Quote: “I like my crowds rowdy”

Our guest speaker, on HNRC members.

President Mike was in fine form today, topped with a huge sombrero.

Guests:

Sons and spouses: Brian Govreau (Steve), Carol McGuire (Mike), Steven (son) and Jim (spouse) Bowen (Pam), and Laura Bartel, spouse of Guest Speaker. Rotarian Chuck Davies from San Antonio Texas kept his 28-year perfect attendance alive. Returning visitors included Mike Kane of Fire Ready (Jay), Su Compton of Noahs Ark (Tami) and Bill Hobson (Howard). Tim W. bought lunch for several folks from United Way: Erin Youngblood, Scott Thompson and Gina Piccoli. We were able to meet more scholarship recipients: Nikki Calderwood and Jordan Bulwan, who is from Ignacio and is heading off to pre-med school. Finally, Yuta introduced his parents, visiting from Japan.

Happenings & Announcements:

Mike announced that we will be missing three strong members of HNRC: Paulette Church, Emil Nagy, and Bill Wright.

A large group of HNRC members spent much of last week in Mexico City. They distributed 280 wheelchairs while being guests of many Rotary Clubs in the area. Our banner collection continues to grow. All the members were extremely moved the complete experience. We have scheduled a program based on their experiences for Sept. 9, 2004.

Wednesday June 28, 2004 11:00 AM Fairgrounds. The Dedication Ceremony of the “Missionary Ridge and Valley Fires” Commemorative Monument. Three interpretive panels commemorating the fires will be placed in the new rock wall. Entitled “Summer of the Flames”, “Community of Heroes”, and “Seasons of Healing”, the signs describe conditions leading up to the fire, the response of the community and the regrowth of the forest. Joy Mathis is leading the charge.

Last Saturday Pam Moore led a dedicated group of Rotarians on a seek and destroy mission cleaning up our patch of highway. They included John M., Tom B., Scott M., Terri Lee & Jim, Wayne B., Brian M., and others.

Dave Farmer will host a swimming party this Sunday 7/25 at his Club to mark the departure of our Durango exchange students next week. All three Durango clubs are sponsors. Call Pam Bowen for more.

Program:

The Club enjoyed a very gracious presentation by our new President of Fort Lewis College, Dr. Brad Bartel. One of his first long-overdue moves was to provide signage for visitors to actually find the Southwest Studies, Concert Hall, and his office. (More than once, your scribe and his wife have missed events at FLC because we couldn’t find the right buildings – bet the new President couldn’t find his office the first day!) But the signage point is broader: to attract visitors and residents to the beautiful campus. More summer events, concerts, brochures in town, and even banners along College Drive to bring more people to FLC.

He then touched upon some specific ideas under consideration: Expand degree offerings from the current 25to include such offerings as, such as Health issues and Criminal Justice; Review athletic activities, maybe to bring back NCAA skiing and mountain biking; Provide a sharper focus for the college; Increase enrollment from the current 4,200 to the goal of 5,000 students; and Provide greatly expanded career placement opportunities. The idea that drew considerable applause from the members focused upon the goal of greatly increasing – if not making mandatory – the opportunity to involve the students in volunteering in the community.

Dr. Bartel is a vibrant new leader for our FLC and is brimming with ideas. As one member put it, we didn’t just get a new President, but a real CEO.

What’s Ahead:

July 29: Music in the Mountains goes to school

Menu: Mexican Buffet

Yours in Rotary,

Spencer, your Scribe

PS: Your correspondent always welcomes your comments: mailto:pearse2827@sisna.com