As we wrap up the Rotary year, take a moment to read this final farewell message from DG Bobby Hildreth.
Greetings fellow servant leaders!
What an absolute blessing to be able to serve our community through organizations like Rotary and our local faith based small groups. We are all very fortunate to be here, giving thanks for being here, and giving thanks for the opportunity to willingly share in service to our neighbors.
As we close out this Rotary year and begin AGAIN with a new Rotary year, let’s pause for a quick minute and reflect on a great year of service. Congratulations to all our club leadership on a very successful year! We had clubs experience breakthroughs in membership, foundation, public image, fundraising, service projects, and club experiences like great meals, top-shelf programs, and engaging social activities that our membership enjoys! Congratulations!
In full disclosure, we also have clubs who are struggling to find their way forward due to a changing club culture and differences of opinion on the correct path forward. We had two clubs merged this year and we will lose two club charters at the end of June.
A very special thank you to the club leadership and membership for the successes, the good tries, and the near misses. Doing the same thing year after year and expecting a different result just does not work. Many of you waved goodbye to activities that had sunset years ago, but the club needed a spark to make the change. Congratulations!
Overall, as a district we are closing out the year with a NET INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP OF CLOSE TO 100 MEMBERS; District 6910 continues to grow year over year!
We have clubs who have reached incredible new heights in bringing in new members and retaining their current members. We were also immersed this year in the innovation in membership that simply seeks to break down barriers to entry into our organization. The MAGIC of innovation that you have injected into your communities this year has been exciting to witness. When we started down this path at PETS in March of last year, we told you that with these coaching changes, we would be introducing new offensive and defensive schemes to the game. What is offense? New members: traditional and innovative members. What is defense? ZERO terminations through a focus on ENGAGEMENT. The Club Experience
GOAL: Bring Innovation into membership in Rotary: simply giving more people the opportunity to serve their community AND serve their community through Rotary. Simply meeting them where they are.
Thank you for listening to, acting on, and embracing the innovation movement in Rotary while maintaining the traditions of Rotary that we hold dear.
As I have mentioned in most every club visit, this year, year ONE is to educate our membership on all the possibilities provided by the innovation in membership in Rotary. We have been challenged to think differently about the barriers to entry into membership in Rotary. In this year of learning we have been fortunate enough to have club leadership embrace this innovation and have already started or in the process of starting several companion clubs in our district: Impact Jasper – Impact Habersham Educators – Impact Clayton – Impact Loganville. Year two will be to learn more about the process through the successes and good tries of our innovative club leadership. Through this process, our focus must remain on the prospective member. What are we willing to do to meet these members where they are?
What I have mentioned so far was all about being intentional. Let’s talk about pivoting!!
Pivot One – Georgia Rotary. Two years ago, the three Georgia District Governors started having conversations about increasing our partnership. The discussion first focused on hosting a multi-district conference on Jekyll Island. We agreed. But that was just the beginning…..
Pivot Two – even before the new Rotary year even started last June, we were asked to think differently about the partnerships we were utilizing to serve our communities. We were asked about the possibility of contracting with the
State of Georgia through the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust to battle the opioid and mental health crisis in our State. And lead this initiative with Georgia Rotary. (but we never done anything like this before – contract with?) I am happy to report that we will begin this new initiative in July. We want to provide a special thank you to fellow Dawson County Rotarian and the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Kevin Tanner for creating this initiative for Georgia Rotary.
Pivot Three – less than 3 months into the Rotary year, we have a devasting hurricane Helene that brought 100 mph sustained winds to Augusta GA, 400 miles from the Florida coast. In north Georgia we are blessed with primarily only experiencing an occasional localized tornado or a localized flood. But what? A natural disaster in the first quarter. As a district leadership team, we learned quickly that we had holes in the cheese in our district disaster response program. We had to pivot quickly at the district level, and we did. We quickly assembled a district response committee primarily of Rotarians who asked how they could help. Clubs all over our district were more prepared to pivot and DID THEY EVER RESPOND. Through established partnerships with disaster relief organizations in their communities, our clubs began to respond within days with mechanisms to provide financial support, non-perishable items, and boots on the ground. Your district disaster response team secured a $25K RI Foundation Disaster Relief Grant within 7 days of the storm; our impacted clubs delivered the checks within weeks of the storm. Since it was a statewide disaster, what about Georgia Rotary? We mobilized volunteers from all three districts to serve in the Augusta area and western North Carolina. Volunteers from all three districts assisted with two waves of boots on the ground volunteer work weeks in the first quarter of 2025. The support our membership have provided fellow Georgians and our neighbors in western North Carolina is extraordinary and it continues today.
In closing, please allow me a few minutes to speak on a person note. Thank you for one of the most rewarding vocational service experiences of my life. I will start by thanking my wife Gail for her support and partnership as this was a family initiative. I would like to thank my mentors who encouraged me to lead District 6910. This group of district leaders convinced me that I could, in fact, add value to the service that we provide our communities through this leadership role. Thank you. It has been my goal to exceed your expectations.
I would like to thank the members of my Rotary Club, THE Rotary Club of Morgan County! Let me tell you a few things about my club. I was a new kid on the block just joining the club in 2018 after relocating from Thomson GA. The club fully embraced me and mentored me into the fold. But then just 3.5 years later the club is being asked to support the nomination of a new club member as District Governor. What does that even mean? The club approved my candidacy and has supported me throughout my time as District Governor. My club also asked me what they could do to further support me as District Governor. I am ecstatic to report today that my club has installed our first Peace Pole in Morgan County, in the City of Rutledge Silo Park. I am truly appreciative of my club.
I would like to thank the DG Chain including our IPDG Brandy Swanson who allowed me serve alongside her as a learning experience prior to my year of service. What has been MAGIC to me is the diverse experiences and skill sets that come together and blend so well. DGE Jessica, DGN Paul, and DGND Allen all possess such strong and diverse skill sets and experiences that when blended together in the spirit of self-less service, is continuing a strong performance in supporting our membership.
Additionally, one of the most important components of successfully leading our district is the assembly of a strong, diverse district leadership team. This is a group of individuals who will roll up their sleeves and get into the ditch with you and get the OX out of the ditched, bathed, fed, and put back in the field. Thank you.
There are literally SO MANY spokes to the Rotary Wheel it would take me at least five minutes just to list them all here. SO MANY areas of focus that we must have a strong, self-starting, district leadership team and I am very proud to say that your D6910 continues that great tradition of leadership. I just cannot overstate my appreciation for you and for what you have accomplished this year.
(One shameless plug here; as the preacher always states from the baptismal pool, “there is plenty of room HERE for others” – we need you in district leadership)
I would also like to thank our district office team of now retired Judy Wright and Tricia Stoekig for their service to our community.
In closing, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve in such a special way as your District Governor. It truly has been my honor!
Yours in Rotary service,
Bobby Hildreth
District Governor
Rotary International District 6910
