Tag Archives: Bill Billings

D7600 TRF – a great year!

31 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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Acronyms & #s … What Fun!

To ensure that District Foundation Endowment Chair, Bill Billings, doesn’t report this blog to the Acronym Police … TRF stands for The Rotary Foundation. The editor will add this cryptic character, a “#”, which in “digispeak” is called a hashtag. So here’s to #TRF.

Another salute goes to the District Rotary Foundation Committee or #DRFC. In common argot, DRFC can also stand for the District Rotary Foundation Chair. Sorry, Bill. Acronyms can have more that one reference. In our case, our DRFC is Chuck Arnason.

So now, thank you, Rotarians of District 7600. Our DRFC year has been successful and fun, so far with more to come as we transition toward the 2019-2020 Rotary year.

We had our first $1,000,000 giving year, held our first celebration of National, Mustard Day thanks to David Rosenthal and Neva Lynde, and have seen the most creative Christmas Sweater every worn by a #DRFC.

So thanks to all District 7600 Rotarians. You are the tops. Oh, if you don’t know why a hashtag matters, ask your 12 year old children or grandchildren.

#STARS & National #Mustard Day Scored

06 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by in Foundation Giving, Membership, Public Image, The Rotary Foundation, Training

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Over 100 attended the Sensational Trio of August Rotary Seminars (#STARS):

It was a day filled with information, suggestions, innovative ideas and just a little bit of fun. We were all there to equip ourselves to “Be the Inspiration”. The Colonial Heritage Country Club in Williamsburg may never be the same. And Rotarians are innovative. Sometimes they switched seminars.  Gotta love these D7600 Rotarians

Public Image or How to share our Rotary stories:

Lead by the District Newsletter Editor and Public Image Chair, JoAnn Meaker, the 25 or so Rotarians in the Seminar, enjoyed intimate surroundings, printed materials, and demonstrations of the EZ Bulletin feature on dacdb.com.  LaShonda Delivuk, Public Image Chair from District 7570 also inspired the attendees with her presentation on the interplay between membership and public image.

Membership, It’s the only thing!

MembershipShelDouglas (2)The takeaway, oft repeated in the plenary sessions was “Membership, it’s the only thing.” 35+ Rotarians in the Membership seminar were led capably by District Membership Co-Chairs, Mike Jallo, and Shel Douglas.  LaShonda Delivuk also spoke in this session about the synergy between membership and public image.  No one will know our Rotary stories unless we have members to share their stories and unless our members share them.

The Rotary Foundation: How our good works are funded:

Approximately 42 Rotarians attended this session. Chuck Arnason, Rotary District Foundation Chair, and his team of Rudy Lee Garcia (Development),  Joy Kline (Annual Giving), Bill Billings (Endowment),  Appaiah Ballachanda (Paul Harris Society), Stan Wall (Polio Plus),  SuAnne Hardee Bryant (Grants), and Don Vaught (Grants Auditor). Just when one thinks there is nothing new to learn, Foundation-wise, there arise new requirements.  In this session, SuAnne focused on global grants, and our featured speaker Shel Douglas spoke on the more formal Community or Needs Assessments required of global grant applications.  The materials from The Rotary Foundation Seminar on d7600foundation.org on The Foundation Workshop Materials 2018 page.  There were no slides or handouts for the Paul Harris Society (PHS) as Appaiah is a walking cheerleader for the PHS.

The learning was not the only fun:

JoAnn Meaker designed the STARS meme and hashtag #STARS to help promote the workshops.  Dana Rieves, JoAnn Meaker, and Prince George Electric Cooperative provided the stellar door prizes.  David Rosenthal made all aware that it was also National Mustard Day. We decided to inspire every registrant to bring a new, unopened container of mustard to donate. Those who forgot often donated cash instead. Neva Lynde and her fellow James City County Satellite Club volunteered to carry the mustard to the FISH Food Bank.

The photos are part of the fun … thank Dianne Gordonn, Bill Billings, Jan Rowley, Chana Amaro and others who took many photos and shared them freely.

National Mustard Day Collection (2)

We are all now ready to “Be the Inspiration”.

 

Foundation Rock Stars

11 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by in Foundation Giving, Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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Baked brie, smoked salmon, chocolate cake, music, and wine, Oh My!

District Rotary Foundation Chair, Chuck Arnason, and Rotary International Director-Elect (RIDE), David Stovall, assisted Past District Governor Diane Hagemann to celebrate the year of Foundation giving during her tenure as District Governor.

 

Michael & Beverly Reception

Photo by Jan Rowley

The evening of November 9th in Williamsburg was actually two events.  The Friends of the Foundation Reception honoring Major Donors, Bequest Society Members, and Paul Harris Society members, was sponsored this year by District Governor John Padgett and Maguire Woods, LLC.  DG John is the Managing Partner of the Norfolk Office of Maguire Woods.   During the Reception, three new Major Donors were recognized, by Rotary International Director-Elect (RIDE), David Stovall,  DG John and Lee Ann Padgett, Bill and Lois Billings, and Colleen Bonadonna & Daniel Hockenberger.  Kyle Davis, on guitar, provided music.

 

 

Major Donor Honorees

Lee Ann & DG John Padgett, RIDE David Stovall, Lois & Bill Billings, Colleen Bonadonna & Daniel Hockenberger

 

The second event, the Foundation Awards Banquet, is the culmination of the two-event evening.  It is at the banquet that the highest giving clubs, recipients of District Services Awards, and the recipients of the three highest Foundation Awards are recognized. The Banquet was accompanied by a cash bar reception, wicked baked brie,  and music on the keyboard by Jeff Paul. RIDE David Stoval did double duty, being both our keynote speaker and the chief presenter of the awards. Bill Billings was the event photographer.

The 2016-17 Awards list is provided here for a description of all of the club and individual recipients.

AlexOutstandingAlumni

PDG Bill Pollard, PDG Bob Preston, PDG Jim Probsdorfer, RIDE David Stovall, Alex Ritchie, PDG Diane Hagemann

Alexandria Ritchie of the James River Club received the Outstanding Alumni Award.  She was an Interact member and is currently a member of the John Tyler Rotaract Club and the James River club, as well.  She is an undergraduate biomedical student.

 

DavidBillHennSukiChuckThe recipient of the James Russell Pierce Foundation Leadership Award was William “Bill” Henn of the Rotary Club of Petersburg Breakfast. Bill received the award from Suki Pierce (Rotary Club of Virginia Peninsula), the widow of Jim Pierce.  This award is conferred on Club Rotary Foundation Chair who served his or her club and The Rotary Foundation with distinction.

Bill Henn Pierce Foundation Leadership Awarrd

RIDE David Stovall, Bill Henn, Suki Pierce, PDG Diane Hagemann, Chuck Arnason

The final award, the Citation for Meritorious Service, is unique in that it can be only awarded once each Rotary year by a district and the recipient may receive the award only once.  The Award recognizes extraordinary service to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) and is not awarded for monetary contributions.  The recipient this year was Ken Hodge of the Newport News Club honoring his service and accomplishments for three years as the Development Chair for the District Rotary Foundation Committee.

Ken Hodge CMS

RIDE David Stovall, Ken Hodge, Chuck Arnason, Jim Probsdorfer.

 

All photos except the shot attributed to Jan Rowley are the art of Bill Billings.

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Facebook live video and learning

08 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Training

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The attendees at the Foundation Workshop had an adventure:

The 45 or so attendees at the Foundation Workshop who had brought their smartphones, Rotarians Facebooktablets, or laptops got the chance to engage with live videoing of the topics presented by the superior Foundation leaders on August 5. After turning their volume down on their devices they were invited to join the live videos, adding comments, and posting “#rotary7600”  periodically.  There were a few amusing discoveries, e.g., one must have a Facebook account to join in, but a couple of folks signed up that day.   Others were delighted to see how easy it was to join in on the fun on their smartphones.

None of this would have been possible without the able phone camera work by Sarah Hanbury and Shel Douglas of the Prince George Club, who served as the mentors and videographers at the workshop.  These videos are about 15 minutes or so in length and were videoed by topic.  They can all be seen by scrolling down the District Foundation’s Facebook page, clicking on the big arrow in the middle of the image, and turning the sound up on your device.  OR you can view all of the videos on the ‘Documents & Videos’ tab on this website.

We are also exploring how to upload them to YouTube and to the District Website, but did you know that you can share the videos from Facebook to your own club’s Facebook page or at least the administrators or editors for your club’s page can.  Talk with them about it.

For the moment … here we share one of the videos.  This is Joy Kline Annual Fund Chair for the District Foundation Committee extolling how well the District did this last year in exceeding our giving goals.

A favor please … if you are reading this page and have not done so already … navigate to the top of the page and subscribe by email.  That way you will get a weekly email from this page with the update for the week.  How easy is that?

 

 

GMS, DTA, and COL, oh my

25 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Training, Upcoming District Events

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Oh, forgive me, Bill Billings, let me atone

GMS:  Grant Management Seminar; DTA: District Training Assembly, and COL, Change of Leadership …

GMS:  April 26 is the last day to register for the GMS

This last session of the Grant Management Seminar for the 2017 -18 year is this Saturday and qualifies for certification of attendance via webinar or in person at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center, 600 Butler Farm Road, Hampton VA.  This is a free training and those are hard to come by.  If your club isn’t certified yet to participate in a district or local grant, this is your chance to fix that.  Just a friendly reminder that the deadline for district grant application submission is May 15 & and another friendly reminder … it is a totally electronic submission process.

DTA: Register now for this May 13 training

Diane and Rip Tide (2)

2016 DTA

This fabulous event will also be held at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center, 600 Butler Farm Road, Hampton VA.  This event will train club leaders how to lead their clubs to greatness.  Presidents-Elect, President Nominees, Secretaries, Treasurers, Club Membership Chairs, Club Rotary Foundation Chairs, and all others in the club should plan to attend.  You will not regret it.  There will also be information about social media and everyone needs that!

COL: District Change of Leadership & District Awards Change of Date

The date for this event has been changed to July 22 so pull out your phone and change the date for this event in your calendar app.

And the place to register for all district events is on dacdb.com calendar.

And a great time was had by all …

15 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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“And the award goes to …”

Amazing how time flies … the signature annual events of the District Rotary Foundation Committee, the Foundation Awards Banquet and the Friends of the Foundation Reception  are behind us.

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DGs Chenault, Beer, Arnason, & Probs by Bill Billings

Last Thursday  160 Rotarians from across the district came to the Banquet to watch others receive and to receive themselves over 126 individual and club awards.  But it wasn’t just an evening of awards and pats on the back.  It was an evening of warmth, humor, congeniality, and sharing.  Did we mention food? It was also an impromptu ‘roast’ of Jim Probsdorfer whose final year as the District Foundation Committee Chair was being recognized.

The Friends of the Foundation Reception is an event funded in part by the District Budget (not Foundation funds) and by generous sponsors to recognize and to thank Major Donors, members of the Bequest Society, and members of the Paul Harris Society.  Two new major donors were presented with their crystals at the Reception …Sam Shiplett (James River -Richmond) and Bill Sharp (Warwick). This year our generous sponsor was The Rotary Club of James River (Richmond) VA.

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John Smarge by Bill Billings

The Foundation Awards Banquet is self-funded by the attendees of the Banquet and includes some or all of the expenses for the keynote speaker and any special guests.  This year Past Rotary International Director John Smarge was our keynoter and Erin Groble, recently appointed as the Major Gifts Officer for Zones 33 and 34, were our guests.  It was Erin’s first visit to a district and we made quite an impression, hopefully a good one.

More detail will be provided in the District Newsletter, The Spirit of 7600, to be published later this month, but for now congratulations to all who received awards and special shout outs to The Rotary Club of James River (Richmond) VA on becoming only the third in the world and the first in the USA … 100% Paul Harris Society Club; to Jerry Fields on being awarded the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award, and to Bill Stramm on becoming a recipient of the Pierce Foundation Leadership Award.

 

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John Smarge, DG Diane, and Bill Stramm, later in the evening the recipient of the Pierce Foundation Leadership Award  by Lisa Clary

 

 

What every club rotary foundation chair should do now …

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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Submission of club & member donations to TRF:

Bill Billings

Bill Billings

Bill Billings, our vigilant acronym buster from the Franklin Club and incoming Endowment Fund lead for the District Rotary Foundation Committee, may be reading this, so up front, TRF stands for The Rotary Foundation.

So, if you are the current club Rotary Foundation chair double check with your treasurer that all contributions to TRF, which rely on submission by the club treasurer have been submitted.  There is absolutely no reason to wait until June 30 to forward such sums.  If you will be the club Rotary Foundation chair next year, encourage your members to submit their own TRF donations via Rotary Direct at www.rotary.org.  This is the 21st Century and it will take a load off of the treasurer and you, for that matter.

2016-17 club rotary foundation chair in assigned position in My Rotary:

The club rotary foundation chair for 2016-17 must be listed in that assigned position in My Rotary at www.rotary.org in able to access giving reports for the club.  This applies even if the current club Rotary Foundation chair is continuing in the same position in the next rotary year. Check with your president-elect, club secretary, club executive secretary, or whoever in your club inputs that data to be sure that you have been ‘assigned’ in My Rotary as the club’s Rotary Foundation chair for the 2016-17 rotary year.

Refresh yourself on the New Year Resolutions (aka club goals):

Coordinate with your president-elect so you can get a jump start on meeting the foundation giving goals for the coming rotary year.  Boom!

Delegation of Club Access to Foundation Advocates

24 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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Status Update on Delegation of Access To Foundation Advocates

Friday, August 14, District Governor Gary sent an email to the 17 Area Governors (AGs) instructing them to use the delegation tool to delegate club access through June 30, 2016, to their counterpart area Foundation Advocates.

To-date only 5 and 1/2 of the delegations have been accomplished.  So, you hale and hardy Advocates … if you have not received an email from Rotary International that the AG has delegated access to the clubs in your area, you need to contact your AG and ask him or her to accomplish this important task soonest.

If you need help contacting your AG contact me … 804-691-8486 or woodwardcd@aol.com.  Thanks to the Advocates who have personally informed me that they have received their delegation notices.

Why this delegation Matters

As Foundation Advocates you are the personal representatives of the District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair, Jim Probsdorfer, to the clubs in your areas.  With this access you can look at data and reports for your area clubs. The AG still has access, so, this delegation does two things … it makes it easier for you and your counterpart AG to co-ordinate on assisting clubs in accomplishing  important goals … and it gives you as Advocates the means to fulfill your role as Jim’s liaison with you clubs.

Attractions in the next 90 days

  • Advocates Conference Call August 27 at 4 (separate email notices with bridge numbers)
  • Campaign to boost EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year)
  • Advocates should be connecting with their Club Foundation Chairs & visiting them
  • Club Foundation Chairs may access the 52 Weekly TRF messages for educating their clubs (see the ‘Resources & Documents’ page at 7600advocates.wordpress.com
  • District Conference October 1-4 in Williamsburg. Regsiter at dacdb.com
  • Foundation Banquet November 12.  Foundation Advocates are asked to attend and serve as hosts.  Registration available soon

Name Dropping — heard though the grapevine

♥ Dan Jones (Powhatan) Area 8 Advocate is becoming expert on the use of recognition points to boost Paul Harris Fellows in the clubs

Dan Jones

Dan Jones

♥ Dennis Wool (The Historic Triangle) Area 11 Advocate was the first Advocate to receive his delegation to access from Area Governor Frank Ferrante (Williamsburg).  Amazing as Frank had been a tad under the weather (including a short stay at hospital)

♥ James O’Brien (Norfolk) Area 14 Advocate has a birthday this week

♥ Bill Billings (Franklin) is the artist who created the banner image at the 2014 Foundation Banquet now on the 7600advocates.wordpress.com site