Rotary Gram

Durango High Noon Rotary Club

Feb 06, 2003

Quote: "The three keys to happiness are to have something to do today, to have someone to love, and to have something to hope for." A quote your scribe learned years ago .

President Jeff Brown opened the meeting, Wynn lead the invocation, and we were off to another fine Rotary session.

Guests:

Dr. Claire Lodahl, a veterinarian, was introduced by Terry Price. Charlie Albert brought lunch for his better half Judy, and Sam Stites did the same for Dee, his mom. Chessa introduced Bess Maisel, a returning guest. John Beekman introduced Larry Eads. Ex-mayor Joe Colgan from the evening club did his makeup and Paulette introduced hubby Clyde, also a refugee from the evening club. President Clyde in turn introduced our visiting District Governor Chuck Tutor.

The DG Word:

DG Tutor just loves Durango -- he's on his second trip and spent the last three days here visiting all of our fine local Rotary clubs. He provided a short update on the District and is especially proud of the fact that $111,000 raised in our District has been ramped up to $559,000 through Matching Grants. This is above the $85,000 raised for polio eradication, the $11,000 for GSE, the $25,000 for the Ambassador program and another $25,000 for cultural exchanges. Whew! By the way, the cultural program will benefit two people from Durango next year.

The real reason for his visit was to award the Paul Harris Fellowship to...yes...Paulette Church. A very active member of our Club, this award to Paulette is very fitting. And now you know why Clyde just happened to be in attendance today!

The DG also had the honor of presenting our appreciation and a dozen roses to Jan Measles and Jill Bruce. These two ladies were outstanding in bringing to reality the Snowball festivities last Saturday.

Happenings:

El Presidente, on behalf of the club and the community, heaped effusive but deserved praise upon Steve Osborne for our fantastic Rotary float. Also profusely thanked was Peter Marshall, who conned the DoubleTree pooh-bahs into contributing 18 four-star hotel room nights around the country. Rich O'Block served as Sergeant-at-Arms again. He promptly secured voluntary Happy Dollars from Ron Holligan for becoming a grandfather and Jennifer Simon, who is moving up the American Cancer Society food chain. Jeff, Chessa, ex-pres Steve W, and Officer Friendly were fined for some trumped-up charges, but Rick let Mike off the hook in an outrageous attempt to curry favor from the CHP. Rick O'B also attempted to fine your loyal scribe on a duplicitous, fallacious falsehood implying outrageous disrespect for our visiting DG. He not only failed but is learning now that scribes have the last word.

Charlie and Judy's Great Chile Adventures:

Past President and Charter Member Dick Pearson introduced Charlie and Judy to the Club, which was nice even if Charlie has been one of us for more than thirteen years. Dick and Charlie met nearly thirty years ago, and now you recall Dick's daughter and Charlie's son tied the knot last year. As so often happens in these circumstances, both Dick and Charlie are preparing to be grandparents for the first time!

Charlie and Judy recently returned for an eighteen-month Church mission to the wonderful country of Chile. They provided the Club with a delightful slide-show of the country some 5,000 miles long hugging the Pacific Coast of South America. The coastline reminded them of California. After the chaos of both Allende and Pinoche, Chile has now emerged ahead of Argentina and Brazil as the strongest economy in the region. Almost all homes have water and sewer, and with temperate climate, the country produces lots of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Grapes and wine are major exports. Beef is also a major product, and all the small towns enjoy rodeos. During their stay, Charlie and Judy visited a ski area high in the Andes on the border with Argentina, spent two months on a remote island with unique flora, and cruised to Tierra del Fuego at the bottom of the world. We enjoyed their pictures of glaciers, sea lions, and penguins. They indeed had a Great Adventure and are glad they shared their experiences with us!

Coming Up

Feb 13 Annies Orphans Humane Shelter

Feb 20 Rocky Mt Chocolate

Feb 27 State Farm Insurance Fraud Unit

Humbly submitted,

Spencer Pearse,

Your substitute scribe