The past couple of months have reinforced for me how active our Rotary Clubs are in the community.  I have attended several Cluster and District Committee meetings and there have been so many Rotary events that I have not been able to attend all that I have been invited to. 
Just to name a few in the past few weeks where I have seen at first hand the great work you are doing in the Community - the Rotary Martinborough Fair (South Wairarapa Rotary), the Inglewood Rotary Car Show, OnYou health initiative with the Wanganui Clubs, the Petone Rotary Fair, ambulance handover to Wellington Free Ambulance (Wellington Region Rotary Clubs), beach digs at Lyall Bay (Wellington South Rotary) and Freyberg Beach (Courtenay Place Rotary), the launch of Innovative Young Minds (Hutt City Rotary), International Women's Day lunch (Kapiti Rotary), Mike King Suicide Prevention Dinner (New Plymouth West Rotary). 
There are many more meetings and events that I have not mentioned but which are often highlighted on our District 9940 Facebook page. You are making a real difference in your communities. 
 
The National Membership Seminar informed and inspired us to increase our Rotary membership, taking account of the differences between generations, the use of social media and RI flexibility.  What a talented group of leaders and facilitators we have in Rotary and particularly in our District.
Our minds are increasingly turning to the District Conference in New Plymouth in a few weeks where we will be celebrating our differences.  Please support the many tours and activities that our Taranaki Rotary Clubs are putting on that weekend.  It is not too late to register and we would love to see you at the Conference.
Rotary’s theme for April is Maternal and Child Health Month, a theme that resonates particularly with my wife Denise who is a midwife.  This theme is one of the Rotary Foundation’s six key areas of focus, the others being conflict resolution, disease prevention, water and sanitation, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development
This year, our Rotary Foundation turns 100. That’s a century of Rotary members changing lives and improving communities all over the world. And that’s definitely something worth celebrating.
Through our Foundation, Rotary members have supported thousands of projects to provide clean water, fight disease, promote peace, provide basic education, and grow local economies. We’ve also been a leader in the fight to eradicate polio worldwide.
So far 18 people from our District have registered to attend the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta in June where we will celebrate 100 years of the Foundation in the city where it began.  We are also looking forward to hearing there more about what is happening in the world of Rotary.  For me a highlight will be visiting the Center for Civil and Human Rights.
There are only three months until the end of this Rotary year, but there is so much we can do in this time and I urge you to keep your foot on the accelerator.  My own observation is that many of the things we want to accomplish in our leadership years (whether as President or Chairs or in other leadership positions) are often achieved in subsequent years.  But isn’t that what service above self and above recognition is all about?