This year at Mid-South PETS there were a total of 331 President Elects representing close to 15,000 members. Participants were from Districts in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
Among the distinguished Speakers were Ron Burton, Rotary International President Elect; Bill Boyd, 2006-2007 President of Rotary International, and John Germ, Trustee of The Rotary Foundation.
In addition to the President Elect Training and Fellowship with Fellow Rotarians, there were also several inspiring speeches from our Leadership about Rotary and specifically about the campaign to eradicate Polio. As outlined by John Germ, the goal is have the last reported case of Polio by 2015 and to be certified Polio-Free by 2018.
The Theme for 2013-2014 is “Engage Rotary, Change Lives”. RI President Elect Ron Burton talked about a focus on membership growth in this coming Rotary year and that he would like to also see a growth in the number of ladies in Rotary. He also challenged us to engage all of our members and to seek to involve each one them in projects as well as in contributing toward the eradication of Polio. In a call to action to raise funds for this last push, he has been encouraging all of his Governor’s Elect to join the “First Class” of Governors where 100% of them contribute to The Rotary Foundation. In his visits, he has raised over $1MM for the cause with this personal appeal.
John Salyers was also in attendance as District Governor Nominee… and he did an excellent job bar tending the Hospitality Room!
