Greetings Believer Civitans!

This year has absolutely flown by and there are only two weeks left in this year’s fiscal year. As we were prepared to tee off for the 29^th annual Breakthru Golf Tournament at our San Antonio Convention, we were encouraged to buy a “mulligan”. For you non-golfers, a mulligan is a “do-over”. So, if you do not like the shot you just hit, you can use your mulligan and play that shot again. I wish I could play a mulligan for this year’s fiscal year and start the year over. There are certainly things that I would want to do differently especially with the knowledge I have gained during this year. But time marches on and the year of Champions of Service: Believers will make way for Champions of Service: Dreamers!

It was great to see so many of our friends at the Civitan International Convention in San Antonio, TX in July. I always leave convention excited and motivated to make the world a better place through Civitan. Things are bigger in Texas and this year’s convention lived up to the hype! The Heartland District were great hosts and we had great food, great speakers, informative workshops and we did the business of Civitan International. Our two fundraisers, Breakthru Golf and Walk-n-Roll were big successes. We held elections with three new members of the Civitan International Board: congratulations to President-Elect Dee Hutsler, Region 6 Director Patti Belote and Region 7 Director Grace Farmer! I look forward to working with you on the CI Board! We had two new amendments to our current bylaws and the full bylaws proposal was narrowly defeated.

Starting October 1, 2022, we begin the re-invention of Civitan when the new Leadership Councils are put in place. These replace the 90-year-old structure of districts being led by Governors. I realize that there are members who are not happy with this change, but the CI Board is convinced that this change is necessary to get our beloved Civitan back to growing and thriving again. Of course, there is no guarantee that this new structure will solve all issues, but we will learn as we go forward and adjust where necessary. I sincerely ask that you assist wherever you can. We all want Civitan to be around for our kids and grandkids. Together, we can make it happen! One question I hear all the time is: “How will this affect my club?”. The short answer is that it won’t! However, you will start to see some different faces who have specific roles that are there to help your club with adding members, recruitment, fundraisers, speakers. Marketing and Philanthropy.  Use these Leadership Chairs whenever you have issues in your clubs. Watch for announcements shortly on who are your new district leaders and give them your support!

Yes, the fiscal year is coming to an end, but it doesn’t mean we can let up on bringing in new Civitans. I asked you at the beginning of the year for each member to bring in just one new member. We still have about 9,000 who have not done that yet. Let’s all try to bring in one new member before the end of September. Remember the FRANK method on who to recruit: Friends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors, Kids (or parents of kids). You can do it. All you have to do is ask!

Since this is the last message you will see during my term as President, I have a lot of thanks to pass around. First to EVP Scarlet Thompson and the amazing Civitan International Staff, you keep us going on the right path and go above and beyond to serve our members needs. Thank you to the hard- working Civitan International Board of Directors and especially the Executive Committee. I have lost count but I BELIEVE that we averaged about 5 meetings a month! A huge thank you to the Believer Governors for 2021-22 for all you do. So many thank to all the committee embers who gave so selflessly of their time and a big thanks to my mentors, the Past International Presidents!  Thank you to all the club Presidents and officers for all you do in your community and thank you members. You are the reason we all exist. Thank you to my kids, grandkids for my prolonged absences this past year and the most heartfelt thank you to my beautiful bride Kim. This was truly a team effort.

See y’all real soon!

Dan Brown
Civitan International President, 2021-2022