I live parallel lives during the weeks before December 25th. I enjoy the lights, music, parties, jewel tones, and glitter. I also focus quietly and intentionally on Advent. It’s Latin for arrival, and the focus is on preparation.
 
Preparing for something important and valuable is half the fun – if conditions are right. The awaited event must have the right risk-return balance, so we are willing to stake our resources on planning for it. And we must believe that we have enough resources to stake – or almost enough if you take a little magic into account.
 
From Menominee to Mayville holiday service and fundraising events have arrived! Children receive gifts, families receive food, community members drink hot chocolate under magical lights. People we do not know will be changed by our service. And we will be the primary beneficiaries. Hope will grow in us.
 
While we serve, we are simultaneously preparing for other arrivals.
 
We are preparing for the leadership of Ben Bauer, District Governor 2022-2023.
Next week the District Governor Team (Bill, Ben, Michelle, Todd, and I) will consider where we are and where we hope to be by the end of Ben’s year. Ben will take that vision into International Assembly (a gathering of the world’s DGs) in January, District Team Training (a gathering of 6250 leaders) in February, and President Elect Training Seminar (PETS) in March. Ben is staking significant resources on this role. Will you stake some resources on supporting him and our district?
 
We are preparing for TriCon2022.
After back-to-back virtual conferences in 2020 and 2021, we will gather safely and joyfully at The Osthoff on April 29 and 30. Will you save the date? TriCon2022 will put you in the company of rich Rotary fellowship, service, and inspiring people of action. It’ll be worth staking some resources on it.
 
And speaking of staking resources…
 
Dawn had a choice between a nap and attending a random breakout session. She dragged herself to the breakout. She didn’t know anything about human trafficking, and she wasn’t searching for information or something more to do. But there in that unexpected moment her eyes opened, her soul was crushed, and the deepest part of her was called to act. Her Rotary district conference set in motion a chain of events she would have filed under “Impossible”. Afterwards, about the last thing on her mind was a nap.
 
Dawn Heath-Fiedler, District 6270 Rotarian, founded and leads the non-profit, Join the Movement Now (www.jtme.org), with the mission of bringing awareness of the presence of human trafficking to all communities in the State of Wisconsin and the entire Midwest. JTME is dedicated to educating our youth as our best defense in preventing victims’ grooming.
 
Dawn (in the center of the photo, flanked by teammates) is serving and lives are changing. It is a story full of hope hopeless circumstances. Her district conference played a role.
 
Keep reading on in our Dispatch for more wonderful Rotary stories and opportunities.
 
Cheers for a happy, hopeful, holidays, Dear Rotarians. Thank you.
 
 
 District Governor Karen