Posted by DG Sue Bellor
Dear Fellow Rotarians,
            $1,105,165.45 was raised for The Rotary Foundation by our district’s Legacy Million Dollar Dinner.  This two- year campaign concluded with a celebration on November 4th at the Ottawa Convention Centre, featuring Keynote Speaker and Rotary International Director Jennifer Jones. Honored attendees enjoyed an evening of good food, Rotarian fellowship, and were entertained by the most enjoyable local musical talent of Live Steel Drum Band    and CAPS Lock Barbershop Quartet. The evening culminated with the exciting announcement that District 7040 is the first district with a Million Dollar Dinner to have contributed 45% of the goal in cash. Thank you to all!
 
District Council met on November 18th and several district officers, directors, and chairpersons provided valuable updates. You will receive a copy of the notes, upon completion of transcription and translation to French. In the meantime, it’s important for club presidents to input and update their clubs’ service hours and goals at Rotary Club Central; area governors are willing to assist. These components are all necessary to earn the Rotary Citation. The next district council meeting will be held January    27th, located at the Lion’s Club in Cornwall.
 
            December 9th is our second International Service meeting, located at the Lion’s Club in Cornwall. This is a popular gathering for all those district Rotarians who either want to present projects to align partners for support/funding or are looking for projects to support. Be sure to register online to facilitate the lunch count, at no cost to attendees.
 
PDG/Interact Chair Ariane Carriere is looking for any club interested in sponsoring an Interact or Earlyact Club. Contact Ariane for information and/or guidance. Ariane is willing to visit your club. Ariane is also looking for Interact or high school student candidates for the March 2019 trip to Guatemala. In addition, the Passport Club would like to know some activities in which their members can participate. Clubs can contact Passport President Ariane, or post their events on the district calendar, or contact Roger Black to have posted.
 
 District Scholarship Chair PDG Katie Burke continues to seek and organize Rotarians in the district for help on the translation committee. Can you provide some Rotary stewardship to help with this very important endeavor? In the pursuit to provide translations to French for all that we want to share, we do need some bilinguals to help us. We are a district of more than one language and want to respect this diversity with our French speaking fellow Rotarians and friends. Please contact Katie.
 
Are you willing to help PDG Nabil Oudeh with some updates to the District 7040 Strategic Plan? Please respond to Nabil if you are interested in contributing to “Increasing Humanitarian Service”, or contact DGE Martha Weaver and/or DGN Gerry Lambert if you are interested in “Strengthening Clubs and Membership”, or contact DGND Hadi Mortada if you are interested in “Improving Public Image and Awareness”. Please let them know before January 1st so they can properly plan.
I want to remind you that District Governor Elect Martha Weaver along with District Governor Nominee/Leadership Training Chair Gerry Lambert and their team are actively planning for President Elect Training Seminar and District Training Assembly for the weekend of April 21-22   at the NAV Centre in Cornwall.
 
Don’t forget to register for the International Convention in Toronto; let’s have a large number from our district attend. If you have not attended one before, this is a tremendous opportunity to participate, meet and network with Rotarians from all over the world, and renew yourself as to why you became a Rotarian. Contact district promoter PDG Bette Miller with any questions.
Rotary International’s theme for December is Family Month. I wish you all good times with family, a blessed holiday season, and a Happy New Year 2018 as we all go forward in Making a Difference through Rotary.
 
Kind regards,
Sue Bellor
DG 2017-2018
7040