Rotary Club of Durango High Noon

Meeting Minutes ­ Thursday, November 4, 2004

 

Branden Rapala, president of Interact Club, started our meeting with the

ringing of the bell and leading us in the pledge.

 

No invocation today, but John Lopez did have a few words of wisdom

concerning wives credited to Bum Phillips. Congratulations John on 32 years

of marriage!

 

Guests:

Lots of guests attended today, most of who did not put their last names on

the guest sheet. Jay brought his friend Mike Hurst. Jeff brought some very

tall ladies that turned out to be members of the FLC women’s basketball

team, Amy and Nicole, along with their shorter coach, Diane the “Snoop”. Six

members of the Interact Club were here and two of our exchange students

attended, Milton from Ecuador and Anne from France. Also, Leanna Jaworsky

was visiting as well. (Sorry for all the misspellings.)

 

Announcements:

1)      Most of you lucky enough to attend got your most recent club invoice hand

delivered by our esteemed Treasurer, John Beekmann. The rest of you will get

yours in the mail.

2)      The Tri-District conference was a big success and a big round of

appreciation goes to those who organized it, especially John Marshall and

Jeff Brown. Conference facts: 220 registered attendees from Texas, Colorado,

New Mexico, and Mexico; 70% of the projects presented were funded; our club

funded $1,000 toward the CLEFT PALATE PROJECT CON CLUB PASO DEL NORTE

JUAREZ - a $7,000 total matching fund project; at the conference, $470,000

of total funding using matching RI funds made this conference a BIG success.

Next year’s Tri-District Reunion is scheduled to meet in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Thanks to Mike McGuire, John Marshall and others for hosting visiting

Rotarians. Thanks to the talented Manuel Pozo-Alonso and family for

entertainment. They donated their honorarium toward the wheelchair project!

3)      The Central America Projects Fair will be held in Antigua, Guatemala. An

email will be sent with more details. Contact Charlie Albert.

4)      Pam reported that her son Steven is still suffering in Sweden. Poor guy!

5)      Fireside Chat-Everyone welcome! November 19th hosted by Susan Sanders at

her home. Time to be determined. Don’t miss this one. If you have been

before you know why.

6)      Rotary Presidential Election: Nominees will be presented at our next

meeting and voting will commence. Will there be debates?

7)      Skyhawk Classic is November 19 and 20th. Your Rotary membership card gets

you in for free. Support the ladies team by signing up to donate through

their “3 Point Club”.

8)      Wheelchairs-Now are up to about 260 or so. Time is running out for Steve

Wheeldon to contribute more and for the rest of you as well. Contact Don

Freemyer or Bob Chaput to get in your donation. The project is on schedule

to place their container order this December.

9)      Adaptive Sports Association information and organization meeting is set

for Tuesday or Wednesday 9th or 10th at the Rec Center, 7:30 to 8:30.  Need

only to attend one session. Learn how you can help and ski for free.

10)      Veterans Day is coming soon. All the Veterans were recognized and are

invited to accompany the Rotary Wheel at the parade. Call Mike McGuire for

details.

11)      Holiday Party-Reserve the evening of Thursday, December 9th!

Preliminary info is that it will be held at the Diamond Circle Theatre,

include catering by the Strater Hotel (yum), entertainment will be provided,

and Santa may make an appearance! More details soon. This year’s party will

be in lieu of the same day’s regular meeting.

 

An aside: I don’t know how Chessa keeps up with all these announcements on a

regular basis. Help your scribe communicate your announcement accurately and

completely. Please provide a written note to him/her at the meeting. Thanks.

 

Membership:

Chandler Jackson, sponsored by fellow librarian Sherry Tabor, was inducted

as our most recent member. Chandler is Library Director at FLC. He reports

that he is most recently from Great Falls, Montana where he was the first

MALE president of the Rotary Club there. Did you know that he had an 11

year-old son at Miller?

 

Mark Donahue, accompanied by his sponsor Vern Swanson, earned his blue

badge.

 

Sgt of Arms:

Dave Ganevsky filled in for a missing Wells Fargo officer. Wells Fargo was

heavily fined. Most of us others did not escape either.

 

Program:

Jackie Moreland, Executive Director of Community Connections, presented our

program on this fine non-profit “company”. CC provides services to

individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Did you know

that the CC currently serves 191 clients with about 100 employees? Their

budget is approximately $4.1 million per year with a monthly payroll of

$170,000. They provide family, occupational and physical therapy and

services. The CC links clients and client families with community resources,

link clients with potential employers, and educate potential employers about

the benefits of employing individuals with developmental disabilities. Like

all organizations dependent on state funding, Tabor is making a big impact

on CC operations with more budget cuts foreseen. As a result they are trying

to fill some of the gap with private donations and fundraisers. Jackie, with

a living tree sidekick, promoted the first annual “Festival of Trees” which

seeks sponsors primarily from companies and employers. Contact 259-2464, ext

249 for more information.  Thank you Jackie for another informative program.

 

There was no offering today from Bud Deering.

 

Parting Thought:

“Only the mediocre are always at their best.” Lorraine Steinberg

 

In the Future:

November 19-20: Operation Ornament-Drop off your ornament at the Durango

Mall community room. Questions? Contact Nancy van der Wal. Benefits

Floridian hurricane victims.

November 19: Fireside Chat

November 25: Happy Thanksgiving! No meeting.

December 9: Holiday Party