Fw: 4486: RI Convention News - Opening Day
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Rtn Umesh S Chikmath
Jun 12, 2017, 1:14:27 AM6/12/17
to AMAR CHETAN, Sumanth S., Rtn Ravikumar A. S., Annaiah P. K., Basavaraj Gadag, Deepak Loomba, Marula Siddaiah, Rtn Basavaraj Haldal, DEVARAJ DODDAIAH, Suresh Babu, Gottigere Sridhar, Ravi G.M, Muthuramalingam Govindharaju, Ramachandrai R. Rtn, Mohan Rao, Shankar Narayan Rtn, Pitambari G. Rtn, Kumar Swamy HR Rtn, Jairaj Govind, M. Bindu Madhav, RAVISHANKAR DS, Rtn Rajesh S., Rtn Rajesh S., Niranjan Umapathy, Pres0910
Dear Friends in Rotary
RI Convention News - Opening Day
The 2017 Rotary Convention’s opening ceremony took place Sunday at the Georgia World Congress Center . Many thousands of people gathered in the general session hall at the Georgia World Congress Center for the Atlanta convention's official opening ceremony. The delegates, later, will hear from the Rotary community, including RI president John Germ and Rajashree Birla, who leads rural development efforts in India and supports the polio eradication campaign.
The Centennial Bell
The opening ceremony included the presentation of the centennial bell. This special bell was forged at a 1,000-year-old foundry in Agnone, Italy, in honor of the Foundation’s centennial. The presentation marked the start of a five-day centennial celebration, which includes a book signing, a photo exhibit, and an enormous birthday party.
Welcome
Barry Matheson and Robert Hall, the Convention and Host committee chairs, welcomed attendees to the Atlanta convention with a casual Southern tradition: sharing a Coca-Cola on the porch (or stage, as it were).
Hall invited visitors to explore Atlanta and enjoy host events. “We’re excited to share the beauty and history of the South,” Hall says. “We really want everyone to experience the Southern charm of Atlanta and our surrounding areas.”
They also chatted about the exciting line up of speakers who will appear on this stage in the days to come.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, a member of the Rotary Club of Gainesville, was the first speaker to address the crowd. Here in Atlanta, he says, “you will find a thriving hub of industry and business.”
“One of the many components to this ongoing success story here in Georgia is the contributions of organizations like Rotary International,” he says. “Just like you, they give their time, money, and talent to better the lives of those around them,” through scholarships, health missions, and “countless other good works.”
Rajashree Birla Donates US $1 million for Polio Eradication
Rajashree Birla, an Indian philanthropist, talked about the polio eradication campaign. She chairs the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, named for her late husband, a prominent businessman.
She described the polio-stricken children she met on the streets of India, which was declared polio-free in 2014, and Rotary’s inspirational efforts to combat the virus.
“I am a proud Rotarian,” she says. “I believe providence brought us together, on the platform of a common vision: Rotarians’ unflinching steps towards polio eradication. Their commitment, compassion and efforts, to do whatever it takes, to banish polio, struck me deeply.”
Birla closed her remarks with a truly epic gift: a check for US $1 million, which she presented to RI President John Germ to support the polio eradication initiative. This isn't her first major contribution, but it's an especially meaningful one as we celebrate The Rotary Foundation centennial and our signature program.
RI President John Germ opens the Atlanta Convention
RI President John Germ and his family were introduced to the assembled crowd, as his aide Ron Beaubien lauded the many accomplishments of Germ's Rotary career, from hands-on projects in his native Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, to his legendary fundraising achievements on behalf of the polio campaign.
"To those who serve, or have served, with John Germ on the Rotary Board of Directors, he is an extraordinary example of someone who understands and honors tradition and history," Beaubien says, "while also driving our need to change and stay relevant to a new generation."
The Germs also shared an exciting announcement: John and Judy will welcome their seventh grandchild in the coming year. Congratulations to the Germ family!
President John Germ opened the Convention and made his opening remarks.
"Growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, my family wasn’t wealthy, but in a country like the United States, there were certain things I always took for granted," Germ says.
"Becoming a Rotarian opened my eyes to the reality in so much of the rest of the world, where clean water might be miles away, or not available at all, places where the work of Rotary, is changing lives." He recounted stories from his travels as Rotary president, from Jamaica to Uganda and beyond.
"Every one of us here today, no matter who we are or where we’re from, has the ability to change lives. Every one of us has that potential, to reach out to those places where there is so much need, and do what it takes to make things better."
There were two seating for the opening Ceremony, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
with warm regards
Rtn PP Umesh S Chikmath
Major Donor to The Rotary Foundation
DIRECTOR
AKASH ELECTRO CONSULTANTS PVT LTD
Deputy District Rotary Foundation Chairman (Dy DRFC) (2016-2017)
District Joint Secretary (2015 -2016)
District Chairman - Annual Giving and Member in Publication Committee (2014 -2015)
District Assistant Governor (2013 -2014)
District Conference - Promotion Committee Chairman and Member in Publication Committee (2012 -2013)
District Co Chairman - Solar Lighting System (2011 -2012)
Club President - 2009 -2010
Club Secretary - 2006 -2007
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