BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, 21 April 2017: It is just over 2 months before the start of the new Rotary Year 2017-2018 and within a few days the President Elect (PE) and Secretary Elect (SE) of the Rotary Club of Liamuiga (RCL), Chad Allen and Dr. Cherese Godwin, will join other PEs and SEs from Rotary District 7030 in Trinidad for the Presidents & Secretaries Elect Training (PETS) and District Conference being held 26-29 April 2017. These sessions are being attended by PEs and SEs of the over seventy (70) Rotary Clubs within Rotary District 7030 (Southern Caribbean) and Assistant District Governors Elect (AGEs) of the countries/territories within the District.
Rotary District 7030 covers the Southern Caribbean and part of South America and includes Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Curaçao, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada with Carriacou & Petite Martinique, Guadeloupe & Marie Galante, Guyana, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago.
For the first time this year the training for officers will be a Joint Rotary and Rotaract Training, rather than different training sessions at different times of the year, which will see Officers of the Rotaract Clubs in the District also being trained in Trinidad. President Elect Tanisha Mills of the recently formed Rotaract Club of Nevis (RCN) will travel with the RCL Officers to Trinidad for training. The RCN, which was chartered by Rotary International (RI) on 19 December 2015, is sponsored by the RCL and, like other Rotaract Clubs worldwide, is for persons between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, more or less a younger version of Rotary Clubs. The Clubs that make up the different branches of Rotary provide humanitarian service, promote high ethical standards in personal and professional lives, and encourage peace and goodwill.
PETS Training is a very important Event on the Calendar of each Rotary District and that of Rotary International (RI) as it is the time when the New Officers receive the training necessary for them to effectively carry out their mandate for the upcoming Rotary Year.
The theme for the next Rotary Year, 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018, is “Rotary: Making a Difference”. Rotary International President Elect (RIPE), Ian Riseley, in unveiling the new theme at the International Assembly for District Governors worldwide in January 2017 said, "Making a difference is an expression you hear all the time about Rotary, the opportunities that we have and the things that we do. And that is why we are all here, at this assembly. To make a difference: to our world, to our communities, and in the lives of others. And in 2017-18, that will not only be our goal, but our theme — Rotary: Making a Difference.”
He continued, “What kind of a difference each club and each Rotarian chooses to make will always be their own decision. But we are united in our organization and its common principles: our insistence on ethics and our commitment to Service Above Self.”
As the Rotary Club of Liamuiga and the Rotaract Club of Nevis join with their District Member Clubs to satisfy the request of RIPE Ian to continue “making a difference to our communities, our countries, and our world”, we look forward to the continued unwavering support of corporate St Kitts & Nevis and that of the citizens and residents of the Federation.
The New Boards of all Rotary and Rotaract Clubs worldwide take up duties on 1 July each year.