“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for long. We keep moving forward, opening new doors, new things, and doing because we are curious… And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” These famous words by Walt Disney ring true for me as we begin a brand new year. As for most of us we spend a little time reflecting on the good, bad and even sad of the last year it is important to not spend to much time in reflection. What I really like about his quote though is the use of curious. I never thought of that word in respect to progress or success before. I think that it is an awesome way to think and move forward. So how does being curious relate to Rotary you might be thinking. Well, as our organization moves into the future we face some extreme challenges when it comes to finding and keeping new members. We need to start being curious (not concerned) about this challenge in our clubs and districts throughout the world. I believe currently with the new Satellite Rotary Clubs, the Wheels of Rotary Club and our new upcoming e -club we in Nebraska Rotary are doing just that. We are using our curiosity to increase and strengthen our membership throughout our District. How many of you dear friends have some curious ideas about where Rotary can go in our part of the world. This brings up another excellent point from our friend Walt “If you can dream it, you can do it.” In a few weeks we will find our the 2015-16 Rotary Theme. This is an exciting time of the year for Rotary because we start the training of the new officers from our clubs to RI we start to see the future take shape. When I was selected as District Governor I thought that a year sounded like a long time, but I can tell you it is flying by very quickly. I ask though that we all finish strong this year remembering the goals that we are trying to achieve in membership increase and foundation giving. I would like to see every member try and find a way to get $100.00 to the Rotary Foundation and $50.00 to End Polio Now. I would also like to have at least one Paul Harris society member from each club. We are a little over 100 members away from our membership goal so please keep giving the gift of Rotary to others. I hope everyone had an amazing Holiday season. I personally was able to spend all of Christmas day in my Pajamas which was my goal this year. It has sort of become a tradition in our house to totally relax and enjoy each other watching the holiday movies opening our gifts and eating cookies and other goodies. I highly recommend it to anyone needing a “curious” new tradition to try. As for the new year we steam ahead. We are planning for an amazing District Conference in May and a fun fundraiser in April. I would also like to visit any club that would like me to come for more fun in person interaction. If you where not motivated and empowered by my previous visit I would love to have another shot. My prayer is that each and everyone of you have an AMAZING 2015!! I hope that you all dream big and continue to be “curious” as we take on the challenges of yet another great year. I want to leave you with yet another quote from one of my favorite businessmen, from Walt Disney to you, “ it is kind of fun to do the i m p o s s i b l e ! ”
Yours in Service,
Koby Rickertsen
District Governor