Presidents Musings - Barry Fain 2011-2012

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November, 2011

I wanted to take a few months before writing to the general membership to comment on my initial impressions as your new President. In a nutshell: It's been a blast so far! The best part?  Having the opportunity to observe first hand the incredible, diverse and committed group of Rotarians we are so fortunate to have in our Club. And, better still, I'm convinced the best is yet to come!

Here's just a sampling of what we've managed to accomplish together during the past four months.

1. We pulled off a truly incredible street painting festival this year. Club participation was close to 100%. The quality and energy of our artists was perhaps the best ever.  The new Paint-off event at the Art Club was an unqualified out-of-the park home run.  And the bottom line:  we raised over $40,000 for our foundation. Just five years ago, that figure was only $6,000. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.
   
2. Our luncheon programs continue to be informative and entertaining. Suzanne and her        team continue to bring in an interesting mix of important topical speakers, everyone from Gina Raimondo warning us about the dire state of our state's pensions to the head of the Athena's Cup program who told us everything (and perhaps more than that) about how something as simple as donating bras can make a difference to women's health.
   
3. Over a dozen Rotarians (and, in some cases their spouses), made the trip to New York to participate in Rotary Day at the UN joining over 1,000 Rotarians worldwide who descended on the City. It was emotional and invigorating to learn about the incredible efforts of Rotarians in 34,000 clubs worldwide and what they are doing to improve communities all around the globe. Appropriately, our own club is currently hard at work on a project to transport several containers of hospital supplies, including a rebuilt ambulance, to a sister Rotary Club abroad to insure it will be distributed where it is most needed.
   
4. Locally, our club continues to garner wonderful publicity (though of course never enough) as we add exciting new club initiatives (like our monthly "100^th anniversary" charity collections for example) to our traditional ongoing programs (our dictionary project and upcoming student holiday party, to name just two). And while we're hard at work, we're still have a lot of fun both at fellowship events (from Rotary After Dark to our Halloween Party) and at the meetings themselves (will Happy Bucks ever be the same without Margaret?).
   
5. And finally, our club continues to grow. I'm happy to report we have inducted two new members so far, with at least four more poised to join. Our ambitious goal is to hit twenty during the current Rotary year.

Thanks to all of you for making my first few months so enjoyable. And going forward, I like to suggest a couple of things I'd like you to consider.

                  First, please get involved in a committee or project that interests you. We need

                           your ideas and energy. I know you'll enjoy getting involved.

                  Second, let me or any of the Board Members or officers know if there's

                           something you'd like to see improved or added to what we do. It is your

                           Club after all

                  Third, try to recruit at least one new member, someone you feel shares our

                           commitment to our community and should be part of the exciting class

                           of 2011-2 which is already taking shape.

                  And finally, please feel free to join me at the head table during the meetings. I

                           promise I won't bite and it'll give me a chance to learn more about your

                           thoughts on Rotary, life or anything else in between.

Yours in Rotary,

President Barry

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