The Rotary Club of New York

www.NYRotary.org                                    www.NewYorkCityRotary.org                     

 

 

 

 

February 15, 2004

 

 

 

 

Fellow Rotarians,

 

Our next meeting on February 17th will be Fellowship Day with each of us as speakers. We can speak to each other about ourselves, our businesses, our ideas and our committees. We can also speak to a new member or bring a guest to experience our fellowship. It is a perfect opportunity for chair people to meet with their committees and to report committee progress at the microphone. You can read more about our next Fellowship Day in the latest Bulletin on our website at www.nyrotary.org/bulletin2004/bulletin_02-17-2004.pdf (click on the link).

 

New York Rotary Director Lou DiPaolo has written a very interesting Reporter of the Week. Mort Eydenberg, Chair of the New York Rotary Foundation, presented a $100,000 check at our last meeting to the New York University Downtown Hospital. The check was in honor of the work done by the hospital during the 9/11 tragedy. Dr. Bonvino, Senior Vice President of NYU Downtown Hospital, was there to receive the check. He spoke with deep gratitude and of commitment to the hospital’s mission to always be available for unseen emergencies. The check, from our 9/11 Disaster Fund, will be used to enlarge and equip the hospital’s emergency response areas. You can read Lou’s complete report with pictures in the Bulletin. You can also read about it on the New York Rotary website at www.NYRotary.org.

 

The Bulletin asks New York Rotary Members, who are interested in placing ads for their company in our next Roster to contact the office as soon as possible. You can get a quarter page for only $50, a half page for $100 and a full page for $200. The deadline for placing ads is February 17th.

 

The Board of Directors has approved Voy Sobon, President/Owner of Mystic Lizard Ent., LLC. Welcome to our legendary Rotary Club! Voy’s classification is Artist-Multi-Media and his sponsors are David Del Monte and Bernhard Fabricius. You can read more about Voy Sobon in the latest Bulletin.

 

The New York Rotary newsletter is read by Rotarians around the world. One of those Rotarians is the President of Rotary International Jonathan Majiyagbe. I recently received the following message from RI President Jonathan:

Dear Matts,

 

It is always a delight to read your clubs Newsletter which is very rich in the information it provides.

 

Certainly whichever of your members who were not opportuned to attend meetings can rely on you to fill the gaps and those who attend can suitably be reminded of the clubs activities. What a splendid way to Lend a Hand! Those outside the club will also find inspiration from being members of the family of Rotary. Please keep up the good work.

 

Kind regards,

Jonathan B. Majiyagbe

 

Thank you Jonathan for your very kind message! I believe that no matter what titles and positions we have in Rotary, we are first and foremost Fellow Rotarians. Last time when I met RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe was during Rotary’s United Nations Day on October 4th, 2003. You can read Jonathan’s speech at this event on our website at www.nyrotary.org/united_nations/un_day_2004.html.

 

Since my father passed away last year, I spend two weeks every three months in Sweden to help my mother. She will be 85 years this year and I am the only child. I am now in Sweden again until February 26th. This also gives me the opportunity to visit Swedish Rotary Clubs.

 

Sweden is a very interesting Rotary Country: 

 

·        They have more Rotarians per capita than any other country in the world.

·        Swedish Rotarian Carl Wilhelm Stenhammar will become Rotary International President for 2005-2006.

·        Sweden will host the 2006 Rotary International Convention together with Denmark.

 

I don’t know what their secret is, but Swedish Rotarians have been doing it right.

 

Last Friday, I visited the Rotary Club of Stockholm Strand. It was Governor’s Day and I had the pleasure of meeting District 2350 Governor Björn Lindvall. Björn presented, during his speech, a list about the advantages of being a Rotarian. I have translated Björn’s list from Swedish:

 

Rotary gives you possibilities

 

to         have new friends (at home and all over the world)

to         widen your know-how in the ”world’s biggest university” (Rotary offers 6,000 different educational speeches every day Rotary Clubs around the world)

to         develop your professional network

to         become part of an international network that shares your interests

to         develop your leadership skills

to         have contacts and receive help when you travel (there are 31,000 Rotary Clubs around the world with 1.3 million Fellow Rotarians)

to         make an active contribution to help the less fortunate in our society

to         give your children or grand children the opportunity to see the world (through Rotary’s Youth Exchange Programs)

to         meet a lot of nice people and have fun (through Rotary fellowship and camaraderie)!

 

Thank you Björn! I think that your list can be helpful when we enroll new Rotarians. We often have an instinctive passion about being Rotarians, but it is helpful to see the benefits specifically defined.

 

Last year, our Rotary District 7230 had a great Group Study Exchange Program with Rotary District 9250 in South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Mozambique. The fellowship that we developed with the Rotarians in District 9250 has since continued. I just received the following message from Carl Berentsen at the Rotary Club of Gaborone in Botswana:

 

Fellow Rotarian Matts, (Chairman of Internet Communication Division, The Rotary Club of NY and Chairman of Group Studies Exchange,),

  

On behalf of Gaborone Rotary Club, (District 9250), and more particular on behalf of  our Club's International Committee and its Chairman: Rotarian Edward Fashole-Luke II, I thank you for the very informative e-mail of Feb 9th, in which you outline several activities, including the Gift of Life Project your Club is actively pursuing.

 

Also being a true "Scadihoovian" myself, it is truly appreciated to see that our "clan” through Rotary can span the world in Service above Self.

 

Two of our Club's priority projects are related to children and HIV/AIDS. We have for years supported a day care center for handicapped children who are located outside our Capital: Gaborone. We are also collecting funds to build an orphanage center in our area, a project which requires time, funding and a lot of technical and practical efforts.

 

Through the US Ambassador to Botswana, H.E. Ambassador J Huggins, who also is a member of our club, we have been in contact with his Rotary Club in Washington DC, which in turn has confirmed their willingness to support a financial drive and is willing to match or results.

 

What we have agreed to is to participate in an auction in Washington DC on April 17th, where we will contribute with Magnum Bottle of Shiraz Red wine from South Africa, and signed by HE Nelson Mandela.

 

In this regard, 3-4 of our Rotarians (including the Committee President Edward) will go to New York City and Washington DC in April. The plans are to arrive in New York on or around April 14.

 

As such, we would very much appreciate to take the opportunity to visit with your Club around April 15 or 16.

 

If this is feasible, please let us know (by e mail to Luke@info.bw), and we will ensure that our travel plans and itinerary will  include meeting with your prestige club.

 

YIR

 

Carl Berentsen

 

Thank you Carl for your message! We would love for you to visit our Rotary Club. We meet every Tuesday 12:00 pm at the Princeton Club, which is on 15 West 43rd Street. The closest Tuesdays would be either April 13th or April 20th.

 

Don't forget to reserve your table for our next meeting. You can reserve via e-mail to our office at ny.rotary@verizon.net, or call Andreas or Ana at 212-633-1311. You can also fax in the RSVP form, which you can download at www.nyrotary.org/bulletin2004/rsvp_02-17-2004.pdf. Our fax number is 212-633-1954. At our next meeting, the culinary staff at the Princeton Club will serve us a Fellowship Day-Buffet.

 

I recommend that you visit our New York Rotary website every week at www.NYRotary.org or www.NewYorkCityRotary.org. 

 

Rotary is about having fun

and do good things!

 

 

Matts Ingemanson

Chairman

Internet Communications Division

The Rotary Club of New York

www.NYRotary.org

www.NewYorkCityRotary.org

 

Chairman

Group Study Exchange

Rotary District 7230

www.nyrotary.org/GSE7230

 

Senior Vice President, "History Ambassador"

& Depts. General Manager

Rotary's Global History Fellowship

www.RotaryHistoryFellowship.org

 

 

The power of the Internet puts the brains of millions of people together. It also puts 1.2 million Rotarians together. It does not matter where we are and when we are available. The Internet makes it possible for Rotarians around the world to instantly participate.

 

This newsletter has also been posted on our website at www.NYRotary.org or www.NewYorkCityRotary.org.

 

I want to thank our Executive Director Andreas Runggatscher and his Executive Assistant Ana Rivas for working so hard every week creating and mailing the Weekly Bulletin. In addition to mailing it out to our members, they also send me the electronic Bulletin so I can upload it on our website. They have also been working hard with the administration of the World Trade Center - Disaster Relief Fund.

 

In order to read the PDF file of the Bulletin-on-the-Web, you need Acrobat Reader Version 5.0 or later. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download Acrobat Reader 6.0 for free from the web at:

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

 

 

You can find the following interesting websites at:

 

1.      New York Rotary Club at www.NYRotary.org and www.NewYorkCityRotary.org/.

 

2.      Rotary’s Global History Fellowship at www.RotaryHistoryFellowship.org

 

3.      Rotary District 7230 at www.rotarydistrict7230.org

 

  1. District 7230 Group Study Exchange Project at www.NewYorkCityRotary.org/GSE7230/

 

5.      Rotary Youth Leadership Awards at www.rotaryryla.com

 

  1. Rotary Radio every Tuesday 5-6 PM EST or 2-3 PM PST at http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductList.asp?SearchFor=Rotary+Radio&x=36&y=6

 

  1. Matts Ingemanson, Helen Reisler and Jim Thompson from the New York Rotary Club were interviewed on Rotary Radio Tuesday July 9, 2002. http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=329

 

You need Windows Media Player to listen to Rotary Radio. Windows Media Player is included with Windows Millennium and Windows XP. If you use Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can download Windows Media Player for free from Microsoft.

 

Click here to download Windows Media Player