Renton Rotary International Guest Treated To A Warm Welcome

, took a whirlwind tour of Washington in his recent visit, which included a stop at the .

Hewko is the highest-ranking Rotarian of Rotary International in the 1.2 million member, 33,000-chapter club. He shared his vision with more than 80 Rotarians and visitors at a reception in his honor.

The trip for Hewko was his first out of the Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Ill. since taking office on July 1. In addition to stopping in Renton, he spent a day at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle where he and a team discussed the Rotary's part in eradicating polio worldwide.

As part of his visit to the area, he started his day at a Sammamish Rotary club breakfast meeting. His second stop was at the where he rolled up his sleeves bagging green beans that go to local food banks.

Hewkso spent the bulk of his Thursday with Renton Rotarians at the Rotary District 5030 Club, where District Governor Ann Liberto and Renton Rotary President Don Bressler played host.

Over 80 people attended the club's luncheon meeting and reception in his honor. The meeting included a moving musical tribute in honor of the tenth anniversary of the tragedies of September 11, by employee Sonja Mejlaender, a membership pinning ceremony of the Renton club's newest Rotarian,  from the , and a chance for Hewko to share his vision with the attendees at the reception.

Hewko outlined to the Rotary his growing listing of priorities and "to-do" list since taking office. The first priority, Hewko said, was to eradicate polio worldwide once and for all.

"We are 'this close' " Hewko said, spreading his fingers just inches wide. "We need to get to the finish line."

Hewko also outlined his other priorities.

• Operationalize the Rotary International strategic plan and future vision.
• Credibly capture information about what Rotary does from local clubs into a communications message to the public.
• Increase memberships in North America.
• Have Rotary sit at the global table with other contributors on international humanitarian efforts.
• Develop a robust public relations and communications plan to better promote Rotary.

The Renton club also presented him with gifts of a Renton photo book by Mayor Denis Law, a bottle of wine from local vintner  and a I heart Renton T-shirt from .

Hewko also outlined challenges for Rotary International, which included finding a 'sweet spot' between local and global efforts for Rotary programs, and identifying the appropriate corporate structure for the organization to move forward and accomplish things in the future.