High Noon Rotary Club of Durango

District 5470

Club 1161

Meet at Doubletree Hotel

Time: 12:00 Noon

Thursdays

Newsletter: October 30, 2008

PROGRAM November 6, 2008: Jackie Moreland – Community Connections

Fellow Rotarians:

After the pledge, Rick Routh led guest introductions with Kent Ford our program for today, Jim Carver of Carver’s fame who came for the program, and Steve Pavlik of Russell Engineering who is still checking our club out on his third visit. Frank Valen introduced Steve Dorf CEO of Fastrack Communications who is on his 4^th or 5^th visit. Don Freemeyer introduced his guest, Katherine Michelson, an accomplished mother and grandmother of four. Justin Osborn introduced his wife Tammy accompanied by their second child in the making. Tami introduced Daybreak Club president, Brad Tafoya. Tami asked Boom to give us her weekly report which included fun times with Dan McCarthy and his family, working with the Habitat for Humanity Rotary Build project and scoring a goal for her soccer team.

Announcements: Rick Routh announced that the Engineers Without Borders is having their annual event on November 11, 2008 at 6:45 PM up at the Fort Lewis College Student Memorial Lounge. He also acted as the Durango Nature Studies mouthpiece for their November 6^th event at the Durango Arts Center at 7 PM. Charlie Albert, Chair of our International Committee, announced that he is working on a grant to fund a water project in Ecuador at the foot of the Andes. Mark Prouty, our illustrious President-Elect, announced the impending elections (no, not the one on November 4^th) for our President-Elect nominee who will serve after Mark’s 2009-2010 term is completed. So anyone who is interested in serving fellow Rotarians and the Community at a higher level should consider running for this very prestigious office. John Anderson told of his recent experience helping to interview candidates for outbound exchange students. John was impressed with the caliber of the students applying for the honor of being a Rotary Exchange Student. Brad Perkins was the student selected to represent High Noon Rotary. Brad is very talented and has good grades.

Tami called on Bill Cartwright to report on the Habitat for Humanity Rotary Build Day that occurred Saturday, October 25th, at Foxfire Farms in Bayfield. Since Bill wasn’t present, he will get a chance to report next week. Leanna Jaworsky announced the Habitat for Humanity wine tasting fund raiser that will occur on November 7^th. They will have a great silent auction including ski passes for DMR and Telluride. Tami announced her appointment of Niles Bruno and Tim Walsworth to serve as High Noon’s representatives on the Executive Board of the Red Ball Express.

Sergeant of Arms, Jill Carrithers, served with distinction again and for the final time. She played Monty Hall and drew three winning tickets. Boom, Daniel Morgenstern and Mark Prouty had their tickets drawn. Boom was the lucky winner of a “Whoopee Cushion”. Chip Lile was going to demonstrate its use(s) to Boom later. There was only $14 worth of tickets so Boom’s trip fund did not grow much today. Great job Jill!!!

Fines: Sherry Taber had a lot of Durango Herald face time last week because of the new library but dodged the fines by being absent. Steve Wheeldon paid a happy dollar but I couldn’t hear what it was for. Steve Redding paid for the upcoming new library’s grand opening on December 1st. Justin Osborne paid happy dollars for his wife coming home from Texas, his son coming home from the grandparents and his getting an elk. Daniel Morganstern paid a dollar for the elections and explained a “billion” to us. A billion seconds ago it was 1959; however, Tom Crabbe corrected that to 1976. A billion minutes ago was the time of Jesus. Sara Olsen was happy because her house sold and she bought a new condominium. Dan McCarthy was happy because the HS booster club was a sellout and he was thankful for Samantha Gallant’s wonderful lunch at the Habitat for Humanity’s Build Day. Thanks Samantha!!! Tom Brossia is happy that the West Durango water project is going forward with funding from the two Ute Tribes and the SW Water Conservancy. Bud Deering gave us an explanation on how “Spreading the Wealth Around” works. Enlightenment is usually a good thing. We needed a reminder about political subjects (even lightly veiled ones) at our club meetings.

PROGRAM: Rick Routh introduced Kent Ford who gave us an excellent presentation on White Water Kayaking at the 2008 Olympics. Kent has been whitewater rafting for 20+ years and has 25 DVDs out on the subject. Kent has also done announcements on White Water Kayaking at the last five Olympics. Kent was just inducted into the Whitewater Hall of Fame and has very impressive credentials. Kent gave a few facts about China: 1.3 billion people, 1/5 of mankind and has 2/3 of the world’s building cranes. Kent gave us a great power point presentation as it had many excellent pictures taken in China, the Chinese and the Whitewater Kayaking experience during the Olympics. The WW course at the 2008 Olympics was manmade and descended 100’ in a mile or three times as much as our very own Smelter rapids. Kent said he had a great time over there working with the Chinese although he felt a little intimidated by the sheer number of Chinese. The opening ceremonies were a good example when 2008 drummers played in the opening ceremonies and when that was over it was followed by an equally impressive display of sheer numbers for the next event. This was a very interesting and delightful presentation which it appeared everyone enjoyed. Rick will have a tough time topping this one. Great job Rick!!! Keep these great programs coming!

The Four Way Test in everything we do and say:

ü Is it the truth?

ü Is it fair to all concerned?

ü Will it build good will and better friendships?

ü Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Yours in Rotary,

Editor

Wayne Bedor

waynebedor@yahoo.com