“We are all people of action,” Weyburn Rotary members were told, in a Zoom meeting with the club’s District Governor, Gailmarie Anderson, on Thursday.
Based in Melfort, the district governor gave a presentation to the club on how Rotary is doing in this district, No. 5550, as well as in terms of Canada and around the world.
She also passed on a four-pronged action plan as put forward by the president of Rotary International, as she talked about how clubs are doing under the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Weyburn’s club is a part of District 5550, which extends from Saskatchewan to Manitoba and to Northern Ontario, and is one of 46 districts in Zones 28 and 32. These two zones encompass all of Canada, the northern U.S. and the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., covering six time zones.
Encapsulating what Rotary is all about as an organization, Anderson said, “We are all people of action. Rotary opens up opportunities, and every day we can help someone. That’s one of the important aspects of Rotary.”
A big impact on Rotary clubs is adjusting to the pandemic, she added, “because of COVID playing havoc with people’s lives, which are limiting activities to the local communities.” This means there is a limit to things like district and international conferences, and in programs where members were formerly able to go to a country to carry out aid projects.
The four points of the Rotary International’s action plan include to increase important ….; expand outreach; enhance participant engagement in reaching new members, and increase the ability to adapt. In relation to the fourth point, there are new Rotoract clubs that can involve younger members and bring a whole new dynamic to club activities and projects.
“We are a large district geographically. We are all a piece, a part of the large district, so we all have to be involved,” said Anderson.
As part of the district leadership, Anderson has 15 assistant governors, including Art Beselt of Estevan, the nearest one to the Weyburn club. Each assistant looks after three or four clubs and offers any assistance they can.
In addition the district has a web page, and a Facebook page, and sends out newsletters with up-to-date information, as well as offering such programs as an evening talk show online on the first Thursday of each month.
Anderson said they had been looking forward to holding the district conference in Melfort, but the pandemic has made that impossible now, so it will be held virtually over two days in late May of 2021.
One of the programs she has been involved in was the Ripple Effect, and she showed photos of a pre-pandemic trip she was able to make to Guatemala for the program.
“You can have speakers who tell you all about the Ripple Effect, but it’s just amazing to actually be there and see the gratitude they have. I’m so proud to be connected with Rotary,” said Anderson, encouraging members to go and be “superheroes” in their community.
“We’re superheroes when we help out with the food bank and take care of each other,” she said. “I think we should be really proud to be part of Rotary, because we do so much good.”
