President-Elect Don Fipps (right) with District Governor Elect for District 2220 in Russia, Alexey Kutsenok (left)
Matt and Janice Kurth (left) model gifts from District Governor Elect for District 3000, Rvn Kannan and his wife Sarala (right)
We are fortunate that Rotary International holds its annual International Assembly right in our own back yard, at Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego. Each year, District Governor Elects (DGEs) are required to attend the Assembly to take part in training that will be critical for effective leadership of their districts. Their spouses are also encouraged to attend programming tailored to their role. Local Rotarians host DGEs and this year past DG (PDG) Janice Kurth and her husband Matt Kurth, together with PDG Marty Peters, invited eight DGEs and their spouses to their La Jolla home. Each DGE told a bit about their home district: Barbara Wolf-Wicha (DG 1920) is proud to be the first female DG for her district covering the east half of Austria. Ismail Sadek, attending with his wife Doris, is DG for District 1910 covering western Austria, including Vienna. Alexey Kutsenok of Sochi, Russia, District 2220 looks forward to building membership for the 50 clubs in his district, the first in Russia. Sharmila Bhatt can build on the experience of her husband, Harish, who also served as DG for District 9211. Sharmila will be busy visiting the 101 clubs in her district that covers Tanzania and Uganda. Jeff Bamford (spouse Putiry Mwendwa) is DGE for District 9212 that includes 98 clubs in Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan. Jeff’s overseas posting as an international banker brought him to Kenya, and subsequently to Rotary. Dominique Venere, DGE of District 7030 will put in a lot of travel time to speak to clubs across the Caribbean islands and two clubs in Guyana. Jerry Chapman is DGE for District 5870 covering Central Texas- Matt and Janice’s daughter is a Rotarian in this district. DGE Rvn Kannan and his wife Sarala brought gifts for Matt and Janice. DGE Kannan will oversee District 3000 in India- he too will be busy with nearly 130 clubs.
We congratulate all the DGEs and wish them every success in their Rotary year.