Passport Clubs and Zoom Meetings – A Blossoming Combination for this Spring

At 9:00am on Saturday, April 4, John White Zoomed into the regular weekly meeting of the District 6400 Passport Club. He learned of it earlier in the week on the Bruce Goldsen’s FaceBook page and was attracted by the announcement that the guest speaker was to be Valarie Wafer. Valarie is a Rotarian in Collingwood, Ontario and will be representing us in Zone 28, and also Rotarians in Zone 32, on the RI Board of Directors starting on July 1. Her name was mentioned in a recent Harpoon article.
Valerie Wafer

A total of 48 Rotarians and guests were on the call. Among the attendees, John noted Kevin Kelly of TRF, Bala Murthy, an upcoming Governor in our District, and Trey & Colleen Greene, our good friends from the Detroit Club. Valarie’s presentation brought everyone up to date on activities at RI, including possibilities for deferred dues, innovative training ideas, and that this is time for Rotarians to come together on the current health crisis rather than expend a lot of effort seeking new members. She also talked about the passport club concept and some of the advantages they offer, not only in these times but in general. She noted that some Passport clubs are forming around causes, e.g., mental health or addiction prevention, rather than physical location.

While Valarie’s position in Rotary makes for a big name speaker in her own right, she is just one in an impressive lineup this Passport Club has booked recently. The week before, the speaker was Past RI President John Germ. On March 21, it was Jennifer Jones, Past RI VP and current TRF Trustee. To top it off, the speaker for Saturday, April 18 will be our own Steve Schram!
If you are interested in any of these presentations, the club is recording them for their archives. See their website or Facebook page for access. Please contact John White if you have any questions or would like additional information about this intriguing new aspect of Rotary.