. Recently, Rotary lowered the attendance requirement to 50%, but I think we can do better. In addition to attending our own club meetings, you can get attendance credit by doing a makeup at another club or attending a committee meeting.

Membership: We need to continue last year’s excellent efforts by the membership committee that resulted in 14 new members, bringing our club total to 107. Because of attrition, we need to keep bringing in new members just to stay even and possibly gain one or two. A goal of 10 new members should accomplish this.

Family Involvement: Let’s make Rotary as family friendly as possible. Include your spouses in our fundraisers and social events whenever possible. Spouses will be invited to new member inductions as well. We will have at least one family event during the year, such as our summer picnic.

Public Relations: We need to do a better job of telling the story of Rotary to our local community. Not only will this build awareness of our role in the community, but it also might help attract new members.

District events: We’d like to have better attendance at some of the District-sponsored events, such as the District Leadership Training Session, District Conference, and other conferences and workshops. These are excellent opportunities to meet other Rotarians and find out what’s going on in the greater Rotary

Improving Literacy: This is a major specific goal set by Rotary International. We will continue our distribution of 3rd grade dictionaries and consider expanding the literacy effort to the kindergarten level.

Interact: Mark Steelquist did a fantastic job of getting this program off the ground with the 9th graders, and we’re looking to expand it at the high school this year. These Rotarians-in-training will be encouraged to do a community service project this year.

Fellowships: These smaller gatherings (12-20) of Rotarians give newer Rotarians a chance to meet the older members on a more informal basis and learn more about Rotary. We hope to have them quarterly.

Youth Exchange: We will continue our strong support for this popular program, which sends a Bremerton High student abroad for the school year and brings a foreign student here. Getting to know the exchange students can be a “mind broadening” and pleasant experience.

Fundraising: We have three fundraisers this year-—Taste of Elegance in October, Wild Game Dinner in February and R.A.G.S. in April. The efforts of all members of our club will be required to make these events successful.
This may seem like a lot to try to accomplish in one year, but with the enthusiasm of club members new and old, I think we can get this done… and maybe more!

President Steve