From the Editor

I wrote several months ago about sharing. It is, as you might remember, the theme for Rotary this year. There are many different ways in which you can share, I wrote, but I guess I forgot at least one.

Another way to share with Rotary is to speak to another Rotary club, which I had the opportunity to do earlier this month when I was asked to present a program on the Kansas Mission of Mercy dental project at the Independence, Kansas Rotary Club.

I enjoy every opportunity I have to speak about this project and to speak about it at a Rotary club is even more special. But for me, the real pleasure was speaking to a Rotary club in the town in which I was raised and having the privilege of sitting at the head table with my parents who came to hear me speak.

While speaking, I realized just how important that Rotary is to me and how much I enjoy the opportunities Rotary has already given me, a thirty-six year old, who has already had the chance to serve three years on the club’s board of directors, and now a four year editor of the Rotopeka. I hope that someday to have the chance to travel the world and see the work that Rotary has done.

Each week, Rotary has something new and unique to offer and we can share the Rotary experience with a new member. President Wagnon writes this month about the Presidential Citation Award. One of the requirements is a very simple “one net new member.” So far, we are down. So on page 6, I have brought back the “membership thermometer” to show where we stand and where we have let to go to achieve this very simple goal of one new member.

This month, Governor Kathleen Sebelius spoke to our club and I was amazed at just how vital Kansas is to the rest of the world. There are so many things that we as Kansans take for granted. It’s great to have people out there touting Kansas and to see it so well respected around the world is something that we should all be proud of.