Annually the Rotary Clubs of Springfield and Rotaract hold a citywide meeting featuring a nationally known speaker and humanitarian. We were honored this year to have Ray Klinginsmith from Kirksville, MO who will become the president of Rotary International in July 2010. 
Ray is an affable guy who embodies the motto of Rotary which is “Service Above Self”. He was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in the 60′s and studied at the University of Cape Town and has served in numerous Rotary leadership positions through the years.
His speech was from the heart, with no notes, and from comments I heard was one of the most moving speeches many of the local Rotarians had ever heard. Ray particularly inspired me with what he calls “Rotary Safari Projects” which are projects coordinated between two clubs or districts – one from a developed country and one from an under-developed country. I’ve already let him know of my interest in bringing one to fruition for either my club or district. He envisions such projects will not only identify needs and provide solutions but also allow Rotarians to see other countries and experience their beauty and culture.
In addition to hearing Ray’s speech, we were able to dedicate the second Mobile Food Pantry for the Ozarks Food Harvest. 
The truck was parked inside the convention hall at The Oasis and made quite an impact with its size. The new unit holds 40,000 pounds of food and will serve a 29-county region in the Ozarks.
The project has also created a buz with Rotary International as they had a 3-person film crew from our headquarters in Evanston, IL in town for a few days to interview club presidents and others involved in this project and were also on hand for the dedication of the truck yesterday.
After a Rotary-filled couple of days I’m ready to go to the gym for my class and maybe get in the pool later today.
