2018 Four Way Speech Competition Winners Announced

Rotary District 6600 is pleased to announce the winners of its annual Four-Way Test Speech Competition for area high school students. The Four-Way Test is a set of four questions that Rotarians use to assist in the conduct of their personal and professional lives.  The questions are: “Is it the truth?  Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships?  Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

Chaired by Assistant District Governor Steve Hosler of the Elyria Rotary Club, the speeches were judged by Rotarians Zabi Amanzai, Julie Cruz Blair, Gregg Glamm, Stevan Jehcura, and Rotary Partner Gloria Box, wife of Assistant Governor Randy Box.

This year’s winners were Anna Little, First Place, sponsored by the Norwalk Club; Alex Petroff, Second Place, sponsored by the North Coast Club; and Ashley Dibling, Third Place, sponsored by the Perrysburg Club. The top three finishers shared in over $1,000 is prize money this year. In total, 26 Rotary Clubs throughout the District submitted essays after club-level competition.

To learn more about District 6600’s Four Way Test Speech Competition and other District Programs, visit www.rotarydistrict6600.org.

Update! 2018 Four Way Test Essay Winners Announced

Rotary District 6600 is pleased  to  announce  the winners of its annual Four-Way Test essay contest for the seventh and eighth grade students. The Four-Way Test is a set of four questions that Rotarians use to assist in the conduct of their personal and professional lives.  The questions are: “Is it the truth?  Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships?  Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

The theme of this year’s contest was “The Four-Way Test in My Life.” Eight clubs participated in the 2018 Rotary Four Way Test Essay competition. Chaired by Lima Rotary Club Past President Esther Baldridge, the essays were judged by Rotarians Elizabeth Muether, Mike Makley, Mary Crehore and Heather Rutz.

This year’s winners were Morgan Shetzer, First Place, sponsored by the Fremont Club; Daniel Kurek, Second Place, sponsored by the Bucyrus Club; and Analei Jackson, Third Place, sponsored by the Lima Club. Rotary Clubs in North Coast, Perrysburg, Tiffin, St. Mary’s, and Bellevue also submitted essays after club-level competition.

To learn more about District 6600’s Four Way Test Essay Competition and other District Programs, visit www.rotarydistrict6600.org. Click HERE to download this year’s first, second, and third place essays.

UPDATE!

Our first place winner, Morgan Shetzer, was unable to join us at the District Conference. See this note from her mother to Four Way Essay Contest Chair, Esther Baldridge.

Dear Ms. Baldridge, Morgan has a school music showcase on the same day as the conference. She plays her French horn in the morning and her violin in the afternoon. Morgan doesn’t want to disappoint her class by not being there but we are finding it difficult to make both events . After looking at the link you sent her to the district conference, she has decided to donate her district winnings back to the Rotary. Perhaps the funds would help expenses for the “kids against hunger” project. She has placed her winnings from the Fremont contest in her college savings account and is very appreciative. Thank you, Leanne Shetzer

Thank you, Morgan, four your generosity and your heart for helping others!

Be Your Club’s Inspiration! Join Us for District Assembly on April 28

Be Your Club’s Inspiration! Join Us for District Assembly on April 28

 

The District Training Assembly is an annual event designed to inspire incoming club leaders and to equip them with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively lead with you during your year. The Assembly is also the first opportunity for your team to engage the District Governor-Elect and learn about the Rotary President’s Theme for the upcoming year, Be the Inspiration. We will kick off our morning with DGE Maris talking about our theme for the larger group and her vision for the upcoming Rotary Year. We will then transition into groups as outlined below where members can connect with others who hold similar positions and interests.  Here is the schedule for the day.

8:30 – 9:00 Registration at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky
9:00 – 9:30 District governor-elect’s remarks and presentation of the 2018-19 Theme
9:30 – 9:45 Transition to Break-out sessions by cohort
9:45 – 11:45 Sessions by Role or interest
Noon-1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 District Business Session / Presidents-Elect vote on budget, other district business
1:30 – 2:00 Closing Session / Open time for Q&A for DGE Maris, District Leaders
  • Presidents-Elect
    • Review the Presidential Citation, tactical training on Rotary Club Central and Goal Entry and how to use the reports for the Citation at My Rotary as management tools for your year. Bring your laptop!
  • Club Secretaries
    • Focused on how secretaries support entering information to track the Presidential Citation. Secretaries will also discuss the importance of keeping positions current and ensuring all member data is added both in the Rotary International and District databases (DacDb) – with help on how to do so. We encourage you to bring your laptop!
  • Membership Chairs
    • Learn how clubs may allow for greater flexibility in membership types, meeting schedules and formats, how to conduct a classification study to create a plan for diversifying membership per this year’s Presidential Citation, and brainstorm member engagement and recruitment ideas.
  • Youth Chairs
    • Learn about District and International Programs that touch youth and young adults including presentations on Rotary Youth Exchange, Four Way Test Speech and Essay, STRIVE, Interact, and Rotaract.
  • Grant Learning Lab and Project Showcase
    • Opportunities for clubs to share current or potential local and international projects, recruit for partnerships while also meeting leaders for and seeing displays about our Group Study Exchange and MESA, our Medical Equipment and Supplies Abroad program. Coaching on District and Global Grant processes available for Grant Committee members. Bring your questions and business cards!

Any interested member is welcome to join a session above. If members of your club are unsure of where to jump in, we particularly encourage attendance in the Youth Session! Those who are committed to serving as club president in 2019-20 are especially encouraged to come and join District Governor Nominee Carolyn Huston for lunch and the opportunity to meet your leadership group.

Remember, Club Presidents Elect must attend this session in order to vote on the District Budget. You are your club’s only vote at our district business session!

Click HERE to have a registration link sent to you. In order to right size the rooms and have an accurate count for meals, please ensure that your team has registered no later than Monday, April 23.

If you have any questions about our District Assembly, please contact District Trainer Ken Robinson. We’re excited to gather with you and your team to enjoy great fellowship, be inspired together, and advance the mission of Rotary!

 

2018 Rotary Award Nominations Due March 31

2018 Rotary Award Nominations Due March 31

District Governor Deb Cheney is calling for nominations for awards to be presented at 2018 District Conference. While certain awards are awarded solely by the district governor, others are forwarded on to Rotary International for additional consideration.  District Awards and Rotary International award nominees will be recognized at the 2018 District Conference.   These awards include:

  • Club Builder Award honors deserving Rotarians in District 6600 who have significantly supported and strengthened their Rotary Clubs. Winners must have recruited at least five members who are active Rotarians at the time of nomination, participated in Rotary training in their club, participated in at least one meaningful club-level vocational service project, and attended at least two district meetings in the three years immediately preceding nomination. Up to 10 may be awarded each year.
  • Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service to honor members who have been actively involved in service activities related to The Rotary Foundation, such as serving on a Foundation committee, participating in a grant-funded project, or supporting a Rotary Peace Fellow for longer than one year. Financial contributions to the Foundation, however notable, are not relevant considerations for this award. One is awarded each year.
  • Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award is the Foundation’s highest service recognition and is given to Rotarians who have demonstrated exemplary service to the Foundation. Recipients must have received the Citation for Meritorious Service at least four years prior to be eligible for this award. One is awarded each year.
  • Rotary Foundation District Service Award is given to Rotarians who have demonstrated exemplary service to the Foundation. Up to 20 may be awarded by the District Governor.
  • Significant Achievement Award recognizes a club in our district whose local project has addressed a significant problem or need in your community. International projects are not eligible. One club per district will be recognized each year.

Where applicable, nomination forms are available for download and completion here.  Where no nomination form is provided, please submit a letter via e-mail of not more than two pages.  Nominations for awards conferred by or forwarded by the district governor must be received no later than March 31, 2017.

The Gift of Clean Drinking Water

The Gift of Clean Drinking Water

The Gift of Clean Drinking Water

How water is building international friendships and fundamentally changing life for villages in North Central Sri Lanka

Jan. 27, 2018 by Katie Conlon

Winding along the bumpy backroads through intermittent rice field and jungle, the last village took hours of backroads navigation skills to find. But then, around the corner, the first line of village welcome: a 50-deep motorcycle squad, the ‘motorcade’ for their arrival to Nawa Teldeniya Water Project. A very impressive entourage for the village to drum up. The bus and the motorcycle cavalcade all rode along together for the remaining kilometers to the village, and the procession grew as villagers came out of homes and fields. By the time this parade reached the entrance of Nawa Teldeniya, the entire village was congregated and waiting to welcome. The motorcycle gang passed the role of leading the procession to the village’s traditional Kandyan dance troupe. Rows of young children dressed in immaculate white temple attire gifted the visiting group with flowers and kowtows. The dancers wore colorful, traditional costumes adorned with silver chest pieces and headpieces. They glistened in the sun as they whirled, drummed and danced their way backwards into the heart of the village, and we followed. Joyous, colorful and heartwarming, this was a magnificent homecoming for a new-formed friendship and international alliance.

What, one might ask, sparked such joy and enthusiasm from the villagers? The gift of clean water – a fundamental human right, the building block that all peoples need in order to thrive – made possible through Nawa Teldeniya’s new reverse osmosis water filtration center. Nawa Teldeniya, in the region of Nochiyagama, is wrought with polluted drinking water and rampant chronic kidney disease (CKD). This reverse osmosis water center is part of a Rotary Global Grant partnership, between the Rotary Club of Colombo (District 3220),and several Rotary Clubs in Ohio (District 6600: Toledo, Bowling Green, Waterville, Maumee, Perrysburg, Findlay, St. Marys and Sandusky). Over the course of two weeks in January 2018, a delegation of 9 Rotarians from Ohio, USA and eight Rotarians from Colombo formed the core group, and numerous Colombo and North Central Province Rotarians joined for various stages of the water filtration center tour to see the fruition of the past year’s work and officially commemorate the completed centers. The Global Grant in the end will fund 13 centers, and aside from Nawa Teldeniya, the other six finished sites visited on this tour include: Bellaganwewe, Pihitiwewa; Kandekaduwa; Weligampura; Padaviya; and Vanni Pallugollewa). Committed to the motto “service above self,” these Rotary clubs have partnered to address the crucial overlapping problems of access to clean drinking water and combatting the Chronic Kidney Disease, both of which create an unbearable situation for livelihoods and health in the North Central Province villages in Sri Lanka.

CKD is a devastating health impact for the dry country villages in Sri Lanka. In the past few years, 1,500 cases were diagnosed through screening efforts of the rural health ministry; and approximately 700 effected with CKD have died in recent years.  CKD is chronic in the sense that those diagnosed have lifelong dialysis treatment (or a kidney transplant, which is very rare), and lifelong health complications to endure.  It is not a pretty disease. Moreover, CKD especially impacts the young, male workforce of these villages, and in a sense cripples entire villages, as labor and overall village health falls.

While giving thanks and appreciation for these new filtration sites during these water center commemorations, each village shared reflective insights about the interconnectedness between water and well-being. “Where there is health, there’s wealth,” we were all honestly reminded by a young lady speaking on behalf of Padaviya village. These village communities are the frontline in the struggle for clean drinking water, and this issue takes precedence compared to other social-desirable but not necessary wants like electricity, sufficient roads, or modern conveniences. Yet, these villages have to overcome the gigantic hurdle of decades of harm done by chemical fertilizers used in these rice cultivation areas (and in some cases, are still being used!). These non-organic fertilizers leach into the soil and into the groundwater, and because of their toxic persistence, cycle back into living systems through human and animal consumption of contaminated water and food. In this North Central region, the effects of chemical pollutants compound, due to the fact that soil in this part of the country is already high in certain mineral content like Fluoride, which is also not healthy to consume in large quantities. This region is also prone to drought, which further magnifies water scarcity issues and contaminant concentrations. Because of all these influencing variables, academics that study the CKD epidemic are still debating root causes for this complicated socio-ecological problem. Yet, the politics of delayed decision-making oftentimes puts villages in dire need of clean water in even more vulnerable positions. Installing a reverse osmosis system is not a silver bullet solution to all the overlapping issues in the region, but a first step in the path to health and wellbeing for these villagers. Looking holistically to the future, a combined multi-dimensional, situationally-appropriate, localized effort between divisions of health, education, agriculture, ecology, and economy are essential/indispensable. Bringing these divisions together for the sake of the overall well-being of this region would include an education for awareness and creative problem-solving; agriculture expertise for facilitating organic farming; ecology for remediation and restoration of polluted and compromised ecosystems; health for comprehensive health and social issues; and economic support to help the livelihoods of these struggling villages.  The list of to-do’s is long, but with this first step of clean water taken care of, there is opportunity to address these other concerns.

Back in the village, the revelry of the day continues, and smiles and warmth radiate from everyone present. After being wooed by dance and song, the ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the water filtration center begins. The commencement plaque reveals the names of the national and international Rotary groups who partnered for this project. Commemorative photos are snapped with much ado. The reverse osmosis machine is fired up and water is poured for a round of cheers. Nothing tastes sweeter than the first sip of clean water after decades of drinking polluted water. For Rotarians and villagers alike, this day of clean drinking water is a day that will not be forgotten. 

But the day was not over! The village also prepared a meal for this special day, and the group heartily enjoyed fresh salad from the village gardens, curry, rice, fish and a dessert of tropical fruit.  The procession then returned back to the village commons, in the shade of the tree grove amongst a circle of flapping prayer flags, and the village reconvened for formal speeches. With bellies full it was hard to stay awake in the heat of the midday sun, but the village excitement and exuberance kept the group going.

After participating in seven of these water filtration commemorative festivities, it became apparent that although the villages and customs change – this project’s scope includes both Tamil and Sinhalese villages – each community has their own unique and incredibly warm welcome involving: the children bearing flowers; song and dance; a village-wide, young and old procession into the village for the opening of the site; a commemorative ceremony; and a meal of local foods. These are some of the most economically challenged villages in the world, yet the villager’s hearts shine as an example of hospitality rarely seen in the world anymore.

The biggest lesson, however, is that these Rotarians and villagers from disparate parts of the globe came together to realize their common humanity through this most basic theme of clean drinking water. The realization of these reverse osmosis plants demonstrates a quintessential example of how small acts by concerned citizens can change the world, especially for the children of these villages. In the spirit of peace, the picture of these villagers and these Rotarians bring a new sense of hope for the future. This is worth celebrating.  

*For updates on these clean drinking water projects and continued efforts between these clubs and/or if you would like to get involved in Rotary and/or donate to these ongoing humanitarian peacebuilding efforts, please contact Rotary District 3220 (Colombo) or 6600 (Ohio):

 https://rotarydistrict6600.org/

rotarycolombo1929@gmail.com 

 The author can be reached at: conlon@pdx.edu or www.eco-culture.world

January 2018 STRIVE Update

The 2017-18 STRIVE Scholarship Interviews will be held on Saturday, May 5, at the Findlay Inn and Conference Center and the Marble Institute of America in Oberlin.  Specific interview times will be confirmed and updated here as applicant information is received.  The deadline for receipt of completed scholarship applications is April 23, 2018.  Applications must be complete in their entirety and on time in order to be considered.  Please click HERE to download this year’s scholarship packet.

Local Club STRIVE Committee Chairs are asked to submit the 2017-18 STRIVE Student Participant Roster by April 23 as well. District Governor Deb Cheney and STRIVE Chairs PDG John and Ronnie Cole will provide certificates of appreciation for each student to be given out at each program’s end of year celebration.  Please click HERE to download this year’s STRIVE Student Participant Roster.

Please return applications to STRIVE Committee Chair PDG John Cole via fax (440-775-1120), e-mail (jc1040@oberlin.net) or US Mail (13 S. Main St., Oberlin, OH 44074).