Season of Change
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven...
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven...
This past week I learned that Rotary has seasons as well. Past District Governor Marta Knight completed her responsibilities as Governor by finishing the financial audit during her Governor year. Of course she completed her task with flying colors. The District is in great financial shape.
Just yesterday, Marta presided over the Nominating Committee’s selection of Dianne Crawford as the next District Governor to serve after Chuck Pretto for the Rotary year 2023-2024.
In a couple of weeks, District Governor-Elect Dan Gensler will be attending Governor-Elect Training Session (GETS). At the same time Governor Nominee Chuck Pretto will be attending Governor Nominee Advanced Training (GNATS). GETS, GNATS and Zone Institute will be held in San Diego. Dan and Chuck will be with their classmates absorbing all things Rotary. At other times during their training, they will be collaborating and crafting plans for the future for our district. It won’t be just Dan’s year or Chuck’s year - it will be their and our years.
At the same time that week there was a Presidents-Elect Training Seminar (PETS) committee meeting - by Zoom of course. The committee is made up of about twenty members from the seven Southwest Districts that meet and train at the LAX Marriott Hotel. That is until this year. It was decided last week to hold the PETS training virtually. This will be the first time this has happened and, hopefully, the last. We are the pioneers of this new training format. Frankly, this was the only viable solution for all seven Districts.
Here we are, almost four months into the Rotary year and Governor-Elect Dan was preparing his 55 presidents-elect for next year by conducting a Zoom meeting on membership. The meeting included break-out sessions of about five presidents-elect discussing ways to attract new members; best practices to engage current members; and the best ways to retain members. Chat room discussions were facilitated by Past Governors Marta Knight and Scott Carr, Governor Nominee Chuck Pretto and membership co-chairs Dianne Crawford and Ron Kohl. The sessions were lively and informative. Dan has a great group of presidents-elect. The District and clubs are in good shape with this future leadership. After the breakout sessions, everyone came together to share their ideas.
All in all it was quite a week of people going and coming. The pace was quite brisk. Everyone focused on what needed to get done.
One of my favorite activities is snorkeling. I am fascinated by the amount of life that happens beneath the surface. A whole world is in motion. All the fish are going about their business to get through the present and prepare for the future. They travel in schools and on their own. They hunt for food and eat on the run. It is truly remarkable to see this underworld display.
In many ways, this is what I witnessed and observed this past week. What was happening in our District and with our clubs went on beneath the surface.
I believe this is the strength of our clubs and District. We account for the past and prepare for the future. We show stability and continuity by preparing succession in our leadership. These are indicators of great organizations.
I wanted to share these thoughts because things like these go unnoticed. We should appreciate the efforts of everyone in our clubs who work each day and each work to provide service above self.