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It was a very memorable meeting for many reasons including:
New Member Induction
The Governor invited up Meir Nemetsky and his sponsor PP Mark Rogo to come up to the podium. It was a great honor for Meir to be inducted by the District Governor and he was presented with a new member packet, that included a Club pin, RI pin, his certificate of membership, booklets on being a Rotarian, a certificate for free rounds of golf from PP Steve Scherer, ten years of free tax return preparation by PP Chris Gaynor, free estate planning services from PP Michael Newman, a disc of 1930s classics from PP Ed Gauld, comedy lessons from Sunda Croonquist and free financial brokerage services from Sherod Hansen. Oh, I forgot. One year of all the beer you can drink from Terry White.
PPx2 Steve presented Multiple Paul Harris pins to a number of our members, which were then pinned by the Governor.
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Jim Meyer, John O’Keefe, Roozbeh Farahanipour, PE Ben Fisher, PP Steve Scherer (the man, the myth, the legend), Lynn Rogo, PP Mike Newman, PP Ed Gauld, and PPx2 Chris Gaynor.
The Presentation by the District Governor of Rotary District 5280, which all of us were excited to hear was next. It should be noted that this was the largest meeting of the year, a testament to the Club’s enthusiasm over our new DG.
Makiko Nakasone was born at the foot of Mt Fiji in a village of 1,600 people with no phone service and no air conditioning. She was the first Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to serve as a District Governor in our District. Her membership in Rotary began in 2004 as a member of the Burbank Sunrise Rotary Club, when she was working as a Journalist of the Readers Digest of Japan, later to become a staff writer for Nikkei Financial Times. Today she is the owner of an educational services consulting company and former Chairperson of the district Peace Initiative, along with our very own PP Marsha Hunt.
The Governor is the 5th female DG in a row in our District, each with different ethnicities. Only one other district in U.S. has done the same; American, British, Persian, African American and Japanese.
In her local Rotary Club in Japan, only local dignitaries could be a member, even though she was designated an Ambassadorial scholarship recipient. In her own words, “To serve you as a District Governor is my way of saying thank you.”
Governor Nakasone recited to all of us the Vision Statement of Rotary International from April 2018 -
“Together we are a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”
She also shared how Rotary created lasting change in her life, her version of the famous “Rotary moment” we have all experienced. It was a very heart-warming story of a boy on a wheelchair at a train station, when she was very young, and how people stepped up to help him get across the gap between the railway platform and the train. Simple gestures of compassion.
“What it means to be a Rotarian with humanity…Rotary helped me to be a kinder and more compassionate person.” The Governor wants all of us to tell our story to our friends.
Rotary International today is made up of 1.4M members in over 220 countries. There are more countries hosting Rotary Clubs than there are countries in the United Nations.
The Governor wanted to address her goals for the year.
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Support The Rotary Foundation,
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Promote Rotary,
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Grow Rotary.
Our annual District 5280 Foundation Dinner will be held on November 19th this year in Marina del Rey at the Marriott. Also, our District will be hosting the Rotary International President in May. A special dinner in Malibu has been arranged with Rotary International President (RIP) Gordon McInally on May 13th, preceded by a District luncheon to honor the RIP at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
As part of the Governor’s campaign to promote Rotary, she is planning.
- Four large billboards being set up around the city promoting Rotary membership,
- Encouraging all of us to wear something Rotary every day,
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Join the peace walk on October 28th, about one mile,
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Joining Rotarian’s at Work on April 27th next year,
- No more “best secret in town,”
- She encourages all of us to offer great Club experiences, and
- For all Rotarians to sponsor at least one new member in this Rotary year.
The Governor’s list of upcoming District events include.
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April 2nd – 11th – the District Humanitarian Trip to Ecuador (and I can strongly recommend this event to see first-hand how Rotary makes a difference in so many lives)
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May 3rd – 5th District conference at the Biltmore Hotel
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May 13th – luncheon honoring RIP McInally, open to everyone at the Beverly Hills Hotel
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May 25th – 29th - Rotary International Convention in Singapore. The Governor is leading a post-convention tour of Japan as well, May 30th thru June 5th.
The Governor ended her remarks by closing with poignant observations about all of us and the difference our membership in Rotary is making all around the world.
PPx2 Steve Day thanked the Governor and presented Governor Nakasone with a commitment from our Club to support the Humanitarian Trip with a Club sponsorship, a promise to provide at least one $300 gift basket for TRF November dinner, and a Club Foundation check for $500 to The Rotary Foundation.
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