This is my last column. I expected that I would write it with a sense of relief, but what I am really feeling is a sense of awe. My District Governor year has been thoroughly enjoyable. Rotarians are such wonderful people, and being able to meet and work with such great people has been inspiring; simply being around them is invigorating. Yet I find myself at a loss for words of how to describe it.

 

I may be at a loss for words about how to describe what this past year has meant to me, but I am certainly not at a loss for words to express my gratitude to so many people. Let me start with the club presidents. I hope each of you are as proud of what you have achieved as I am proud of your achievements. I also want to thank everyone from the clubs who made me feel so welcome. I have been truly touched by your warmth. I want to thank the incredible leaders from the district, who have done the real work of making the district run smoothly. Our district has outstanding programs (youth exchange, Foundation, RYLA, to name just a few), and each is outstanding because of the leadership of those committees and the people who serve on them. Several past district governor have been especially helpful to me, providing both guidance and support. Perhaps the single most important PDG was Sieglinde Warren, who has mentored me throughout my Rotary career. Finally, I cannot thank my club and its members enough. They were enormously supportive. It was asking a lot to have my club be the host club two years in a row, but they did it, and they did a great job.

 

I am especially thankful to Gail McCullough, who I met as my wife and I were walking through our new neighborhood shortly after moving to Ohio. He invited me to be his guest at the Canfield Rotary club meeting and later invited me to join. I thought I knew about Rotary. However, something important was missing from my cursory knowledge of Rotary achievements, and that missing part was what Rotary does for its members. Rotary has enhanced my life in ways I could never have imagined. I have had the opportunity in my career to work with great people from around the country, but my friends and colleagues in Rotary are truly the finest people I know. They excite me with their vision, their optimism, and their ideas of how to improve the community and the world. They inspire me to believe in myself and in the power of groups that work together for positive change. And they spur me to want to be a part of an organization so much larger than the individuals who make it up.

 

So as I try to put into words how much this year has meant to me, I realize that the themes have not changed. They only have been intensified by seeing how universal those themes are. Rotary really does make a difference. Every community I visited was clearly better off because of their Rotary club. And it was not just buildings that memorialize the work of a local Rotary club. The community, the schools, the neighborhoods were all more vibrant and dynamic because of the influence of Rotary. I came to think of this as the Magic of Rotary, which became my theme for the district conference. Rotary does make a difference, and it makes a difference because Rotarians want to make a difference. What made my year as district governor so meaningful to me was you; you gave of yourself because that is what you wanted to do. I am so proud to be a part of a group of people with that kind of attitude, concern, and imagination.