Governor's Update - July 2022

Jul 11, 2022

Hello Rotarians,

A new Rotary Year has begun and our theme this year is: “Imagine Rotary”!

Wow what a wonderful and powerful theme this really is. It could not have come at a better time, after everything we have all been through these last two years it is time to roll up our collective sleeves and get back to work. There is a lot to be done this year rebuilding our districts activities that were all but shut down. What I mean by that is: We must restart Interact, we must re-imagine and start RYLA anew and we must continue and strengthen Youth Exchange one of Rotary’s most powerful and life changing programs. We need to introduce Rotary to a much younger audience in other words we need to grow our new members from an early age. “What is Rotary’s Happy Meal?” all of us please think about how we can do this and then step up and help get it done.

We need to embrace Shekar Mehta’s request of “Each One Bring one” to increase our membership numbers but we also must re-engage our existing members to hold on to all of them. One way to do this is for all of us to participate in our district wide project the “Pollinator Highway”!

Did you know that Rotary’s Polio Eradication program started in our District with past Rotary International President Dr. Ed Cadman from Wenatchee? This is a fact that we should be immensely proud of indeed. The theme for his year as RI President was “You are the Key,” to me this theme is timeless since it is as relevant today as it was then, and it will continue to be. Without members Rotary cannot exist and will perish. I dream of all our clubs actively participating in all these programs while earning the “Rotary Citation” and contributing to the Foundation as well as Polio, we are this close, only two countries left, we can do this, but we must continue to give it our full support.

The strategic plan of Rotary International and our own district plan are aligned, and Jennifer Jones asked all of us to actively pursue this to “Increase our Impact,” “Expand our Reach,” Enhance Participation,” and “Increase our ability to Adapt”.

I appreciate all of you and the remarkable things that you do in the name of Rotary. I am really looking forward to working closely with you this year as we re-Imagine Rotary together.

Yours in Rotary Service,

Karl Ruether