A Message from the Club President

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Welcome to the Rotary Club of Rochester, NH, established May 12, 1960. It is my honor to serve as President of this fine club for the 2009-2010 Rotary year.

Our theme this year is “The Future of Rotary is In Your Hands.” In sharing the philosophy of Rotary International’s President, John Kenny, I will strive to help our club grow, not only in the number of members, but also in strength and unity. It was Paul Harris’ idea to create a place where people of good character, intelligence, and morals could enjoy each other’s fellowship and friendship when he began the first Rotary Club over 100 years ago. Each Rotarian in our club who shares the same core values makes the Rochester Rotary organization that much stronger and much more attractive for others to join. In reading the words from Mr. Kenny, we are reminded that we, individually, are all “people with the capacity to do great deeds, the sense to do them wisely, and the strength of character to do them honestly and well.” There is no limit to what we can achieve when we come together, sharing ideas and philosophies, good times and hard work.

This year we have the honor of celebrating 50 years as a club in Rochester. By continuing to welcome new members into our club who have the capacity to do great deeds, the sense to do them wisely, and the strength of character to do them honestly and well, we will guarantee a successful club 50 years from now. It is up to each of us, as current Rotarians, to ensure our club keeps going strong by inviting a friend, colleague, or client to a meeting and, if the match is a good one, propose that individual for membership. The future of the Rochester Rotary Club is in our hands.

We service our local community by raising funds and distributing 100% of the monies raised to various projects, including scholarships for high school seniors. This past year a total of $6,000 was awarded in scholarships. We offer fingerprinting and supply ID kits to all first graders in the city. We also distribute books to these first graders in June, for their summer reading program. This year we bought and dispensed over 391 books. Every year in September, we also supply all third graders in the city with a new dictionary.

Rotarians staff the Homeless Shelter from 6AM to 8:30AM four days/week, which amounts to 280 man hours donated every season. We also assist in stocking their food pantry for their opening at the beginning of October. We sponsor youth activities, do traffic control for the holiday parade, and conduct an Elderly Light Tour for seniors to view holiday decorations. We donate to a multitude of needy projects in the community, our Back to School Clothing Give-Away, Project Pride, Little League, Soccer, and Football team sponsorships. We also support the Seacoast Hospice, Frisbie Hospital, Food Pantry, Share Fund, and much more.

Internationally, we support an Eyecare Mission to Nicaragua. We collect used medical equipment and furniture from Frisbie Hospital, which is an ongoing project. This equipment is donated to the Rivas Hospital in Nicaragua. We also support Rotaplast, which is a program that corrects cleft lips and pallets.

The worldwide eradication of polio is a huge undertaking that Rotary has been committed to for many years, and hopes to complete this goal in future years. The Gates Foundation donated 100 million dollars to Rotary International in 2008, and has added to that by donating $225 million in 2009. These donations are part of a matching grant program to finally eradicate polio worldwide.

In the next 3 years, (and possibly 3 more with their new donation), every Rotary Club in the world is being asked to raise $1,000 a year to match the Gates grant, that is 33,000 clubs at $1,000 for 3 years. Today there are only 4 countries in the world that still have polio: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

Please feel free to join us in fellowship at our weekly meetings, and get to know us as an organization, and what we can accomplish by pooling our time, talents, and assets. The Rochester Rotary Club meets every Monday at 12:15 at the Rochester Country Club. Feel free to email or call and we will welcome you as a guest at any time.

Yours in Rotary,

Howard Seckendorf

President 2009-2010

“The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands”