A Busy and Fun Week!

7 official visits this week... phew! Plus Clinton's Area 8 Steak Fry and a well-attended "Foundation Kickoff" featuring Rotary Peace Scholar Ryan Hendy (left) and several Foundation alumni, who described how Foundation educational programs changed their lives. This was a week that makes a District Governor really appreciate the diversity of Rotary clubs and Rotarians!

I had fun with my Lenawee County clubs Wednesday - starting with my official visit to Blissfield at noon. President Paula Saxton is leading her club to new heights this year, with aggressive membership goals and another successful auction that will raise $50,000 for Blissfield community projects.

Then, it was off the Clinton's annual Area 8 Steak Fry, which has become such a favorite that it seems there are more district Rotarians than Area 8 folks on hand! President Les and Linda Kopka did their usual outstanding job hosting the event, and the food and fellowship were wonderful as always.

Many thanks to all the clubs that hosted official visits this week: Grosse Pointe Sunrise, Belleville, Leamington, Rockwood, Livonia, Blissfield and Hamtramck! Now, it's off to Zone Institutes... the Rotary Zone 27/28 Institute at Kalahari in Ohio, followed by Zone 22's gathering in Victoria, BC!

Please check out the September edition of the "Buzz from Bruce." And here's a last bit of great news - we're up to 398 registered Rotarians, family and friends for DisCon '09 at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Who's going to be lucky 400!? Click here to register!

Up Up & Away!

Sue and I had an uplifting experience during our official visit to the Rockwood Rotary Club when longtime club leader Dan Mercure Sr. took President Vaughn Molnar and us up in Rockwood Engine #1361 on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. It provided us a beautiful view of Super District 6400 from 100' in the air!

We started this week's tour with a visit to the Rotary Club of Livonia, where President Barb Lewis is leading a motivated group of Rotarians to reach new heights this year as they work together to Make Dreams Real with a number of engaging service projects in their local and world community. Public Relations chair, past president Janet Haas, has hit the ground running this year with an impressive number of newspaper stories and flyers to promote the club's activities, including their recent Livonia Fun Fest and Bar-B-Que.

Then, it was off to Leamington Rotary, where I was happy to induct new member Ken Cadot into the club.

This morning, we shared fellowship and a lovely view of Lake St. Clair from the Yacht Club with the Rotary Club of Grosse Pointe Sunrise. President Wayne Manchester is getting the club ready for its big 5 & 10k Run fund-raiser, as well as several fellowship events including a Super Bowl party.

Tonight, we met with President Rich Willick, who's leading the Belleville Rotary Club. Here's a group that provides 3rd graders at a local elementary school with dictionaries every year... 1,000 will be distributed in 2008!!! Also, Belleville Rotary provides $15,000.00 in scholarships to local students every year! They also participate in Operation Warm Coat, so no child has to go unprotected in the cold. Add to that distribution of free popcorn to 1,500 Trick-Or-Treaters in downtown Belleville on Halloween and the delicious pancake breakfast they serve during the Strawberry Festival each June, and you have a club, like so many in our great district, that understands the meaning of Service Above Self!

It's off to Blissfield, the annual Clinton "Steak Fry" and Hamtramck - more on the blog as it happens!

Whew! What a busy week...

Just finished another whirlwind week of official visits and other Governor-type events! Many thanks to all the hospitality shown to Sue and me. The Rotarians in Wayne, led by President Laura Mack, went above and beyond again, presenting us with thoughtful momentos of our visit, including an "old-time" radio with the inscription "From an Oldie...Wayne Rotary - to a Goodie...DG Bruce"! They also have a marvelous literacy program where they donate a book to the local public library, with a twist - it's a book that is of special meaning to that day's speaker. Somehow, Rotarian Paulette, who's also the librarian, discovered that Prince Edward Island is a place that means a lot to me, and she found an appropriate book about PEI! Bravo (again), Paulette!

I had the pleasure of sitting in on today's interviews with several Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar candidates. This is tough work, and the committee members spent five hours interviewing and deliberating over who will be the recipient of these awards. Thanks to these Rotarian for giving up a Saturday morning for this "Service Above Self" task. To learn more about the Foundation's Ambassadorial Scholars program, click here.

It was back to Wayne on my way home to see the preparations for their "Chili Cook-Off." On a 93-degree Saturday afternoon, these Rotarians were helping set-up twenty booths for this event, part of Wayne "Wheelfest." This is both an important fund-raiser for the club, a fellowship event and great community service and outreach. I hope it's a big success!

After a Sunday off, it's back on the road for several more visits this week, including Grosse Pointe Sunrise, Leamington and Belleville, among others. Have a great Rotary week!

Fun in Dearborn Heights!

Sue and I took the District Governor road show to Dearborn Heights today. This is a group that knows how to have a good time. I was pleased to welcome their 25th member, Super Rotarian Penny Oglesby, who transferred in from the Dearborn club. Penny is well-known to District 6400, where she serves as the co-chair of the district's World Community Service committee. She's also a veteran of several international volunteer trips including National Immunization Days.

Club president Dave Zielinski has several ambitious goals for the club, and with his enthusiasm, I think he'll lead the club to new "Heights."

Tomorrow, I'm off to Garden City and La Salle-Centennial, as I watch the clubs of Super District 6400 Make Dreams Real for the world's children!

What a great Governor's Picnic!

Sue and I would like to thank all of the wonderful District 6400 Rotarians who joined us today for the 2nd annual Governor's Picnic on Boblo Island! It was a beautiful day of sunshine, food and fellowship. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to the Family of Rotary committee chair Alison Baldwin and the Rotary Club of Amherstburg for organizing the event, the Rotary Club of Essex for providing the food and cooking facilities (they're available for your next event!) and especially to Assistant Governor Arnie Charlton for his time and dedication to making this event so successful.

Arnie's already planning next year's event... so please feel free to contact him with your comments and suggestions.

Another busy week ahead, as we have official visits scheduled with Fairlane Sunrise, Wayne, Dearborn Heights, Garden City and La Salle-Centennial. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

"Back" to work!

My recuperation from back surgery was a little longer and more painful than I had hoped, but today, it finally feels like I'll be able to get around again!

So with that behind me, I'm looking forward to this week's official visits to Clinton and Southgate.

Many thanks to everyone who called and emailed with their concern and best wishes. The "family of Rotary" is certainly alive and well in Super District 6400!

More later in the week...

Cottam Rotary, and some observations on membership

My official visit to the Rotary Club of Cottam was filled with fellowship and insightful conversation. Like many of our District 6400 clubs, the Cottam Rotarians want to explore ways in which they can boost their membership ranks. The challenge is to figure out how to promote Rotary and the many great things we do as Rotarians in our local and world communities, and then identify future Rotarians, our friends and neighbors who share our vision of "Service Above Self."

I'm encouraging clubs to set-up brainstorming sessions where all members suggest ways to "re-invent" the way you "do Rotary." Bring in past members, and even invite some prospective members to help out - they can be valuable resources, if they can tell you what types of service and fellowship appeals to them. You may already be doing those things, or it might be easy to add in some of those new ideas.

Many thanks to President Wayne and Bonnie for hosting the meeting, and to all the club members for the delicious meal!


On an unrelated note, I had some relatively minor back surgery yesterday; as of this writing, it looks like I'll be heading home sometime this morning. My official scheduler has given me some days off the Governor trail to recuperate, and I expect to make my next official visit to the Rotary Club of Clinton on Wednesday. At least I have a few days to watch the Olympics!

Have a great Rotary weekend...

August 8, 2008.

Wednesday the 6th, Sue and I visited the Rotary Clubs in Flat Rock and Gibraltar. Thanks to both clubs for welcoming us. After the morning Gibralter meeting we had a chance to visit President Milt's home and see his Electronic Train display. Wow!!! Milt is quite the train enthusiast and a very accomplished artist.

As with many clubs, membership was a topic of conversation. Remember everyone....ask, invite...ask more! This will surely lead to new membership growth.

Last night, DGE spouse Cheryl assisted me as I met with the nice folks from Cottam. Even though bad skies were looming, we had a nice bar-be-que and good conversation.

Tonight, I am having a day off from Rotary, while I recover from back surgery. I am happy to report, things went well and after a few days I should be pain free and in better shape than when I came here.

Warm Rotary regards to all..... See you soon Bruce.

August 5, 2008

Many thanks to my many Rotarian friends who've passed along their best wishes for my birthday! Sue and I will be at Huron Township's meeting celebrating my birthday "Official Visit."

We had a wonderful time in Plymouth last Friday - President Nancy Baldwin certainly has an active club, which does many great things for their community. Its annual "Chicken Bar-B-Q" is coming up Sunday, September 7th. If you haven't checked it out, I hope you'll have a chance to do so this year. Sue and I will be there!

The August edition of the "District Digest" is just out; you can view it here. Rotarian Richard Woodall pointed out that, although I mentioned the meeting-place for our new, provisional "Dundee Area Rotary Club," I neglected to reference their meeting time and date! They meet Thursdays at Noon, at the Lone Star Steakhouse next to Cabela's in Dundee, Michigan. Please stop by for a make-up.

Webmaster PDG Jim Karolyi just posted the August podcast of my "Buzz from Bruce." You can download it here.

July 2008 Official Visits!

Sue and I are having a fantastic time as we begin our official visits to the 50 clubs of Rotary Super District 6400! Our first visit was to the Rotary Club of Essex, home club of District Governor-Elect Neil McBeth. Club President Brian Hyland and his wife, Immediate Past President Rina hosted the meeting at their lovely farm, and we thank them for their generous hospitality.

My next stop was to the Wyandotte club, and President Joe Peterson rolled out the red carpet treatment as well. This club is on fire, with 55 members and a new meeting place, the beautiful new "Michaelangelo's Restaurant" in downtown Wyandotte.

My final visit in July was to the club where I first became a Rotarian - Adrian (Noon). President Patty Clark is a "take no prisoners" leader, and her enthusiasm for Rotary is infectious. Membership chair Greg DuMars is also taking a lead role in bringing in new Rotarians; I had the pleasure of inducting Adrian's Downtown Development Authority director, Kyle Hoffman, as the club's newest member. Congratulations, Kyle - welcome to Rotary!

I expect great things from all of the clubs in our district this year. More to come as we head into the dog days of August!

Yours in Rotary Service,

Gov. Bruce & First Lady Sue