Greetings District 5010 Rotarians! A new Rotary year has begun, and we welcome a new cadre of dedicated Rotary Club Presidents to lead their Clubs. I am honored to serve as your DG this year and am looking forward to visiting the Rotary Clubs in our District. I am pleased our DG Line includes DGE Brenda Shelden from the Palmer Club and DGN Marty Metiva from the Susitna Club. We have a wonderfully experienced District Treasurer, George Elgee from Juneau, and a new District Secretary, Paul Paslay, from Anchorage on our leadership team.
We also have a new Lt. Governor this year, Brenda Hewitt from the Susitna Club, who is helping me navigate a myriad of District functions and programs. We are all working closely together to strengthen our District and build the Rotary experience in Alaska.
We are blessed to have an excellent group of Assistant Governors this year who I am working closely with. The AGs are the first line of communication between the Clubs and the District and are:
- Bruce Erickson – Anchorage area (9 Clubs)
- Gretchen Gordon – Northern region (7 Clubs including the eClub)
- Jess Gutzwiler – Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak (6 Clubs)
- Matthew Stielstra – MatSu (5 Clubs)
- Michelle Strickler – Southeast Alaska (9 Clubs)
Our new Rotary International President R. Gordon R. McInally from Scotland has begun his year. The latest Rotarian Magazine outlines his theme to “Create Hope in the World” and his focus areas include demystifying mental health issues and empowering women and girls. I encourage our Clubs to do a project this year that creates hope in our communities.
We had a great District Conference in Kodiak May 4-7 this year. A tip of the hat to now Past District Governor Mike Ferris and his Conference Organizing Committee for putting on a great event in such a beautiful location for the 167 attendees. The 2024 District Conference will be held in Fairbanks May 16-19 at the Westmark Hotel. Our Conference Organizing Committee chaired by Fairbanks Rotarian Cindy Wright is already hard at work preparing for that event. Be sure to put it on your calendar.
We are actively staffing up our District committees, so if you have an interest in serving on a District committee, reach out to your AG or the Committee Chair. Serving at the District level will broaden your perspective on what Rotary is, what it can accomplish, and amps up the fun meter as you collaborate with like-minded, talented Rotarians from all over Alaska.
We have a new leadership team in the Youth Exchange program this year. Co-Chairs Jamie and Chris Letterman from Juneau are reenergizing the YE program which is back on again after being interrupted by COVID for several years. Youth Programs is one of my personal areas of interest. One goal is to grow our Rotaract and Interact Clubs and their programs in our District.