Rick Sterne, Rotary District 7090 governor and a resident of Brantford, Ontario, Canada, recently visited a Westfield/Mayville Rotary Club meeting.
"I am impressed. If I lived in this area, this is the club I'd want to belong to," Sterne said.
As is the practice of all district governors, Sterne's visit was one of the many he will make this year. The district includes 74 clubs in Southern Ontario, Canada and Western New York, each having about half of the 74. A third generation Rotarian and a Paul Harris Fellow, Sterne's business was computers.
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Rick Sterne, Rotary District 7090 governor, left, presents John Hamels, Westfield/Mayville Rotary Club president, with a $1,000 check as an initial pledge with regard to Rotary International Foundation through the coming year.
This year's mission, approved by all district members, was Sterne's topic. "Why do we do what we do," he asked rhetorically; then delivered the challenge. "It is to pursue peace and conflict prevention."
Dubbed the "High Five," that pursuit targets goals: disease prevention, purifying and providing water for those less fortunate, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy and economic and community development.
For many years, Rotary International has been heavily involved in stamping out polio around the world. Sterne delivered good news:
"There were no new cases this past year (there are only three areas left in which there is polio). There were 350,000 cases when we started and we're now down to 200," Sterne said. "We will eradicate it."
Before Sterne ended his message, he presented a $1,000 check to the Westfield/Mayville Rotary Club as a first installment for its support of the Rotary International Foundation for the coming year. Sterne concluded by listing several projects for the district in 2013 and ended with this year's theme that all Rotarians might consider projects that focus on "peace through service."