President Marion Beckerink introduced Assistant Governor Michael Harrington from the Mayville-Westfield Club to introduce the speaker. Michael has been President of the Mayville-Westfield Club three times, a Paul Harris Fellow and currently serves as an Assistant District Governor from 7090 and serves on the Stewardship subcommittee for 7090’s Foundation Committee. He was elected to 7090’s Foundation Board to begin in July 2025.
District Governor, Dave Alexander, likes to balance his time between meaningful work, interesting projects and giving back. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Welland. He joined Rotary in 2008 and served as club president in 2018-19. Prior to joining Rotary he was a JayCee for 15 years. Dave came to District leadership first through the International Committee and then the Rotary Leadership Institute as a trainer. At the RI Convention in Toronto in 2018 he became interested in the Environment and Sustainability Rotary Action Group with his new friends from around the world, currently working on the newest area of focus, the environment. At the RI Convention this past May in Singapore he was proud to represent our District as a session speaker. Dave has served on the board of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities board, judge of the Canadian Sustainable Community Award and as Chair of Leadership Niagara. He has also served two terms on the Welland City Council. Dave owns a sustainably managed first and is married to Krystie and has two adult sons.
First, Dave passed our samples of “Coffee Crisp Mini’s” to each member. Dave has visited this area several times, especially enjoying the fall season and the Comedy Center. Dave stressed he is a “club member” first. His goal is to support the club and hear our voices. He supported the Club Runner app as a good tool to reach him and others. Prior to his visit to our club, he looked at our history and complemented us for having our history on our website. He found a mystery that he hopes we can solve for him. Jamestown has had two District Governors Daniel Lincoln and James Riggs. Mr. Riggs worked on many initiatives and became DG right after women were able to join Rotary and which he assisted in making happen. However, there is a gap where Mr. Riggs is not mentioned in 80s or early 90s; Dave would like some background on James’ story in order to solve the mystery. Facts about our club: We are Rotaries first International District; we were the 8th club in the district; we have hosted the district conference 3 times, 1927, 1933 & 1952; in 1927 1,000+ Rotarians came to Jamestown for the district conference. This year’s District Conference is April 5th in Niagara Falls, Canada. This conference will support Rotaries and community partners to have a broader conversation to chart new opportunities. Speakers and panels are planned. Participants will listen to best practices and learn about new projects and how to make them a reality.
The DG encouraged us to continue to look at the Lighthouse award as it serves as a goal setting mechanism. He spoke about the continuing polio campaign and said Rotary will continue the fight. Dave then moved to club questions.
President Marion then surprised DG Alexander with a Paul Harris Fellow.
The meeting was adjourned with the recitation of the 4 Way Test.
