High Noon Rotary

Rotarygram
April 1, 2004

Our President Chessa Gill, returned from Antarctica, began our meeting with a prayer we all remind ourselves "love is a verb" and ended the program with a beautiful slide show from her trip of icebergs, penguins, seals and forlorn-looking human toeholds in that hostile domain.

Today's guests were: Kip Koso, Robin Auld, Molly Oswald, Bob Oswald, Bill Hobson, Jim Class, Olivia Wheeling, Terri King, Yuta Niimi, Mike Kots and Tyler Silverhair.

April will be a busy Rotary month as many events were announced.

On April 15, our club will celebrate its 25th anniversary.  Plan to attend!

On Saturday, April 17, volunteers are needed for the "after prom" party for two-hour shifts, from midnight to 4;30 AM, and pre and post party setup and cleanup.  Contact Doug Lashley.

On Saturday, April 17, volunteers are needed to assist San Juan Basin Health with administration of inoculations for seniors.  Contact Wynn Berven.

Our board meeting occurs April 20.

On Saturday, April 24, plan to attend the Fireside Chat at Chessa Gill's home.  Wine and cheese party being at 7 PM.

On Saturday, May 1, our club will conduct a work day at Durango Nature Studies and help to eradicate weeds.  Fifteen volunteers are needed.  Arrive at 9 PM at Durango Nature Studies location, near the base of Bondad Hill.  Contact Wayne Bedor for more information.

Sympathy cards were circulated and signed for Emil Nagy, recovering from pneumonia and Paulette Church, who lost her mother two weeks ago.

Sergeant at Arms Bud Deering announced April birthdays: John Cassidy, 54, Tami Coddington, too young and beautiful to have her age announced in public, Lyle ____, 35 and John Winser, 64.  Ward Holmes and Karen L'argent earned mention for publication of their names in The Durango Herald for their appointment to United Way campaign.

Mike McGuire took stage for "This is My Life."  Born to an Air Force family, Mike followed suit by becoming an Air Force pilot himself.  He could most certainly have spent his allotment of five minutes for greater self-aggrandizement with tales from his heroic military service and productive law enforcement career.  Instead, Mike preferred a self-effacing expose recounting the perils of too much coffee drinking prior to embarkment upon an hour-long flight in a fighter jet when the pilot neglects one crucial piece of intimate apparel — the "urinal pack" — and then how,  in extremis, the pilot must improvise alternative modes of evacuation or risk shorting out complex electrics crucial to the maintenance of flight.  The logistic intricacies of his epic defy easy retelling, but the outcome of McGuire's "most memorable military experience" are well encapsulated within a vision of a yellow spray disbursed after take-off via tight aerobatics — raining a yellowish mist all over sky hero McGuire and the interior of his jet craft.

Kip Koso gave the program, enlightening members about the Summit Initiative, a biannual meeting of community members organized by Operation Healthy Communities.  On Friday, May 14, from 8 Am to 3 PM, the Summit will convene at Fort Lewis College for this grass root problem solving venture.   Koso hopes that 300 to 350 people will participate in this year's Sumitt and he urges our attendance.  Past Summits have lead to formation of the Affordable Housing Task Force, the Citizens Health Advisory Council and the Mental Health Summit Partnership.  The recommendations and results of each Summit are published in The Durango Herald.  Topics selected for discussion this year are: child care, county planning and zoning, safe schools, health care and water.

Olivia Wheeling, a 12-year old, during  his introduction as a guest, gave an excellent account of her plans to travel to London and Amsterdam to serve as a Sports Ambassador at the People to People/World Friendship Games and requested our financial assistance. At meetings close, Chessa Gil took the initiative to sell (for a $5 minimum) more cards from the deck of our weekly lottery.  $338 were raised for Olivia.  Bud Deering offered to match this amount with an equal contribution of his own.