June is here and for Rotary it is Fellowships Month, a theme that “celebrates international goodwill and encourages members to connect through shared hobbies, recreational activities, and professions.”  I do know that the chance to see friends and fellow Rotarians is one of the best parts of our Rotary Club.  This past weekend the Rotary District 5400 Conference was held here in Idaho Falls, and it was a chance to Fellowship with people from other Rotary Clubs.  

Since the Rotary year begins July 1st, June is when Rotary is preparing to hand off positions to the next group of leaders. For our Club, Eugene Engmann is our incoming President, Carrie Athay will be President Elect, and Amanda Logan will be Vice-President.  Please support these three and all of our other officers and board members.

At the District level, the incoming District Governor is Mike Markley.  He will replace Kathy Buck, who we can thank for bringing the district conference to East Idaho this year.  Rotary also has an annual theme and this year’s theme was “Unite for Good”, for the upcoming year the theme "Create Lasting Impact" was unveiled by Rotary International President-Elect Olayinka Hakeem Babalola. These two themes are definitely related. 

District Governor, Kathy, was into the train theme for this year's district conference, so I did see the need to share the following story:

Trains are not such a great memory for Eagle Rock, the original name for Idaho Falls.  In 1886 following a violent windstorm that destroyed the Eagle Rock roundhouse, the Union Pacific Railroad used the collapse of the buildings and an existing labor dispute to justify relocating its major train shops and rail yards 50 miles south to Pocatello. This historical move nearly decimated Eagle Rock's economy, but the town later reinvented itself and was renamed Idaho Falls in 1891.  So, with some bitterness against our neighbors to the south, I am done talking about trains.

As I look at the themes of Fellowship, Unite for Good, and Create Lasting Impact, I am proud of our Club as we do all of those well.  The Duck Race is upon us, so let's unite for good and fellowship as we put on the Duck Race and make some lasting improvements to our greenbelt/riverwalk.

In Fellowship,