Rotary Gram

Durango High Noon Rotary Club

July 18, 2002

"Regulations of the '30s couldn't stop the scams of the '90s. So Congress needs to go far beyond simply

cracking down on miscreants....."

Robert Kuttner, Business Week....

Jeff Brown opened the meeting, holding aloft the latest issue of RI magazine, profiling the new RI President, Bhichai Rattakul. Jeff indicated that our new President has said that he will not create new programs, but focus rather on a back to basics administration.

Wynn led the prayer, with Jeff following with the Pledge of Allegiance. Guests were introduced, including:

Tom Cheatam

Brooklyn Parker

Jan Williams, President of the Durango Day Break Rotary Club

Erin Driscoll

Cheryl Wiescamp, Speaker

Ann Rilling, Speaker

Jan Measles

Clyde Church, President of the Durango Rotary Club

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

From the Board meeting: The board has preliminarily approved 5 new members and their names will be submitted to the membership for comment. 3 resignations were accepted. Kevin Bruce and Roy Crow will join the Day Break Club and Cliffton Callicotte is relocating to Oregon, where his wife will pursue her Ph.D.. Leave of absences were approved/extended for Charley Albert, Petra Lyon, Emil Nage and Margaret Landrum.

Day Break Club: Jan Williams reminded us that Durango's newest Rotary Club meets Wednesday mornings at 6:45 - 7:00 AM at the Durango Rec Center. She also invited us to attend their Chartering Night celebration. It will be held Wednesday, July 31st, at the Center for Southwest Studies at FLC. Beverages and eats are provided, tickets are $17.00 each. Please confirm directly to Jeff Brown that you will attend and how many in your party, no later than Thursday, July 25th.. (Don't send your replies to the bulletin writer, he is out of town and out of touch next week)

Surprise for new Club: Clyde Church announced that the Evening Club will have a surprise for the Day Break Club at their chartering night party. In spite of Jeff's prompting, he declined to say what it was.

Ward thanks supporters: Ward thanked the club, Walt and Bert in particular, for assistance with the recent baseball tournament.

NORBA: Volunteers of all kinds are still needed for the big mtn. bike event scheduled for August 1st. Get in touch with Ed Zink at Mtn. Bike Specialists.

http://www.southwestcoloradofires.org/: This site is up and provides information for fire victims, homeowners, businesses and communities.

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE:

Club Banners: Paulette presented the club with several banners from the Rotary Exchange Students that bussed through Durango in June. She saluted Vern Swanson for picking up the tickets at Mesa Verde for our district's Rotary Youth. Thanks you notes from the touring exchange students were circulated among the members.

Puifai is home: Paulette received an e-mail and a phone call from Puifai. She's home and thanked the club again for all the support.

Chip Lile to lead Exchange efforts: Chip, a former exchange student himself, together with Ken Fusco and Paulette, will manage the club's exchange student efforts. The initial activity will be to identify host families for the 2003 school year.

Rick O'Block's Daughter returns: Rick announced that his daughter Katy, will be returning Sunday from her summer exchange stay in Spain. With her will be the daughter of her host family.

Past President, Tom Galbraith on International Service: Time did not permit Tom to make his presentation on International service. He planned to remind us that Rotary's mission is to promote world peace. International Service is 1/3rd to 1/2 of what we do. Perhaps we'll hear more detail next week.

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

Ice Cream Social: Paulette recognized the Rotarians from our club that volunteered to serve ice cream at a special night for the fire fighters at the Fair Grounds.

HNR/United Way Golf Tournament: The annual and largest club fund raiser will be held Saturday, August 17th at the Dalton Ranch Golf Club. Entry fee is $125.00, which includes the golf, lunch buffet and a cart. Opportunities for hole sponsors are still available, contact Melisa Caskey or Missy Rodey. Info? 247-9444. More teams are needed and everyone needs to find one player.

Long Term Recovery Team: Tom Brossia announced that several HN Rotarians are participating in the planning for a Long Term Recovery Team that takes over when national and other funding is no longer available. Tom stated some important deadline for relief funds, July 24th and August 20th (FEMA). It is important that claimants register, even if they later do not file a claim. The FEMA nubmer is 800-621-FEMA. Contact Tom about the July 24th date.

CAP grant awarded for bikes: Steve R. announced that a grant for $1,900.00 had been received to buy bicycles for La Plata Youth Services. With a $70k shortfall due to reduced state funding, it is uncertain if LPYS will continue to operate.

Habitat Builds 15th House!: Tami announced that Habitat for Humanity is in the process of completing it's 15th local home. Get in touch with her for opportunities to help.

CLUB SERVICE:

New Member: Jill introduced Ken Fusco to the membership as the club's newest member. A Rotarian for 25 years, Ken was sponsored by Marv Collentine. Ken now spends 8 months in Durango, the balance in Ft. Lauderdale and credits his friends in Durango for his decision to join our club.

Ken was involved in Florida in the exchange program at the district level for 20 years, is a Paul Harris Fellow. Originally from Long Island, where coincidentally, Dr. Mary Barter was the Supervisor of his school district, but not at the time he was in school he points out. Ken spent time at Grumman where he worked on the lunar lander, at Boeing developing testing instruments for helicopters, sold insurance in Phily. He made his way to Florida in 1973 and later changed his focus to fee- based financial planning.

Ken hopes for another 25 years of Rotary, with the High Noon Club and the club feels the same. Welcome Ken.

Pearse's pen poised: Spencer has graciously agreed to publish the bulletin next week. Your regular scribe will be in the mtns. on a llama-supported (they carry the stuff) 5 day trek into the Lizard Head Wilderness. Thank you Spencer.

Rotary Club of Colorado Springs InterQuest: A message from Mark Pannell.

I am the Director of Club Service for the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs InterQuest. We are a brand new club and in need of speakers.

I invite you to come speak at one of our meetings. Our club meets Thursday evenings at Liberty Heights in the north end of Colorado Springs. If you would like to speak to our club or know of someone who would, please give me a call or send me an email. (mgp@hanesschutz.com ) Even if you are not interested in being a speaker, I encourage you to join us for one of our meetings.

Thank you for your time.

Mark Pannell

Director of Club Service

Rotary Club of Colorado Springs InterQuest

(719) 260-7900

SERGEANT AT ARMS:

Dentist Makes News: Len Goebel recognized Bob Volger for being quoted in the local paper. In fact, Len was so impressed that he paid the fine Bob would have otherwise have coughed up. Bob was quoted again, saying that a certain mayor had no sense of humor, or something to that effect.

Rotary starts lottery: Len announced that three playing cards would be drawn each week, based on the $1.00 ticket sales. If no one selects the lucky card, the proceeds from the ticket sales roll into the next week. When there is a winner, half the money goes to them, the other half toward club purposes.

PROGRAM:

Jeff introduced Cheryl Wiescamp and Ann Rilling of Durango Nature Studies. Ann is one of the founders and Project Director, and Cheryl is the Executive Director. Cheryl began by expressing her thanks and respect for the service clubs in the area, for the support they provide.

DNS works 'to bring nature into the lives of people of all ages.' Today, most school budgets do not include money for outdoor field trips, so the DNS provides an important opportunity. A short video that described more of the programs offered was shown, featuring a number of the volunteers.

Started in 1994, DNS has helped people get to know the ecosystem, with 140 acres on the Animas River south of town in the Bondad area. Their first big project was a bridge, built with help from HNR in the form of $10k. Newer learning opportunities include ethnobotany, covering the uses of plants.

The speakers thanked the club for it's recent efforts to help construct a Hummingbird garden. A call for 6 volunteers to answer typical questions that are asked at DNS was made. All participants were awarded with DNS products, from hats to t- shirts. One special volunteer, Patty B., was 'dressed' as an earthworm, to demonstrate one of the teaching techniques used.

Another demonstration brought home the number of insect species vs mammals, fishes, birds etc. With a Sierra Club grant, DNS is able to run a summer kids camp program. DNS has a base of over 100 volunteers and serves more than 5,000 kids and the same number of adults each year.

DNS is open on Saturdays in the Spring and Fall, with school groups Tuesday-Friday during the school year. Call 382- 9244 for exact times and days. The future calls for permanent buildings and more hours of operation. Jeff awarded

Cheryl and Ann, the ever popular speaker's mugs as thanks for their presentation.

Jeff rang the busy and informative meeting to a close.

July 25th - Virginia Castro - Rotary Exchange Trip to Sweden

Aug 1 - Scott McInnis

Aug 8 - Durango Mt Resort

Aug 15 - Park Dedication

Aug 21 - Board Meeting

Aug 22 - Butch Knowlton and Duke Schirard

Aug 29 - Club Assembly

Sep 5 - Rotary District Governor

Sep 12 - Bob Dolphin, Ft. Lewis College

Sept 19 - Kiwanis Pancake Luncheon

Sept 26 - NFIB State Director