 Good morning. Welcome to Rotary in Hawaii. I'm Janet Sheffer, District Public Image Chair for Rotary in Hawaii, and I want to welcome you to this new show. We'll be seeing you here every couple of weeks talking all about what's happening with Rotary in Hawaii. Right now I'd like to introduce you to our very special distinguished guest, our District Governor of Hawaii, Winton Shoneman. Welcome to the show. Aloha, Janet. Thank you for having me, and thank you to Think Tech Hawaii for hosting us. Yes, thank you very much, Think Tech. This is a great honor for us to spread the message of Rotary across Hawaii to everybody. So we're going to start out today by finding out a little bit more about what Rotary is. Rotary has been around a long time. There's a lot of people that are involved, but not everybody understands what it is. Can you give us a good basic understanding of what Rotary is today? Sure, sure. Rotary is a global organization composed of more than a million people. We had our origins in 1905. We're the original business networking organization of UL, and it's not like today. I mean, in 1905 the country was in recession. It was the Industrial Revolution. There were a lot of different things going on, and people did not regularly network, and so Paul Harris, our founder of Rotary, got together with four of his friends and talked about the possibility of supporting each other and growing their businesses by working together and collaborating. And so the word Rotary itself actually came from the fact that they would rotate meetings from office to office to office over a period of months. Rotary grew very quickly when they established their first community service project in Chicago, Illinois, which was a Lua. They built a bathroom in downtown Chicago, the first public restroom. But it grew very rapidly after that. Within 15 years they had become an international organization with clubs in Cuba, in North America, South America, and Europe. So they grew very rapidly. Rotary came to Hawaii in 1915, so very early on. The Rotary Club of Honolulu was established July 1st of that year, shortly thereafter. And the story of coming to Hawaii is very interesting because it was two attorneys from the Bay Area that were on the Matson Passengership, SS Luraline, coming to Hawaii that had a conversation about bringing Rotary to Hawaii. And so they met with some business people in Honolulu and formed the first club. Shortly thereafter they expanded to all islands. So we have clubs on Maui, the Rotary Club of Kauai was the first club on Kauai, we have Rotary Club in Hilo, and Rotary Clubs in Kona. So very rapidly expanded. Today we're 52 clubs on all major islands. We have over 1,500 Rotarians doing service in our local and global communities. Fantastic. Well, I know they make a great impact having been a Rotarian for 11, 12 years now this year, and I'll talk a little bit about my story later. However, as District Governor, you lead thousands of Rotarians in Hawaii. You have a very important role. It must, as a volunteer District Governor, it must have been a big commitment and a big decision for you to take that leap and become Hawaii's District Governor. There must be a lot of passion behind that decision. Can you talk a little bit about why you chose to be our District Governor and what your Rotary story is all about? Sure. I've been in Rotary for over 20 years and we've done some great work here locally. I joined Rotary after I'd retired from the Navy and had 21 years on submarine service. And had involved in building my own business. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine, Rich Zegar, asked me if I would be interested in participating in a global service project, a service project in Romania. And I didn't fully understand at that time the impact that that would have on me personally. So the project was to take some doctors from the University of Virginia funded by Rotarians here in Hawaii to teach doctors in Romania how to do cleft lip, cleft palate, facial reconstructive surgeries. And I was asked to go along, not being a doctor, to go along and document the trip itself and what we did. And I remember waking up on a crisp, cool April morning in Iasi, Romania. That's spelled I-A-S-I and pronounced Iasi. And I was bundled into a van with Rich and we headed off to the hospital. And my initial thoughts were that I would be told what the doctors were doing and maybe sit in a conference room and have some discussion. And that's not what happened. What really happened was they put a gown on me and a cap and face mask and booties. And I remember walking down this long hallway towards a couple of double stainless steel doors. And as the stainless steel doors opened up, I was taken into the operating room. And the doctors were preparing a four-year-old child for a cleft palate surgery, not a cleft lip. And this little girl, four years old, had a quarter size hole in the roof of her mouth. And I thought about not just the impact that Rotary was having on changing that child's life, the impact we were having that we would have on our family and parents, but the impact that Rotary was having on the doctors themselves. Because we were empowering them to do for themselves what they did not have the technology, did not have the expertise to do. And I came away from that experience, really life-changing experience filled with not just what we do as Rotarians, but what's possible for Rotary to do. And as district governor, it was my hope that I would be able to bring that experience and that newfound passion to our community and have geared things up for maximum impact for what we have the ability to do. And we do some amazing things here in Hawaii. So that experience is what has lasted and captured Rotary in all these years? Yes. It's truly an amazing experience. I mean, we do wonderful things locally. I remember a number of years ago when I was president of my club, we worked with Crane Community Park in Kaimuki. And we renovated the facilities there and we provided after-school opportunities for children from Kaimuki High School and from the surrounding middle school. And they all came down to the park. And it was very gratifying to see that kids had a place to go that would not lead to trouble, but would lead to really an experience in their life that people cared about them. Let's talk a little bit more about that. As we know, Rotary is one of the world's largest global community service organizations with literally millions of members in hundreds of countries, maybe thousands. You might know the answer to that. And a lot of the efforts by local Rotarians do contribute to those global service projects like you explained and many others. My pin here will talk a lot about polio in a little bit in the Rotary Foundation. But I think there is a desire to help those in our community and to make a great and positive impact there. Talk a little bit about how the 2,000 or more Rotarians here in the state of Hawaii have made long lasting positive impacts in their communities. So I think sometimes there's a thinking that Rotary International directs Rotarians on what to do. And that's far from the case. So we're interested in Rotarians pursuing their personal passions, if you will. We have 52 Rotary clubs around the state. Each of them has their own culture, has their own passion, has their own focus. And so what we do is try to facilitate their success. You're right. We do have a Rotary Foundation. That Rotary Foundation helps fund the service that we do here locally. Some notable service projects and understand that each island does tremendous things. Let's start with the Rotary Club of Honolay Bay on Kauai. Rotary Club of Honolay Bay does amazing work with AEDs, Automated External Defibrillators. They have purchased themselves and installed throughout the island of Kauai 50 life-saving AEDs. And they're now asking us to expand their experience to all of the islands. And, you know, the fact that we have the opportunity to save lives in that way is tremendous. They also started an organization that has gone global now as they spun that off from their club as a separate nonprofit with rescue tubes. So they designed and installed the world's first rescue tubes that have now gone around on our beaches so that the everyday person could go out and save somebody who's drowning. And they started that on the island of Kauai. Pretty amazing. Recently, with the lava flows in the Hilo area, in the Pahoa area, Rotarians gathered together with community and rebuilt a charter school that had been burnt down because of the lava flows. In Kona, they have developed a peace garden in Kona. And recently, they shared with me pictures of inspiring a conversation about peace by the installation of what are called rotary peace poles that people that come by regularly spend a few minutes learning about how to create a positive peace. Here on Oahu, last year, we had a major project with Kahauiki, which is a public-private partnership, driven primarily by Rotarians. And personally, I was over there painting the buildings that had been built and put in place and put down flooring and we provide furnishings and that kind of stuff. And as I was painting at Kahauiki, I remember some families, young couples with a child or two coming around and looking and seeing the possibilities that they might have a home maybe separate from their parents or maybe they're on the verge of being homeless. And I live in Aya Heights. My Rotary Club meets in Waikiki Yacht Club on Thursday evenings. But I was driving over the airport Viaduct on my way to my rotary meeting towards town and I remember seeing out of the corner of my eye, laundry on laundry lines at Kahauiki. I remember thinking about how that was the first time that I realized that people were really living in homes that rotary built, that they wouldn't be on the streets and what an impact we had had locally. Major impact and with that, we're actually going to take a short break and we're going to come back and we're going to learn a lot more about the other side of rotary, about the meetings, about the experiences of local Rotarians and some more projects. So with that, we'll go to break and we'll see you back here in just a minute. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. I'm Jay Fidel of Think Tech. Come around every Tuesday at 2 p.m. with John, David, Ann and me. We're talking about history, history lens, right, John? Exactly. Seeing current events through the lens of the past. Absolutely. See you next time. OK, Jay, thanks. Welcome back to Rotary in Hawaii. I'm Janet Sheffer, Hawaii District Public Image Chair. Joining me today is our very distinguished, honored guest, District Governor, Wynton Shoneman. Thank you again for being here. My pleasure. We have a few more things. We have a few more minutes to talk about rotary in Hawaii and we've talked a lot about the service projects, both on the global scale and on the local scale. We know that Rotarians make a difference and we are people of action. That's our catchphrase for the year. So, tell us a little bit more, Wynton, about maybe the most impactful service project in the last year or two that you've witnessed that Rotarians here in Hawaii have been involved with. Wow, that's really difficult to say what the most impactful is. You know, our focus for the year is on fighting human trafficking. And human trafficking is kind of out of sight, out of mind, with technology nowadays, but we do know that millions of children around the world are trafficked. We've reached out to a local organization and partnered this year with Holonapua, who is interested in providing a facility for survivors of human trafficking. And we've done an outstanding job. Mark Berg and Mark Merriam, two of our Rotarians, have invested their passion and invested a good portion of their life and their commitment to educating Rotarians around the state on the issue of human trafficking. Here, coming up in February, Lila's traveling to Kauai to visit all of the Rotary Clubs there and talk about the issue of human trafficking. So I'm excited that our Rotarians have embraced the education and prevention of exploitation of humans. In Rotary, we talk about it as human slavery. It is a, I'm a father of a 13-year-old child and turns out that trafficking in children, I say father, grandfather. Grandfather, right? Grandfather of a 13-year-old granddaughter. And it turns out that for trafficking of children, 12.7 years old is the average age of somebody that is trafficked and it's unfathomable to me that we could live in a world where we trafficked children like that. So for me, I think the most impactful this year will be the fact that we've educated our thousands of Rotarians here in the state about the issue of human trafficking. Yes, and I'm very, very glad that that's one of your focus this year. We've been able to, as Rotarians, provide some service to Huala Napua by helping with their garden. And it was quite meaningful. And it's quite a project. We had dozens of Rotarians out there clearing land so they could garden the peace garden. I believe it's being called. And it was very, very meaningful because we actually got to get our hands dirty and make a difference and actually do something. It goes far beyond just donating money. So if you're one of the people out there that wants to get involved and make a difference in our community, absolutely Rotary is one of the things that you should consider. I've been a Rotarian myself for about 12 years. And the community service projects along the lines of literacy and painting the community service centers and helping update many of the homeless shelters and giving back to our school. I'm a Waikiki Rotarian. Our school is the Waikiki Elementary School. And every year in February, shameless plug here for my club, we have a rummage sale and it's humongous. I don't have the date yet, but I'll get back to you in a future show. It's the entire school's cafeteria and every single penny. And I don't mean 95%. Every single penny that we raise, which is thousands of dollars, goes directly to that principal and they buy school supplies for the kids that can't afford them. So the teachers don't have to buy them all, which we all know that they do already. That's one of my most heartfelt projects I am involved with religiously every year. What keeps me coming back to Rotary? Yeah, but lest you think that Rotary is all work and no play, Rotarians have a lot of fun as well. They do. We do. We have a lot of fun with our service projects, but Rotary was built around fellowship, around meeting other people about engaging and having conversation and becoming friends first and then making a difference. And so we do a lot of that. There's Rotary Club meetings around the state every week. They meet in the mornings. We meet at noon. My club meets in the evening time. So there's lots of opportunities. It is interesting that Rotary's done studies and many, many people join Rotary for the opportunity to connect with another human being in a way that is meaningful to them. So the fellowship is a great aspect of what we do and the caring that we have for each other. And I don't think that there's any other Rotaries broken up into districts worldwide. I don't think there's any other district that cares as much about each other as Rotarians do in Hawaii. Absolutely. I can attest to that. My Rotary Club, Waikiki Rotary, is like a second family. And the 80-plus members are like my cousins. And I would be a miss if I didn't attend my regular weekly meeting. As a small business owner, it has been a huge, huge positive impact on my business. Not only the business networking opportunities, but the opportunities to help other small business people. So for me, my Rotary, I'm a lifelong Rotarian and it has made all the difference in my life. That's an interesting point when we talk about us business people in Rotary. One of the things that Rotary adopted early on was a position on ethics in business. My accountant is a Rotarian. My attorney is a Rotarian. And we do that because they have adopted a way of thinking about doing things in an ethical manner. And most Rotary clubs, if not all, recite what we call the four-way test of the things we think, say, and do as a reminder that we have committed ourselves to being ethical in what it is that we do. It doesn't mean that we don't make mistakes, but we fix those mistakes and we come around to doing things in a rightful manner. Before we test, we could recite it here now, but that's okay. We'll let you find out about it at your first Rotary, meaning if you are so inclined. And we want to talk a little bit about that. We have a new website this year, and it's designed for people in the community, stakeholders, people that are interested in Rotary, getting involved in Rotary in one fashion or another, to learn about Rotary in Hawaii, you simply go to www.rotaryinhawaii.org right there on your screen. This website will connect you with another Rotarian. Let's say you just moved here. This is a transient community we live in. Let's say you're a military person that just got transferred here. Let's say you are retiring this year, and you're looking for a way to get involved in the community and give back to the community after decades of hard work, or let's just say you're someone like me, who's a small business owner, who needs to connect with other people to get outside of that small world, and also to network for business opportunities. So there's a million different reasons that you would check it out. Anyway, go to www.rotaryinhawaii.org. It's going to take you to a forum that gives you the opportunity to meet a Rotarian at a meeting, be contacted by phone or email by another Rotarian, and just take that first step if you're interested. There's no obligation, of course. It's simply a way for you to get more involved this year in your community. Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. We're very excited for that. There's something new that we've added to our district outreach, if you will, is an opportunity for people to connect. I will add to that that my good friend, Imanel de Cockney, came to Hawaii a number of years ago, and he joined specifically for the friendships that he knew were available in Rotary. And he joined specifically to become lifelong friends. Right. And we are friends with Imane, and he is a phenomenal Rotarian past district governor himself. We can talk now a little bit more about upcoming events and activities and trainings and things like that. Rotary has a fantastic network of business people and other professionals, and also every club of the 52 clubs has events ongoing. So those can all be found at our normal district website, which is, you want to recite it? Rotary D5000. WWW. Right, WWW. Rotary D5000. WWW. WWW. Rotary D5000. And what you do on that website is you can go to the right-hand side and there's an event calendar. And even if you are not a Rotarian, you're welcome to attend some of those events to learn more about Rotary. So that's one opportunity. And then all of the club directories are there. So you can see where and when all of the clubs meet. And you can just walk into any Rotary club and check it out that way. Indeed. And we will be having a conference in the middle of May. Middle of May. May 17th through the 19th. That we're very, very excited about. The conference is geared towards Rotarians but is open to non-Rotarians as well. That's sick. We'll be having Brian Rush from the Human Thread Foundation. We have Jennifer Jones, who's a former Rotary International vice president coming to speak with us. As well as we're working with some local nonprofits to have some speakers engage in a conversation about positive peace. Engage in an opportunity to make a difference in our community. Educate ourselves about the concept of positive peace. Fantastic. As well. So look for that on our website. It's www.rotaryd5000.org. Or if all else fails, they can just Google Rotary in Hawaii. Right. And you'll find lots of other activities and events. But we do need to mention the big, big, big event. And that is that Rotary... This May conference is at the convention center. Yes. And next year, 2020. We can say that now. Next year, Honolulu, Hawaii, is hosting the International Convention. You can expect 25,000 Rotarians from around the world embracing our shores and taking over that convention center and most of Waikiki. That convention, we will talk more about in future episodes. It is huge. We haven't had an international convention here in 30 years, I believe. Longer than that. Longer than that. And it's a great opportunity for local businesses and local folks to get involved in Rotary now. So I want to thank you so much for joining us today here with our first episode of the year at Rotary in Hawaii. And I want to say much Mahalo to district governor Wynton Shoneman. Wynton Shoneman, as we call him, because he's such a winner. And signing off myself, Janet Sheffer, District Public Image Chair for Rotary District 5,000. We will see you right here again in two weeks for another update on Rotary in Hawaii. So thank you again, Wynton. Mahalo, Janet. Thank you very much. Yeah. And again, we'll just mention those websites, www.rotaryinhawai.org. If you are someone who wants to learn about Rotary and if you want to check out the current Rotary District and its information events calendar, that is www.rotaryd5,000.org. Yay. So thank you very much for joining us today. And thank you again to ThinkTech for hosting us.