President's Message

 

We invite you to join us.

 

Do it right now.

 

Because we need you. And believe it or not, you also need us.

 

 

For the past century, we helped build Auburn into the wonderful community that it is today.

 

We built amphitheaters, parks, and improvements at local schools.

 

We helped to protect and strengthen our young people by supporting the Boys & Girls Club, the Boy Scouts, the 4-H, and by sponsoring Youth Leadership Programs like the Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly, the Rotary Eighth Grade Leadership Retreat, the Rotary Interact Club at the high school, and by providing college scholarships to local high school students.

 

We helped to protect and strengthen women by helping with the Stand Up Placer Women’s Shelter, and Acres of Hope, and by promoting our women members into the highest positions of leadership in our club, and by supporting the women leaders in our community.

 

We supported all of these worthy causes and many more, and we did all of it in a spirit of joyful play. Rotary is a fellowship of people who have servant’s hearts. Our desire to serve our community transcends all of our differences, and everything that we do, we do in a spirit of joyful play.

 

When you join Rotary, you will find one of the things that most people in our currently-lonely society long for the most: you will find a place where you feel a profound sense of belonging.

 

Our polling shows that most people who join Rotary and stay in Rotary do so for three most common reasons: (1) to make business and social connections, (2) to be in service to the community, and (3) to enjoy the fun and fellowship of great friends.

 

If you are interested in making business and social connections, I can tell you from my own experience that most of the very best career opportunities, and social opportunities that have come into my life during the past twenty-five years have come to me from being a part of Rotary. I can also tell you that in just the past year, one of our newer members (a young entrepreneur) has as a mentor in our club the owner of one of the most successful automobile dealerships in our area. Another of our new members has the owner of one of the most successful electronics manufacturing firms in our area as her mentor. Where else in all the world can you find more beneficial business contacts and mentors than that?

 

If you are interested in being in service to your community, I can tell you that the most heart-warming service experiences that I have had during the past twenty-five years have come from being a part of Rotary. I’ve had experiences like playing Santa Claus for the children at the women’s shelter, and making Santa visits to the homes of needy families on Christmas Day, and making home repairs for elderly people in need, as a part of our club’s “This Old House” project.

 

If you are interested in enjoying the fun and fellowship of great friends, I can tell you that Rotary Club meetings are so much fun that I look forward to our weekly meeting all week long. I can also tell you that most of the finest, the truest, and the best friends I have made have come to me from being in Rotary.

 

So, if any of that sounds good to you, then right now is the time for you to come and visit one of our Tuesday Noon meetings at the Elks Club. Just ask for me when you get there, and I’ll introduce you to some of the finest and funniest people you’ll ever meet.

 

Make no mistake about it: we want you to join our club. We need you. We have big dreams for future service projects for our community, and many hands make for easier work.

 

While you may not know it, or want to admit it, you need us as much as we need you. In spite of the fact that we are the most technologically connected people in the history of the world, we are also the most lonely. A discouraging feeling of isolation has risen to the level of an American Epidemic. And one study says that one out of every five Americans is currently suffering from some form of depression. You won’t find isolation or depression at Rotary. We are all about connecting, and serving.

 

So, if you are interested in connecting... really connecting... with other human beings at the heart level, then come and join us at the Rotary Club of Auburn.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Bob Litchfield

Club President 2023-2024