When my husband, Dylan, and I joined the Chiang Mai International Rotary Club more than three years ago, we found a great group of people here. These people then grew into friends and family. Now we lost one of ours, Rotarian Nancy Lindley, who took “Service Above Self” to heart and lived by this motto her entire life.
It is not a well-known fact that Nancy only joined this club because there were not enough people to form a Rotary club. She was the last piece of the puzzle. It took some “elbow-twisting” by her long-time Rotarian husband, Roger, and we are so glad Nancy joined! She became one of the Charter Members and strongest advocates, pillars of the Chiang Mai International Rotary Club.
Nancy did not have a child of her own, but she believed our future lies in children. When Nancy and Roger moved to Thailand, they learnt about the unfortunate situation of the vulnerable children of the North, and the eventual focus of our club materialized.
Nancy touched the lives of many through her charitable work. She was an integral part of the CMIRC School Vision Screening Project team, a reviver and former President of the Chiang Mai Expats Club, and the American coordinator of Lanna Care Net, a volunteer organization serving expats facing medical or legal troubles. Her reach exceeded the people directly involved. Countless families are grateful to her for assisting and saving their relatives.
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Moving on to the club business. December started busy for the Chiang Mai International Rotary Club. Our School Vision Screening Program team examined every 3rd and 5th-grader student at the Wat Suan Dok School. This was our last vision screening session for this Rotary Year.
We held a Christmas present-wrapping party on December 6. Project Champion Gary Herman organized the gifts donations drive to benefit residents at the Burma Children Medical Fund’s B.K. Kee Patient House.
We welcomed a new member, Owen Hodgson to our club. Owen is a former road designer, traffic engineer, town planner, and a contractor for New South Wales State in Australia. He has been a member of Woonona Lions Club for over 10 years and held the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Membership Chair and Board Member for 8 years. Owen is a loyal supporter of Nikki’s Place Agape Home in Chiang Mai and will help us oversee the administration of the 100,000 USD cash prize Founder Avis Rideout won at The ONE International Humanitarian Awards last month.
CMIRC members participated in the Chicken Dance Challenge in another unforgettable team-building stunt, led by Membership Chair Myrna Muyana.
We participated in the “Celebration of Nancy’s Life” event at McKean Rehabilitation Center. We commemorated Nancy’s service to CMIRC, CEC, Lanna Care Net, and the community in a tribute CMIRC meeting. We listened to stories and thoughts shared by our members and guests present and read messages from members who could not make it to the meeting.
We had a pre-induction meeting with prospective member, Patrick Desloge, a seasoned writer of several global grants and a recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Teaching Award. Patrick is a former Senior Lecturer, Global Leaders Programme Director, Language Instructor, Senior Research Assistant of the Centre for Applied English Studies at the University of Hong Kong.
As 2022 comes to an end, I want to thank you - our members, donors, project partners, family, and friends - for all your support during what has been an extraordinary year.
May this coming year bring happiness, peace, and prosperity to you and yours.
Happy New Year!