Sunupians Help Induct Joe Sweeney as District Governor

Sunup Rotary members, together with PDG David Simmer, comprised one of the "up-front" tables Saturday evening at the District Governor Installation, which was held at the country club in Anthem.

 

The Greater Prescott Area Rotary Clubs were well-represented at the fun-filled evening program.

 

This year's District Governor, Jim Schmidt, shared with his successor, Joe Sweeeney, some of the humorous side of serving as a DG.

 

PDG Art Harrington prepares to swear in Joe Sweeney as our new District Governor, as Rotarian wife Linda Sweeney brings the stack of Bibles, upon which Joe swore that he that he would do his best to uphold the high ideals of Rotary, that he wouild model Rotary’s 4-Way Test in all of his communications and decisions, and that he would put Service Above Self as he leads us by his example.

 

 

 

 

Pictured above is our succession of District Governors in Rotary District 5495.  Known officially as "The Governor Line," while occasionally being irreverently referred to as "Rotary's G-String," this depiction of our current and incoming DGs is a visual reminder that the agreement to serve one year in office is actually a 4-year commitment.  Each DG in the line, as soon as he/she is selected, begins training and preparing for their year of district leadership with their class of 30 incoming Governors across Rotary's BIG WEST  Zones 26-27 — as well as beginning to work with the other DGs in the district's Governor Line.  This training and preparation is taken very seriously in Rotary.  It is mandatory that a Rotarian planning to serve in this key leadership position must go through the three years of training.  This requirement helps to assure quality and continuity among these district leaders.  If a DG, for whatever reason, is unable to serve as planned, a Past District Governor (PDG) must step into the position.  Our Rotary district actually has a Vice Governor (one of our PDGs), who is prepared to step in, if needed. 

 

Beyond the immense investment of time and effort, what does it cost to serve as a District Governor?  While many expenses associated with serving in this position are reimbursed by Rotary International or the district, many are not.  Consequently, most DGs realistically expect that their unreimbused expenses will be at least $20,000, in addition to the wear & tear on their vehicle.  [Editor's note:  The year I served as DG, I put 44,000 miles on my vehicle, just for Rotary travel.]  

 

All of this is intended to help each of our club members and readers to better appreciate the significant commitment and service required of our Rotary District Governors.  It is one of the reasons that we have a tradition in Rotary that, when the DG comes to make his/her Official Visit, every club member is expected to stand, in respect and appreciation, when the Governor walks to the lectern to speak.  In the year ahead, we will be especially proud of our Governor, since Joe Sweeney has been "one of us" as a Sunup Rotarian, and helped to provide the essential leadership to launch our successful Sunup Satellite Rotary Club in Prescott Valley..

 

 

 

Sarah Van Bourgondien was on a roll Wednesday!  As our President-Nominee, in the absence of all of our other President-types, she presided at this meeting.  In addition, since she is also our Club Membership Chair, she had the privilege and pleasure of inducting and pinning Robert Smith, from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, as our newest member.  Welcome, Robert!

 

It was Jane Anne Shimizu's birthday, and we helped her celebrate it in style at last week's meeting.  Happy Birthday, Jane Anne!  We appreciate you, and all that you do!!

 

It was our first official club meeting at our new location, the Granite Mountain Room at Touchmark.  Our attendance was good, and all went well, except for an echo that mysteriously developed with the sound system.  Joe Brown promises that "bug" in the system will be eliminated by our next meeting.  Apologies to those with hearing difficulties! 

 

We welcomed Ava Logan, from Prescott High School, to our meeting.  She is the Gus Bergman Family Medical Arts Scholarship winner this year.  She will be attending NAU this fall, and she says our Sophia Brown has already recruited her for the N AU Rotaract Club.

 

 

 

This week, during the championship games. will be our final week of operating our Snack Shack.  Our sincere thanks to all who have served one of more shifts this season!

 

 

 

Our Mexico Team safely returned last Wednesday, and our Kenya Team flew out of Phoenix Sky Harbor on Thursday evening.

 

Richelle Daniels, the youngest member of our Mexico Team, working on rebuilding a wheelchair.

 

It's GIRL POWER this year!  Our first all-female Ambassadors to Kenya team is pictured at Phoenix Sky Harbor, before boarding their British Airways flight, taking them on the first leg of their long journey to Kenya.

 

Still looking "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" after arriving in Nairobi, our Kenya Team boarded the van taking them to the Dopoi Center, Prescott College's extension campus at Talek.  It borders on the Maasai Mara, and is where they wlll be based their first week, serving members of the Maasai Tribe.  Riding up-front are Giada Glennan and Paige Whitten, our two Interact Ambassadors from Prescott High School.