HIGH NOON ROTARY

September 2, 1999

It was a gloomy day in Durango. The clouds were closing in. The air was filled with expectations of rain and thunder as Rotary begins. Pete opened the meeting with the confidence of a person who has done this sort of thing before. He asked Jim Hugins to lead the prayer and pledge. Rotary has begun.

Jim Wotkyns has returned to the club, Pete noted. We then introduced guests. Jim and Ruth Jackson, he a senior active and Past District Governor were with us. They hail from Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Paulette Church, a past service Rotarian from Forest City was with us. She brought her husband Clyde to enjoy the fare. Shari Andrews was there, as was Pam Taylor. Pam is a Past President of the other club in Durango. She invited us to a breakfast meeting at the Strater on the 14^th of September. This is a one time event she said. Ralph Viney, from Midland Texas, was there. Finally, and by no way the least, Jay Hwang joined us for lunch.

We had a couple of wonderful letters read to us by Chessa Gill. This was in appreciation for our Scholarships. One was from Sarah Edwards and the other was from Adams State.

Paulette Church stated that she is in need of Volunteers to help at Adult Education. She also needs folks who can teach Spanish as a second language. She also placed information about the Computer classes offered at their location on each table.

Pete mentioned that we have the list of committee assignments on the table for our review.

Charley Albert then asked if anyone had an interest in working on starting a Cub Pack at the Animas Valley school. This is a hands on effort. He got a number of hands who expressed interest in doing this.

Bob Volger read a note from the Interact Club. They are doing an AIDS Walk and are needing us to donate items for an auction, or be walkers who can get pledges and other sundry help. Talk to Bob about how to get involved.

Pam Copeland paid a fine for a picture in the paper. She stated that anyone wanting to see the Hardly Angels perform could do so at the Casino Parking lot at ten on Saturday or after the parade in Durango at the K-Mart lot.

Susan Sanders asked if a carpenter in the club would build us a new Badge box. If not, we will order one from the Rotary supplier.

Congratulations to Mark Vinson and Laura on the birth of their new daughter Barbara Ruth. They are celebrating Rotaries’ New Generation month with this birth. This is Youth Month in this Rotary year.

We met the delegation from Russia who were at our meeting. There were two Steves, Michael, Natalia, and a Phillip. They are here to pick up new ideas on management, marketing, new technologies and business.

Jeannie told a story that lead to our understanding the work that Steve Osborne and Jim Hugins do. Steve sells windows, doors, fireplaces and other such things. Jim is semi-retired and his firm does audits. Jeannie was in a fine mood. She fined those of the club that do not ride Motorcycles. Then she fined all but two members because we did not have tatoos.

The speaker of the day was Shari Andrews. This young woman is an acupuncturist. She has passed a national test and is on the state register for this practice of the ancient arts. She stated that there are four sites in Colorado that train people in acupuncture. There are about eight folks who practice in Durango. One must attend a three-year school to be able to take the National Test. One can spend another year in school to develop skills in Herbs. She feels that there is a need to do companion work with other practices. She feels that life style changes are sometimes needed to help people get well. Thus, people have to understand their part in the healing process. She requires people to do home work to help see positive results. Her role is to direct the healing and preform the diagnosis of the problem. She feels that this type of healing is not for everyone and people need to be comfortable in what they choose to become well.