Rotarians of St. Louis and Civilians,

Thank you for allowing me to serve as Club President! I have loved every minute as you made the job easy and all of us look good.

As I think about my time at the ‘podium,’ I owe you an apology as I referenced our club in a myriad of ways…. Rotary Club of St. Louis, Downtown Rotary, or Club 11 which we are ‘All;’ yet, I am particularly fond of ‘Club 11’ as in my mind there is such meaning in our club’s history and 113-years of serving St. Louis.

Thank you, Bruno Batt! Whether intentional or not, he created an organization who regularly demonstrates a willingness to adapt, can attract new talent, and will sustain more than a century of serving St. Louis, all while having a great time. Maybe Bruno had such vision, yet I sense our 113-years of membership demonstrates the value we create whereby all contribute with the mission in mind of ‘Service Above Self.’

I hope you are pleased with the direction of our club as the number of lives we touch daily is growing, Thank You….
Community Service Grants for changing the lives who desperately need it.
Programs for improving our connection to the region across a multitude of topics
Social/Sports for invigorating each one of our competitive/classy spirits…thank you Olivette Lanes, Cigar Dinners, Golf League, field trip happy hours and Jimmy ‘Pickleball’ Connors!
Publicity, friends/family who never knew we existed are now ‘following’ us!
Membership…awesome year as we grew across the board, what a great partnership with Civilians and Club 11!
New Generations, thank you for inspiring our youth to continue forward!
Fundraising/Endowment/Welfare, while separate, these 3 ensure we will remain fiscally sound
Point being you made a difference this year which feeds our momentum as we welcome Dale Ruthsatz to ‘ring our bell’ 😊, here forward. Having witnessed Dale in action his professionalism, candor and good mix of humor are the right qualities for a great year, and I am happy to serve alongside both he and our Board.

Thank you for this opportunity to know each of you better and I am proud to be a Club 11 – Rotary of St. Louis member.

Best,
Richard