A New Rotary Year, A New President and a Great Induction Dinner! We wish you Good Luck and give you all Our Support, President Amina Frense!

HAPPY NEW ROTARY YEAR

Last week 43 of us attended the Induction Dinner for our new President, Amina Frense at Lucky Bean in Melville.  It was a tremendous evening with great food, great company and what looks like new members from other people who were there.....not necessarily from our group!  It was a cacophonous affair that Yvonne Chaka Chaka managed to silence a bit by singing a little but the noise just added to the evening.  Mike Vink and Graham Donet donated 20 bottles of wine and did we enjoy them!

First were the Toasts!

And then the Induction itself.  Jankees Sligcher handed over the weight of the presidency to Amina Frense!

And then the evening carried on!

Congratulations to the organisers.  It was a great evening with a few short formalities and a lot of fun!

An Invitation to Morningside's Induction Dinner

The Rotary Club Johannesburg New Dawn

Attention: Amina Frense

On behalf of outgoing President Shirley Downie, your members and their partners are invited to the induction of Rotarian Kanthan Pillay, as President of the Rotary Club of Morningside on 8^th July 2012.

The occasion will include the presentation of a number of special awards by President Shirley, as well as the induction of a new member.

The induction will be held at Sophia’s Bistro, Illovo Square, 3 Rivonia Road

The cost will be R150 per head.

Please complete the attached registration form and ensure that you return it to Shirley together with a copy of the deposit slip. Kindly use your surname and the word ‘induction’ as the reference. To assist with logistics, the event will be pre-paid with no payments being accepted on the day.

Your soonest reply would be greatly appreciate as final numbers are required by Thursday, 5 July 2012

We look forward to welcoming you to this fabulous event in a WEEKS time.

Best wishes

Belinda (Alport)

Guest Speaker
Well he's not really a guest!  Georg Knoke will be saying how "A Policeman's Lot is not a Happy One!"  He'll be talking about our new head of the Police Service,

Mangwashi Victoria “Riah” Phiyega

Riah Phiyega was born in Polokwane and received her primary and secondary education in various schools in Limpopo. 

She holds a BA (Social Work) degree from the University of the North, a BA Hons (Social Science) from Unisa, an   MA (Social Science) degree from the University of Johannesburg and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from Wales- University- Cardiff. She also attended Executive Development Programmes at the National University of Singapore and Wharton University, Pennsylvania in the US.

She is a past Group Executive of Absa Bank Limited. While at Absa, she chaired the All Pay boards of Gauteng and Eastern Cape; she was also a board member of Absa Actuaries, Chair of Gotswelela Trust and Trustee of the Absa Foundation. 

She was Group Executive at Transnet where she was a member of the Executive Committee and an attending member of the Transnet Board. She served on numerous Transnet subsidiary boards and chaired the Production House, Transmed and Petronet Vusisiwe Trust. She was also Board Member of Connex Travel as well as Trustee of the Transnet Foundation. 

She was part of a team of Senior Executives that was responsible for the restructuring of the old Portnet into two major separate entities, Port Operations and Port Authority. Subsequent to the above restructuring, she became part of the Executive of the National Ports Authority of South Africa. It is during this period that she championed the establishment of the International Relations in the Maritime Sector.

She became a member of the board and committees of the International Association for Ports and Harbours (IAPH) and as well as the Port Management Association for East and Southern Ports (PMAESA).  During this period, she chaired the committee that organised the first International Conference for Ports and Harbours, hosted on the African continent which saw over 2000 executives of the Maritime industry coming to Durban.

Community development, engagement and empowerment add colour to her illustrious career. In the community development area, she served as Director for Development at the National Council for Childwelfare. She started her career in Pretoria Childwelfare. She spent some few years at the Chamber of Mines as an Employee Wellbeing Consultant. 

In recent times, she was appointed as Chairperson of the Presidential State Owned Enterprise Review Committee. The Committee was tasked with the responsibility of reviewing State Owned Entities and to make recommendations for their future repositioning. She is the current Vice Chairperson for the Independent Commission for Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.

She chaired the Road Traffic Management Corporation Investigation Task Team which looked into maladministration, corruption and poor corporate governance. The Task Team made major intervention and restructuring recommendations to the Minister of Transport assisting to put the agency on a fresh footing.

She has served in other significant National structures among which are serving as a board member of the 2010 Bid Committee that delivered hosting of the   2010 Soccer World Cup by South Africa, Commissioner for the Commission of the Road Accident Fund Commission led by Judge Satchwell that made recommendations into reasonable, equitable and accessible systems of payments by the Road Accident Fund. 

She was also Chairperson of the National Welfare Forum that actively participated in the Social Welfare Restructuring Committee responsible for the development of the post apartheid Welfare White Paper. She also sat on the Council for Medical Aid Schemes.

She was a member of two University Councils namely Medunsa and University of Limpopo. She also served on Council Committees of Technikon Witwatersrand and the Tshwane University of Technology. She is offering her services several NGO boards, notable among which are the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Southern Africa Trust. 

Apart from the above, she is involved in women empowerment:

·         As member of the International Women’s Forum of South Africa (IWFSA),

·         As a coach and mentor linked to mentoring programmes of various organisations including, among others, Association for Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP), International Women’s Forum: SA (IWFSA), African Women Chattered Accountants (AWCA) and The Graca Machel Scholarship.

·         She is Chairperson of the Ladies Forum of her Church

·         She believes in personal transformation and seeks to drive that through  motivational speaking and coaching others

She has received recognition awards for her leadership in business, community development and women initiatives. 

She is driven by what she calls the ISE Philosophy; i.e. Integrity, Service to others before self and Excellence. She is a wife, mother and grandmother.

Why the Rotary year begins 1 July

By Susan Hanf and Jason Lamb
Rotary International News -- 29 June 2012
 

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Rotary's first fiscal year began the day after the first convention ended. The convention of the Rotary Clubs of America was held in Rotary’s birthplace, Chicago, in 1910.

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Ever wonder why the Rotary year begins 1 July? The international convention initially played a key role in determining the start date of our fiscal and administrative year.  

Rotary’s first fiscal year began the day after the first convention ended, on 18 August 1910. The 1911-12 fiscal year also related to the convention, beginning with the first day of the 1911 convention on 21 August. 

At its August 1912 meeting, the Board of Directors ordered an audit of the International Association of Rotary Clubs’ finances. The auditors recommended that the organization end its fiscal year on 30 June to give the secretary and treasurer time to prepare a financial statement for the convention and board, and determine the proper number of club delegates to the convention.  

The executive committee concurred, and at its April 1913 meeting, designated 30 June as the end of the fiscal year. This also allowed for changes to the schedule for reporting club membership and payments. Even The Rotarianchanged its volume numbering system to correspond to the fiscal year (beginning with vol. 5, July 1914).  

Rotary continued to hold its annual conventions in July or August until 1917. Delegates to the 1916 event in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, approved a resolution to hold future conventions in June, mainly because of the heat in cities where most of them occurred. The next one was held 17-21 June in Atlanta, Georgia.  

The term "Rotary year" has been used to signify Rotary’s annual administrative period since at least 1913. An article in The Rotarian that July noted, “The Rotary year that is rapidly drawing to a close has been signalized by several highly successful joint meetings of Clubs that are so situated as to assemble together easily and conveniently.”

Since the executive committee's decision in 1913, the end of the Rotary year has remained 30 June. 

Discon, Club Assembly & introducing our New RI President

Last week Graham Donet gave us a report back on Discon, the District 9400 Rotary Conference.  In the background, on the screen, you can see the small group that attended Discon.  Our honorary member, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, was the keynote speaker.

He urged more people to go to Discon next year in Swaziland and,as it is expensive to attend these things the Club will hold money on members behalf so you can save up for it over a period.  For a couple it costs about R7 000 including your petrol to get there.

 Breakfast is the the main priority at meetings and everyone tucks in whilst the speaker's food is hopefully kept for him/her!

As you can see, some people do concentrate on what the speaker is saying......but someone isn't!  I wonder who it is?

If you recognise who-ever it is present him or her with a 5c piece at the Induction Dinner!



Club Assembly, Sat 23rd June

I certainly felt that this was a significant meeting for the Club and I'm sure has moved us in the right direction for the coming Rotary Year.  Congratulations to President Elect Amina Frense and all those who participated.  Personally I think it is a critical year for the Club as we have grown quite fast this last year and exceeded our recruitment targets.  Members need to be involved and I am sure that Amina will spell out the way forward on Wednesday 27th at the Induction Dinner.

What was particularly interesting was the introduction of the way that Club members will be disciplined for bad behaviour, swearing at the President, throwing food and napkins at the Board members...all the things that happen at every meeting.  It was put into practice at the Club Assembly.
I'm sure it will lessen the rowdiness at meetings and fewer items of cutlery will be brandished in members' faces.  Amina intends making New Dawn a Safe Club that other Rotarians will feel they can visit without fear of intimidation though she is aware that the income from the Brag may drop as a result.

Induction Dinner Wednesday 27th
You have all received invitations and most of you have replied and paid Mike Vink.  We are looking forward to welcoming Amina Frense as our President for 2012/13.  20 bottles of wine have been donated by Mike Vink & Graham Donet......many thanks from us all.

There is no Breakfast Meeting on Wednesday 27th June because of the Induction Dinner in the evening.

The view from Japan

By John Rezek
The Rotarian -- July 2012 
 

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2012-13 RI President Sakuji Tanaka strolls the campus of International Christian University with a group of Rotary Peace Fellows. Rotary Images/Alyce Henson.

For about a year now, we here at Rotary International have had the pleasure of sharing the elevator, the cafeteria, the lobby, and a corner of the 18th floor with a white-haired man of impeccable manners, who laughs easily and seems genuinely happy to see us.

Tanaka applauds during a meeting of his Rotary club. Rotary Images/Alyce Henson

A smile erupts on his face when he says hello, bowing his head and adding a gentle chuckle. He moves among us gracefully – with his interpreter Eiko Terao in tow – maintaining his signature cheer without revealing whatever else might be on his mind. But he’s probably thinking about Rotary. To hear him tell it, the only time Sakuji Tanaka is not thinking about Rotary is when he’s sleeping and eating. And that only goes for when he is not dining with other Rotarians.

“Rotary pretty much occupies my every waking moment,” the new president of Rotary International playfully admits.

Tanaka says that his wife, Kyoko, would describe him as “a Rotary nut.” A glance at his résumé supports this claim. He’s been a member of the Rotary Club of Yashio, Japan, for 37 years and has served Rotary at every level, including district governor, training leader, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, member of the Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force and Future Vision Committee, chair of the 2009 Birmingham Convention Committee and Permanent Fund Committee for Japan, RI director, and Rotary Foundation trustee. Through it all, and after 49 years of marriage, Kyoko has been a willing companion on his Rotarian journey. Together, she and Tanaka are Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors, and Major Donors. Although she doesn’t speak English, he says his wife has a knack for communicating with people through gestures and body language, and that she is a “jolly, uplifting person.”

The couple have also remained close throughout Tanaka’s career in the wholesale industry. When scheduling conflicts have prevented him from attending business meetings, she has been known to stand in for him. When he is away from home, he calls her every day.

The Tanakas have three grown children – a son and daughter who live in Japan, and a daughter who lives in Malaysia – and six grandchildren, with another on the way. The family gets together at the couple’s home in Yashio every year for New Year’s.

“Being considerate and patient with your partner is the secret to a successful marriage,” Tanaka says. “I’m a lucky man to have a wife who is so patient with me.” He adds that in Japanese society, “men probably have more freedom to express their anger or their frustration than women do. I consciously try to be patient, not only with my wife but with other people.”

Tanaka balances this patience with practiced efficiency. The former president of the National Household Papers Distribution Association of Japan says he has learned the value of a clean desk, in both a literal and virtual sense. He uses email extensively and maintains a lean inbox, saving only the messages he needs. “My personality is that of someone in a hurry,” he says. “It’s not my style to let things pile up. I like to get things done and move on. “

However, in his home office, he has a 10-foot-long bookcase that houses both diaries and work documents. He doesn’t let them accumulate for very long, he says, and periodically pitches large amounts of them when their utility to him has expired. In some cases, Rotary-specific material goes to his club.

When he is traveling, Tanaka says, the thing he misses most is his wife’s cooking. She is, hands down, his favorite cook. He prefers Japanese food to all other cuisines, but notes that the versions he finds outside Japan do not measure up to what is available in his country. Ramen noodles taste different away from home, and it is difficult to find a satisfying sukiyaki. To make up for the culinary hardships of traveling, he often gravitates to other fare. He admits to a weakness for the distinctive taste of Korean barbecue, and Terao volunteers that you can always distract him with a bowl of spaghetti, as long as it is in a marinara or other red sauce. He favors it plain otherwise, as he faults food of any kind with “too much cheese.” He has noticed America’s growing passion for Japanese cuisine, including the booming business that sushi restaurants enjoy in the United States, and thinks this speaks more to Americans’ increasing concern about their health than an endorsement of the authentic food one would find in Japan.

Tanaka is not all business all the time, but even when he is in relaxation mode, he puts forth his best effort. During one evening of karaoke, he set a personal record by singing 54 consecutive songs, without a break. He recalls that three-hour crooning marathon with shy pride and quickly doubts that he would ever have the energy or stamina to do it again. But those who know him well may not be so quick to agree.

They might recall that not so long ago, Tanaka and a Rotarian friend began to clean the streets in their neighborhood. Tanaka would pull weeds, pick up litter, and cart the trash away. He would even remove the occasional dead dog or cat. “Before,” he says, “there were some very dirty places. But people would see me and others spending the day cleaning the area in front of their houses. Eventually they would join in and, even better, would keep the area tidier on their own.” What started as a two-man effort soon evolved into a project of the local Rotary clubs, which carried out a neighborhood cleanup once a month. This expanded into a communitywide effort, with 59 groups covering neighborhoods across Yashio twice a year, and the city’s mayor coming out to participate and address the volunteers.

Tanaka has said that after joining the Yashio club, he realized that “by helping others, even in the simplest of ways, I could help to build peace. Peace, in all of the ways that we can understand it, is a real goal and a realistic goal for Rotary.” He has established an endowed Rotary Peace Fellowship, and in January, he announced that he’d chosen Peace Through Service as the RI theme for his year. “Peace is not something that can only be achieved through treaties, by governments, or through heroic struggles,” Tanaka said. “It is something that we can find and that we can achieve, every day and in many simple ways.”

He later elaborated: “Peace and conflict resolution should start at home. The family is the smallest unit of society, so we should start from there. If you are mindful of peace with your partner and your family members, that gives you an opportunity to reflect on your family life and to spread that sense of peace by example. Peaceful families lead to greater peace for everyone.”

The Japanese tradition of putting the needs of society above the needs of the individual parallels the Rotarian concept of Service Above Self, Tanaka says. He notes that this view has been instrumental in helping Japan rebuild after the tsunami and earthquake that ravaged the country in March 2011.

The cooperation among individuals throughout the recovery effort also presents a positive lesson that the world can learn from, he says. “I believe that Rotary is contributing to that lesson, especially in training and educating members of the younger generation through its Rotary Peace Centers. They will bear the personal responsibility to society and work to make the world a better place.”

Greta Schuler, Discon & Rotary News from around the World

Last week our Ambassadorial Scholar, Greta Schuler, gave us an interesting talk about herself and her studies at Wits as well as her love for Africa and her on-going visits to an orphanage in Zimbabwe.  The two people with their backs to her are franticly trying to get the presentation to work and she is also handing over banners from her sponsoring clubs in the USA to President Elect Amina Frense.

As you can see everyone was fascinated by her talk and standing up are Joan Donet talking about RYLA, Katinka Vreugdenhill discussing blankets and Lucille Bloomberg reporting back on another successful donation of wheelchairs.


This Week
There is a report back on Discon.  Last week you saw the pictures, this week you hear the talk!


Don't forget to book with Mike Vink for Amina's Induction Dinner on Wednesday 27th June!

Rotary news in brief from around the globe

 

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Working with the United Church of Zambia Mission Partners, the Rotary Club of Livingstone is helping families by replacing 31 deteriorating huts with more stable, traditional African mud houses.

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Rotary clubs around the globe have many things in common, including a commitment to service. All year long, clubs are taking action to make a difference in their communities. Here’s a roundup of recent club activities worldwide:

Austria

In August, Districts 1910 and 1920 (parts of Austria; Bosnia-Herzegovina) hosted 24 students and two Rotarians from Japan who were affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Many of the students had lost their homes or had to evacuate, or lost parents or other relatives. Japanese and Austrian Rotarians covered the cost of the flights (Lufthansa provided discounted tickets), accommodations, and other expenses, and the governments of both countries offered additional financial support.

Canada

Members of the Rotary Club of Ladner, B.C., have been instrumental in a campaign to rid the province’s coast ofspartina anglica, or common cordgrass, a noxious weed that was planted to control erosion but whose spread now poses a danger to wetland areas. This fall, club members put in 58 hours of work, hand-pulling 250 bags, or 5 tons, of the weed. They finished that stretch of shoreline in October.

Curaçao

The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti left thousands of people with injuries that required amputations. This October, members of the Rotary Club of Willemstad brought 10 amputees to Curaçao, where each patient was fitted with a prosthetic leg and underwent six weeks of physical therapy. The club worked with the Royal Netherlands Navy, which provided accommodations in its barracks, and with local companies Insel Air and ABC Bus Company, which covered travel expenses.

Indonesia

Through a mobile clinic, medics from a hospital in Yogyakarta have provided care to 3,636 homeless children who lost their families in the 2006 eruption of Mount Merapi. After a Group Study Exchange trip to District 3400, team leader Hugo Pike, of the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge, England, worked with his district to develop the idea. The US$20,000 Rotary Foundation Matching Grant project got underway in September 2010, but another eruption of Mount Merapi that October halted progress for several months. After the effort resumed, it expanded to 22 locations.

Pakistan

Rotarians in Karachi used a van emblazoned with messages in English and Urdu to share information about polio during Subnational Immunization Days in December. Club members also visited a school in the nearby town of Korangi, where they gave drops of vaccine to 238 children and worked with administrator Naushaba Burney to distribute fliers about the disease to students and teachers.

Philippines

Rotarians in District 3830 carried out two dozen projects after an environmental conference in November 2010. They far exceeded their goal of planting 5,000 trees, or two for every Rotarian in the district. By the end of 2010-11, they had planted 23,000 trees and expected to add another 25,000 in 2011-12.

USA

The Rotary Club of Honeoye Falls-Mendon, N.Y., created a self-guided audio tour of 12 local sites, including the Lower Mill, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the 1837 Mendon town hall; and a one-room schoolhouse that’s now a museum. Visitors can use their cell phones to listen to information about the stops on the tour. Instructions are posted at each location and are available in brochures and at www.hfmrotary.org/tour.html .

Zambia

The village of Mwandi is home to hundreds of AIDS orphans whose caregivers are elderly relatives. Working with the United Church of Zambia Mission Partners, the nearby Rotary Club of Livingstone is helping these families by replacing 31 deteriorating huts with more stable, traditional African mud houses, and aims to build 25 more. Rotarians from District 6000 (Iowa, USA) have participated in the project, which has benefited 64 families and 200 orphans as of November.

Business, Discon, Greta Schuler & Shutterbugs!

Last week was a Business Meeting, the last one of the Rotary Year so there wasn't that much to talk about. It was interesting to hear about Rosebank Club's Urban Garden Projects Our official photographer wasn't there and I forgot my camera so we have a Mood Collage courtesy of Blackberry!

Discon

Several members, including our President, attended Discon.  Many thanks, Joan Donet, for sending the pictures through.  I have set aside our meeting on Wednesday 20th for a Discon Report Back!

This Week


Our Speaker is our Ambassadorial Scholar, Greta Schuler.  She is studying the plight of Zimbabwean Sex Workers so it will be an interesting insight into the problems of migrants and refugees in Johannesburg.  Just to add a little to this.  The highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in South Africa is in Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng. Here, because of the influx of refugees and country dwellers into our major industrial city, the Health Services are swamped.

Shutterbugs find a picture-perfect way to develop skills and friendships

By Arnold R. Grahl 
Rotary International News -- 11 June 2012 
 

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Parrot House at the Columbia Zoo, Columbia, South Carolina, USA. Photo by Mary Ellis, Rotary Club of Charlotte-South, North Carolina, USA

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You don’t have to be skilled with a camera to enjoy Rotary’s newest fellowship, the International Fellowship of Rotarian Photographers.

The fellowship, which was recognized by the RI Board of Directors in January, counts amateur and professional photographers among its members, as well as those who have an appreciation for photography.

“Our group is open to anyone at any skill level, from point-and-shoot beginners to longtime professionals,” says Layne Marshal, a member of the Rotary Club of Campbell River Daybreak, British Columbia, Canada, who chairs the fellowship. “We have 65 members on our membership list in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia, and India, but that list is probably incomplete.”

Marshal, an amateur photographer, was interested in joining a fellowship where he could meet other Rotarians and sharpen his skills, but found that there wasn’t such a group. After learning that others had attempted to form a photography fellowship, he worked with them to file the appropriate paperwork with RI.

“I certainly did not develop this all on my own,” he stresses.

As a newer group, the fellowship is still developing activities, but it has an online forum for members to share advice, ask and answer questions, or otherwise discuss photography. It is also building a website for members to display their work, receive or offer critiques, and take part in competitions.

“I enjoy the challenges and rewards of capturing a good photograph, which I feel is too often more luck than skill in my case,” Marshal says. “I know there are lots of people out there who are interested in photography and would join an effort to share and learn.”

The photography fellowship, and the Rotarian Jazz Fellowship which became official in September, are among 62 recognized by RI. Fellowships bring Rotarians, their spouses, and Rotaractors together to share common interests, explore new opportunities to serve, have fun, and promote vocational development through friendship. Each June, they are celebrated during Rotary Fellowships Month.

A sampling of other Rotarian fellowships and their upcoming events:

• The International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians is participating in a jamboree in Denmark, 21-29 July. It will be the largest scout and guide event ever held in Denmark, with about 35,000 participants expected.
• The International Tennis Fellowship of Rotarians is holding its eighth annual world championship in Guarapari, Brazil, on 29 August. Last year’s event in Bol, Croatia, drew more than 100 players.
• The Fellowship Cycling to Serve will hold its annual championship cycling event 7-8 September in La Rochelle, France. The group of cycling enthusiasts also organize and participate in a four-day touring event and several other cycling events every year.
• Members of the International Marathon Fellowship of Rotarians will be running in a marathon in Graz, Austria, on 14 October. The group organizes a marathon event in a different city each year.

View a complete list of Rotary Fellowships.

Wednesday Night, A Business Meeting, Spotty & the Queen.

Last Wednesday's dinner at La Restaurante Parreirinha was great.  We arrived an hour later than everyone else and were seated in a different room!  I should say in a room as everyone else was in the covered courtyard at the back!  But we did have the advantage of being beside the fire!

A good time was had by all....that's the main thing!

This week

It's a Business Meeting.....the last one for the current board so it is an important one.  How to illustrate it?  Here's a photograph of an iconic Cape Town Road House at Retreat.......long gone...murdered by a truck...

Spotty, we miss you!

  

REEA River Market Saturday Saturday 9th June

 Gregor Heidemann will be appealing for volunteers for the Coffee Stall this coming Saturday.  The colourful advertisement is in PDF format so I can't copy it.  You'll have to look at the logo instead!




Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee

Elizabeth II's personal flag as Head of the Commonwealth

As Commonwealth Citizens many of us raised a glass of champagne to toast the Head of the Commonwealth this weekend.  60 years on the throne of the United Kingdom and several other countries is an achievement!  Happy Jubilee!

Esprit de corps

by Diana Schoberg 
The Rotarian -- June 2012 
 

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Sharon Irving, a member of the Rotary Club of Cortlandt Manor, New York, USA.

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Sharon Irving’s 20-year-old son, Douglas, has developmental disabilities, but he doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of charity all the time.

“I notice this among people throughout the special-needs community,” Irving says. “They’re thrilled to be the ones giving for a change. They need self-respect and self-esteem just like everybody else on the planet.”

In 2010, she started the Rotary Community Corps of Keon at a vocational center for adults with special needs; 25 people signed up.

The members elect their own officers, each of whom is paired with a mentor, and select their own projects. Their first, a spaghetti dinner in March 2011, raised $1,000 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. They’ve also joined members of Irving’s Rotary club to ring the bell for the Salvation Army and participate in a local parade.

“I’ve never seen a club where everyone shows up for every meeting and votes not ‘yes’ but ‘yay!’ for everything that’s brought up to do,” Irving says. “This gives them a chance to shine and to show that they have as much to give as you and I.”

A bonus is increasing the public’s understanding of Rotary. “If I died tomorrow, this project would be the one thing I could be the most proud of in my life,” she says. “I did it as a tribute to Douglas.”