A Message from the Club President

print this page

The Ipswich Rotary Club will celebrate its 87th year in 2009-2010, and thanks to the vigorous leadership of outgoing President Ingrid Miles, the club begins the new year with increased membership and increased contributions to a wide variety of local, national and international projects.  

Incoming Rotary International President, John Kenny has said that one of the main objectives of his Presidency will be to remind Rotarians of their personal responsibility to Rotary and its ideas, exemplified by the theme for the new year, The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands.  It is abundantly clear to me that to have a successful year, I will need to convey this message and seek the active involvement of every member in the work of our club. 

Our overarching challenge in 2009-10 will be to hold the line against the economic recession by emphasizing three fundamentals:  1) retaining existing members; 2) continuing the vigorous recruiting efforts of our immediate past Presidents; and 3) focusing on communicating the story of Rotary and its activities to the wider community.  Success in these three areas will help sustain our club and ensure that Rotary’s good works will continue unaffected by the economic downturn.

The coming year will present several new opportunities to contribute to the quality of life in our community.  Ipswich Rotary will be a significant contributor to the renovation of Bialek Park.   We are pursuing an annual role in the events celebrating the holiday season, and Rotary will have a presence at several events related to Ipswich’s 375th anniversary celebration. 

Ipswich Rotarians can be especially proud of our club’s involvement with the school children of Ipswich.  In addition to EarlyAct and InterAct, a new goal for the year will be to establish a YouthAct program at the Middle School. 

Our contributions to the Rotary Foundation are above average for local Rotary Clubs, and our challenge is to secure full participation from each member and to expand our seven Circles of Gold. 

We hope to fund five new Rotoplast surgeries in the coming months.   These operations are so inexpensive, and they transform the lives of children in the developing world.

I look forward to serving as president of our fine club in 2009-2010, and I will do my best during the year to remind all The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands.

Robert T. Markel

2009-2010 President

Rotary Club of Ipswich, MA