R O T A R Y G R A M September 25, 2003
“Too...weak....to....type....any....more...must....get.....food.....”A HNRC Rotarian on last week’s new “Rotary Diet” Presidenta Chessa opened with a moment of silence and the Pledge. Guests -- who actually enjoyed lunch with us today --included Jay Gill, Chessa’s other half, and Perry Moyle, the Regional Director of the American Heart Association based in Grand Junction. Happenings and Announcements: Chessa is planning to attend the District Conference (in La Junta, brave lady) this weekend. Moreover, she is making plans to reserve three train parlour cars for us! This terrific event is scheduled for December 6. More no doubt as the Holidays approach. Our club planted 160 trees near the Chamber house at Vallecito – congrats to all who participated! Our own John Anderson, Co-Chair of the Disaster Recovery Group, announced their final meeting recently. They administered more than $130,000 in needed funds and countless hours of volunteer time. Our own Club pitched in with $9,200 and our District ponyed up another $9,800. Well done John and all who supported this essential Group! Tom Brossia made a shameless pitch for Ducks Unlimited, meeting October 4 at Ignacio. (Did you know Dr. Bob Volger was a major DU pooh-bah back in the early 1970’s?) They actually do great deeds and have fun too! With prodding from Bud, Mary Barter announced the School District successfully secured a $500,000 grant from the Feds. Nice job! Now can our property taxes be reduced … please?In other announcements, Carol Simons from Alternative Horizons announced a Workshop entitled “When Domestic Violence Comes to Work” to be held Wednesday October 8 at First National Bank. Co-sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association, it is designed to help employers avoid liability and the loss of employees when domestic violence comes to work. Contact Kim Jones at 247-4374 for more. The Kiwanis are having their golf fund-raiser (benefiting Children’s Miracle Network and other charities) next Friday October 3rd at Dalton. Call Greg Veatch at 247-8762. The Bud without Bill Show:
Red-badger David Downs volunteered a fine after his cell-phone rang during the meeting – it was his spouse…oops! No one picked the Queen of Hearts, the pot is now up to $300, and the card pack is getting slimmer! This is your Life, with Emil Nagy
Our resident Hungarian Rotarian was born to a successful, prosperous business family. But as a lad of 8 years, he bore witness to the absolute horrors of Soviet occupation during WWII. Stripped of everything by the Communists, the family struggled to survive the ten years leading up to the 1956 Revolution. Unfortunately, Emil skipped the details of his escape to Austria and his eventual re-location to Canada. He attended the Univ. of Michigan and refocused his education towards the health-care business. He ran his own international Management Consulting firm for 18 years. Following his wife’s bout with cancer, they re-examined their values and returned to Colorado. He and his now healthy wife have lived in Durango for the past six years and they have four adult kids. We have heard bits and pieces of his story before, but it was a delight to get the five-minute version! Program:
Mr. Ken Beck of the Bureau of Reclamation provided an interesting slide show of the Animas-La Plata Project construction activities. This is the ALP “Lite” version of the original, since all agricultural water was stripped from the project, leaving only Municipal and Industrial water. Ground-breaking occurred almost two years ago and the construction work continues on schedule. (They average moving 4,000 cubic yards per day!). The pumping plant being built across from Santa Rita Park will be almost 100 feet high although sixty feet will be below ground level. In answer to a question, boating is planned – and the reservoir (at 1,500 acres) will be comparable in size to Vallecito. A very interesting program, especially if you like pictures of blasting and huge earth-moving equipment! The USBR website is www.uc.usbr.gov, then click on ALP Project.
Next week: Another fine program complete with lunch. Should you arrive early and the meeting room doors are closed – don’t panic. The hotel has a tight squeeze between a morning group and our meeting. Yours in Rotary, Spencerpearse2827@sisna.com