PRESIDENT'S TIMEBy Pastor Mar Reyes
| President’s Message No. 19 |
| TURNING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES |
Many Tonight’s 17th Regular Meeting will be different, and a special one, in a sense that DGE Ambo Gancayco will be visiting the club. I was told that he will be handing over the formal appointment of RC SFDM as the host club for PETS next year, (I presume sometime March) in Fontana, Clark, Pampanga. We know that pre-PETS have started and hopefully, PE John Simon will enjoy and learn from it as much as we did during our time.
The hosting of the PETS is an exciting challenge for the club. Our officers and new members will see how the incoming presidents are prepared for their term and we, even the host club, will learn so much about Rotary from very good resource persons and speakers.
These are some of the challenges which we should turn into opportunities. Not only will we learn from the experience, but also leadership skills and knowledge required in district events will be honed. The club must prepare our members and officers for leadership beyond club level.
The PETS will be a defining factor in the success of DGE Ambo Gancayco’s term. It is essentially the “gateway” to how Rotary will be in D-3780 during RY 2010-2011. The PEs must be prepared, inspired and motivated - ready to go! They must be jelled into a cohesive team, focused on the same goals set by the DGE Ambo. It will also spell the success of PE John’s term and dictate the activities of our own club. So we have as much stake here as the entire District. I call upon the club and its past presidents, current and former District officers to help. We will form a main host committee and sub-committees to handle the different tasks ahead.
Among other District affairs, we will also host the 2010 Rotabowl, starting January 17 next year and the District Awards on May 29, 2010.
I am prompted to remind payment of our pledges to the TRF annual fund raising; the Paul Harris Fellows and Sustaining members for the rest of our officers and members of the club. I also implore those who have not paid or updated their dues yet, to please pay now as the deadline for the 2nd semester for SAR dues is fast approaching.
There are important projects that we need to implement before the year ends - the Pros Crescini Oratorical Memorial Cup, the Filipino on Time Project and our Water and Sanitation projects. Next year, we will start focusing on the PETS and District Awards. Of course, we will still do our scheduled MSUs, the Pete Morales Memorial Golf Cup, the Charter Anniversary and Family Day.
I ask everyone to tune in to DZXL, 558AM, every Saturday, 8pm to 9pm, its Doc Jim Sanchez’s radio program “Beauty na with Doc Jim.” It has a 10-minute segment featuring the RC SFDM and its projects. Last Saturday, I was the live guest for the rotary segment. I had the privilege of telling the public about Rotary’s medical missions, particularly our “expanded” MSUs, the most recent one in Angono, Rizal, and the Pitogo, Quezon on November 21-22, 2009. The main topics for that day were nose lift and heart attacks, which I found very interesting and informative. It is another Public Image project of the club. Of course, lets not forget to commend Rtn. Vic Caluag, whose Commuter Express, a daily newspaper given free to MRT/LRT riders, features every Tuesdays and Thursdays, Rotary’s 4-Way test with RC SFDM as the sponsoring club.
Our club program tonight will feature as Guest Speaker, a TV Director, Patricia Perez whose creative ideas brought about the daily show, “Daisy Siete”, a consistent top-rater in GMA 7, up to now, and which she directed from infancy until early last year. From her experience, we will learn the interesting world of TV and movie productions, from the point of view of a Director. We recall that RC SFDM had the first TV program about Rotary, the “Rotary Hour,” and it earned an RI award. Since Doc Jim regularly appears on TV, we might open avenues for more TV exposures of RC SFDM.
The future of Rotary is in your hands!
