Hello fellow Rotarians,

Happy New Year!!!

Ah, the dawn of a new year. It is a time to ring out the old and celebrate what unknowns are in front of us.  It is also a time to not lose the lessons of the past that will make you better in the future.  My past year has been full of ups and downs, challenges and headaches, failed attempts and fulfilling dreams.  Thank you for being a part of my 2018.  I’m looking forward to the road of 2019.

The New Year may be here, but it’s half time for me!  It has been a quick six months and I know the next six will be even faster.  I cannot wait to experience it all.

We are now selling tickets for the Elimination Reverse Raffle!  Let’s get this event SOLD OUT ASAP!!  Last year we had to sell 11 tickets on the last day. Let’s not do that again. Reminder…..EVERY Nile’s Rotarian MUST sell or buy at least ONE ticket!!  No excuses.  It’s easy! Just buy or sell one ticket.  I know you can do that!  We have 335 tickets to sell.  If everyone buys\sells one ticket, we only have 220 left. So….some additional help will be needed to sell the rest.  Ask family and co-workers.  This fundraiser helps support MANY worthy nonprofits in the area, plus it helps with RYLA and Rotary Interact Scholarships! Help President-Elect Bruce out and make this event a sellout!!

There is a link to the Reverse Raffle webpage from our nilesrotary.org website.  You can download a copy of the flyer/ticket form as well as get details about the event. As auction items are donated, there will be links to lists of those items as well, so you can plan ahead. And of course ticket order forms are available in great supplies at our club meetings; please pick up lots of copies to hand out to your friends, family, colleagues, fellow organization board members, etc.

Keep your eyes looking out the big window.  The world is a beautiful place – experience it.  Don’t live it through a little window of a handheld device.

In Rotary,

Brian Hughes
President, 2018-2019

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

Hello Fellow Rotarians,

I hope you had a festive Diwali and Thanksgiving.  I was very thankful to be sitting with my parents, mother-in-law, wife, daughters, and grandkids.  We all had a great time.

December is here – the final month of the calendar year.  It’s our last chance to get on the “Nice” list if you know what I mean. Christmas time is one of the most enjoyable times of year for me.  It’s a time where we truly celebrate the past with family traditions, to celebrate the future with a toast to a Happy New Year, and where we show our appreciation for one another.  It’s the season when Santa Claus makes his appearance to all that believe.  Do you hear the bell?  I most definitely do.  Yes, I’m a believer.  I don’t get how someone cannot be a believer.  Let me explain.    Have you ever donated a toy at a toy drive? Have you ever helped sort toys to be delivered to children with needs?  Have you ever bought toys for a child you didn’t know because you pick their name? If you have, then you should be a believer too.  To that child and family they don’t know where that toy came from.  To them, it was Santa Claus.  His spirit of joy and appreciation lives in us.  It is up to us to utilize this great gift and share the Santa spirit in making a difference.

I would like to share with you a newspaper article that I love, where I’m reminded of the Santa Claus spirit. It is here for your enjoyment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York Sun of Sept. 21, 1897

Dear Editor,

I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in the Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? – Virginia O’ Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exists, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus? It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus? You might as well not believe in fairies! You might as well get your papa to hire men to watch all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby’s rattle to see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest man that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love and romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
– Francis Pharcellus Church

 

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

President Brian

Hello fellow Rotarians,

November is a month of Celebrations and Thanks.  We start the month off with the celebration of Diwali.  It is a celebration of light over darkness, good over evil, hope over despair, and knowledge over ignorance.  It’s a time for families and friends to get together to decorate, gaze into the radiance of light, and enjoy culinary delights prepared from lifelong family recipes.  As I embrace this rich cultural experience, I will remind myself to be an inspiration to others and to be that shining light for others.

As we move through the month, I will also remind myself of the many blessing bestowed upon me.  I will give Thanks to those who have entrusted me with their personal thoughts and feelings.  I will give Thanks to the ones who love me – especially to my wife, daughters, parents, and friends.  I will give thanks to Rotary for opening my eyes to new possibilities, a world without polio, and millions of people making a difference and inspiring change in this world.  I have received much more that I have yet to realize, but each day I give Thanks for all of the riches of life I have received.

I have a special “Thank You” to YOU, Niles Rotarians, for being an extraordinary club.   You always try to give where and when you can in efforts to make this world a little brighter.  You care for one another as one of your own. You do the best you can and give it your all. You help those who need assistance, yet never ask for anything in return.  Your light is shining the brightest when helping others.  Thank you for opening my eyes, my ears, and my heart for this great gift.

Happy Diwali and Thanksgiving to all,

President Brian