Rotary Gram

Durango High Noon Rotary Club

March 20, 2003

"A diplomat's life is made up of three ingredients: Protocol, Geritol and Alcohol"

Adlai Stevenson.....

Jeff opened the meeting with the announcement that Governor Bill Owens was forced to cancel his presentation to the club and that he would attempt to reschedule for April 3rd.

Steve W. provided a thoughtful and timely invocation and his bride Jeannie lead us in the singing of God Bless America.

Jeff then asked IPP Wheeldon to get the meeting going, seeing that he relished being 'upfront' once again. He immediately delegated the task to PP Dick Pearson, who in turn asked Pam Moore to lead us in recitation of the 4-way Test. Placemats at each seat listed the 4-way Test and everyone was able to recite it without hesitation.

Steve W. then introduced everyone at his table and Jeff then proceeded to call for the introduction of all the other guests, including:

Tom Cheatham

John Francis, PE of the DayBreak Club and Red Ball prime mover

Tim Walsworth

Bob Marcus

Robin Boucher

Duffy McKay

Claire Lodahl

Community Service

Red Ball Report: John Francis reported on the results of the inaugural Red Ball Express

fund raiser and recognized Ward Holmes for his efforts in promoting the event on local radio and other media. Ticket sales totaled $27,286, with sponsorships adding another $10,000. Each club will receive around $3,705 for projects, with the balance going directly to area non-profits.

John indicated that lots of work was done in a short period of time and that planning for next year was underway, with DMR committing to be part of the effort. Jeff thanked John and Wells Fargo for their efforts and cash sponsorship.

Club Service

Sergeant At Arms: Jeff introduced Trooper McGuire as the SAA for A Day. He proceeded to 'recognize' the SubWay @ Wal-Mart for not serving corned beef on the most sacred of holidays and Robin Jackman for an unspecified (meaning I couldn't write fast enough) infraction. Jeannie and Howard had their numbers drawn for a chance to select a card from the deck, to no avail.

Dave Spencer Ski Classic Banner: The club was presented a banner from Adaptive Sports to recognize it's efforts in fund raising and participation. Jeff asked Bob Chaput to auction the banner to the highest bidder, which turned out to be Bob himself. Proceeds went to La Plata Youth Services.

Announcements

Again, the Governor may be here on April 3rd.

PE Chessa's new board will meet in the Double Tree lounge on Thursday, May 27th at 4:30 PM.

The District Leadership Conference is coming up. See Jeff for details.

Program

When Jeff was told that the Governor was not going to be at the meeting, he asked 3 club members to speak. Presenting, in order of appearance, were Dr. Robin Jackman, John Marshall and Charlie Albert

Robin graduated from HS in Longmont with a dance scholarship and an interest in theatre. Other options appeared and she went to the Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton after her undergrad work. She met her husband at SCCO.

Robin was the first female member of her Orange County-based Rotary club and 'came home' to Colorado after 13 years on the West coast.

She explained that Optometrists do much more than prescribe glasses and contact lenses. They are trained to recognize and treat a number of eye diseases, to prescribe certain medications and to provide pre and post-op care for Lasik surgery patients.

On the personal side, her husband, Kurt Lampkin, is a professional Disk Golf player and they have a 'pointy eared' dog. And, there is rumored to be an older Porsche in the garage.

Robin left us with an important message, have your eyes checked once a year and that life is short, so have fun.

John M. spoke about his upcoming trip to District 4790 in the North of Argentina, as Team Leader for our District's Group Study Exchange (GSE) Team. Team Members include two Durangoans, Ellen Hartsfield, sponsored by the Day Break Club and Alexii Carey, sponsored by HNRC. Ellen is a language instructor at FLC and Alexii teaches at the elementary and secondary levels in Durango.

The other two team members include Kelly Whittington, a banker from Rifle and Joe Watson, an Electrical Engineer from Colorado Springs.

The GSE program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women in their initial years of professional life. The program is designed to develop professional and leadership skills among young people to better prepare them to address the needs of their communities and an increasingly global workplace.

The team members will have vocational activities, cultural experiences, fellowship opportunities and lots of involvement with Rotarians, in their case, with members for over 30 clubs in the Argentine provinces of Chaco, Resistencia and Corrientes.

The team anticipates attending a number of club meetings while in Argentina, the earliest of which meets at 8:30 PM. We expect to have to adjust to a more 'Latin' schedule, with late nights, large mid-day meals and mornings that begin later than in the U.S.

Each team member will stay with a the family of a Rotarian during the 4 weeks of the exchange. The average stay with a host family is 3 days, so each team member and the team leader could stay with 9 different hosts. Each member of the team will take a small photo album to share with their host families and host family gifts.

This GSE team will conclude it's exchange by attending District 4790's annual conference. Team members are allowed to stay abroad for up to 4 weeks after the exchange is over, paying for any additional expenses that are incurred.

Team members and the team leader are sponsored by the district, with RI arranging the travel. Accommodations and meals are provided by the clubs and members hosting the team.

Last weekend, Jeff and Charlotte Brown held a dinner and reception in their home to salute the team and to get a preview of the information they will include in the presentations they will make while in Argentina. Thanks Jeff. And thanks to Jill and Paulette for delicious contributions as well.

Jan Williams and Clyde Church, Presidents of the Day Break and the Durango Rotary Clubs respectively, attended, along with Ann Butler of the Herald who had Dustin the photographer in tow.

The team leaves on May 19th and is scheduled to begin the return on June 16th. 3 members will spend more time in Argentina and Alexii may venture into Brazil before returning. The team expressed their thanks to Rotary for the opportunity and all will make fine ambassadors of District 5470 and the U.S.A.

Jeff introduced Charlie Albert, a High Noon Rotarian since 1990, and head of our International Service efforts. Charlie has spent time in Chile and Belize in recent months, putting forth efforts for his church and Rotary.

Charlie spoke of his support for the GSE program, calling it among the greatest ways to promote world peace. His presentation was accompanied by a power point presentation, which included photos of the Central American Projects fair held in Belize. Projects fairs are similar to trade shows, where clubs in the region man booths and pitch projects that their clubs are doing or want to do. They are looking for commitments of financial and other aid from the representatives of North American clubs attending the fairs.

From Charlie's experience, clean drinking water is among the highest priorities, followed by sewage treatment, schools and health.

Charlie explained the ongoing wheel chair project, where $150 is enough to buy and deliver a wheel chair. 2000 - 2001 projects that our club participated in include a vehicle to serve as an ambulance in Honduras and 50 computers that also went to Honduras, for which our club paid the freight. An Albuquerque club secured the computers.

As part of our International Service efforts, funds from the club were also used to purchase materials for temporary shelters in El Salvador after an earthquake.

Potential projects for the future include helping to secure a garbage truck and the rebuilding of a water treatment plant in Honduras. Most disease in the third world is caused by contaminated water.

If you want to be involved in International Service, get in touch with Charlie. Jeff asked for a show of hands and there at least 10!

Jeff thanked the members for the program, thanked the visiting Rotarians and guests and closed the meeting.

Coming Up

Mar 27 After the Fire - Missionary Ridge

Apr 3 Alexii Carey - Cuba Trip or Governor Bill Owens

Apr 10 Club Assembly, at the Rec Center

Apr 17 Dr. Heddington-Insights to Balding

Apr 24 Open

May 1 Mexican Food Fiesta

John E. Marshall

3005 County Road 207

Durango, CO 81301

970-259-6248 p

970-259-4498 f