Frank Deaver Editorials

Mid-Year, not New-Year

By Frank Deaver

Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA

     What is the year of your birth?  Subtract that from 2011, and it reminds that each of us becomes a year older once in each calendar year.  A fellow Rotarian asserts that in politically correct language, we're not "older" but just "chronologically gifted."

     But for Rotary and Rotarians, the beginning of 2011 is only the middle of the Rotary Year.  It's not an annual beginning or ending, not a blank slate for starting over, but a mid-point in the progress of Rotary accomplishments.  It's a time for club presidents and officers, directors and committees, to determine if their annual goals are even half accomplished.

     Mid-year in Rotary is a time for evaluation, and for scheduling the completion of Rotary tasks in the half-year remaining, because time is rapidly ticking away.  How much time?  From January 1 to the end of June the half-year consists not only of six months and 26 weeks, but also 181 days, 4,344 hours, 260,640 minutes, 15,638,400 seconds.

     Listen closely.  The clock is ticking.  The minutes, hours, and days are passing rapidly.  It's time for a brief look back.

     What were those ambitious goals the club president set forth last Spring in the annual Club Planning Guide?

         • Membership growth?

         • Fellowship events?

         • Effective club bulletin and website?

         • Participation in District meetings?

         • Community and International project?

         • Increased support of the Rotary Foundation?

     Now is the time to ask:  Are those goals accomplished?  Or at least half-way completed?

     While the Rotary Year is defined by two dates, July 1 -- June 30, the dates are separated by a dash.  That dash is of special importance, for it's the accomplishment between the two dates, within the dash, that really matters.  And on January 1, the dash is half gone.

     The Chinese New Year, which begins February 3, 2011, is designated the Year of the Rabbit.  Isn't it fitting that the rabbit is one of the more active animals, and couldn't this be an inspiration for more animated effort in the next six months?

     Rotary Year 2010-2011 has topped its annual hill.  It's sometimes said that from that point on it's downhill to the end.  Perhaps so, but on a downhill slope we gain speed.  It's time to pick up speed.  It's time to look again at that Annual Planning Guide.  It's time to be sure we accomplish the Rotary Year goals!  The clock is ticking.

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