Phoenix School EarlyAct Club Makes Its Annual Visit 

Salem Rotarian Leslie Levesque introduced the officers of the Phoenix School EarlyAct Club, who made their annual visit to the Salem Rotary Club this week. New EarlyAct President Jake and his fellow officers laid out their plans and goals for the coming school year, and they are ambitious ones. The students want to improve access to books in schools and hospitals, cook meals for those in need, make tangible improvements for both Salem and the Phoenix School, share more inspirational quotes, and build a club that runs more smoothly.

As is tradition, the students gave speeches ahead of their election. Leslie shared how excited she is to work with this leadership team in the year ahead, and the club's first meeting is expected next week. It is always a highlight to see the next generation of service leaders taking shape right here in Salem.

District Governor Terry Curran Visits Salem Rotary

We were also pleased to welcome District Governor Terry Curran, who is serving her second term in the role. Terry said she was glad to be back in Salem and delighted to see our EarlyAct Club thriving. She also let us know that she reads the Spoke, so members should be on their best behavior.

At the district level, Terry highlighted a strong membership program for October, which is Rotary's Membership Month, outlining initiatives to grow Rotary to more than 1.25 million members worldwide by 2030. She also spoke about the challenges our district faces in travel and geography.

Terry reminded us that World Polio Day is in October and encouraged the club to begin planning fundraising efforts for the final push to eradicate polio once and for all. Every dollar we raise is matched two-to-one by the Gates Foundation, so our contributions go three times as far.

She invited Salem Rotary to take part in the Polar Plunge and encouraged members to nominate a deserving individual for the Heroes event in November, which will be held at Danversport this year. She also reviewed the Every Rotarian, Every Year program, which recognizes clubs where every member contributes to The Rotary Foundation and for which our club receives a banner each year.

On the Rotary International level, Terry shared that Rotary is expanding its Peace Program with additional certification opportunities and a new Peace Academy in Istanbul, with the goal of developing Peace Ambassadors around the world. The district is also raising funds for a humanitarian mission to a hospital in the Philippines in March, and both donations and volunteers are welcome. Finally, mark your calendars: the District Conference will be held in May in Mystic, Connecticut.

GREAT SALEM GIVEAWAY UPDATE

Due to raffle restrictions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, tickets will be $10 each and Rotarians will sell 20 total tickets.