The Cloquet Rotary Club hosted Rotary International's District 5580 Conference April 13-14 at the Black Bear Casino Resort. District 5580 includes 67 Rotary Clubs located in North Dakota, Canada and the northern half of Minnesota. The annual conference routinely draws some 300 Rotarians, and the Cloquet Rotary Club estimated attendance at 450 Rotarians, one of the largest conferences held in the district. Speakers included Congressman Chip Craavack and Cloquet Mayor Bruce Ahlgren, along with district leadership meetings, educational opportunities and a time to socialize with old and new friends who all share Rotary's vision of "Service Above Self."
One of Rotary's missions is to enable to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating polio. This is a tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.
Keynote speaker Ramesh Ferris, polio victim, spoke Saturday in the Otter Creek Convention Center. Ferris offers a very inspirational message about polio eradication, education and rehabilitation. He is the author of "Better Than a Cure, One Man's Journey to Free the World of Polio."
