I wrote this month’s letter just shortly after arriving back in the USA from Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul hosted 1,000 Rotarians at this year’s annual Rotary International Presidential Peace Conference. Promoting Peace (one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus) is important to me which is why I chose to speak about Peace (as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) during my District Governor talk with your club.
(Photo: Governor Todd's recent visit to Mt. Horeb Rotary Club and shared part of his mission for sustainable peace.)
During this very short trip (Eva Marie and I arrived in Istanbul on Thursday and were back home in La Crosse on Sunday), I was able to see glimpses of Istanbul’s claim that the city is a living symbol of harmony between cultures, continents, and ideas. While at the conference, we received education on peacebuilding and were exposed to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. We even had some time to share these insights and experiences with newly made friends. On the last day, we were reminded that Rotarians are “People of Action” and then sent off to continue the great work that Rotarians are so well known for throughout the world.
Upon returning home, I have hope for unity, despite living in a world that frequently focuses more on differences than similarities. More importantly, I left the conference believing that Peace is possible. This belief in Peace makes me believe that our District 6250’s investment to become a “Global Peacebuilder District” for the first time in 2024-2025 continues to be a sound investment in our future.
If the topic of Peace is of interest to you, I would reiterate a call to action that I made back in my August Dispatch letter and have repeated during my District Governor talk. Rotary currently has a partnership with the Institute of Economics and Peace which gives Rotarians free access to a 2-hour online course called “Rotary Positive Peace Academy.” I would highly encourage you to enroll in this course and begin your journey towards Peace.
Finally, I am inviting you to our TriCon conference on April 25th and 26th in Brookfield, WI. If you chose to invest your time to attend this gathering of Rotarians from all over our state of Wisconsin, you will experience inspiring messages and feel compelled to further Rotary’s call for us to be “People of Action.”
The entire agenda and speaker line up for TriCon 2025 can be found at the following link: https://rotarytricon.org
I hope to see you all in Brookfield next month.
Respectfully,
Todd Restel
District Governor 6250