Dear Dream Team,

 

Happy New Year!  It’s time to Make Dreams Real for the children of the world and we are ready to go!  I am very excited to be working with all of you and I know that together you will have your “Best Year Ever”!  Each month I will send out the “Dream Team Telegram”.  Don’t worry, I won’t use “STOP” at the end of every sentence.  STOP.

 

I see two purposes for this newsletter – educational and inspirational.  I’ll keep it short and to the point.  QuickBits will offer weekly information that can be helpful to you and the club as well.  Feel free to use this “Telegram” at your club meetings.

 

Membership

 

Everyone who receives this email (except for club secretaries) has been asked to bring a new member into Rotary in 2008-2009.  When you do, Carl Kruse, District Membership Chair and I would love to hear from you.  Send us a note about who you brought in and how you found them.  Look to your friends, your work associates, your children, your grandchildren.  Look to the “soon to be retired”.  As people get close to retirement, they begin to look for meaningful ways to spend their time.  I joined 4 years before I retired and look what happened.

 

Our District Membership Seminar is Saturday, July 26 at the Braille Institute.  Register now!  Let’s have lots of Rotarians in attendance!

 

The Rotary Foundation

 

The 2007-2008 Rotary Year looks very impressive with our donations to The Rotary Foundation.  We won’t have the final numbers until probably late August, but we have done a terrific job!  Congratulations and thank you for your generosity.  With the goal of increasing giving to the Annual Programs Fund of The Rotary Foundation by 10%, we have our work cut out for us!

 

Our first Foundation event is the Foundation Seminar on Saturday, September 13 at the Salk Institute.  Registration will be up on the website soon so keep an eye out for it.  Be sure to bring potential Rotarians as well as new Rotarians with you.  To quote more than one Rotarian, “This is the best four hours of Rotary”.  Dan Gensler and Trudy Armstrong are the co-chairs for this outstanding event. 

 

You may have noticed that the Foundation Gala is January 10, 2009.  We are doing this a little bit later this year so that you will have more time to raise money for The Rotary Foundation and take advantage of the tax deadline of December 31, 2008.  More information will be forthcoming, but it will be a wonderful event and lots of fun.

 

District Events

 

The first event of the year is the District Council on August 12, 2008.  It will be held at the Escondido Center for the Performing Arts where we will enjoy a concert of our Rotary Youth Exchange Music Camp in partnership with the San Diego Youth Symphony.  Signup now! 

 

District Council Chair Ginger Poutous is planning an outstanding event.  If your club would like to be a host club for a future District Council, please contact Ginger.

 

I want to encourage all clubs and Rotarians to sign up early for events and pay by check.  If it makes sense, consolidate your club members into one check.  Mail your check with the event and club properly noted to the District Office.  That will help reduce our costs for every event.  Remember our goal to increase attendance at District Events.

 

District Shirts

 

If you like the District shirt and would like to have it be your club shirt for 2008-2009, just contact Chief of Staff DGN Dave Breeding.  He has the order sheets and the shirt sizes to make your order process a breeze.  You can put your club name on the shirt, your own name, office or whatever you like!  The more the merrier!

 

We’re off to a great start! 

 

Yours in Rotary as we Make Dreams Real,

 

Pam

 

 

Pam Russell

District Governor 2008-2009

Rotary District 5340

Telephone: 619.723.3651

Fax: 858.271.4138

www.rotary5340.org