Year End Address
Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guests, Friends, and my fellow Rotarians:
Team Rotary.

The season is all but over. And I have to say, at the outset, I am one proud coach. It has been a winning season—a year with grand aspirations and with tremendous success. It has been a year of growth, a year of visioning, a year of learning and a year of change. Rather than prolong this afternoon with revisiting events, projects, and accolades, I included with your Wheel today, a summary of some of our highlights with thanks—perhaps insufficient thanks—to those responsible. If have forgotten some things or events and some people, please forgive me for I know in my heart that this club and its membership contributed throughout.

And through it all, through every event, through every charitable act handled by you, through every thankless task shouldered by you and in every decision and action take by you, there has been one important and consistent element—a sense of belonging, a desire to work together as a team.

All of us have our teams. All of us can wear different colours—all of us can belong to different teams at different times and different seasons. I have perhaps a little too exuberantly worn many colours and brandished many an insignia. But what team do I cherish most?

Is it my beloved Green Bay Packers?

Or my hapless Toronto Maple Leafs.

Is it the Detroit Pistons or perhaps their summer brethren, the Detroit Tigers?

Or my Croatians—disappointing as they were--or any pro soccer team that I choose to follow. And what of my alma mater, the University of Windsor. Or the purple and white of my joyful days at Assumption College School.

Which is my favorite team? Which is the insignia—the team logo -- that means most to me? If you look on your lapels, your jackets and your shirts, you will see that you are wearing it. It is the symbol that brings us together here each Monday in the spirit of service and in our dedication to strong principles of fellowship and understanding. My team is your team. Team Rotary. It is you—each and every one of you. It is you and the million plus members of an organization whose concept of team has survived a century and more. It is a team that has seen the ebb and flow of history, the rise and fall of tyrants, the restoration of democracy’s bright light in the abyss of darkness. It is the team that started with four simple but astute men and which has grown into a powerful force of bright and enterprising women and men pulling together, working together and succeeding together—a multi-talented powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with, an army of good will and generous spirit combating the ills of this world be it polio, illiteracy, drought or famine. Team Rotary has worked to persevere and make a difference both locally and internationally. It has done so for over one hundred years and will continue to do so for hundreds more because what we have, fellow Rotarians, is what every team wants—a perpetual dynasty that measures its success, not by its trophies or its accolades, but by its attitude, its philosophy and its strong and continuing work ethic. Rotary measures its success, one year at a time, one project at a time and one Rotary club at time. And we have learned to celebrate our success, sip the champagne of accomplishment and get back to work the day after victory because we know the challenges facing us and they will not wait for celebration.
And it’s not always the same players. We have our starters—our all-stars—but also our reserves. We also have our future stars and I see many in this room, those of you who will rise to the challenge and say, I know that I can help this team, spell off my brother and sisters in Rotary who have led the way, and continue in our winning tradition. It is up to you, my fellow Rotarians, to determine what kind of player you really want to be—idle and sitting on the bench or active by getting in the game. I would hope that each and everyone of you want to continue your Rotary lives by being that kind of player, the one who wants to get into the game.

Like any coach, I realize that I did not fulfill all of my goals this year—the playbook remains replete with ideas and challenges we are yet to pursue. We worked hard on our visioning. We were diligently on our protocol and bolstered our structure. We continued to strive to become fiscally responsible and we enhanced our image with improved communications and community awareness. (You couldn’t buy the kind of media attention we got this year over an egg salad sandwich!). I am delighted that in this year of grand visioning, we have set our sights on courses and on challenges that will see this club make some dramatic announcements in the coming year and the next few Rotary years. The combined strength of this club and its solid and well-tempered foundation will see a flurry of activities that will bring the Rotary message home to many who are familiar with our work and will again remind those who may have forgotten about us that Rotary continues to care. Your Board of Directors and your foundation Board have worked hard to strengthen their respective infrastructures and with new and determined thinking are now poised to do some truly wonderful things in this community. Our collective goal is to now bring the Rotary message to light with new voices and fresh concepts in a fashion that will remarkably and most assuredly let this community know that Rotary continues to be a driving force of good will and good work in a community that deserves nothing less than the best we can offer.

And like great sports organizations, this club has had a wonderful legacy of leadership. I came into this club because of people like Steve Payne. I have been inspired by the leadership of the Presidents who have preceded me during my Rotary life and who are still with this club-Norm Wheeler, Bill McCrae, Charles Clark, Walter Willms, Gary Wintermute, Connie Martin, Terry Finn, Scott Elliot and Bev Cyr. And I am encouraged by the fact that those presidents remain active and involved. And I include among them as well, the likes of Lex McCrindle, John McGivney, Fred Sorrell, Roy Lancaster, Murray Elder, Bev Lounsboury, Don Snyder, Bill Frazer, John Maus and Mike Zin –all who remained active after their terms because that is the Rotarian spirit, that is the Rotarian zeal……And by their example, I make this solemn promise: though Past President will be my title, Active Rotarian will be my role.

I hope to be able to continue with some projects I had announced early this year that, in the fullness of time, will be completed and which will benefit this community and this club. And I encourage your support and invite you to work on these projects with fellowship in mind and with the desire to accomplishing something of value for our community and for our club. These projects include (1) the Four Way Test Stretching Centre at Malden Park and the Dedication and Enhancement of the Cross Country Trail and Field House through Fundraising Efforts with our community secondary schools and the assistance of the City of Windsor Parks and Recreation Department and our friend, Rotarian Don Sadler. The stretching centre will be a simple, uncomplicated area dedicated to fitness and with suitable signage explaining the Four Way Test –a continuing reminder to athletes and casual users of this outdoor facility of the importance of ethics not only in sport, but in business and day to day living. And an enhanced and improved trail for runners, walkers, athletes and families so that we can enjoy nature, compete with the best and provide a legacy for future generations.

(2) the Rotary Soccer Ball project, designed to promote ethics and understanding through sport by the supply of soccer balls featuring the Rotary Wheel and the Four Way test written in the language of those children who will receive them through Rotarians travelling abroad. I thank Rotarian Joe Passa whose talents have assisted in the first drafts and design of the prototype ball. We will share these plans with you in the coming months; (3) Finally, a new project which will be more formally announced this summer, ROTARY KICKS—Kids in Cool Kicking Shoes, a project already endorsed by both the International Service Committee and your Board of Directors, simply designed to collect and distribute used soccer and other athletic shoes for use by children in countries such as Haiti and Ghana,-- children who do not have the same opportunities as our own but who, with the generosity and good sense of this community and our club will become children who may get as much enjoyment from their athletic experiences as do our own. After all, are not the children of the world really and truly our own children? Who really knows—someday, we may witness the rise of a soccer star or an Olympic athlete from an emerging nation who got his or her start by the gift of a simple pair of used athletic shoes.

One person’s hand-me-downs, another’s dream come true.
The promise of tomorrow nurtured by the efforts of today.
My first order of business as your immediate Past President is to support and assist your new President, Maureen Lucas and the new Board of Directors. Let me tell you that your new President Maureen has organizational skills and innovative insights at which I marvel. I am delighted that she will lead this club to greater heights of success and that she will take comfort in knowing that this club—this strong and resilient membership will be there for her. I wish her much success and know that she will have as much enjoyment in her year as I have had in mine. Congratulations President Maureen.

I also want to acknowledge the efforts of our Centennial President Bev Cyr who through her brave and dramatic efforts embraced the challenge of visioning, led us through a significant task of compiling the results of a necessary and timely survey which helped us fashion a vision for our future, a road map to enlightenment. Your dedication and determination will always be remembered as you are forever in our hearts, our Centennial President, Bev Cyr.

I have to also thank our long suffering, administrative assistant, Brenda Cohen, who makes the job of Rotary President an easy task. Professional, courteous, helpful and dignified, Brenda represents in a very public way all of the attributes of the Rotary Ideal. And for her dedication and efforts, day-in and day-out, I offer, on your behalf, tremendous thanks.
To my family, my children –Andrea, Stephen and Aaron,--who I embrace more dearly than my own life, thanks for your love and respect and the joy you bring me each and every day. And to my wife, Denise, my best friend and soul mate, someone who fuels my soul with love, passion, respect and dignity, I offer my thanks and gratitude for your support, understanding and constant inspiration.

As coach of this great team Rotary, I can say it has been a wonderful run. I didn’t lift a cup above my shoulders or (thankfully), I didn’t get a pail of Gatorade poured over my head. I didn’t make the sports page, the play of the day and (mercifully) I didn’t get fired like some coaches do from time to time, much to the disappoint of a select few of you I am sure.

What I got out of this Rotary year as your President was the satisfaction of knowing that for one brief moment in time, I was allowed to serve at the helm of a club whose membership has for decades made its mark in volunteerism and has set the standard for leadership in this community and our world, a club that has embraced its earnest desire to do nothing short of something in a manner nothing short of wondrous. And as your humble servant, I have to say, from the bottom of my heart, it has been an amazing trip that has changed my life forever and for which I am eternally grateful.

Thank you for your spirit, your sportsmanship and your dedication. In truth, you are more than Team Rotary. You are all champions. May God Bless Rotary and each and every one of you.
Thank you.

Delivered at the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918) on Monday, June 26th, 2006
Peter Hrastovec,
President


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