At the installation dinner on June 26, 2007, incoming President Ted Nygreen presented a plaque to outgoing president Steve Holden (see the photoalbum), and then addressed the Rotarians and their guests.

Once again we have the start of a new Rotary year. I am honored to serve as President for the second half of our club’s 88th year and beginning of its 89th.

First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing club president, Steve Holden, for the hard work and tireless effort he put into this office. Those of us who worked closely with Steve recognize how hard he worked on behalf of our club.

Second, I also want to thank our club secretary Dave Schribman and club treasurer Paul Schwarz for - once again - taking care of two very important and often under-appreciated positions in our club.

Next, I have to mention the Rotary International Convention I attended last week in Salt Lake City. It was a tremendous experience, achieving its stated objective “to stimulate, inspire and inform all Rotarians at an international level." With almost 20,000 Rotarians there, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman declared it the largest convention ever held in Utah. Members from 147 countries attended, all united by a common shared purpose: Service Above Self.

This year, our new Rotary International President, Wilf Wilkinson, has chosen the theme Rotary Shares. To quote Wilf: “We share our time; we share our talents; we share our resources; we share our kindness; and we share our love. In Rotary, sharing doesn’t mean giving away the things you don’t need for yourself. In Rotary, sharing means giving of yourself freely, for the good of others.”

I believe that our 2-word theme for this year, Rotary Shares, exemplifies the ideals of Rotary. We do share. And we have that purpose: Service Above Self.

So, my fellow Rotarians, I submit to you that it is exactly that purpose which makes Rotary special. We are not just another lunch club.

Think about it – although we enjoy our weekly lunch meetings and the fellowship of Rotary, we are Rotarians because in this organization we can be of service. We can have fun while doing good.

As this year’s president, I ask all club members to share through the generous giving of their time and money to support our club’s commitment to the local and international programs we undertake.

And I have 4 challenges for all our members to act like Rotarians.

First, I challenge each and every member to learn the principles of Rotary and remain faithful to our organization’s ideals.

Second, I challenge each and every member to serve on one or more club committees to further the achievement of our goals as an organization.

Third, I challenge each and every member to attend every club meeting and participate in all our various fundraisers.

Fourth, I challenge each and every member to bring local friends and business acquaintances to our lunch meetings and allow them to experience just how enjoyable this club is.

I hope you are all “up” to these 4 challenges.

At our next Installation dinner 365 days from today, I hope we can look back and say we added many new members and raised a lot of money -- money to support our existing programs and give the club flexibility next year to start new programs.

Finally, a special thanks all of our active members because you are what makes the Rotary Club of White Plains so special.

So, let’s have fun this year, and “make it happen.” I look forward to serving our local community and fulfilling our club’s obligations with Rotary International.

Thank you.