High Noon Rotary Club of Durango

District 5470

Club 1161

Meet at Doubletree Hotel

Time:  12:00 Noon

Thursdays

 

Newsletter: July 23, 2009   

 

Program July 30, 2009:      Darrin Parmenter – CSU Extension Office

 

Fellow Rotarians: 

 

  • President Mark Prouty led the pledge and then had Bud Poe introduce Honorary High Noon Rotarian and District 59 Representative, Ellen Roberts.  Don Freemyer introduced Rotaractor, Brandon NLN and Bob Chaput introduced Rotarian and Past Club President Dale Macken from Temecula, California.

 

  • Announcements:      Mark Donohue announced the scholarship committee’s 4:00 PM meeting today, 7/23/2009, at the Rotary Room in the Durango Public Library.   Rotaractor, Brandon NLN reported that his club would be having an Ecuadorian Art Show at Rotary Park on August 1st to raise funds for the Rotaract Club.  Cathy Crum announced the GSE from South Australia’s arrival on August 31st.  We will be looking for host families for Tuesday and Wednesday of that week.  Tim Walsworth reported that the United Way and High Noon Rotary golf tournament at Dalton Golf Club on the 17th raised about $18,000 to be shared between the two organizations. Mike Kane got high marks from Tim and the Club for all his efforts in putting the tournament together. Volunteers recognized were: Bob Geffe, Burt Coleman, Jill Wark, Cathy Crum, Karen Roberts, Mike McKenzie, Laura Faubion, Bill Hobson, Tom Brossia, Wayne Bedor, Howard Wilson, Emily Spencer, Chessa Gill, Niles Bruno, Nikki Kane, Moni Helling, Vaughn Morris and Dick Pearson.  Peter Marshall, trash pickup czar, announced August 8th as the day we pick up the trash along US Highway 160 from DW II to the Kennebec Café. The day will start at 7:30 AM with breakfast at the Kennebec Café.   Rick Routh, resident CDOT consultant, said that if we don’t pick the trash up at least once annually on our assigned route, CDOT will eliminate us as a community volunteer in keeping the highway clear. Peter also announced that the Doubletree will be donating a dinner for two to the outstanding Habitat for Humanity (HfH) Build volunteer as well as HfH presenting the lucky individual with a prestigious traveling trophy suitable for placing on the winner’s home mantle.  Boom, our Thai Rotary Exchange Student, gave us a tearful farewell speech dressed in her Rotary finery. She is leaving with so many wonderful memories of her 351 days in Durango: learning to snowboard and fly a plane, rafting, driving a speedboat, riding a horse, tubing, and sleeping on a sailboat to name a few of her experiences. What a wonderful year she has had and the club is richer because of Boom’s presence at our meetings and in our homes.  Wayne Bedor announced that Rick Routh will write the newsletter for July 30th and Melissa Caskey will author the August 5th newsletter.

 

  • Meet a Rotarian:  Bob Geffe had the honor of introducing us to fellow Rotarian, Eric Christiansen, who hails from Knott City, Texas.  Eric moved to Durango for the cooler climate from hot and sweaty San Antonio, Texas. Eric was in the used car parts business and built it from nothing on 40 acres to a $4 million a year sales business.  He prides himself on being a business turn around expert. His favorite charity is the Salvation Army and he is working toward improving his swimming flip turns.  Eric, surprisingly, has no guilty pleasures that he is willing to share with fellow Rotarians.  Eric’s motto is “Perseverance Pays Off.”  Eric’s worst job was the four years he spent at the Pentagon and given the choice of reading a book on a Saturday night when his wife is out of town or going to the El Rancho, he would opt for the El Rancho. Chip Lile should pay a fine for that one.  Good job Bob and Eric! Next week, Jill Wark will introduce us to Tom Brossia.

 

 

  • Sergeant of Arms, Rick O’Block, related a law enforcement story about some Polk County, Florida sheriff’s deputies who used 68 bullets to execute a cop killer.  The sheriff of Polk County who is known for his desire to see justice done said they would have used even more bullets had the deputies had them at the time.  Eric Christensen and Ken Fusco both coughed up $65 for their 65th birthdays.  Brian Myers turned 48 but wasn’t present to pay.  Steve Wheeldon paid because Dan McCarthy informed Steve that the educational foundation had generated $5k last year in the market.  Steve also reported he is happy to announce he has been in Durango and High Noon Rotary 25 years and met Jeanne 22 years ago.  Rick fined members for not having pins, the center table for talking during introductions and Tom Crabb for being late and wearing his hat.  Ken Fusco was happy to report on his Alaska trip where he went with his 5th wheel. Ken saw a moose and a wolf while golfing.  Ken stayed with former High Nooner, Mike McGuire, at his float house in Sitka.  Moni is happy that her two stepsons are safe in Indonesia in spite of the bombings there.  Bud Poe paid $2 because his son is getting married but Bud is hedging his bets since this is his son’s third engagement.  Tami is happy to have gotten to know Boom and that her baby brother got promoted in Iraq.  Boom is happy to have seen a small bear.  Sherry Tabor reports that the Guardians’ fund raiser paid for all the sculptures for the library.  Tim Walsworth was happy to report good news on the 2009 golf tournament. Guest Rotarian, Dave Macken, is happy that his son signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a southpaw pitcher.  Tom Crabb happily survived two family reunions this summer, one of which he hosted. Jill Carithers is happy that Ellen Roberts assisted in getting SB 043 passed.   Howard Wilson won the drawing.

 

 

PROGRAM:      Bud Poe introduced fellow Rotarian and District 59 Representative Ellen Roberts.  Ellen entertained us using Power Point with some anecdotes from this year’s legislative session.  The biggest effort of the General Assembly was to cut and balance the budget to the tune of $300 million.  Some new fees for vehicle registrations were introduced which piqued taxpayers and only raised $250 million for roads. CDOT engineer Rick Routh

reported that while $250 million new dollars is a big number, it would barely pay for the coffee for the CDOT engineers. Who would have known! Some bad bills were quashed by our elected representatives such as the micro chip for cats’ proposal.  Ellen even showed us her cat’s reaction to this (in the cat’s view) ridiculous bill. Using her Power Point, Ellen deftly walked us through some of the tough decisions the General Assembly had to make and informed us it would be even worse for the   upcoming budget year 2010.  As always, it was a pleasure to have Ellen with us again.  For the record, Ellen will be running to fill Jim Isgar’s seat in 2010.

 

Mark closed by leading us in “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