I also have to give credit to Sam and Tom for something else.  They are among many people in the club who have helped show me the difference between being in Rotary and being a Rotarian.

Last Tuesday, our Youth Exchange inbound program was hanging by a thread.  We all know what a challenge it has become to find host families and volunteer drivers, to say nothing of the day-to-day situations that arise when we assume responsibility for the well-being of a 17-year-old for nearly an entire year, some of whom come here knowing little English.

I walked into last Tuesday’s board meeting with my mind pretty much made up to vote to suspend the inbound program.  My sense at last Monday’s club meeting is that the responsibility was more than our club was willing to continue to take on.  But then Robin Shih changed everyone’s mind.  Robin talked about how being a Rotary exchange student changed her life, and how she said she wouldn’t be in Rotary today if no one would have stepped forward to host her when she was in high school.  Tom, who also was an exchange student, echoed much of what Robin said, and the two of them committed themselves to helping lead the program into 2009-2010.  When they finished speaking, the board’s vote was unanimous to host a student a year from now.

Robin admitted to me later that she knows she is taking on a huge responsibility, and a bit of a risk.  But she believes it is worth it because of what it might mean for a young man or woman next year.  I think that’s what they call service above self, or put another way, the difference between being in Rotary and being a Rotarian.

She knows she can’t do it alone.  I know many of us are unable to host our inbound student for any of a variety of reasons.  But maybe we know someone who can.  Or just maybe you can.  Regardless, we can all help in other ways by agreeing to take our 2008-09 inbound student, bowling, or to a movie or play, or giving him a ride to or from a conference.  I hope you will reach out to Robin and others who will be the most involved in our inbound program.  It’s our greatest commitment as a club, but I know from experience having hosted Lotte in 2003 that it does change lives.

Part of the agreement to become president is the commitment to attend the District Rotary’s President-Elect Training Seminar, or PETS.  I have to admit I wasn’t all that excited about giving up a day and a half in March to attend PETS, even if I did get to hang out in the tourist Mecca of Tomah, but while there I learned more about the difference between being in Rotary and being a Rotarian.

What did I learn at PETS?  I learned a little about water. I learned that 1.2 billion people in the world drink polluted water, and that people with waterborne diseases occupy half of all hospital beds in the world.  This brought home to me the importance of what we do globally through personal and club financial commitments to the Rotary Foundation.  That money is used to, among other things, drill wells and tackle other projects to provide clean water.

Dean Dickinson of the LaCrosse Rotary club spoke at PETS.  I can’t do justice to his presentation, and I hope I get him to agree to come up and give it in person to our club, but I do want to pass along a little of his message.

Dickinson talked about social justice, or lack of it. He told us that there is no social justice when millions of children have bloated bellies because of malnutrition.  There is no social justice when more than a billion people drink water no more sanitary than what we flush down our toilets.  There is no social justice when children go crippled because they don’t have access to a polio vaccine that we have had since 1963.

Working with a network of some 1.2 million Rotarians in 200 countries, we can be a global army of the peaceful variety, and I hope you will think about that and agree to support the Rotary Foundation in the coming Rotary year.  At PETS, I unwittingly filled out a form setting a club goal of $75 per member in the coming year; that’s up from what we collected this past year.  Sam didn’t tell me until last week that if we don’t hit that goal, the district governor will scold me, just as this year’s district governor scolded him.  So to spare me that indignity, I hope you think about giving to the foundation in the coming year.  I admit I have not made the foundation a priority myself, but after hearing Dickinson speak, I have a new appreciation for the foundation’s work.  Maybe Rotary can’t wipe out world poverty, but the theme for this Rotary year is “Make Dreams Real,” so why not think big?

I’d like to provide a little update about Polio eradication: In 1985, when Rotary International launched the PolioPlus campaign, 125 countries had citizens being stricken by this crippling and sometimes fatal virus.  Today, there are 4: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and India.

The World Health Organization estimates that largely because of Rotary’s efforts, your efforts, more than 5 million people are walking today who otherwise would have been crippled had Rotary not invested more than a half billion dollars in buying and in many instances administering polio vaccines.  We’re so close to wiping out polio forever. When a prospective member asks you what Rotary accomplishes, this little nugget of information is a nice place to start.

But we have to make one final push to hopefully finish the job.  The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has put up $100 million in matching funds for every dollar raised by Rotary International, and a Rotarian in our district has agreed to match $10,000 a year in district contributions to polio plus for the next three years.  That means if members of our club donate $2,000 in the coming year to help wipe out polio, it will turn into $6,000.

And that leads me back to my key point… plea if you will: Commitment.  I will commit to trying to be a good president.  As someone who faces deadlines for a living, I will do my best to start meetings on time and end them on time.  You are all busy people.  I understand that and respect the time pressures you face.  I want you to know that I will do everything I can to get us wrapped up by 1:00 P.M.  But we also have to be respectful of our speakers if we don’t get them to the podium on time.  I’m told the food is usually ready by 11:50 or so, so come a little early, because the fellowship at lunch is one of the best parts of the meeting.  Trying to cram lunch and our agenda into an hour at times is nearly impossible.

Some members of our club have been doing their jobs for some time now.  Jerry Reinecke, of course, is the glue that holds our club together.  We all should reach out to Jerry and see what we might do to help divert some of that workload.  We also want to begin transitioning new people into roles that the same people have held in some cases for many years.  Maybe you don’t have the time to take on a leadership role, but it will be my failure if we don’t take advantage of the many talented members simply because I don’t ask.  But please don’t wait to be asked if you have an interest in helping out in any way.  As they say in the commercial, you won’t be turned down for any reason.

Sam did a great job pushing membership this year.  We lost some members this past year, but we added new members and showed a net increase in our membership.  Not all clubs are doing that, and I hope we all commit ourselves to helping continue moving the membership arrow in an upward direction in the coming year.  This club has a lot to offer, and it’s great to come to meetings and see extra tables being set up because of high turnout.  Your presence does make a difference.  If you know someone you think might be prospective member, please invite him or her to lunch.  And if you know an interesting person who would make a good program, don’t hesitate to talk to program co-chairs Sue Hesketh or Ron Dulitz.

To our newest members, we don’t want to overwhelm you, but we don’t want to overlook you, either. We hope you will dip your toe in the water and commit yourselves to helping in an area of interest to you.  Many of the jobs don’t require a lot of heavy lifting, but if we’re going to be a club that does more than meets and eats, then we need as many of you as possible to step up and help.  I hope you will begin that journey to understand the difference between being in Rotary and being a Rotarian.

Ultimately, our club will look the way you want it to, not the way I want it to.  I’ve never been very good at begging people to do things they don’t want to do unless I’m paying them.

When I was approached four years ago to commit myself to this job, I thought back to the time I served as president of my fraternity in college.  At some point during that term, I was feeling a bit dejected that more members weren’t taking an active role in the fraternity.  A few people did all the work, and I was spending more time than I wanted to trying to convince people to pay their dues, pay their rent, clean the fraternity house, and so on.  About that time I went home for a weekend, and I was venting to my father about the situation.  I told him I was almost sorry I volunteered for the job.

My father has a wonderful way of breaking down problems to their most basic level.

“Well, son,” he said.  “You know what they say about volunteering.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s like peeing a pair of black pants.  It gives you a warm feeling, and nobody notices.”

We shared a laugh, and I went back to the frat house and did my best.

I will try to do my best as your president.  I invite you to join me in our work to make our club, our community and our world better.  If we all pitch in, we’ll accomplish our goals, have some fun and together gain a better understanding of the difference between being in Rotary and being a Rotarian. … and nobody’s pants will get wet.

Thank you.

Don Huebscher

President, 2008-2009 Rotary Year