Rotarians plan ahead for various projects, address emergency concerns, present and future, and plan especially for annual changes in leadership.
The annual Rotary year starts on July 1 and ends on June 30 of each calendar year. Each Rotary Club is run by elected officers such as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer along with a Board of Directors. These elected officials are established in a ballot of all Rotary Club members, normally in December of each year.
The elected officers plan their year and go through formal training with a weekend of training for incoming Presidents and Vice Presidents in February at the DFW Airport complex for our Region which consists of the States of Texas and Oklahoma. Those Officers and Board Members continue their education with a District Conference normally in April. Just as with any other Democracy, a normal change of governance occurs in an orderly manner in our local Rotary Clubs. The same scenario happens on an international basis with the Rotary International organization.
Rotary Clubs along the south Texas coast are preparing for the coming of Hurricane Beryl. As of the time this article is being written, Hurricane Beryl is approaching the Yucatan Peninsula. Emergency plans are being formulated with local emergency government councils to assist in a variety of ways. Emergency shelters are available via local emergency shelters manned by the American Red Cross along with volunteers from Rotary Clubs. Rotarians will also help with emergency food distribution via the Montgomery County Food Bank. Rotarians such as myself who have engineering expertise will assist in planning measures to minimize storm damage. Rotarians from other parts of the country are looking at arriving after the storm has passed to help muck out homes and businesses impacted by the storm. Those Rotarians will be staying at homes of other Rotarians in the spirit of serving.
Rotary Clubs in the USA have formed a nonprofit organization called Disaster Aid USA. Rotarians come from all over the United States to help in disaster relief whether it be from Hurricane Harvey in Southeast Texas to the Maui Fires in Hawaii to the recent Texas Panhandles fires. Currently, Rotarians from across the country have traveled to Montgomery County to assist in flood relief, assisting home owners of flood homes to remove the flood-damaged interiors along with belongings so that these homes can be aired out to avoid molds from developing in these home. Rotarians in our community are housing these volunteers.
These volunteers are working 10-12 hour days to help our community recover from the flooding in River Plantation and other flooded residences along the San Jacinto River. These Rotarians donate their time to help those with dire needs. As the flooding recedes, more Rotarians will be there to help. You can help by volunteering to house these out-of-state Rotarians in your home near the affected areas. If you can help, please contact Patrick Leslie in Pearland, Texas at Patrick.Rotary1@gmail.com or go online at www.DisasterAidUSA.org.Â
The Rotary Club of Conroe meets at noon Tuesdays at Honor Cafe at 103 N. Thompson Street.Â
To find out more about Rotary, contact Ron Saikowski at rsaikowski@comcast.net.
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