Dear Co-Members,

The month of May is dedicated to the new generations, which is the fifth avenue of action in Rotary and which includes Interact, Rotaract,Youth Exchange and RYLA, all important Rotarian activities. Believing in the new generations is a commitmentthat is to the advantage of Clubs. Creating ties and contacts with the young is useful for the nurturing of future Rotarian members and it allows for a regeneration which only the young can offer. But the young have so many commitments and therefore if Rotary wishes to attract them it must be as agile, as they expect it to be, in presenting its aims with regards to service. This is the only way to make sure that Rotary acquires new energy to guarantee continuity while undergoing change as its century-old history stands to prove.

A few hours ago the Rotarian Jubilee has come to an end in the presence of Int. Pres. Ravindran and other senior Rotarian leaders and in the presence of a very numerous congregation of Italian and foreign members coming from almost 80 different nations. It is quite remarkable how an association that is non-enominational, such as Rotary is, has been able to intercept in Pope Francis’s Christian-Catholic message, that fil rouge that links today’s Rotary to the Church of Pope Francis, who most appropriately is an honorary member in Buenos Aires. We too, within limits, have had an ecumenical event in the Rotarian Golf Fellowship held in the province of Ragusa and to which nearly 200 European Rotarians participated for a healthy competition to be repeated in Belgium next year.

 

We now look forward to the mid-May Lipari Assembly called by IDG Nunzio Scibilia, thence to RI. Convention in Seoul at which our District can boast the largest number of participants (50) thanks to the efforts of Salvo Sarpietro and Brunella Bertolino who, in their respective roles, have worked hard towards this goal.

In the meantime, we have been told by R.I. that the Rotarian personality representing Pres.Ravindran at our Congress 17-19 June,inViagrande Catania,will be Peter S. Davey, President of Rotary Great Britain/Ireland (an institution dating back to 1924 which is autonomous from R.I. but is closely connected). Peter S. Davey is PDG District 1100 and is a member of the Welsh club of Monmouth of which his wife Sandra is also a member and incoming President. In view of the high standard of these guests, the District is to offer its possible best especially regarding attendance for which reason I exhort you to book early so as to guarantee your stay at the very same site where the Congress will be held.

In the recent months there have been at least four events organised by Rotary on various important themes of poignant topicality with excellent speakers but which have been poorly attended. This is not a new matter and can probably be attributed to the choice of an outdated communication mode which has been superseded by modern communication systems which are faster and more agile. We ought to concentrate this sort of event to target a particular attendance on specific themes such as health prevention, food education, training for work and similar themes for which the schools are certainly the ideal site. It is a shame, otherwise, to waste energy and economic resources to attain modest results which, barring the presence of the usual heroic attendees, would be a failure.

I send Rotarian greetings to all and look forward to meeting you at Viagrande, Catania for the 38th District Congress.

Yours in Rotary

Francesco Milazzo