Rotary District 6910 Governor Final Msg-June 2017

With over 40,000 attendees, our Rotary International Convention in Atlanta was a huge success.  Approximately 700 from our District 6910 attended, and I believe everyone who attended came away renewed and inspired to continue on in our good work, ready to go the final mile to end polio. If you missed it, take advantage of video captured during the convention; visit rotary.org/video. Even if you were there and saw it live, you might want to see one of the most exciting moments of the convention again. Take a look here: End Polio Now Pledge Highlights.

I'm thrilled to announce that our own Tommy and Chantal Bagwell, Rotary Club of Forsyth County, extended a $1 million challenge gift to End Polio during a meeting with Bill Gates, with the goal of increasing awareness and funding to End Polio. With only six cases of the wild poliovirus year-to-date in 2017, our eye is on zero. The Bagwells, our district's only Arch Klumph Society members, hope that this gift will inspire others to join us in the fight to End Polio.

Chantal and Tommy Bagwell, Rotary Club of Forsyth County, (right) with other Arch Klumph Society members, Rotary International President John Germ, Bill Gates, and Rotary Foundation Trustees Chair Kalyan Banerjee

I want to extend a personal thank you to each of you who have supported The Rotary Foundation during this Centennial year. We have had a record year of giving not only to our Annual Fund, that funds your club's projects, but also to PolioPlus. I hope you will continue to advocate for End Polio and generously give, as you have this year. For until polio is completely eradicated, it is only a plane ride away.

Many people have asked me about what is next for me. Since visiting India and participating in India's National Immunization Day (NID) last January, the fight to end polio has become personal to me. Seeing that this disease, for which there is no cure, ends has become my passion. I will advocate and continue fund-raising for EndPolio. David and I are visiting clubs, sharing a 30 minute presentation on our trip to India and the NID in which we participated. If your club would like for us to visit, we are happy to present; our only ask is that your club makes a contribution to PolioPlus. 

We started the year with a goal of each of our 73 clubs achieving 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club. We ended with 53 clubs having achieved this outstanding accomplishment. Congratulations to the clubs who achieved 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club! And thank you for your generous support of our Rotary Foundation.

Our next opportunity to get together will be at Rotary University at Forsyth's Lanier Tech on Saturday, August 12. I hope you'll make plans to attend. With inspiring speakers, great food and fellowship, I promise it will be a day well spent.  Also, clubs who achieved the Presidential Citation will be recognized along with those clubs who had greatest gains in membership. With the year's final giving to The Rotary Foundation not in until today's end, we will also recognize those clubs with the greatest per capita giving. Club presidents were encouraged to keep up with their club's service hours and the club's financial impact on its community this Rotary year online at Rotary Club Central. It will be exciting to see our district's impact in hours and dollars.

I appreciate the opportunity I have had to serve this beloved district in the Centennial year of our Rotary Foundation. My life is richer as a result of this journey.  Thank you for all you have done this year in Rotary Serving Humanity. Let's continue with District Governor David Cooper, Making a Difference.

Yours in Rotary,


Kim Waters
District Governor

District 6910 Governor Message-March 2017

We have just over three months left in this Rotary year and so much has been accomplished. We have set a new record in District 6910 giving to The Rotary Foundation in celebrating the Centennial and I know that number will continue to grow as Rotarians continue expressing their desires to 'do good in the world' by giving. As of today, our clubs show increased membership of 100 members in Rotary District 6910. 

This Friday, 31 March is final day for registering with savings for the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta. Currently, we have 653 registered for the convention from our district. If you're not registered, please consider getting it done this week to avoid the walk-in registration fees. Register here. In addition to the inspiring speakers like Bill Gates, there will be informative break-out sessions. One of the best parts of the convention will be the events. You can get registered for those fun events here. Entrance to the biggest House of Friendship ever is included as part of your registration, and that will be a highlight of your convention experience.

Here are some helpful convention notes:

To Register: http://www.riconvention.org/en/atlanta/register

Last day for preregistration discount March 31 - $415.  After March 31 - $490

To Volunteer: http://www.rotaryconvention2017.org/volunteer

You must be registered to volunteer. Volunteers are need to staff events and at the airport.

To Have Fun: http://www.rotaryconvention2017.org/festival-events

Thurs., June 8, 7-10:30pm – Atlanta Braves Game – Strike Out Polio $85

Sat., June 10, 7:30 – 10am – 3K Walk/run to End Polio Now $20

Sat., June 10 6PM-11 – Blue Jeans & Blue Grass: Opening Night Celebration $50

Sat., June 10 9:30PM -10:30 – Candlelight Vigil to End Slavery and Human Trafficking $0

Sun., June 11 7 – 11PM – Gone with the Wind $20

Mon, June 12 1-4PM – Delta Flight Museum Tour $40

Mon., June 12 6:30-10PM – Evening at the College Football Hall of Fame $75 or $90

Mon., June 12 7-10PM – Evening at The World of Coke $75

Tues., June 13 1-3PM or 3-5PM – Habitat Home Build $20

Tues., June 13 7-10PM - Centennial Celebration Block Party $60

The following are sold out: Athens Night, Peace Tour, CDC Polio Tour, Host Hospitality Night

In Georgia, the three Rotary districts will be celebrating on the evening of June 9th at the Georgia Aquarium with a Million Dollar Dinner. Those donors who have given $10,000 or greater to The Rotary Foundation, either outright or in the form of a bequest, during this 2016-17 Rotary year will be receiving invitations to attend. Rotary International John Germ will be the keynote speaker, delivering a personal thank you, for your support of our Rotary Foundation. If you're interested in making a bequest gift, please either contact me, our Million Dollar Dinner Chairperson, Rich Panyik or visit The Rotary Foundation's Endowment Fund for more information.

Our 100% Paul Harris Fellow Clubs continue to grow in District 6910. Here are our outstanding clubs celebrating this achievement. Congratulations, and thank you!

Our clubs need more caring hearts, willing hands and bright minds with new ideas. Please share the gift of Rotary by inviting someone to attend your next meeting, social event or service projects. Consider who amongst your family, friends, clients, or business providers might be waiting for the invitation to attend. Consider how many of the people we know aren't Rotarians simply because they haven't been asked.

Yours in Rotary,

Kim Waters

Rotary District 6910 Governor

District 6910 Governor Message - February 2017

The month of February has just flown by, and I share with you my message for February on this last day of February in just the nick of time to call it my February message. One of the things I've enjoyed most in this journey as your District Governor is seeing all the good that our clubs are doing right here in District 6910. I have several issues of this 'Rotations' newsletter queued up within the next few weeks that will let you see firsthand how our District 6910 Rotarians have been changing lives, serving humanity. I hope you'll consider subscribing, by email, to this newsletter so that you won't miss a single story.

As you know, our Centennial celebration of The Rotary Foundation peaks in Atlanta this June when we welcome the world to Atlanta. Please take advantage of how easy it is to get to Atlanta and enjoy all this International Convention has to offer. My life was forever changed when I walked into the first Rotary International Convention I ever attended in 2011, in New Orleans, hearing Bill Gates speak to thousands of Rotarians from all over the world as to how we were 'this close' to ending polio. It let me see that I really was part of an organization that could change the world. It's not too late to get registered. I hope you will today.

Speaking of polio, the world saw 74 cases of the wild polio virus in 2015. In 2016, there were 37. To date this year in 2017, we have seen three. We could have very well seen the last case of polio. What a celebration that will be when we have rid the world of this dreaded disease. Thank you for your continued support of The Rotary Foundation, and in particular to our PolioPlus fund, where our contributions are still matched by the Gates Foundation 2 to 1. Our district has seen record giving to the PolioPlus fund of The Rotary Foundation in this 2016-17 year. I thank you for your continued generous giving to The Rotary Foundation.

One of the goals that the three Georgia governors set prior to taking office was to work to see that each of Georgia's three district's clubs achieved 100% Paul Harris Fellow Clubs in entirety. If you are not yet a Paul Harris Fellow, and you are interested in becoming one, please contact me directly and I can help. A Rotarian achieves 'Paul Harris Fellow' by donating $1000 outright to The Rotary Foundation or by receiving recognition points from another Rotarian to total 1000, combining the dollars actually given and recognition points. Our goal is to welcome the world to Atlanta, Georgia with a 100% Paul Harris Fellow state. To date, 43 of our 73 clubs have achieved 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club with several others very close. Congratulations to these clubs on this outstanding achievement!

With 122 days remaining in my term as district governor, there is still so much to do. We will celebrate our clubs' achievements at District Assembly on Saturday, May 13. Also, we will do the ceremonial change of governors that day, inducting District Governor Elect David "Coop" Cooper. I hope to see you there, if not sooner.

Yours in Rotary,

Kim Waters
District Governor
770.540.3788

District 6910 Governor Message - Jan 2017

Greetings from India where David and I just participated in India's January National Immunization Day (NID). Our two coupled Rotary Zones 33 and 34 were represented by about 40 Rotarians and partners. 

Having been polio free for just over six years, India remains diligent in the execution and planning of these NIDs and in making sure those who cross its borders from endemic countries are immunized. We wore vests, hats and pins that exclaimed , "Keep India Polio Free" and "A Dream Come True." We were honored to have the opportunity to administer those precious drops of polio vaccine to children in polio camps (booths in villages supervised by a public health worker) and then on what they referred to as "mop up day" (Monday following the official NID) walking in poor areas, going door to door administering drops to children without a purple pinky. Children who receive the drops have the left small pinky painted purple. David has chronicled a blog post of the trip, visit the blog site for more on the trip: RotaryZones33-34PolioWarriors. 

These children, presumably brothers, arrived in the back of a rickshaw for their immunizations.

When David said at one point, "It is a trip like this that makes you a Rotarian." I understood. If you get the opportunity to take part in an NID, I hope you'll consider it. The trip's crescendo may have been in hearing news from home that our Arch Klumph Society gift, received recently on World Polio Day, was designated as a PolioPlus gift, meaning the $250,000 gift becomes $750,000 with the Gates match. 

With polio remaining endemic in only three countries and continued support from Rotarians like those in our own District 6910, I'm confident we shall see an end to this disease for which there is no cure, in the near future.  

Area Rotary clubs sponsored each booth or 'camp' where a public health worker oversees the administration of drops. We were greeted with these garlands when arriving at this one.

We recently lost Marla Panyik, a beloved Rotarian who always wore a beautiful smile. In honor of Marla, a retired educator and wife of Past District Governor Rich Panyik, The Rotary Club of Loganville is establishing a scholarship in Marla Panyik's name at Gwinnett Tech.The club is a 501(c)3 organization. Checks can be made to the Rotary Club of Loganville, designated for Marla Panyik Scholarship Fund, and mailed to P.O Box 2267, Loganville GA 30052. The club has started the fund with over $6,000 in the fund from club members.

We are expecting record numbers of Rotarians from around the world  in June when we celebrate 100 years of The Rotary Foundation. If you haven't registered yet, there's still time. Register here to attend. You'll get an opportunity to take part in the largest birthday party ever and volunteer with your club or individually. There will be informative breakout sessions and inspiring general sessions led by world class speakers. 

We are well on our way to achieving 100% Paul Harris Fellow Clubs. I just received update from Past District Governor/District Foundation Chair that we now have have 40 clubs certified 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club with several others very close.  Look for the complete list in my next monthly message. Thank you for all you have done in achieving this goal. 

Our District 6910 has shown banner membership growth this year, the top growing district in our Zone 34. I want to thank Pepper Pettit and Scott Yochum for their outstanding leadership as District Membership Chairs. Oconee County leads the district in membership growth as of now with 29% growth since the beginning of this Rotary year. Congratulations, Rotary Club of Oconee County! Have you sponsored a new Rotarian yet this year? The invitation to Rotary is a gift, and I hope you'll extend at least one this Rotary year.

Finally, I have never known of a time when we were in such need of peace. Our district will be recognized as a Peace Building District beginning this year. My identified successors have agreed to continue this designation. A Peace Building District helps fund a Peace Fellow annually. Your club can be a Peace Building Club by promoting Peace-Building and understand In your community. For more information, visit and join the Rotarian Action Group for Peace. 

Peace be with you,

Kim Waters

District Governor

770.540.3788

Rotary District 6910 Governor Message - Dec 2016

Can you believe we are halfway through the Rotary year? It is simply amazing to consider all the good that the clubs in District 6910 have accomplished so far this year. Having visited now with every club in the district, I can affirm that lives and communities are being changed by Rotarians throughout the 59 counties which our district encompasses. 

My fellow District Governor, Fred Heitman, serves District 6780 in Tennessee. That district includes the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area that suffered terribly during the tragic wild fires. District Governor Fred has been posting daily updates on their district website. The five area Rotary clubs have manned and staffed a support center serving as many as 3000 people daily. The need is still great for dollars and volunteer hours. If you are interested in helping, monetarily or otherwise, please visit Rotary District 6780 for a daily update as to their most critical needs. Having celebrated husband David's birthday in Gatlinburg the weekend after Thanksgiving, we left just hours prior to Gatlinburg's evacuation, not dreaming of the devastation that was about to take place. We love the Great Smoky Mountains and her people, and hope to get up there during the holiday season to volunteer at the Boyd's Bear site.

This was taken as we left Gatlinburg around 11 am the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend.

Here in District 6910, we currently have 631 Rotarians registered for  Atlanta's Rotary International Convention with a total of over 33,000 already registered from around the world. This convention will offer not only entertaining events, but also very informative breakout sessions, not to mention riveting world class speakers during the general sessions. You don't want to miss it. We are anticipating a need for approximately 1500 volunteers. If you're not yet registered, I hope you will register soon and also sign up as a volunteer, as communications to volunteers will begin early 2017. Volunteers can serve as little as a four hour shift and will receive a commemorative hat and vest with the Atlanta convention logo.  

I would be remiss if I didn't remind you of our District 6910 goal to reach 100 Paul Harris Society members this Rotary year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Our Rotary Foundation. To make your gift to The Rotary Foundation in this calendar year, please visit Rotary.  It is super easy with a credit card, and it will make you feel good, doing good in the world (and in your own community with a gift to The Annual Fund).

Finally, I am excited to share Rotary's recent announcement that husband David Stovall was recently selected as one of eight director-nominees who will be elected at the 2017 Rotary International Convention in Atlanta. How ironic that just as my year of service as district governor culminates in Atlanta, David's journey of serving as a Rotary International Director during 2018-2020 will be beginning. We are very grateful and honored to have this opportunity.

David and I wish for you and your family a happy and safe holiday season and a Happy New Year. 

Yours in Rotary,

Kim Waters
District Governor