The first time I heard of the “Presidential Citation,” I thought it was an award given to the Club President for doing such an awesome job. It’s not that at all! The Presidential Citation is earned by every one of you Club members throughout the Rotary year. We earned a Gold level citation this year, and I had the honor of accepting it on your behalf at the District Conference.
The Rotary International President bestows this award on the best Clubs around the globe, according to criteria set by each President during his or her term. President Ravi Ravindran’s criteria emphasized the use of online tools in Rotary Club Central to track success toward our goals. To earn this Gold award, we also: sponsored a Rotaract and an Interact Club; maintained an excellent website and newsletter; had a good gain in membership; supported The Rotary Foundation generously; sponsored a global grant; and many other achievements.
Our Club has a tradition of earning the Presidential Citation. I believe we continue to be successful because we have strong committees that do a great job with their tasks. We have a large number of members that give of their time and talent. We have many generous supporters of The Rotary Foundation, both one-time givers and sustaining donors that give monthly or quarterly. And, we have a Club that new members see the value of joining for the purpose of making a difference.
Please enjoy the close-up photo of the President’s Citation Gold that you earned. But, let’s not take this excellence for granted. It takes hard work, commitment and contributions to achieve this kind of success. When you pitch in to help your Club, you will know that you are helping to uphold a long tradition of excellence in the global world of Rotary.
This week’s program: Sergeant Mike Johnson, of the Salem Police Department, will talk to us about Active Shooter Response Tactics.  This presentation is designed to educate the average citizen on a brief history of active shooter events, as well as provide statistics that follow and define these events.  The information provided will help with personal planning and mental preparedness regarding these violent events, and provide simple reactionary tactics that can dramatically improve survivability.
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