“No ray of sunshine is ever lost, but the green which it awakens into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted for the sower to see the harvest.” —Albert Schweitzer

In Memoriam

RLI mourns the passing of Past Rotary International Director G.H. “Curley” Galbraith of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Curley was a member of the RLI Sr. Leaders Advisory Board. He served R.I. as a director in 1988-1990 and was the R.I. Vice-President in 1989-90.

Montreal Convention RLI Report Annual RLI Convention Breakfast Marks Record Attendance

300 Rotarians and guests participated in the record breaking Annual Meeting of the Rotary Leadership Institute at the Rotary International Convention in Montreal. Chair PDG Michael Rabasca, Executive Director of RLI said that almost fifty persons had to have their tickets refunded or requests for tickets denied because the breakfast meeting room was limited to 300 persons. Each attendee received a copy of the 2009-10 Annual Report and the newly revised International RLI brochure. The Annual Report will be posted on the RLI Website shortly. (RLI is planning to use a much larger room for its Convention Breakfast in New Orleans.)

A Surprise Visit by R.I. President Nominee Kalyan Banerjee

R.I. President Nominee (now President-Elect) Kalyan Banerjee of India surprised the Breakfast attendees when he arrived at the beginning of the event and was kind enough to say a few words to our attendees. He was accompanied by his Aide, PRID Julio Sorjus of Spain. President-Elect Kalyan has served as a Special Advisor to the India RLI Organization and is a member of the RLI Intl. Senior Leaders Advisory Board.

An Outstanding Address by Past R.I. President Richard D. King

A very well received speech by Past R.I. President Rick King of California, USA, was the highlight of the RLI Annual Breakfast. Known as an outstanding and entertaining speaker, Past President Rick proved that to the 300 Rotarians and guests attending the Breakfast with a combination of humor and insight into the leadership needs of Rotary today. His topic was “The Visionary Leader - How Great the Need!!” Other key speakers at the Breakfast were Rotary International Vice-President Eric Adamson and Rotary International Director Antonio Hallage

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Antonio Hallage Receives RLI Distinguished Service Award

Rotary International Director Antonio Hallage of Brazil was presented with RLI's highest award by RLI Intl. Chair, David Linett. Hallage was honored for his outstanding leadership in developing RLI in South America. Linett noted that when Hallage became the RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair for South America, there was only one member district, but due to his efforts there are now nine divisions with 28 member districts with many more expected in the coming Rotary year. Hallage was also honored for ensuring the quality of the RLI program in South America.

Gouteyron, Minamisono and Roth Receive New RLI Awards

A newly created award by the Intl. RLI was presented at the Montreal Breakfast Meeting. It is called the “Outstanding Achievement Award” and will be presented to only two or three RLI leaders each year. The first recipients honored at the Breakfast were: PRIVP Serge Gouteyron of France, RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair for Western Europe - presented by RLI Intl. Vice-Chair Dr. Tam Mustapha; PRID Yoshikazu Minamisono of Japan, RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair for East Asia and Chair of the Japan Division - presented by RLI Intl. Vice-Chair Knut Johnsen; and PDG Cathy Roth of Australia, RLI intl. Regional Vice-Chair for ANZO (Australia, New Zealand and Oceania) and Chair of the Australia Southern Division - presented by RLI Intl. Vice-Chair Frank Wargo. The awards were given to each RLI leader for development of RLI in their regions.

At the RLI Breakfast, RLI Intl. Executive Director Michael Rabasca presented a recognition plaque to District Governor Daniel Condurache of District 2241, Romania and Moldova, to congratulate Romania for becoming RLI's 100th Member Country. Since that time during 2009-10, RLI has grown to 125 member countries and geographical regions.

RLI is pleased to welcome two new members to its Intl. Senior Leaders Advisory Board: Incoming Rotary International Director Noel A. Bajat of Louisiana, USA and R.I. Director Elect, Paul C. Knyff of The Netherlands. They join 94 other Rotary International Senior Leaders who serve on that Board.

RLI is very pleased to welcome the following new Divisions and their member districts: The Italian Division whose initial districts are 2090, 2100 and 2120. District 2090 covers Albania and part of Italy. 2100 and 2120 are in Italy. The 2009-10 District Governors signing the Agreement with RLI are Ferruccio Squarcia, Francesco Socievole and Romano Vicario, respectively. Chair of the new Division is PDG Vito Casarano. We thank outgoing RIVP Eric Adamson, incoming RID Elio Cerini, PDG Carlo Michelotti and PRIVP Serge Gouteyron for their assistance and support in establishing the Italian Division; The West Africa Division of District 9100 that consists of 14 countries, Benin, Burkino Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The Agreement of Membership was signed by 2009-10 District Governor Simon S. Kafando of Burkina Faso. Chair of the new Division is PDG Robert F. Atta of Ghana. We thank PRIVP Serge Gouteyron, PRID and Trustee Sam Okudzeto and PDG Adotei Brown for their assistance and support in forming the new division; The Midwest Division, USA whose initial district is 6450 of northern Illinois, USA. The district includes our first Rotary Club, "Chicago One". 2009-10 District Governor James Czerwionka signed the Agreement of Membership.Terry Bass is the Chair of the new Division. The Belgium and Luxembourg Division, whose initial district is 2170 in Belgium. The 2010-11 Governor is Guido Peleman of Antwerp. The Chair of the Division is PDG Daniel Tieman. We thank PRIT Bernard Rosen, PRIVP Serge Gouteyron, PRID Stan Tempelaars and PDG Jacques di Costanzo for their efforts in helping to initiate the new division. The North Coast Division and five districts of Western Pennsylvania, USA have joined together to create the Main Line Division. The member districts are 6600, 6630, 6650 of northern Ohio, USA and 7350, 7370, 7330 (formerly members of the Northeast America Division) and new members to RLI, 7300 and 7280 of western Pennsylvania, USA. Co-Chairs of the newly formed division are PDG Kelly Wike and PDG Larry Warren. We thank PRID Michael Johns for his assistance in establishing the North Coast Division and now facilitating the Main Line Division. District 9810 has joined the Australia - Southern Division. The district is part of Victoria in Australia. 2009-10 District Governor David Foster signed the Agreement to Join the Division and PDG Cathy Roth is Chair of the Division. District 9940 in New Zealand has joined the New Zealand and Pacific Islands Division. The Agreement was signed both by 2009-10 Governor David S. Watt and 2010-11 Governor Howard L. Tong. PDG Beryl Robinson is Chair of the Division that now consists of five of the six districts of New Zealand.

PRIP Frank Devlyn and David Forward have authored FRANK TALK V on Public Speaking. It follows FRANK TALK IV on Leadership. It is a very readable book for those interested in an important part of good leadership. Information may be found on www.franktalkbooks.com.

The Annual Meeting of the RLI Intl. Curriculum Meeting has been scheduled for January 28-30, 2011 in Orlando, Florida, USA. Each RLI Division is entitled to send representatives to the meeting and/or to send suggestions/comments for changes to the Curriculum to PDG Gary Israel at glipdg@embarqmail.com and PDG Bevin Wall at bevinwall1@gmail.com. More details will follow.

As we end the 2009-10 Rotary year, RLI extends its thanks to all the officers, including Intl. regional vice-chairs, the division chairs and division officers, the many thousands of faculty members around the world and all those who participated in RLI courses for a very productive year. Special mention needs to be given to two outstanding members of the Intl. RLI Leadership team: PDG Doris Obremski, the editor of our Annual Reports and PDG Aaron Stein, the Publisher of our monthly eBulletins and special messages. Both have unselfishly given their expertise and dedication to RLI without reward. The eBulletins will not be published for July and the next issue will be distributed in late August.

“Having leadership skills does not alone assure good Rotary leadership. An effective Rotary leader must ALSO have Rotary knowledge, perspective about where Rotary has been, where it is now going and a vision of what Rotary can be.”