HIGH NOON ROTARY

January 18, 2001

Today was a Club Assembly. Steve was still filling the Presidency as Tom is running late crossing the Atlantic. Tom said they are changing course and are in need of fuel. They are on their way to Antigua and probably they will be in Saint Martin on Friday.

Steve asked Jay Hwang to open with prayer and pledge. We then introduced our guests. We had two evening club members join our group, Pam Taylor and David Tranum. David appears to be too young to be a member of that other club. Our other guest was Ken Fusco from Fort Lauderdale.

Steve noted those club members who showed up for the Board meeting. These guys got a free Breakfast and learned about how our club operates. Oh they are John Marshal, Melissa Jackson, Jack Walls, Brian Meyers, and Emil Nagy. They get a makeup and a free meal; what a deal.

Steve asked Kevin Bruce to be of assistance in placing a number of items on the table. The items were Bananas, Rotary Caps, and Rotary Shirts. There seems to be a surplus of caps and extra large shirts in our inventory. The attempt today was to reduce those numbers and make a few bucks. Steve asked if anyone in the club had gone through a natural disaster. Jay Hwang spoke of the Tornado he experienced when he was a child. John Marshal then told the story of his slamming into walls in his bed as a child ridding out an earthquake. His dad tired to help John and his brother but he was knocked out by a door and ended up in the Bathtub. Steve talked of his experience in 1971 in California with an earthquake as did Carl Clark. Steve felt that when the disaster in California occurred he saw the community come together to help each another. Steve was trying to get us in the mood to help with the San Salvador earthquake victims. Charlie Albert is in San Salvador and he was willing to fine himself 100 dollars to begin the relief effort. The gauntlet was thrown by Pam Taylor who said their club raised 740 dollars. The group responded as we always seem to do, following our bragging and proud grandparent stuff with 1246 dollars for the relief effort.

Tom Brossia was then asked to speak about the student exchange program that we as a club participate in. Durango is sending four outbound students to places like Italy and Brazil. This requires the club to provide homes for those students who are coming to our community. Paulette told of the great experience she had with Juliette, an exchange student from Australia. This experience then opened the door for her daughter to do an exchange trip to Belgium. Ken Fusco, spoke of the ten years he served on the District Committee in Florida. Ken served as the exchange contact with Europe for the District for three years. He had two students live in his home. He feels that the heart of Rotary is this program. Ken stated that this single experience will last you a lifetime and is worth the extra effort. Steve said that the club will be expected to assist those who take in these students by taking them to movies, skiing, or like adventures. Margaret Gray said she had a great experience with the two kids who stayed with her. She said that her son formed a friendship with a boy from Germany. This has allowed her son to travel to visit with him.

John Marshal is doing a Friendship exchange to England along with Chet Wigton of the evening club. The trip will take eight weeks and they will be housed in homes of Rotarians in England. Tom went on one of these trips and he has said it was outstanding.

Mike Schafer was given the floor to speak about the Rotary Foundation. This is the money set aside for Heath, Hunger, and Humanity grants. The source of these funds is our contributions to Rotary as sustaining members and Paul Harris Fellows. High Noon has 20 Paul Harris Fellows and Rotary has 726,000 Paul Harris Fellows. The club would like to have all club members become sustaining members. This can happen with eight dollars a month contribution. The club will add four dollars at the end of the year and then forward the money to Rotary. Mike did give out a handout that gave the history of the Foundation. This handout also explained what grants are available through the Foundation.

Brian Meyers spoke of the Locks for Life project. The project is intended to provide free trigger locks to members of the community to protect from accidental discharge. The event will be at the Wal-Mart Superstore on February 10th. Brian has ordered two thousand locks and some coloring books that speak to gun safety for children. Ward will be doing a live remote at the store that day to help public awareness. We will be putting Rotary stickers on the locks and Brian may need help with that. The Wal-Mart event will be from 10:00-2:00 on the 21st. Brian said that he will be setting up a table on the eighth for those Rotarians who would like to secure gun locks.

Steve said we had 70,000 in the bank and that 50,000 was committed to the park project. The Board allocated money to Locks for Life, and an Immunization grant being lead by Emil and money raised today for San Salvador.

Steve Redding stated that he got good results from the Kiwanis of the Narrow Gauge for the mentoring program. Steve found one volunteer and four maybes out of twelve members present.

Proposed Member: Leonard Gray

Classification: Computer-Engineer

Sponsor: Jill Bruce

Leonard is the Systems Engineer for the Durango School District 9-R, where he supervises the technology department staff. He is a former Rotarian with the Club of Waxahachie, Texas where he was the Treasurer. Leonard and Margaret moved to Durango in 1995 and he would like to join our club. His interests are to help Mark Seiter with the treasury and to be a part of the Community. Contact Jill or Tom if you have concerns.

ONE FINAL NOTE: "A "NO" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a "YES," merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble."

Gandhi and the Bear

2000 - 2001 DIRECTORS

Pete Sanders - Past President

Steve Wheeldon - President-Elect

Steve Govreau - Club Service

Chessa Gill - Vocational Service

Jeff Brown - Community Service

Tom Brossia - International Service

Charlie Albert - World Service Projects

Jill Bruce - Membership

Marv Collentine - Programs

Joe Thompson - Club Bulletin

Kevin Bruce - Sergeant at Arms

Ward Holmes - Public Relations

Steve Redding - Director

Mike Matheson - Director

Paulette Church - Director

OFFICERS

Tom Galbraith-President

Steve Wheeldon-President-Elect

Margaret Gray-Secretary

Mark Seiter-Treasurer