Rotary District 7530 Governor Rick Reese Visits Elkins Rotary Club By Wayne Sheets Contributing Business Writer

Club President Pat Schumann receiving "Rotary Club at Work" plaque for the Clubs work in the Elkins community and contributions to the many programs that Rotary is involved in locaaly and around the world.

Rick Reese, District Governor of Rotary District 7530, visited the Elkins Club on Nov. 3. While addressing club members, he spoke to a wide range of programs that Rotary is involved in around the world and at home including Rotary’s participation in the worldwide efforts to eradicate polio. According to Reese, Rotarians have been a major influence in helping to remove the deadly and feared disease from all but four countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria. To date, Rotary has contributed more than $700 million toward eradicating polio, a figure that will rise to more than $850 million by the time the world is certified polio-free. Rotary members have helped immunize over two billion children in 122 countries and are currently working to raise $100 million more to match a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the same amount.

“Another major concern of Rotary,” he said, “is worldwide hunger, poverty, illiteracy and contaminated water supplies that all too many of our fellow global citizens have to deal with. Not only are Rotarians fighting these problems in third world countries, we are fighting these same battles right here on the Home Front. One of the programs to help with the fight against illiteracy that you of the Elkins Club have is the distribution of those special dictionaries to Randolph County’s third graders. I think this is a wonderful program and it should be continued. Not only do the dictionaries provide the students with the standard text contained in most all other dictionaries, they also contain several special and additional sections that most collegiate volumes do not feature.

Speaking on other matters close to home, Reese addressed that of keeping Rotary Clubs strong and viable. “We must also get our membership up,” Reese said. “I know how difficult it is to maintain a club’s membership at a constant level not to mention increasing the membership in these times of economic stress, but believe me, these are the times when we need new members more than ever. As membership declines, so does the financial stability and strength of our clubs as does our ability to help others in their time of need. We must all make an extra effort toward maintaining and increasing our club’s membership.

“Another serious concern of mine,” Reese continued, “is the childhood mortality rate here in West Virginia. Do you know that the number one killer of infants in West Virginia is childhood accidents? We must do all we can to eliminate this terrible killer of our very young. One way is to help the school system devise and maintain a safe playground for them. I challenge each of you to do all you can to help eliminate this terrible killer.”

In closing, Reese challenged all Rotary members to keep Rotary’s motto, “Service above Self” foremost in their mind and to always be alert to ways Rotarians can exercise that creed.

Born in Grafton, Reese is a life-long resident of Taylor County. He is now serving a fourth-term as Magistrate of Taylor County. He served two terms as county Sheriff in the more than 30 years in the profession of law enforcement, corrections and the courts. He holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) from West Virginia University.

District Governor Reese has been an active member of the Rotary Club of Grafton for 25 years. He is a two-time club past-president having chaired various “avenues of service” and on the club’s Rotary Foundation. He served as Assistant Governor of the District for three terms. He served for six years as chair of District Community Service Committee. Rick has served with 10 previous Governors of District 7530.

In addition to collecting vintage Rotary International memorabilia, Reese enjoys the study of the Civil War in West Virginia and the preservation of original log structures.