Dear Fellow San Mateo Rotarians,
Welcome to Rotary Year 2020-2021! I am both honored and anxious as we begin this year. I never saw myself in this position until late last Fall. I believe that with your support and a lot of patience, together we will create excitement, build friendships, and grow Rotary as we live our motto, “Service Above Self”.
Our new RI President, Holger Knaack, from Hamburg, Germany has chosen his theme for this year as “Rotary Opens Opportunities”. It certainly has been true for me! When I joined this Club, 21 years ago, I saw Rotary as a work commitment type of thing. It has since become a very large part of my life. I have grown in leadership skills, made many friendships, and see our world in a very different way. I have had a lot of opportunities to change and grow.
As we move into the year, I have made a few priorities. First of all, I want us to be willing and open to seriously work on to building some succession planning for our many committees that make a difference in our community! Mentoring newer, but very capable members, who will feel eager to lead the projects that they care for passionately.
Secondly, we need to grow our club. You’ve heard the old saying, if you’re not growing, you’re dying! That can’t happen here. And the motivation for this is not to be the largest club but because we need younger members that are energetic and enthusiastic! They may have new and different perspectives and good ideas! So many of us have been in Rotary for years and that experience is valuable and respected by all. But we do tend to want to keep things the same. Our community is changing all around us and we need to change along with it.
Another priority is to expect the unexpected! As we learned this year from all of the challenges that we needed to face is to accept them and make the most out of them. I believe that there are many changes that will be necessary as we adapt to different ways to “do” Rotary. I have no idea what those changes will be. That will be up to all of us! But challenges will come whether or not we are prepared. Whoever thought that we would be holding meetings on-line with something called Zoom. I believe that in embracing change, we can determine what Our Rotary Club will look like in the years to come. I find that both interesting and exciting!
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for this honor, and I feel a tremendous responsibility to make the most of it. Let the fun and adventure begin!
President Sue
