Rotary District 6940 Governor 2014-15 David Rauch visits the Rotary Club of Mayo.

Rotary District 6940 Governor 2014-15 David Rauch visited the Rotary Club of Mayo on Wednesday, July 9, to introduce himself and give a short presentation. Rauch is the district’s 101st governor and the first from Area 7.

There are 10 assistant district governors throughout District 6940 and one of them is Mark Viola from the Perry Club, who had the pleasure of introducing Rauch.

Viola offered a little about Rauch’s background and stated he is originally from Logan, OH, a suburb of Columbus. He attended Ohio State University and the University of Tampa, and earned degrees in sociology and business administration. Rauch served as human resources officer in the United State Air Force, retiring in 1994 after 21 years of service.

“Rauch chose to serve a second career in the financial services area and started DMR Wealth Management Services where he presently works,” said Viola. “In addition to running a successful financial services business, Rauch is dedicated to serving and improving his community, serving on several local non-profit boards, and is a third degree Knight of Columbus.”

Rauch became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Mid-Bay Bridge in Niceville where he has served as secretary, treasurer, membership chairman and twice as president.

“At the district level he has served as assistant governor, co-conference chair and community service chairman,” Viola said.

Rauch is a Paul Harris Society member and is the son of a 44-year perfect attendance Rotarian. Rauch and his wife Gretchen have been living in Niceville for more than 24 years. They have two daughters, Holly and Amy, and five-and-a-half grandchildren.

Rauch explained that every year Rotary chooses a theme and this year it is “Light Up Rotary”. He briefly spoke about retaining and increasing membership, and participation in local and international service projects.  

“We’ve been at 1.2 million Rotarians strong for over a decade now,” said Rauch. “We’re not growing. We also lost 1.2 million members during that same period of time. So it’s not just about gaining new members, it’s about retaining members.”

Eradicating polio, Rauch said, is still their number one priority and they are very close to their goal. Rotarians have immunized over 2 billion children so far. It is a $5.5 billion project of Rotary International and they have already raised $5 billion. The Bill Gates Foundation matches every dollar donated by Rotary for the Polio Plus effort with an additional $2. Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Rauch said, have been the most difficult countries to get into to eradicate polio, due to political issues.

“The World Health Organization says by 2018 polio should be totally eradicated,” he said.

By 2015, he explained, everyone worldwide is projected to be immunized against polio and then there is a three year certification period to confirm the disease has been completely eradicated.

Rotary International has 18 Action Groups that include fighting child slavery and controlling diabetes. There are also nearly 60 Rotary Fellowship groups worldwide.

“It’s just another way to engage yourself with Rotary, to get involved and just get to meet other Rotarians,” said Rauch.

The 2015 Rotary District 6940 Conference will be held at a brand new Callaway Gardens and Resort in Pine Mountain, Ga. on May 15-17, 2015. Rotary International will be holding their meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil in June, 2015.

“It’s just a district conference on steroids,” said Rauch. “There were 18,000 Rotarians at the last international conference in Sydney, Australia.”

In 2016, the convention will be held in Seoul, Korea and in 2017 it will be held in Atlanta, Ga. where the very first convention was held, Rauch added.

“That will be the 100th year of  the Rotary Foundation.”