R O T A R Y G R A M
 

High Noon Rotary Club

 
April 8, 2004

 
With her typical aplomb and polish, Chessa opened the meeting with a nice invocation and led the crowd in a recitation of the Pledge.
 
Guests:
 
We welcomed back former HNRC member J.R. Spies.  JR has returned to Durango after a three-year stint in Tulsa OK where he received his Masters in Divinity at Oral Roberts University.  He is now with Vectra Mortgage.  Tom C. bought lunch for Rachel Gill, the head-mentor of the La Plata Youth Services while Ernie Norms was a guest of Bud Poe.  Dr. Manuel P. treated his wife Margaret DesPortes to lunch and Howard W. brought returning-guest Bill Hobson.  New member-to-be Nancy Vanderwal invited hubby Paul while Pam included son Steven in our meeting.  Jay H. introduced Chuck and Cheryl Carson to the Club.  Chuck is a retired industrial engineer with Sandia Labs in Albuquerque and a professor of engineering at UNM.  Cheryl is a retired Psychologist who had her practice in that fine city.  They are ski instructors at Purgy and are involved with Ft. Lewis and the 2006 Centennial committee for Mesa Verde.  They bought property here 30-years ago and have lived here for five years.  And of course Yuta joined us today.
 
Happenings:
 
The “original” evening club will celebrate their 75th Anniversary with a great bash Tuesday 4/13, 6:00 PM at the Strater.  The DG will be there talking up the Paul Harris program.  Call Chessa.
 
Chessa also announced the Rotary Leadership seminars have been scheduled:  4/17 in Glenwood Springs and 4/24 in Colorado Springs.  Chessa highly recommends these sessions and is waiting for your call.
 
Tim Kroes of the Adaptive Sports Association, in response to our donation supporting the recent 2004 Dave Spencer Ski Classic, sent the club an effusive thank you letter.
 
Short-takes:  Doug L. is looking for help with the DHS Prom Night gig, 4/17.  Wayne B. is also looking for member support for the 5/1 Durango Nature Studies event, while Ted R. is ditto for the Baseball stint to be held at 7:00 PM on 5/6.
 
Former President Patty B. shared the great news that our Club is receiving $4,800 as our share of the proceeds from the Red Ball Express.
 
The always-wonderful Fireside Chat is scheduled for 7:00 PM April 24th at the home of Susan Sanders.
 
Finally, the ever-generous Jeannie W. spearheaded the American Red Cross 4th Annual Rose Sale.  This really is a very deserving charity, providing shelter, clothing, food and other necessities to families in need.  For club members, Jeannie threw in a free ticket to the Melodrama, making your rose purchase really compelling!
 
New Member:
 
The Club welcomed a new member today:  Nancy Vanderwal.  She is a professional Interior Designer, who with her architect husband Paul, owns Vanderwal Architects.  Their customers include residential, banking, commercial and retail clients.  Currently Vanderwal Architects has eight employees and locations in The Woodlands, TX and Durango CO.  No stranger to Rotary, her grandfather is a Paul Harris Fellow.  A very active volunteer in Texas, she is sure to be a great bonus for HNRC.  Welcome!
 
This is Your Life:
 
Up today was Keoki Sears, who was born in Hawaii (“Keoki” is Hawaiian for “George”).  By your scribe’s count, he went to about eight schools in at least six countries before heading off to college.  With his degree, he moved to Hawaii, Omaha (“too cold, too fast”) and California and managed to marry Janine.  Then more moves:  Malaysia, Spain, Denver, Germany and finally Durango.  This poster-child for frequent flyer miles is now involved with Project Catalyst Corp and he is now heading up a Durango wireless effort called Kivanet. 
 
Program:
 
Dr. John Withers and Miles Bruno shared with the Club their efforts to create The Durango Health Collaborative.  With the downsizing of Valley Wide Primary Care, there is an acute need to provide health access to up to 8,000 local residents, many of whom are Medicare folks.  The DHC, which was nine months in planning, is a non-profit fee-based physician-patient partnership.  They will provide high quality, affordable, primary healthcare services.  This was a very timely, informative and interesting program.
 
Next Week:
 
Program:  Our 25th Anniversary Special – Your Life:  Dr. Mary Barter
Menu:       Chicken Gumbo with Shrimp
 
Yours in Rotary,
 
 
Spencer, your Scribe
 
PS:  Your correspondent always welcomes your comments:  pearse2827@sisna.com