John Ficorilli recaps the rocking District 6600 Conference.
The 2023 Conference kicked off with a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. District 6600 Rotarians enjoyed fellowship over small plates and drinks, followed by a moving speech about the war in Ukraine by John Hewko, General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. John is also a member of the Rotary Club of Kiev, Ukraine. Afterward, Rotarians were free to explore the gift shop and the five levels of the venue.
The keynote speaker for the Saturday morning session was Beth Stubbs, Rotary International Director, who challenge us to tell Our Rotary Story. Beth talked about our clubs securing grant money to complete service projects in our community and then promoting those projects to our local communities to increase Public Image and attract new members.
We were visited by Daniel Campbell of the St Vincent Rotary Club, who gave us an update on the Water for Life Project that our district has helped fund. During the conference, we raised $12,000 to fully fund this project!
We then had breakout sessions reviewing Rotary Grants, Public Image, and Effective Club Management.
During the lunch break on Saturday, we were treated to a 4-Way Test speech from the district winner, and we got to hear from our inbound and outbound exchange students. The keynote speaker, Miquette McMahon from the Rotary Club of Vermilion, gave a moving speech about her life’s journey, which began in abject poverty in Haiti. Because of Rotary, she came to the US and achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. There were no dry eyes in the audience after hearing her story. Rotary truly make a difference in the world. You can learn more here: https://www.teachaiti.org/
After an afternoon of exploring Cleveland, Rotarians regrouped at the Marriott at Key Tower for dinner and District Award presentations, followed by the evening keynote speaker, Dustin Dale, who spoke about "Servant Leadership". Another moving speech. We were then treated to some live entertainment by some of the ladies from the Rotary Club of Tiffin.
Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast and received an update on MESA from PDG Gary Newton. MESA has shipped over 30 containers of medical supplies this year, with most going to Ukraine. MESA is in need of two trucks to replace the old 16’ and 26’ trucks that are nearing the end of their usefulness.
John Hewko addressed the group again and challenged our district to focus on membership.