High Noon Rotary Club of
Durango
District 5470
Club 1161
Meet at Doubletree Hotel
Time: 12:00 Noon
Thursdays
Newsletter:
March 11, 2010
Program: March 18, 2010: Judith Reynolds, Political Cartoonist,
World Traveler and excellent public speaker. Subject: To be determined.
Fellow
Rotarians:
President Mark thanked everyone for
being at today’s meeting even with competition from spring break activities and
then he led us in the pledge.
Steve Wheeldon introduced John Moore again who is an employee and
accountant with Steve’s firm. John
has a wonderful wife, Jeanne, and has interests in horses and dogs. Mark then welcomed backs some of our
long lost members: Steve Dorf, Dick Pearson and Mark Donohue.
Announcements: Barb Stine said
that the scholarship committee has the applications at all the schools and on
the Club’s web site. The
applications are due back on March 29 and the committee expects to work well
into April making the selections. Emily Spencer handed out the formal
announcements for the upcoming event at the High Noon Saloon & Gambling
Hall to be held at the Durango Arts Center at 6:00 PM on Saturday, April 10th. The announcement will also be mailed to
the homes of all members. Everyone
is encouraged to come and bring friends to help make the event a success. Rich Kolb invited members to the Red
Snapper next Wednesday, St. Patrick’s Day, between 1-3:00 PM and 5-7:00 to PM be
served drinks with all tips going to the Habitat for Humanity. Howard Wilson is looking for a few good
members to staff the tables at the High Noon Saloon and Gambling Hall on April
10th. In particular, he
needs knowledgeable craps table operators. Tom Brossia is trying to organize a ski day up at Purgatory
for Club Members. E-mail to
follow. Tom is also leading a club
fishing expedition to the upper Rio Grande on June 24 and June 25. President Mark reported that he had
received a letter of thanks from the Project Merry Christmas Board regarding
Rotary’s involvement with the food drive for the Manna Soup Kitchen. Mark also highlighted that our
own High Noon Treasurer and Past President (1992-1993) Cathy Crum was a key
sparkplug for the Project Merry Christmas event which was a success. Mark then sought a volunteer with a
special interest in dyslexia to help on a committee for the Liberty School
which will assist in having local kids tested for dyslexia. The normal testing cost is $2,000 but
if the test done locally it can be done for about $100. Contact Mark if you are interested.
Sergeant of Arms (SoA): Past president and current public
relations committee chair, Ward Holmes, strode forward with his “fine hammer’
at the ready. Ward cut Dick
Pierson some slack with a fine for ½ the going rate for cell phone infractions
since the noise it made was shutting it down as opposed to incoming calls. Ward reported that he ran into honorary
member, Greg Lyman, and invited him back for our meeting along with current
member, Kevin Schneider. Both
indicated we would see them soon.
Cathy Crum had happy $$$ for her two weeks in Mexico and for snagging a holiday certificate for
two at the same golfing and
mountain biking haven that will be
part of the silent auction on April 10th.
Cathy won it last year.
Ward is happy about celebrating his 14th anniversary as a
resident of Durango. Leanna Jaworsky was happy that she didn’t burn her house
down last night with a chimney fire and got some good advice from the
firemen. If you have a fire in
your fireplace chimney, soak towels and lay them around the hearth and the humidity
going up the chimney will help put out and control the fire. Rick Routh was happy about his recent
ski trip to British Columbia where he was appointed an honorary member of the
Swedish women’s Olympic curling team. Jill Carithers happily reported on her
time in Phoenix over spring break with her two kidoes watching the Rockies beat
the Dodgers and enjoying other warm weather activities. Dan McCarthy is happy that his 3d daughter
is home from New York for two weeks and that his oldest girl is now employed in
Washington DC. Dan reminds
everyone to support the Fort Lewis Girls basketball team at their game tonight up
at the Fort. Ward reported the
game will be on the radio as well.
Dick Pierson fined himself for being a reverse snowbird by going north
to Minnesota instead of south to Arizona.
Ward said he will have $2.00 fines for anyone sticking their Rotary pin
to their badge. The pin is to be
worn in the community to give Rotary visibility and not be stored in the badge
rack from week to week. Bud
Deering had a story about a ticket writing state patrolman who ticketed an
aggressive and hostile (AH) motorist for running a red light. In court, the
defendant’s attorney reported that the AH on the ticket was for a less complimentary
moniker for the motorist than aggressive and hostile.
Program: Rather than Committee reports today, we had break out
sessions with a board member at each table as “Table Captain” recording
member’s ideas on strengthening Club camaraderie, conviviality, welcoming
atmosphere as well as improving our membership retention and recruiting. Many good thoughts were recorded and
Mark will report back to us on the findings. It is every member’s responsibility to help make our club
friendly and inviting. Areas
discussed were:
PROGRAMS:
- WHAT KIND OF PROGRAM WOULD MEMBERS LIKE TO SEE?
- WOULD ANYONE BEING WILLING TO GIVE A PROGRAM, (ABOUT THEIR LATEST TRIP, OCCUPATION, OR AREA OF INTEREST)
RETENTION:
- DO HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO BRING OLD /CURRENT MEMBERS BACK TO THE CLUB?
- WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO CONTACT AN OLD MEMBER TO GET THEM TO RETURN TO THE CLUB?
-CAN YOU SHARE WHY SOMEONE LEFT AND NOT WANT TO RETURN?
CLUB ACTIVITY:
- WHAT MAKES ROTARY ENJOYABLE FOR YOU?
- IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE US DO?
Mark Prouty then led us in “The Four Way Test”: of the things we think, say or do:
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