The President's message- Sept 11th 2013

Dear Friends,

We welcome DG Jeremy and Michelle to St. Maarten and to our club, it is truly a treat to have them in our midst. I encourage you to show them our "Friendly Island" hospitality and attend all the wonderful functions that are planned.

Our club has been busy during Membership & Retention Month and we have given meaning to the RI Theme of engagement.

From our Club of The Month Report the following summary:

Archiving:

RCSM carried out a huge archiving project, organizing over 40 years of RCSM history. Interns and Interactors were hired to sort, file, organize, scan and store digitally a mountain of paper. Wonderful pictures of yesteryear were posted on facebook. This is a wonderful way to look back at our club’s achievements in Membership month.

Rotary Club Of St. Maarten donates USD 500 to the White & Yellow Cross for the Rehabilitation Center:

The White and Yellow Cross operates the 60- bed nursing home on St. Maarten and provides traditional nursing home service, but also rehabilitation, elder service among others. The rehabilitation department was expanded and the club donated USD 500 to assist with this department.

Rotary’s group study exchange contributes big financial support for the St. Maarten Nature Foundation:

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten, on behalf of the Rotary’s Group Study Exchange Team from England and Rotary Clubs in Devon, England, presented a check for US $3,500 to the St. Maarten Nature Foundation to benefit the ongoing Junior Park Ranger program. When the team from Devon, England (Rotary District 1170) came to St Maarten they spent a day on the water with the Tadzio Bervoets of the Nature Foundation learning all about St Maarten's ecology and marine biology as well as the role a strong, healthy environment plays in a tourism-based economy. This experience left the team with a desire to give back to St Maarten.   As a result, over the last year the team, in collaboration with host Rotary clubs throughout Devon, held a series of fundraising "Caribbean nights." Caribbean food, drink and culture were on display as well as a formal presentation on the team's experiences here on St. Maarten and around the Caribbean. 

Fellowship and membership recruitment:

The Club replaced its 5th weekly meeting in August with a fellowship as it has been doing for years but this time with a twist, namely: “membership & recruitment”. Members were invited to bring along their partners at a nominal cost and a potential Rotarian for free to a fellowship activity.  In a leisurely atmosphere, Rotarians and potential Rotarians got to meet and greet each other and talk Rotary. AG Rebecca was on hand to share a short introduction about Rotary and present the USD 3,500 check to the Nature Foundation. Rotarians from two other clubs also joined. The result thus far: We had great fellowship, three members were proposed. 

Public Service Announcements: 

Generic Rotary PSAs are aired on several radio stations. The PSAs are tagged with the following text: “This Public Service Announcement is brought to you by the Rotary Club Of St. Maarten and Island 92”.  

 Press Releases:

During the month of July and August the 3 Paul Harris recipients were featured in subsequent special articles in the Daily Herald.

Thank you for your hard work and continued commitment to Rotary and to our club.

Maria