Rotary International Theme 2024-2025	THE ROWEL Rotary Club of Durham		Rotary International President: Gordon McInally Rotary District 5160 Governor: Clair Roberts Durham Rotary President: Peggi Whitman _____________ Editor: Phil Price Publisher:  Jen Liu
	May 13, 2025	Harvest Festival  2025 will be held on September 21, 2025

The Meeting Opening The May 13th Rotary Club of Durham 80th anniversary celebration dinner was call to order by Peggi who recited the 4 way test after Tom led us in the flag salute. Larry led us in a song, and Rev. Jim gave our invocation. The event was held in the Knowles' backyard.

Tonight's Meeting

Larry Bradley introduced our attendees starting with Rotarians, and then guests: Seteven Heithecker's wife - Karen, Imogen's husband - Steven, Thom Knowles' wife Sara, Mike Crump's wife - Mary, Norm Larsen, Mary Sakuma, Steve & Keri Greenwood, John Bohannon's wife - Stephanie, Rev. Patterson's wife - Nancy, Rick & Rian Farley.

A recap of the first Rotary Blub of Durham's meeting date and meal was given before dinner was served.

Dinner tonight was smoked tri tip and rice made by our gracious host, Tom & Sara Knowles.  Fruit and green salad from Betty Mae's and a variety of cakes from Upper Crust Bakery.

Event was 'adjourned' at 7:40 PM.

Below are photos taken at the Celebration Party:

Great Venue

Well Lubricated Guests

Great Food & The Birthday Cake

Participant Introduction

Dessert Prepatation

Club Bell in The Pool

Rescued Bell & An Elated President

  n

Our Next Meeting

Our next meeting, on May 27^th,  will be at the Patrick Ranch.  Steve Heithecker will lead us on a tour of the Master Gardner’s Demonstration Gardens at the Patrick Ranch

Membership

Bring guests who you think you can interest in becoming a member.  Your dinner and your guest’s dinner will be paid for by the Club.  Also, bring a guest to one of our occasional social gatherings.

District 5160 Governor, Dan Geraldi is asking each club member to bring at least one guest to a meeting this year.

Go to the following Rotary International web site for information on membership development:  https://my.rotary.org/en/learning-reference/learn-topic/membership .  From this website there is access to membership development and other related information.

The Rotary Foundation Donations

You can make a difference in this world by helping people in need. Your gift can do some great things, from supplying filters that clean people’s drinking water to empowering local entrepreneurs to grow through business development training.

The Rotary Foundation will use your gift to fund the life-changing work of Rotary members who provide sustainable solutions to their communities’ most pressing needs. But we need help from people like you who will take action and give the gift of Rotary to make these projects possible.

When every Rotarian gives every year, no challenge is too great for us to make a difference. The minimum gift to The Rotary Foundation is $25.00.   An annual $100.00 gift is a sustaining member.  Once your donations accumulate to $1,000 you become a Paul Harris Fellow.

If you have any questions, ask Steve Heithecker.

It is possible to learn more about The Rotary Foundation on the Rotary web site. 

Your gift can be made online or by sending Jessica Thorpe a check made out to The Rotary Foundation to Durham Rotary, P.O. Box 383, Durham, California 95958.

To: All Rotarians in District 5160

It's time to thank this year's Rotary Presidents and Leaders and Welcome their successors.  Please join us as our District Family comes together on Saturday, July 12, 2025, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM, for our annual Awards and Installation as District 5160.  The event will be held in Chico, at the beautiful Lakeside Pavilion, 2565 California Park Drive, Chico.  This event will celebrate the club's successes for 2024-2025 and ring in the new Rotary year through the installation of next year’s presidents.  Registration is now open. Please use this personal link to register for this event.
 
Register NOW for the District Awards and Installation Event. Do not forward this is personalizedjust for you.

Saturday, July 12, 2025
Lakeside Pavilion, 2565 California Park Drive, Chico, CA 95928
$50 per person
5:30PM-8:30PM
(5:30-6:15PM No Host Cocktails and Social Hour)

For questions please contact Awards and Installation Chair Rene Matsumoto at crmmats@gmail.com.

Thank you,
Dan Geraldi
District Governor 5160
2024-2025
Joy Alaidarous
District Governor 5160
2025-2026
____________________________ri

{Note that the following may not be the complete article.  See the complete article on Rotary International’s web page}.

Rotary’s legislative body meets every three years to vote on proposals to move the organization forward

By Arnold R. Grahl

Representatives from Rotary districts around the world gathered for the 2025 Council on Legislation, voting after much debate to approve a dues increase and also deciding to allow clubs to be chartered with fewer members.

The Council, held 13-17 April in Chicago, Illinois, USA, is where Rotary members meet every three years to discuss and vote on proposals to move the organization forward.

By far the most-debated items this session were the dues increase, designed tokeep up with rising costs, and a proposal to make annual district conferences optional.

Rotary International President Stephanie A. Urchick set the tone for the Council onthe opening day, stressing the cross-cultural and cooperative nature of Rotary.

“This Council represents the heart of Rotary’s democratic process and the best of ou rinternational spirit,” Urchick said to about 480 representatives and the Council observers. “The gathering is one of Rotary’s most powerful expressions of multiculturalism. Here, voices from every corner of the globe come together – not to compete, but to collaborate.”

Representatives approved a US$3.50 increase in the dues that every Rotary member pays to Rotary International, which means that dues will increase from US$82 for 2025-26 to US$85.50 for 2026-27. The dues would increase by another US$3.75 in each of the following two years.

A five-year financial forecast, presented to representatives at the beginning of  each Council, projected that without any increase, RI would have a US$42 million deficit by 2029-30. The organization’s policies require it to have abalanced budget.

“Dues are the primary funding source for everything we do,” Trichur Narayan “Raju”Subramanian, a member of the RI Board of Directors, told the Council. “It provides essential services to your clubs, members, and districts. As inflation continues to drive costs up, we must make sure dues keep pace.”

“The world needs Rotary more than ever,” Subramanian concluded. “It’s in your hands to protect the future of our organization.”

Supporters of the dues increase also insisted that RI has and will continue to cut costs as the organization finds new ways to be efficient. The dues increase, which amounts to about 4% each year, is below the 2024 global rate of inflation.

But opponents said that dues increases discourage membership, which itself is the lifeblood of Rotary. Several also argued that the information RI has provided to representatives has not been detailed enough and said they want greatertransparency.

“For the past 10 years, membership has been decreasing,” said Shobee Tone,representing District 2650 (Japan), who noted that a loss of members resulting from dues increases hurts smaller clubs the most. He said RI needs better efficiency, with fewer people on staff.

The dues increase prevailed after 45 minutes of debate and a failed attempt to postpone the decision for up to three months.

The Council also approved a measure that will allow clubs to be chartered with as few as 15 members, instead of 20. Supporters said the change will remove barriers to starting new clubs and help Rotary grow and expand its reach by trying innovative club models.

Ken Schuppert, the Council chair, thanked the representatives for their hard work,saying the measures they approved will make Rotary stronger.

“They reviewed and voted on legislation that will change and lead Rotary into thefuture,” he said.”

In other action, the Council:

• Voted, after extensive debate, to make holding an annual district conference optional.
• Defeated a pair of measures to set an age limit for Rotaractors. Opponents cited the low number of current Rotaractors over the age of 40 in arguing that limits were unnecessary and said such restrictions could force members out of Rotary.
• Rejected limiting the number of honorary members a club can have to 5% of the club’s active membership. Opponents noted that many clubs use honorary membership to stay in contact with former members, such as longtime Rotarians with valuable expertise to offer.
• Approved a measure allowing the Board to test additional new governance models beyond those that were approved three years ago. Those are currently in progress in Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in New Zealand and Australia. Supporters noted that the system of governors overseeing districts dates back to the early days of Rotary. They say that trying new governance models can help Rotary adapt to future needs and train and develop new leaders.
• Agreed to allow the Board to consider culture and language in addition to the number of Rotarians in deciding zone boundaries.
• Voted to require that the five-year financial forecast presented at the beginning of each Council include updates on specific process improvements and cost-reduction measures made by RI. In a similar measure, the Council approved commissioning a regular professional analysis of processes and cost structures in RI’s administration.
• Approved renaming the presidents-elect training seminar as the presidents-elect learning seminar and the district training assembly as the club leadership learning seminar. The measure is part of a shift in culture from training to learning to engage and empower people. Related names are being updated.

A Report of Action summarizing the legislation will be sent to clubs, which willhave at least two months to submit any opposition to the Council action. The Council’s adoption of legislation is suspended if there is opposition fromclubs representing at least 5% of the possible club votes.

— April 2025

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