Rotary District Conference
Georgia Stuart-Simmons, conference chair
By now I hope you have registered for the district conference and made your hotel reservations. The conference is being held in Branson on October 18 to 20 at the Radisson hotel. Here’s a preview of what you can expect!
After a day of fun on Thursday, we will kick off the conference bright and early on Friday morning with a breakfast session. Rick Tinucci will begin by sharing his greetings from the Zone level. Then we will hear from Pam Hunsaker, Regional Director for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Rotary has a history of strong support for this project, which inspires a love of reading by providing books to young children.
Lunch on Friday will be all about Panama. We will hear a presentation from the GSE team from Panama. And then we will be joined by Juan Carlos De Sedas, the International Director for the Rotary Club of Panama. He will bring us up-to-date on our ongoing partnership with Panama and the service projects that we have been conducting.
At the banquet on Friday evening we will receive a message from Rotary International, as we hear from our RI Representative John T. Capps. John T. is well known for his humor and enthusiasm for the mission of Rotary. He was the Charter President of the Rotary Club of Morehead City-Noon and has proposed over one hundred potential members since his father proposed him for membership in 1968. He has attended thirty-five International Conventions and served as a volunteer Sergeant At Arms at most of them. John T. is currently writing a book on Rotary Humor and Stories.
At breakfast on Saturday morning you will meet Roy Rogers Jr. Roy Rogers Jr. (better known as Dusty), is the eldest natural son of famed western stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Dusty’s first professional taste was a small part in his father’s TV series, “The Roy Rogers Show” on NBC, while he was a young child. Through the years he has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, as well as having a successful recording career. Since 2003, Dusty and his band have been performing in Branson. Dusty also serves as the President and Executive Director of the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum.
The conference concludes with lunch on Saturday. We will enjoy meeting our youth exchange delegates, and PDG Rita Esterly will present district awards.
And if that’s not enough, in between these general sessions we have scheduled over twenty break-out workshops. Topics include:
- Recruiting and retaining members
- Special event fundraising
- Foundation giving
- Rotary grants
- Service project round-table discussions
- Rotary 101 – for new members and spouses
- Friendship exchange opportunities
- What is DaCdb?
- Polio – past, present and future
- Hosting a youth exchange
- Membership roundtable
- And many more!
If you haven’t registered yet it’s not too late. You can still join us by registering for the conference.
See you soon in Branson!