by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The gavel that strikes the bell to call meetings of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville to order was passed from Carl Cannon to Steve Bacalis Monday evening at The River Club. Bacalis won’t ring the bell for the first time until the club’s meeting July 13, but each year the club’s members gather in June to celebrate the accomplishments of the past Rotary year and welcome their new president.
“Everyone thinks being president is a terrible job,” reflected Cannon, “but the truth is the committees do most of the work. I’m very proud of what we were able to do this year.”
Cannon then listed some of the club’s milestones in 2008-09 including inducting 40 new members, which earned Downtown Rotary the top award in the district for membership growth.
“Thanks so much for choosing to cast your lot with us,” said Cannon to the first-year Rotarians. “All civic clubs had a difficult year, but we were able to fight that trend and grow.”
It was also a banner year for philanthropy, he added.
“We raised $170,000 for the Rotary Foundation. In better economic years that wouldn’t be such a big thing, but this year it was,” said Cannon.
He also spoke of an initiative that began within the club that has grown to include Rotarians in other states and a foreign county. “Books for Belize” was originally intended to supply some surplus books to a school in the English-speaking Central American country but it attracted the attention of other clubs including a club in Belize that counts among its members the country’s minister of education.
“We have collected three containers — that’s trailer loads — of books and it looks like we’ll be able to send books to every school in Belize,” said Cannon, who said Rotarians have also stepped forward to cover the cost of shipping the books.
Bacalis said he considers it “a real privilege to be president of the Downtown Rotary Club” and he plans to build on Cannon’s legacy to continue the focus on membership growth through leadership.
“We will continue to build our membership with quantity and quality. We’ll continue our quality programs and quality projects,” he said.
Bacalis then read a letter from District Governor Bill Griffin that included the district’s Presidential Citation recognizing Cannon’s outstanding work as club president.
In addition to receiving the gavel he’ll use at meetings during his term, Bacalis also took possession of one of the club’s most treasured heirlooms, the President’s Pin made of diamonds and blue sapphires mounted in platinum. It was created by a club member decades ago and is passed from one president to the next each year.
“You won’t see me wearing this pin this year,” said Bacalis. “It’s going in the safe deposit box.”
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