I want to thank you all for selecting me as your President-elect. In preparing for my year, I attended the 2021 Southwest Rotary President-elect Training Seminar (hereinafter “PETS”) Friday, March 5 through Saturday, March 6. PETS was virtual, complete with virtual rooms, virtual exhibitors, a virtual lounge and a virtual exhibition hall. To say it was “well done” does not give everyone behind this huge endeavor sufficient credit; it was excellent! PETS Chair, Scott Carr, made each training session lighthearted, yet, inspiring. As an example, on breaks he would invite us to peruse our kitchens for delicious treats and snacks provided by Rotary free of charge; obviously, making light of the virtual experience.
The theme for my year is “Serve to Change Lives,” with an emphasis on the more Rotarians, the more service. I heard the phrase “each one, bring one” used throughout PETS. “Each one, bring one” aligns fully with a goal I expressed to current President, Teri Muse, a while back. I would like Arcadia Rotary to achieve 200 members for our 100th anniversary in 2027. 100th! Can you believe it? My goal is easily achievable as illustrated by simple math. We currently have 71 members. If each member brings in 2 members, then a goal of 200 is met.
I am fully aware that some of us struggle with the Zoom format and, as a result, the idea of inviting guests to our meetings, let alone, attend our meetings ourselves is tough. Zoom seems impersonal, informal, invasive and juvenile. I get it. I commenced the process of determining how we can restore in person meetings. If you have any ideas too, please let me know. We all need to help current President, Teri Muse, end her year strong with in person meetings reinstated.
Back to PETS. Friday night consisted of a Welcome Session and then District Sessions. Saturday commenced with an Opening Session, where Rotary International President Elect, Shekhar Mehta, started us on the “each one, bring one” path. Mehta suggested a monthly Zoom call with non-governmental and governmental entities in each Club’s city to get updates on needs. He encouraged us to invite leaders in our communities to give talks and become members. He invited us to call each member regularly and find out how everyone is doing and what everyone needs from the Club.
The second breakout session was “Increase Our Impact,” which stressed that we must attract leaders in our Community to join Rotary and guide our outreach efforts. We must identify the advocates in our Club and encourage them to lead us in determining the needs of our community. Our Past President, John Wilson, came to mind as he has his finger on the daily pulse of our community at the Boys and Girls Club of The Foothills. Richard Schulhof also has his finger on the pulse of our community in a different way: from the environmental perspective, among others. Brian Hall’s recent business rehabilitation project at Hyper Coffee is a stellar example of an outreach effort that will have a lasting impact for decades.
“Expand Our Reach” was the next session. The focus was on making programs count and keeping in mind that speakers are prospective members. We want to give our best Rotary welcome to our speakers and exude a positive outlook, keeping meetings uplifting and encouraging. The topic of diversity was addressed. We need to think about who is not part of our membership and invite them to join. Who do you have in your circle that you would like to join? Maybe it is a religious leader, a neighbor, a long-time friend, or even your physician or dentist? Anyone who understands the needs of our community, or wants to, and is ready to do something about it is a Rotarian in the making. Who is that in your life?
The second to last session was “Enhance Participant Engagement.” The acronym LOVE was used. “L” stands for listening to what members want. “O” stands for being open to opportunities. “V” stands for valuing friendship. “E” stands for energy. We are encouraged to be relentlessly positive and enthusiastic and to engage our members and the community. We were reminded to re-energize members who do things for the Club, such as with “Rotarian of the Month.” We all must thank Ray Bushnell and Jim Pontello profusely for their efforts during each meeting and with recruiting and fostering new members; our Club would barely survive without them. During a breakout room session, one President elect in his twenties shared the success he is experiencing using the “Engage Younger Professionals Toolkit” provided by Rotary. This is something for each of us to download and review; possibly even discuss in place of a speaker at a meeting.
“Increase Our Ability to Adapt” was the final session. Club surveys were stressed in the breakout room following this session. Posing questions such as “What are we doing right,” “What should we stop doing,” “What should we start doing that we are not doing,” and “Anything else you want to see us do that we are not doing” should be posed to the members. Be on the look out for another survey. I know current President, Teri Muse, started her year with a survey and I might just start mine with one as well.
A little about me. I am a divorce and paternity litigator, which means that my cases are tough. I try to limit my case load to 40 cases. Sometimes my caseload exceeds that amount, sometimes it does not. I have one, full time assistant and one part-time assistant. I like to handle my cases on my own to make sure I am taking the best care of my clients. Also, my area of law is very personal and mandates one on one attention. My clients expect me to be available after hours and on the weekends because child custody and domestic violence issues do not limit themselves to 9-5. I have a leadership role in two, other groups. One that meets weekly and one that meets monthly. It is not uncommon for me to have three highly contested court appearances in one week with multiple witnesses on top of depositions and the day to day of running a law practice.
To say I burn the candle at both ends is an understatement; most of my attorney peers are in the same position. I remain available to you to keep our Club going in the right direction. Rotary is, and always has been, a reminder to me that there are great people in the world who care and want to help. That is why I started and why I am still here. In embracing our digital age, please know that I am always available by phone or text message, preferably text, to each one of you and I hope to hear from each one of you. If I do not get back to you right away, please do not take it personally. We are all volunteers, no one is perfect and we all need to exercise grace and patience with each other.
My vision for my year is three-fold: get us back to in person meetings, keep our power teams going and get each one of you to bring in at least one new member. We are lining up powerful programs and engaging projects, the ground roots for which are in the works as we speak. But first, and foremost, let us do our best to make sure current President, Teri Muse, feels the love and gratitude for keeping our Club alive during a very challenging year, ripe with great misfortune that I hope we will never see again. I believe that if we continue to apply the Rotary 4 Way test and recruit as many people to Rotary that we can, we will not see this misfortune again.
Sincerely,

Ashley Andrews