Rotary’s District governors are charged with coordinating the efforts of Rotary International with its thousands of clubs and millions of Rotarians at the local level. To that end they are also charged with making annual “official visits” to each club.

The purpose of each visit is to emphasize the goals of both Rotary International and the district, and to communicate regarding issues and programs of importance to our membership. For district 6860 in 2011-2012, these tasks have fallen to Martin Uptain, who made his “official visit” to the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa last week.

Uptain entertained the Club with stories of his long tenure in Rotary, and his recent tenure as District Governor. He has been overwhelmed by the power of Rotary and the talents of its members, he said, and he is continually amazed by all that we have been able to accomplish. Among his challenges to the Club was for every member to “be a Rotarian,” instead of just being a member of Rotary: to believe in and live its ideals of Service Above Self, instead of just going somewhere to eat lunch. He also challenged Rotarians to participate in the “Every Rotarian Every Year” campaign, aimed at encouraging Rotarians to donate at least $100 to Rotary’s Annual Fund.

Uptain joined Rotary in 1996 as a member of the Rotary Club of Gardendale. He is a past club president, and has served as an assistant governor and district secretary. He is a Paul Harris Society member, a Paul Harris fellow and a sustaining member of the Foundation.