The Rotary Spark Podcast
Welcome to our dedicated podcast for Rotary International's District 5750, designed to connect our community through the power of personal storytelling. Each episode celebrates the unique journeys of our fellow Rotarians and community members, highlighting their individual experiences, motivations, and the profound impact of their service and contributions.
Join us as we dive into heartfelt discussions with individuals from all walks of life, sharing stories that inspire and foster connection.
The Rotary Spark Podcast
#0014 - Dr. Jack Werner
What if you could connect more deeply with your community and make a lasting impact on global issues? Join me, Brian Triger, as I chat with Dr. Jack Werner about the inspiring work and ambitious goals of Rotary District 5750 in Oklahoma. We dig into Jack's journey through Rotary, the district's vibrant community projects like the Santa Claus Project, and their ongoing scholarship programs. We also explore the significance of personal visits to clubs, a strategy Jack uses as District Governor to make members feel connected and appreciated. Plus, we celebrate Rotary’s incredible global achievement in eradicating polio, underscoring their dedication to impactful humanitarian efforts.
You, welcome to the Rotary Spark Podcast. I'm your host, brian Triger, and with me today is Dr Jack Warner. How are you doing today, jack? Oh, I'm fabulous I appreciate you sitting up.
Dr. Jack Werner:I'll mention to everyone, Brian Triger is the one responsible for the first Rotary broadcast in 5750, and I appreciate you very much.
Brian Triger:It's been my pleasure, Jack. So let's first jump into club involvement and a little bit about your history in Rotary. You're in the South Oklahoma City Club, is that correct, Brian?
Dr. Jack Werner:I've been in South Oklahoma City Rotary for over 40 years. I joined because I worked for Congress and after I got back from Vietnam I went back to school and got a degree in political science and started campaigning for Mickey Edwards who ran against John Jarman for Congress. He lost the first time and then John Jarman retired and Mickey won that race and I worked hard in his campaigns both times. Officed out of Al Snipes, a Southside leader in the Republican Party, and Mickey's office, he provided an office for him and that's how I got into Rotary. He's the reason I'm bringing that back. Al was involved for 50 years in Rotary and he invited me and I joined 47 years ago now. So I've been active ever since.
Dr. Jack Werner:And I thank you for coming up to North Park Mall because I wanted to kind of highlight Northwest Rotary that meets at Quail Springs Golf and Country Club on Tuesdays at noon. They've sponsored it for about the same number of years well over 40 years the Santa Claus Project here at North Park Mall, and last year Northwest Rotary raised $60,000, which they gave back to local non-profits. That's just one of the types of things that Rotary does. I got to speak very briefly at West Rotary Wednesday of this week, when West Rotary gave 29 $5,000 college scholarships to students from all over the state of Oklahoma. That's another type of thing that the Rotary clubs do.
Brian Triger:That's incredible and I love the setup. I'm definitely going to take some pictures and have some up on the district website. I will also make sure that any and all of the information available for this fundraiser is available online in any type of social media platform. I just love seeing everyone get together during the holidays, especially members within our Rotary District, so it's just really cool to watch. So let's see, as District Governor, what are some of the primary goals for District 5750 this year and how do you and the executive team plan on continuing to inspire clubs to achieve them?
Dr. Jack Werner:Kind of a complex question and I'll tell you the answers. First of all, every civic organization, church, social involvement really kind of fell off the edge of the earth during COVID and everybody has been struggling to come back. Rotary is doing pretty well but we, like everyone else, lost memberships during COVID in attendance. Rotary, by the way, is the oldest and largest civic organization in the world. We've got about a million and a half members worldwide. Rotary is in more countries than the United Nations.
Dr. Jack Werner:I'll mention that Our district 5750, roughly encompasses I-40, I-35, the northwest quadrant of Oklahoma. We have 32 active clubs in there. Number one, the first way that we hope to engage more people from the community and the Rotary Clubs is just to be attended, meaning go to their clubs. Mack Patel is the district governor-elect I'm the current district governor. Mike Truitt, an attorney out of Ponca City, is the district governor nominee, meaning he'll follow Mack, and Mack Patel is from the Midwest City Club. As you know, I mention those names because we have an obligation, as well as the assistant district governors, and we have about a dozen of those fine people, to visit the clubs repeatedly. I am visiting every club in that Northwest quadrant once a quarter and have been since I've been nominee, with the simple belief not that I'm magical or Mac is or anybody else, but you can imagine if you're out there in Alba or Woodward or Gage, oklahoma, you know if the district governor comes by once a year and that's the only time you see him, you don't feel real involved, you don't feel real important, and so we're between myself, and then you put Mac in and you put Mike Truitt in and you put the assistant district governors. They're getting a visit, usually a couple of times a month, and suddenly people are feeling like gosh. Maybe the district really does care about us, maybe we really are involved with Rotary. So that's the number one thing that we're doing Projects. Rotary does over 1,000 projects a year all over the world, from water wells to microloans so that women can start their own small business and support themselves and their family. We all have our own passions and beliefs.
Dr. Jack Werner:I guess the project because I've been in so long that's near and dear to me and partially because I'm an old guy and I've seen friends that had polio. Fortunately, many of you younger people don't know anybody that had polio when I grew up. One of my closest friends was Lester Howard Howard Brothers Flores Lester is deceased now. He was a healthy 10-year-old running around. He got polio and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair and I can name off Eddie Correa that I went to high school with that had polio Dr Gary Rankin in Oklahoma City Community College. Polio was anywhere from just maybe crippling you somewhat to permanently putting you in a wheelchair to I actually saw young people as a youngster in iron lungs and spent the remainder of their life that way.
Dr. Jack Werner:Polio is a debilitating disease. When Rotary tackled that in 1984, we actually started doing research in 82 in the Philippines to see if we felt we could do any good as Rotary and they committed to wiping out polio in the world. In 1984. There were over 1,000 cases a day of polio, over 400,000 cases a year at that time. Last year, in 2023, there were eight cases in the world. It's not considered beaten until it's at zero for three years, but we're working on it and for the first time and you can imagine, those two countries are Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's kind of been the attitude of gosh. We think you're trying to sterilize us or something else. Pakistan for the first time came out this past year or 2024 and said we see what you're doing. We're going to help you. So we feel like we've got a real chance. We've moved from 400,000 in a year to eight cases in 2023. Yes, we think we can wipe out and eradicate polio. We've raised over a billion dollars toward that goal. We've sent people all over the world to vaccinate children or to give them the oral vaccine. Bill Gates has stepped up with the Gates Foundation to match money and what a tremendous thing. It's just one international thing. Every club in the world tackles their own special projects. One international thing Every club in the world tackles their own special projects.
Dr. Jack Werner:My personal passion and love is Ryla Rotary Youth Leadership Academy. It's up here between Edmond and Guthrie. There's a lot of magical things about the camp. There's not a student that goes. These are usually juniors in high school. We solicit from all over our district. These are usually juniors in high school. We solicit from all over our district and they go in for a camp, usually about four days and four nights. And the trailblazers who are past Ryla campers they come in for an extra day and we have tremendous well-planned involvement projects. We solicit the young people that aren't necessarily the student council president and the head of the football team. They're people that are good, solid people, but they may be what you and I might call wallflowers and nobody not a Rotarian, not a student ever leaves there without feeling totally enthusiastic and changed.
Dr. Jack Werner:It's a wonderful Rotary Youth Leadership Camp and I guess one of the things that appeals to me most that entire camp is built to be fully accessible for handicapped students. Obviously, most of the kids almost all that go up there are healthy, bright, young people, but every person at that camp that's full-time up there on the staff is fully certified to work with handicapped children. Rotary has participated in building the zip line and the tower to the zip line and the normal healthy kids can climb up that perpendicular side. But they are built and they will strap on the handicapped children and take them up the diagonal side there and take them up to the top and hook them in the zip line. It's pretty magical to hear those kids giggle all the way down the zip line and then when they finish, what they're saying is more, more, more. And those are just some of the things that Rotary does locally. Each club has different passions, different projects, different fundraisers, and all those fundraisers are to give back to the community, whether it's for the women's shelter or the YMCA or the Boy Scouts or handicapped children, every club selects their own. We're sitting here today in North Park Mall with their Christmas project that's gone on for over 40 years. Last year they raised $60,000 that they gave back to local charities in the Oklahoma City community. So Rotary is about service and believing in our country and our community and saying, gosh, we'd like to participate and maybe just leave it a little better, maybe help it be a little better along the way.
Dr. Jack Werner:Brian, I bought a couple of books here that on the podcast they won't see. But you know one of the things? Robert Putnam is a well-known erudite professor. He's written many of you have heard of Bowling Alone, making democracy work in civic traditions in modern Italy, making democracy work in civic traditions in modern Italy. Perhaps you've even seen on PBS his documentary Join or Die. He's talking very specifically in these books. Over a thousand years the real impact on freedom, on democracy, on advancement, has been civic involvement and I just I believe deeply that most of us want to contribute and want to leave the place. We just find, gosh, it's so hard, there's so much time, there's so many demands and Rotary helps you focus on that and do it much more easily. And it's a lot more fun when you're doing it with other people, with other leaders in the community and undeniably I will say, as a member of Rotary for well over 40 years it helps you in your career and your business because you're associating regularly with community leaders and people that care.
Brian Triger:All of that resonates. I am still in my second year at the moment, but I can definitely connect with most, if not all, of those ideas. And it kind of leads to my next question. Membership is a common challenge for many Rotary clubs. What innovative strategies are you starting to see within some of the clubs and or committees that you've visited with? You know after over the last several years?
Dr. Jack Werner:I'll mention three specific things, if I may Sure. Number one I'm a deep believer, whether it's with our children or with Rotary simply attention. Whether I'm the brightest guy in the world or I'm kind of the slowest guy in the world, if I am there regularly and give you attention, it's valued, it's important. And it's the same thing with Rotary clubs. I believe that our district leadership must be there and give attention to those clubs. That means upcoming district governors, it means assistant district governors that were there over and over to say, hey, we're here, here's what's going on with Rotary International. How can we help you? Maybe they say, gosh, I don't need any help, we're doing great. But they certainly everybody appreciates attention and focus. So I think that's number one in helping and that segues very well into what I believe personally about how to develop new members and leadership in your own club. It's back to attention.
Dr. Jack Werner:I learned many years ago and I brought many people into Rotary because I'm passionate about it. I think it's a fabulous organization. It I think it's a fabulous organization. But I didn't realize until the last five or ten years that many of those people Brian, you and I were talking earlier about attrition. You know people are in Rotary for two, three, four years and life happens, people move away, people get divorced, people die, different things like that. But many of those people just kind of dropped out of Rotary.
Dr. Jack Werner:And what I've found in talking about attention when I bring a new member in I take them and I get asked for a commitment to go visit three different clubs with me. You've been to visit different clubs with me although you're a member of Midwest City Rotary and I think that kind of opens the eyes. It's one thing for me to tell you, oh, rotary's all over the world and big, but it's kind of a nice, it's kind of an epiphany for a light bulb to go off when you visit downtown Rotary or Brooktown Rotary or the 7 am Club or the 5.30 pm Club. Everybody does different things, has different feelings, different ambiance, different projects, and it really is an eye-opener just to casually go around to some different clubs and see what they're doing and what they're excited, how they present themselves. So I found that attention to a new member makes a huge difference. Because guess what, if I pick you up and we go to Bricktown Rotary, what do we talk about in the car? We talk about Rotary and all of that gives a greater involvement, both of me with you and you with Rotary.
Dr. Jack Werner:So that's the second thing. You know the clubs locally. As you know, one of the things I enjoy and it's a small thing that I decided many years ago that I could do to contribute daily to my community I pick up trash every day. We have Rotarians that meet at 8 am on Sunday morning down by the river and we pick up trash every day. Most of them are from my club south of Oklahoma City, but we have clubs, as you, you've met us down there and other people have and we go to breakfast breakfast and we enjoy that. So those are just some of the things. I think all those things help people feel more involved and feel like we're contributing and that's an important feeling.
Brian Triger:Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, when you were talking about attention, it made me think about you. Know you, mac Chili and a variety of other individuals in a small way was able to emulate a similar level of attention and respect, and that wasn't necessarily a social skill that I had before I came into Rotary and it took a while to kind of become aware of that even occurring. So I, you know, I definitely appreciate what Rotary has given to me and yeah, no, it's. I can always learn from your words and everyone else's words in Rotary, so I definitely appreciate that. Can I grab Janine here?
Dr. Jack Werner:for a moment for a podcast she's taking her picture here. Come on Janine, Janine's past district governor. I saw you live and she's up here volunteering for the Christmas project.
Brian Triger:Yeah, yeah, Hi Janine, Hi Jack, Hi Brian.
Speaker 3:Good to see you both here. Is it just voice only or video too?
Brian Triger:It's just voice right now. Perfect, yep, I'm speaking into your microphone. That's why.
Speaker 3:I'm so close to you, I got that.
Dr. Jack Werner:Yeah, I'm in your bubble and she's dressed up as an elf. I might mention Now is that you always dress this way, or is it just for the Christmas?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I have a lot of seasonal attire so, depending on the season, I usually have something that fits.
Dr. Jack Werner:We were just talking and this is such a tremendous amount of work. We were talking about this Christmas project and that the club raised $60,000 last year. They man this thing from noon to six and longer on weekends, all day long. It takes about four Rotarians from Thanksgiving on all the way through Christmas Eve to take pictures. It's a lot of work and they've done it for well over 40 years now. Yep 100% charitable after expenses, yeah everything goes to local charities and it's really a family tradition. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:People come year after year. We've been coming for 20 years. I think. The Santa Booth has been in service for over 40 years, maybe 44, if I'm remembering exactly.
Brian Triger:Wow.
Speaker 3:So Rotary is really making a big impact. Here in Northwest Oklahoma City Everybody knows about Santa.
Dr. Jack Werner:Oh yeah, and I've been up here and you have too. We've seen people come in and say, oh, not only my mom and dad came here, my grandma and grandpa came here to get pictures, so it's a valuable thing.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. Well, thanks for letting me pop in. Yeah, thank you, merry Christmas Thanks for coming.
Dr. Jack Werner:Merry Christmas, janine, if I may Brian before Janine popped in and I'm so glad she stopped by. But I wanted to mention and I appreciate the humbleness is valued, but you were a little humble there on your involvement and gave us credit I want to mention. You know, look at what you did. I mean you brought Nancy Kewas from Waxahachie and got us to go down while she joined Rotary as a new member just a couple of months ago, and that's you and I both know. I think anybody could see gosh. When you get that type of attention, does it make you feel more a part of Rotary? You know, here three of us drove a few hundred miles for her induction. Of course that was important to her and anybody can see why. And I appreciate you bringing her to our attention and friendship and into part of Rotary.
Brian Triger:Yeah, and I appreciate the reception and the support. It's been fun to see how, from a distance, the relationship with Nancy and the Waxahachie Club, how that's playing out and how supportive they're being and how in such a unique way she's able to contribute, and just seeing another community about three or four hours unfold kind of under a rotary lens, and how it's intertwined into a much bigger system.
Dr. Jack Werner:And I will mention wherever you are. If you're in New York or California or Texas and listening to this, if you say, gosh, maybe that's something I ought to check into. I mean, you can call me, you can call Brian. We'll find the right local club for you to hook up with and somebody to give you a personal invitation. My name is Jack Warner and my phone number, my personal cell, is 405-406-1790. And, Brian, if you'll be kind enough to tell them how to, by email or phone to contact you or the podcast.
Brian Triger:Oh, of course. Yeah, my direct line is 978-290-8200. You can go to rotary5750.org. Any contact within our district is going to be available through there. Of course, if you need to get more access to zone or international level information, you can always visit rotaryorg. One of the cool things about Rotary is that, whether you reach out to us or anyone in between an upcoming or a prospective member, all the way up to the president, most of the time, if not all of the time, you are going to be pointed in the right direction to get the information that you need.
Dr. Jack Werner:Yeah, and if there's any problem, if you're like me and kind of a Luddite on technology or you're just busy or something fails, pick up the phone, call me. I'll commit to getting an answer for you and having the right person contact with you. My number again is 405-406-1790. And I'm Jack Warner. I own A to Z Inspections out of Oklahoma City and I am the current district governor for Rotary and it's a valuable, wonderful organization, over 100 years old, largest and oldest civic club in the world.
Brian Triger:So, jack, you've actually wrapped up most of the other questions because you've given really good quality information. Let's just jump into at least one last formal question. So, as you've said before, or you've implied before, rotary's future relies heavily on youth programs like Rotaract, interact, rila and WINGS and a variety of other programs that we have going on. What steps is the district continuing to take to strengthen these programs and foster future Rotarians?
Dr. Jack Werner:Ryan, I'm so glad you mentioned because I really didn't mention those very well and for the layman perhaps out there that is not that familiar with Rotary, we all use these acronyms. Very simply, let me say when you were in high school if you had a foreign exchange student, it was probably sponsored by Rotary. Foreign exchange student, it was probably sponsored by Rotary. When we talk about Interact and Rotaract, those are our youth organizations in high school and then in college. I know in Midwest City High School I think we've got over 50 members out there now and active in that organization. So all types of things. Wings, by the way, is where we not only sponsor foreign exchange students in high school to go for a year to another country and that country sends someone here. We also have that young professionals that we send over for a few weeks to another country and exchange them just to learn different business and different contacts in those countries. So Rotary does so many magical things that are international all over the world. What are we doing to foster it? Number one Roy Woods, alfonso Neves, just finished as the Rotary District Trainer. We have training at least twice a year on leadership and how to involve and the things that are available, all the different grants that are available in Rotary. Roy Woods is just concluding an international Rotary leadership program and has agreed to be our district trainer for the next three years.
Dr. Jack Werner:And I mention that because, for the first time, anybody in our Rotary district we offered and paid for their training. This was an online training for Rotary. I think it was $150. And as long as you completed it, the district would fully pay for it. So that's one thing that hadn't been done before fully pay for it. So that's one thing that hadn't been done before.
Dr. Jack Werner:The other thing is we are paying for any club officer, president, treasurer, sergeant at arms, anybody in that line of ascension in a club president-elect. We will pay for them to go to pets or president-elect training. That's right now in Fort smith, coming up in march, and we'll pay their whole way. We'll not only pay for the enrollment, for the hotel and all those things. That's something that's not been offered, uh, and we don't want somebody.
Dr. Jack Werner:Perhaps you and I, brian, can afford it on our own, but, uh, there may be some people. You're married, you got kids, you got these things. It's a struggle to commit, it's enough just to commit to time. So we're going to pay their way to go to that training. Those are some different things that we're doing, and every one of us from myself to Mac Patel, to Michael Truitt, to Roy Woods, and then we've got about a dozen assistant district governors and each one just has the responsibility of about three clubs. If you've got a problem, you've got a concern, you've got a question, you can pick up the phone and call any of us. We'll get you answers and or we'll be there for you.
Brian Triger:And that's great and for anyone in our district. As you navigate the website, you'll be able to see different ways to clearly communicate. But if you, for instance, if you wanted to reach out to any of the district governors that we have, or assistant governors we have an assistant governor section, the link for their phone number or email all you have to do is click on those links and it'll either call or create an email prompt.
Dr. Jack Werner:What's the website?
Brian Triger:So it's rotary5750.org. If you type in that on any browser and go to that website, you will find all of the information that you need. And then also, if you Google Rotary 5750, it will. As long as I and anyone else working on it are doing their jobs, it will come up as the first link. And also, if you need any additional resources, please don't hesitate. You can reach out to me directly. My name is Brian Traeger. My contact information was mentioned before, but my direct no, mention it again please, it's 978-290-8200.
Brian Triger:You can reach me directly, uh via email, uh, info at itsparkorg. Uh, and yeah, I look forward to helping anyone out that I can, and uh, yeah, I I want to thank you for coming out, jack, and uh, I also uh want to uh to thank the shops at North Park for supporting the Santa event.
Dr. Jack Werner:North Park Mall has just been such a colleague and friend of Rotary for over 40 years and hosting us and allowing us to do that fabulous Santa Claus Christmas photo project for all those years Really strong supporters. I'll mention also, if you look at the Midwest City Beacon, the Rotary Spark podcast and Brian Trager on the front page of the November 27th issue, if you want to look that up. And I so appreciate, brian, your initiative in starting this. You're the sole responsible person for the Rotary podcast. What a neat deal, thank you.
Brian Triger:Yeah, my pleasure. It's been a lot of fun and I look forward to continuing the adventure. And I also want to take the opportunity to thank Hacienda Tacos for providing good food when we're in the mood for some Mexican food. Even though we're doing this mobile at the shops at North Park, I still want to give a shout out to the Almonte Library for giving us an opportunity to record any time that we book a recording session at no cost to us. Book a recording session at no cost to us. I want to thank the board members over at ITSpark, as well as everyone in District 5750 and Rotary International as a whole. I want to thank everyone for listening and participating in any capacity. And Merry Christmas everyone. Happy holidays as well. I love the lights and presents of Christmas, so I'm going to spotlight Merry Christmas without feeling guilty about it, but I hope everyone's filled with holiday cheer and until next time. Guitar solo you.
