Rotary District 5650 Rotarians: This is my first newsletter of the new Rotary year. First, let me tell you what an honor and a privilege it is to be your 2025-26 District Governor. We have an exciting year ahead of us and I know we will all accomplish important things together serving our communities and the world as we “Unite For Good.”
Before I give you my message for July, I would like to thank PDG Tom Kerfoot, Omaha Suburban Rotary Club, for his great leadership over the past 2024-25 year in serving our Rotary District. Thank you, Tom!!
Tom, along with the rest of our District Leadership Team, did an excellent job, always thinking of others and how to best serve our Rotary Clubs. We are fortunate as Tom will continue to serve next year as Foundation Chair. Mick McKinley, PDG, Council Bluffs Noon Rotary Club, is stepping down after serving in this role for many years. A big thank you to Mick for his many years of dedicated service. Please thank him when you see him.
Hopefully, that won’t be long, as he and his bandmates from “Paul Harris and his Fellows” will be headlining at our Fall Rotary District Conference, October 17-18th, 2025 at the Scott Conference Center, Aksarben Village, Omaha on Friday evening, October 17th, 2025, for “Rotary Got Talent”.
I am writing this message to you having just returned from the Rotary International Convention in Calgary, Alberta, Canada June 21-25th, 2025. Including Rotarians and their family members, we had twenty-seven people in attendance from our Rotary District 5650. Thank you to everyone that attended. 15,000 Rotarians and their families from around the world attended.
The RI Convention was held at the Calgary Stampede Grounds & BMO Center where everyone did their best to make us feel welcome. The standard headgear was the Calgary white cowboy hat, and we all got into the spirit. There was even a Rotary Ferris wheel that you could ride. Outstanding speakers, breakouts, food, rodeo and music entertainment, tourism sites and networking were all part of the experience.
We heard from outgoing Rotary International President, Stephanie Urchick and incoming Rotary International President, Francesco Arezzo. I look forward to sharing his message of “Unite For Good” with all of you at my upcoming Rotary Club meetings over the next few months.
Rotary is not new to the idea of “Unite For Good.”
One of the highlights for me in going to the Rotary International Convention in Calgary this year was the visit I made to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Waterton, Alberta, Canada on one of the pre-convention tours. “The meeting to establish the park took place on July 4th, 1931, at the Prince of Wales Hotel, when Cardston Rotarians convened a goodwill meeting between the Rotary Clubs of Alberta, Montana, and Saskatchewan. There the Rotary Clubs set in motion negotiations to have Waterton Park and Glacier National Park declared a permanent International Peace Park. The two parks were joined into the International Peace Park in 1932 when Congress passed a bill on May 2nd, and Parliament following suit on May 24th. A U.S. Presidential Proclamation finalized the union on June 30th, 1932.” www.watertonglacierpeacepark.orgWhile I was in Waterton, I had the opportunity to take a boat on the lake and cross the international border line, marked by two standing markers on both shorelines. We had the opportunity of meeting with the US Parks Superintendent and signed a visitor’s registry. On our return to Waterton, I had the honor to be part of the dedication of a Rotary Peace Garden and Peace Pole. It was a very moving experience. One of the Rotarians in our group was from the Rotary Club of Kharkiv, Ukraine. She said that her dream was that one day they would have such a Rotary International Peace Garden/Park in her city of Kharkiv.
What a great gesture from our Rotary Clubs to our communities in our Rotary District if every community could have a Rotary Peace Garden.
One more thing to think about. When Paul & Jean Harris used to host visiting Rotarians and dignitaries at their house in Chicago, they often took walks in their garden. Many times, the guests brought flowers and trees to plant in their garden. They called it “The Garden of Goodwill.”
Would you join me this first summer of month of July to dedicate a portion of your garden to the idea of “The Garden of Goodwill.” Think how you and your Rotary Club could share your “Garden of Goodwill” with your neighbors, friends, and community.
Enjoy this month of July. Remember to invite a guest to your Rotary Club meeting. Grow your membership. One meeting could change their life and yours as well. Focus on your Rotary Club experience for your members and guests. Take care of your family, friends, and community and I look forward to speaking/meeting with you at your Rotary Club meetings.
July is Rotary’s Maternal and Child Health Month
Robert Rapp
District Governor 2025-26
Rotary District 5650
Omaha Morning Rotary Club
(308) 325-1704
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