A very Happy New year to Rockford Rotary. I hope this year proves to be an amazing one for the Rotary and may this org keep striving harder to work for the betterment of people. 

     I am Shivani Rai, a 2014 former exchange student from India who had an extremely wonderful time with Rockford Rotary which never ceases to make me feel as its girl forever !  My exchange has had a great impact on me in the way that I feel more confident about myself and it shaped and broadened my global perspective too.

     I love interacting with people and now I get a better understanding of various cultures and different values around the world. RYE like it's said is a mini reflection of what this world stands for!

     That we are all the same from inside no matter where we hail from and that one doesn't need to know the native language to communicate and make everlasting  friendships!

     My interest has always been in the field of medicine and I wish to serve UNICEF in some ways one day. I am a first year medical student in India, having an interesting time understanding human physiology and learning more about the medical ethics and what a doctor stands for. 

     From not knowing what rotary is to explaining to others about it's global as well as local projects impacting many lives, I feel so proud to be a part of the Rotary family now. I am grateful to all my awesome host families and my favourite YEO , Mr. Nelson for taking care of me like their own daughter, I can never forget how welcomed I felt back in the States.

     I personally witnessed how you can always make time for social service out of your busy schedule. I know I still have lots to learn from what rotary is capable of and what I can do for others.

     Looking forward to see you and the club someday soon. 

     This will be a most interesting and informative program about not only the Youth Exchange program, but how it helped Shivani grow into her current life.  This will be a chance to invite a guest or prospective member to join our meeting.  Simply show up at Memorial Hall or forward the Zoom Meeting information to them.

     Kathy Kwiat-Hess who hosted Shivani for a few months will introduce her.

 

 

 

What: The 2021 SERVICE ABOVE SELF EVENT

 

Who:   All Rotarians, Honorees & Invited Guests

 

Where: MEMORIAL HALL

 

When: Thursday, August 12th

            5:00 PM - Reception

            5:30 PM - Program

 

Why the change:  When we scheduled the event several months ago. COVID was still prevalent; and we thought we would have a modest attendance and that we needed and outdoor space.  Since then everything has opened up, and our attendance will likely be greater than the pavilion at Womanspace allows.

 

 

     Mark Baldwin was executive editor of the Rockford Register Star from September 2012 until January 2021, after previously working for news organizations in Wisconsin, Kansas, Chicago, and Washington, D. C.

     He is along time member of the boards of the Associated Press Media Editors and News Leaders Association and was named GateHouse Media Editor of the Year for 2017.

     He and his wife, Sydney, are the parents of three grown daughters.

     A native of Chicago, he holds bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University, though he likes to point out that he was a student there long before the Wildcats became a football power.

     Mark was sponsored by Alan Gibby  We would encourage our members to join in our weekly meetings and welcome Mark to Rockford Rotary.

 

 

     The program committee has decided to make a few changes to the traditional "Order of the Shelf" program.  Instead of "welcoming" the incoming President with some fun, the committee decided to actually put President Dennis "On the Shelf".  This has obviously been a unique year and we felt that he deserved a proper "shelving".

     Past President Alan Gibby will have the honor of conducting the "shelving" of Dennis in a "dignified and appropriate" manner, whatever that is going to entail.  Alan has promised a "fun-filled" event that our members will not want to miss.

     You can attend in person at Memorial Hall or via Zoom.  We are also doing away with the "members only" rule, so this would be an excellent opportunity to invite a guest or prospective member and show them that Rotarians can have "fun" as in our 5th part of the "Four Way Test.