October 24th is World Polio Day. Like other Rotary clubs around the world we will be “refreshing” our commitment to seeing this world-changing medical issue to its goal-line. Eradication is so close – just two countries. But, as you know, with any substantial undertaking, it’s the last 5% that is the toughest to make stick, […]

Whether it’s setting up a Community Garden and Farm Training Center in Cape Flats, South Africa, cleaning up beaches in the Philippines, fighting to reduce domestic violence in Gainesville, Texas, or setting up a non-profit (SHE) that now engages 800 women in employment in India, Rotarians around the world are working hard to make our […]

This week’s note from your president will be brief. This is the one time of the year that we focus on our Salem Rotary Foundation. It is the charitable arm of the club and as such it needs, like our Membership Challenge, to be a strong and healthy part of our overall giving and life. I would ask […]

In the current issue of the Harvard Business Review there is a very enlightening article entitled NOISE. Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman at Princeton and others highlighted how a variety of human judgments can influence and cloud the decision making process. This “noise” over time results in millions of dollars lost, inconsistent organizational direction and time wasted. This […]

During a recent trip to Morocco I was struck by the obvious disparity in wealth. During my travels in Morocco from the sea to the desert one moved back and forth between the haves and the have-knots with the latter clearly outnumbering the former. That is why I was struck positively by the recent description […]

Two thoughts this week. The first is, what an interesting presentation about “Brain Health” this last week. I found myself thinking about people I knew, people in my family, and also thinking about what I do and don’t do to maintain good Brain Health. While several of the ideas I had thought of before, I had […]

In the current issue of “the Rotarian” there is a very short and enlightening article about leadership. In this article Frank Bures highlights three kinds of successful leaders from the book – SUPERBOSSES. The three are: the Iconoclast, Glorious Bastards and the Nurturers. Needless-to-say, if you match the skill sets inherent in these three approaches to the […]

This is the last Wednesday club meeting of August – 2016’s Rotary Membership Month. I am pleased to note that several of you have stepped up already and submitted a name or have moved a new member through the process. We will have another member to induct again this Wednesday. We are on a bit […]