A Visit by Mark Yaxley
DG Mark Yaxley, accompanied by his wife Stella, visited us last week and gave us some of his thoughts going forward.
Mark began his address by thanking various club members for their efforts and the great job they do. His thoughts then turned to a couple of sayings from a fellow Rotarian in the past which state: “Rotary opens opportunities” and: “Everything we do opens another opportunity for someone, somewhere.”
In terms of DG goals for the year, these have included (1) create and celebrate memorable moments and (2) collaborate with others to expand the reach and impact of Rotary.
With respect to our upcoming centennial year, Mark paid tribute to some projects that are addressing this including “Give every child a future” and Polio Plus. The addition of “supporting the environment” as a new key focus was also noted as a significant and important approach in what we do going forward.
“We want to be revolutionary from time to time” suggested Mark and he then shared a famous quote from Henry Ford:
“If I had asked people what they want they would have said faster horses!”
As for change at the top, Mark concluded by noting that RI’s new President Elect is Jennifer Jones.
Tony thanked Mark for sharing his thoughts with us and the challenges & opportunities these will bring in a constantly changing world.