Happy September, Rotarians!
Time certainly flies when you're having fun, and I am having fun! From August 1 to today, I've had the pleasure of visiting ten clubs, attending the Youth Exchange orientation, enjoying a very well-attended Cleveland Guardians game for End Polio Now, and spending a week at the Rotary Zone Institute in Columbus, Ohio.
I also attended the Mentor Putts2End Polio and the Ashtabula Pours to End Polio at Laurello Winery in Geneva. I was also honored to be a part of the 20-year remembrance of the Mentor Club answering the call to help with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and to spend some time at the Geauga County fair.
It's a lot to fit into a schedule, but it has been a pleasure meeting members, speaking to clubs, and hearing about all the good you do in the community and beyond.
End Polio Now Guardians Game
What a fun-filled evening with a great group of Rotarians and their families for our District 6600, 6630, and 6650 End Polio Now Cleveland Guardians game! Well over 300 people enjoyed good food, great fellowship, and an entertaining baseball game. View photos from the event - click here.
Thank you to everyone who donated gift baskets and those who spent considerable time making this event great. A special thanks to Stew and Cherie Buchanan from the Akron club for all they do, and a big thanks to Albert Tein of the Chagrin Valley club for all he and his family did to make this happen. We hope to have the final results and donation amount for End Polio Now by the next newsletter.
Rotary Zone 30 & 31 Institute in Columbus, Ohio
Our District is a member of Rotary Zone 30. Each year, we have training and leadership seminars at a location in our combined Zones 30 and 31, known as the Heart of America. Zones are like a larger-scale District. For example, our District 6630 has 51 clubs and approximately 1,600 members, while the combined Zones 30 and 31 have 31 districts, over 1,450 clubs, and 63,000 members across 13 states!
The annual institute allows the District Governor Line to attend training with their respective positions before the Zone Institute begins on Thursday. The institute allows emerging, current, and past leaders to meet for three days to sharpen their skills, learn more, and understand the bigger picture of Rotary.
District 6630 had 23 members and guests attend the Zone Institute this year, the most in recent years. This included four Assistant Governors and three Rotarians from the District identified as emerging leaders. This is a critical part of our program to train future leaders and give current leaders the opportunity to learn more.
Many Past District Governors, several Past Rotary International Presidents, and our new Rotary International President Nominee, Larry Lundsford, attended this year. The event was well done with over 80 breakout learning sessions. All of our attendees said how valuable it is to attend events outside your club and even our district to recognize the enormity of what Rotary does. I hope our attendees share the value of this training and experience with our members and clubs.
September is Basic Education and Literacy Month
This is a theme that is near and dear to all of us. Many of us have provided dictionaries to third-grade students in our club's locations. Rotary has a long tradition of supporting education and literacy objectives all over the world.
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate, making up 17% of the world's population. Teacher training, adult literacy programs, and mentoring student programs are cornerstones of Rotary's efforts to increase the worldwide literacy rate.
Locally, we have the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio, youth reading and mentorship programs, and partnerships with local libraries, schools, and other organizations. The Rotary Club of Akron has also organized a book drive with the Summit County Sheriff's Office to help reduce recidivism by helping individuals further their education. See the flier below in the stories if you would like to donate books.
These are all great things we do when we "Unite for Good." Please share any other programs we can advertise throughout the community.
Membership
Our Membership Committee, under the direction of IPDG Dale Smith, has been working hard in the early 2025-26 Rotary Year. Several clubs are in the beginning stages of forming companion or satellite clubs, as well as brand new clubs.
For those who attended last year's Membership Experience Summit, we made a lot of strides in developing the tools and processes needed to support new club formation. The Membership Committee will hold a second Club Experience Seminar on Saturday, October 25, at the Cleveland Marriott East in Warrensville Heights. Please click here to REGISTER! The time is from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the ballroom. A post-fellowship meeting is also being planned. Watch for updates from the committee, but get that date on your calendars.
Presidents-Elect
Each year, we begin the process of selecting a club President-Elect to follow our current club President the next Rotary year. This has been difficult over the last several years as our lives get so busy. Please consider stepping up now if your club does not currently have a President-Elect.
DGE Terri Speck is working hard to develop the training for PEs in the district and with the All-Ohio DGEs to create the program and training for the All-Ohio President-Elect Learning Seminar in Columbus in March. We also have a $400 stipend this year to help pay for the All-Ohio training and lessen the cost to our members.
Please consider "taking the plunge" and serving as President. It is a very rewarding experience!
Youth Exchange
The Youth Exchange team has been working very hard to attract potential outbound students for their YE and short-term YE programs. The Finance Committee and the Board of Directors just approved funds to revamp our marketing campaign and how we reach potential students. They have been working with other districts on a program that reaches out to schools to advertise this great program.
We are also in the planning stages for a Youth Exchange Summit sometime before the end of the calendar year. This would be a program for Rotarians, potential host families, and parents of potential outbound students to hear from people who were in these roles. There will be no lectures, just information to help you make a great decision. More information is coming soon.
Drug Addiction and Recovery
We are slowly gathering information on agencies that support recovery efforts across our district. The first event we are working with is Keys 2 Serenity, a 501(c)(3) program that helps support children impacted by parental addiction. They have a fundraiser on September 20 from 6 PM to 10 PM at the Loyal Order of Moose Club at 4444 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls. Come join us in supporting this great organization! For more on the fundraiser, please go to www.keys2serenity.org.
In the coming month, I will be working with Cheryl Warren and Tina Ingraham to set up a webpage with a directory of agencies in our district. If you have an agency in your area that you would like to be included in the directory, please send the information to me at rorotary20252026@gmail.com. We hope to have the site up and running by October.
District Conference
I wanted to talk about the benefits of attending our District Conference in April well before the event begins. Rotary is an amazing organization, and we do so many things. It is important to understand that if you want to learn and do more in Rotary, we sometimes need to venture from our clubs to larger groups to learn and see what other clubs do.
We do this with our Assistant Governors and clusters, and on the district level, we do it with our District Conference. A lot has changed in the last five years with the format of the conference to make it more attractive to our members.
Please consider attending the conference, or at least one of the days, to expand your Rotary horizon. Come enjoy your Rotarian brothers and sisters. Please discuss this at your club meetings as I promise a great experience and different ideas you can use for your club.
I will end my ramblings with a “thank you.”
Thank you for all you do to make this world a better place. Thank you for the kindness and support you have shown me in these two short months. Thank you for being a part of this great organization that lives this year's presidential message: “Unite for Good.”
Yours in Rotary,
Bob Oborn
District Governor
Rotary International District 6630
Stow-Munroe Falls Rotary Club
Tel: 330-801-0159
Email: rorotary20252026@gmail.com