District Governor Alan Smith opened his comments to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on August 31 with his personal Rotary history.  He commended the Club on its willingness to make changes to improve retention and to energize the Club and its policy of sending new members to Rotary leadership workshops.  He recommended more publicity and encouraged the group to be the group where people went “to make a difference in the community.”  He focused on the efforts of Rotary’s 1.2 million members to eradicate polio from the world and brought the group up to date on the few lingering places where polio exists (Pakistan and Afghanistan).  He ended his comments by having the group chant, “I am a Rotarian and I will make a difference.”