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Minutarian Week 34: February 20, 2023

The website to sign up for the District Training Assembly and Conference is Live. We promise that this will be an exciting weekend of fun, fellowship, amazing speakers and stories of doing Good in the World. We hope you will join us to IMAGINE Rotary together.

Our opening of the District Conference will be on Friday night May 12 and our featured speaker will be Retreaded Founder and CEO Kristin Kean. Rethreaded is the intersection of two very important topics to Rotarians, Human Trafficking and Empowering Women. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to hear Kristin.

The highlight of this week was spending so much time with Rotarians. At the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) I got a chance to talk about the importance of Vocation as one of Rotary’s Five Avenues of Service. Well, I kept seeing these intersections throughout the week, which began on Friday when I shared lunch with Past President of the Rotary Club of Mandarin, Jim White, where we celebrated the success of UNF’s accounting students.

On Saturday night, while attending the Wild Game Feast in Putnam County, Rotarian Linda Bazer saved me a seat only to learn that her daughter was one of my best students. Rotary helps each of us to make six degrees of separation a reality as we continue to celebrate Doing Good in the World.

The Rotary Club of Palatka Sunrise’s Wild Game Feast was a great opportunity to celebrate Rotary in Putnam County. However, it was not about one club or another, rather it was about Rotary in the Community. Every club had a different role in making this amazing event work (I have never eaten so many oysters)! (Presidents pictured: Rotary Club of Palatka, Jonathan Griffith; Rotary Club of Crescent City, Lucia Valdivia-Sanchez; Rotary Club of Palatka Sunrise, Keith Collier; Rotary Club of Interlachen & the Lakes, Andrew Tyson). Thanks President Keith for inviting me.

The Rotary Club. of Deland put together a video to share their Public Image for their MeStrong 5K to support cancer victims in their community.

Upcoming Zone Training Opportunities

Pictures of the Week
Saturday was the final RLI for outgoing Chair Mickey Ulmer as he concentrates on becoming your District Governor in 16 months. We thank him for his wonderful leadership and, in particular, his commitment to Rotaract, as we had 10 Rotaractors pictured here along with Past President Ed Book from the Rotary Club of Downtown Gainesville and our host at Santa Fe State College. The amazing thing was that Sam Madsen was in attendance. Sam is a High School Student and is being sponsored by the Rotary Club of Gainesville to do his 10-month Rotary Youth Exchange in Hungary. We had well over 100 Rotarians sharing fellowship and learning how each of us can get more out of Rotary as we serve our communities. Thank you Gainesville Rotarians for supporting RLI and to all the others who drove to get to Gainesville; we hope we have given you a return on your investment.

Students in RLI Part I Group A got a great introduction to Rotary even if they had been a Rotarian for a while.

Students in RLI Part I Group B got a great introduction to Rotary even if they had been a Rotarian for a while.

Students in RLI Part I Group C got a great introduction to Rotary even if they had been a Rotarian for a while.

Carl Smart was in RLI Part I Group C but missed his class photo.

Students in RLI Part II came back to learn how they could take their leadership skills back to improving their clubs.

Students in RLI Part III graduated from RLI after spending three Saturdays with other Rotarian leaders and learning how they can make their respective clubs even better.

This year’s Graduate Course in Public Speaking was taught by Bob Arnold from Central Florida.

This year’s Graduate Course in Membership was taught by Ivan Johnson from Tallahassee.