Charles Hale, Director of Operations & Programs, Idaho Falls Rescue Mission (IFRM) - "Helping bring peace to and resolve the conflict in the lives of the hungry and homeless in our area".
February is Rotary International "Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution" month.
Rotarians,
February is Rotary’s “Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention Month”. How do we promote peace? Our national organization states “by carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.” All good things our club is and should be doing.
But maybe a little more applicable is how we interact with others daily. For years I worked with a guy by the name of Jim who was the best foreman level leader I have ever worked with. Now Jim didn’t move particularly fast, wasn’t particularly articulate, or do anything particularly exceptional. But his group always got along, was very productive and everyone liked and respected Jim. He was productive because he was efficient and didn’t waste any effort. Why he was so well respected took a little more observation. The short answer is that Jim treated everyone with respect.
Respect is a funny thing, it is not earned, it is reciprocated. Respect only has value when people realize they are respected. Finally, when there is conflict between two reasonable people, it is invariably due to a lack, or perceived lack, of respect.
So, I challenge you this month to go out of your way to show respect to a few more people and to develop peace locally.
In Fellowship,
Stephen Boorman, President
Rotary Club of Idaho Falls
Chris Pelkola Lee, Broker and Owner, simpLEE Home – "The latest on Bonneville County Real Estate"
February is Rotary International "Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution" month.
Rotarians,
As we roll into the new year it is only natural to look back at 2025 and look forward to 2026. As we look backwards, we see a wonderful Rotary Summer Social, a great Duck Race, an awesome Christmas Party and another successful UTV Holiday Light Parade. We live in a community that is growing and vibrant, with the inevitable growing pains. This is however much better than the alternative of a depressed and stagnate community. We mourn the passing of two great Rotarians, Bruce Turner and Carrie Scheid.
One of the transitions is the Idaho Falls mayor position as Mayor Casper hands the baton to Mayor Burtenshaw. Regarding the Mayor’s office, the State of the City speech is at noon on the 21st. To encourage attendance, we will not be having a noon Rotary Club meeting on that day. However, we are working on putting together a social for that evening so please stay tuned. Remember, this is a fundraiser for the Mayor’s Scholarship Fund, a fund we will find out more about from our Club meeting speaker on the 28th.
Also, this year the Rotary district convention will be in Idaho Falls. As the biggest club in the district, it is incumbent on us to Unite for Good and step up and help.
So, here's to looking forward to a great year, with great people, in a great community!
In Fellowship,
Stephen Boorman, President
Rotary Club of Idaho Falls
Rotarians,
As we transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, we are in the middle of the holiday season, a wonderful time of the year. This is a great time of the year for family and community, so enjoy it. Our Rotary schedule gets lighter with only two noon meetings this month. We will get to hear from our District Governor and learn about the history of the Salvation Army.
I recently finished a great book called "Inspired Public Service" by Steve Wright. One of those books that if I hadn't known the author I probably wouldn't have read. The author was the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration for the first 13 years of this century. The book contains a lot of great principles with one of the themes being that public service is harder than private industry, as private industry success is based on being financially successful. While public service has more objectives and they are harder to define because “non-for-profits exist primarily to create a better life for the public than would occur in their absence".
Steve does provide three public sector values: trustworthiness, operational excellence, and stewardship. A little different than "to provide humanitarian service, promote peace, and advance goodwill globally through a fellowship of business and professional leaders" but with a lot of overlap.
Another theme of the book is that the measure of public service is the satisfaction of the stakeholders. With full acknowledgement that every group has many stakeholders and measuring satisfaction can be difficult.
Therefore, as we go through this holiday season and while we unite for good let’s enjoy the community of others. Let’s also look outward and see how we as Rotarians will be able to make life better for the public, provide trustworthy excellent responsible service, and enhance the satisfaction of our community in the coming year.
In Fellowship,
Stephen Boorman, President
Rotary Club of Idaho Falls
Rotary At The Idaho Falls Festival of Trees
Michelle Ziel-Dingman, Executive Director of The Snake River Animal Shelter - "An Update"
President thoughts for November
In Fellowship,
Stephen Boorman, President
Rotary Club of Idaho Falls
Rotarians,
As we move into October, the Rotary International theme is "Economic and Community Development". Our program chair this month is Brad Cramer and he has some great speakers for us. With topics ranging from a conversation on civil discourse, to talking about celebrating our 250th Anniversary as a country, and community growth topics thrown in. Topped off with our own Carrie Athay talking about the impact of the arts.
As we approach an election season it is important to remember that our economy and community are built on the bedrock of the ability to talk and work with all our neighbors. Life would be quite boring if we were all the same. An election also raises the question of the purpose of government. For me that is “to provide an environment in which private industry can prosper” with “private industry” including the tranquil enjoyment of our private life as well as our commercial interest. Or, as stated in some old document, “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty”.
This brings us back around to economic and community development, which is built on that civil discourse that Rotary does such a great job of fostering. Which is why many Rotary clubs and/or Rotarians are working with Braver Angels a group working to help America heal its current divide (https://braverangels.org/rotary/).
In summary, I am grateful for our great club where we can "Unite For Good" and have discussions that provide for greater "Economic and Community Development".
In Fellowship,
Stephen Boorman, President
Rotary Club of Idaho Falls
Service Above Self
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
United States of America