Ron Bazata, Kearney
2011-2012 District Governor
When my wife, Mindy and I applied to participate in a Friendship Exchange with Australia, we did not realize how the two-week adventure would change our lives. I had been a member of the Kearney Noon club since 1982 and club President in 1986-1987. The extent of my involvement had been to help with our club fund raiser, Travelogue.
After that trip, I started to realize that there was much more to Rotary outside our Kearney Noon Rotary club. Soon after that trip, the District sent emails asking for applicants for District Governor for the 2011-2012 year. We decided that although I had no district experience, that I would apply and two-and-a-half years later, here I am. I have spent countless hours already traveling to many training meetings and talking on the phone learning the ropes in preparation for my year.
Our Rotary International President, Kalyan Banerjee, said, ?We are the doers of our communities, the leaders, the ones who are most involved, who see the problems and have the means to find the solutions. I am asking you to reach within and unleash your inner power and then use it to embrace everything and everyone around you.? Banerjee said Rotarians should be guided by three emphases-the family, continuity, and change-as they work to support the 2011-12 RI theme, Reach Within to Embrace Humanity.
An Extreme Makeover is needed for District 5630. With that thought in mind, I have set the following goals that have been clearly communicated to our District Leadership and Club Presidents. They are as follows:
- FUN at Rotary. I have asked club Presidents to appoint FUN coordinators to be in charge of not only FUN at the meeting but also FUN events outside of Rotary.
- PROJECT CHAIRMAN. I asked club Presidents to appoint a chairman to make sure the club has a locally recognizable project and an international project to work on to get members involved.
- MEMBERSHIP. Our District membership is about 1250 and we must push it up by at least 10% to avoid the possibility of having to merge with another district if our membership drops below 1200. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION. WE MUST ACT!
- FOUNDATION GIVING. Embrace the BIG RED BLOWOUT!!! This fundraiser is a win-win-win for the Foundation/District 5630/Our Clubs!
The good news is that we belong to the premier service club in the world! Let’s get involved, unleash our inner power, and achieve these goals to makeover District 5630 and make it better than ever!
GO ROTARY!
Ron Bazata
Governor 2011-2012
2011-2012 RI Theme
“Reach Within to Embrace Humanity”