MEETING NOTES FROM LUNCH AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
This week's meeting was one of the better meetings of recent months. Our speaker was compelling, and the "vibe" in the room was strong as we heard about Christine, and several people shared extra thoughts during Happy Dollars.
Please note that we will consolidate several announcements at the end of this week's bulletin/newsletter so that you have all of the "bullet items" in one place for reference.
On Thursday, we had not yet been "dumped on," and we were all in the downstairs room at the Hotel, so it was "cozy" down there!
President Arthur kicked off the meeting, reminding us of the 24th anniversary of the Gore vs. Bush "too close to call" election of 2000.
Elaine Calderbank did a lovely job of the Inspiration and the Pledge, reminding us that life is short and time goes fast, so we must make every moment matter.
We were joined by several guests and visiting Rotarians last week. Robin Aguilar had a very special guest. Her neighbor, Jeannette Monical. Jeanette is her neighbor who has been quietly supporting us as a club through her talents as an artist. Jeannette came to learn about Rotary, and we thanked her for dozens of beautiful bags decorated for Project Angel Heart. She has been doing this for some time, and we are delighted to have met her at last.
Tim Thomas is a potential member, and we are super excited that he might join us. Many of us know his wife, Bonnie, who is a Past President of the Denver SE Club and a phenomenal Rotarian. Tim and Bonnie moved a few years ago, and he is evaluating clubs. Tim, we hope you will come back!
We were joined by Tom Keyton (now in Sunrise Club) and Karla, who is a "rock" with Interact. She brought Christopher to visit, who is a local young man hoping to be hired soon as a master pianist for Steinway in New York! Elaine brought John Sewack and the District Governor, our own, Tamie was with us, as was Filippo, who was enjoying his first American snow day.
Sue Bramley did birthdays and anniversaries for us, and noteworthy to us, it was Nancy Barton's first anniversary and "Big" John's 43rd membership anniversary!
Our program this week was Andy Lenac with Solar Panel Chargers for Ukraine. Andy challenged us to model our attitude through actions and have a positive impact in big and small ways.
He works to bring portable, inexpensive solar panels to the people in Ukraine who struggle to keep phones charged in the war zones and around the country where infrastructure has been damaged and destroyed. Ukraine is being torn apart and has been in tough shape since the Russians took Crimea in 2013. Then, like us, they suffered COVID and lockdown, and then the invasion from the east began in earnest three years ago. The peace-loving people want to regain their safety from Russia and continue to fight.
Andy is challenging our club to help by getting involved. A panel that costs $110 to make can give them four charged phones per hour when the sun is shining. Right now, many people have begun a process to see how we can support this effort. We can and will partner with Interact, and we will involve local schools, mostly middle and high schools, we think. We are also looking to host "solar panel parties" wherein we decorate the panels so they send hope and love along with portable and sustainable energy. We can do this without disrupting any of our existing work. We hope to identify a "Sister Club" in Ukraine also. Zig, Terre, and Kim will be working with Karla and others to move this forward as we continue to seek support for this effort.
In the end, Andy recorded all of us saying, "Slava Ukraine!" and we signed and decorated a panel that will go to the people of Ukraine to light the way for them.
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Do you know what PEN stands for?
Maybe you do not. Maybe you do not want to ask, so let us explain. PEN stands for President-Elect Nominee. This is a vital leadership role, and we must (soon) choose our next PEN.
It is almost time to announce PEN nominees The Rotary year begins in July, and we will be making our final choices soon.
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Family of Rotary:
Marion Trummer brought us the sad news that Christine Hoyt passed away. An email went out over the weekend with details for her memorial, which is scheduled for Monday, December 16th at 2 pm at St. Andrews Methodist Church on University. News of her unexpected death drew much from our members in attendance last week. Condolences to all who were touched by Christine's life and by her passing.
Bob Larson's progress has been slow, but we remain optimistic that we will see him soon. Peter Ulrich remains ill and is not leaving Wincrest much these days. We send him our very best. Jan Keyton is healing from hernia surgery. We also send our best to Kari, whose husband is undergoing an ablation this week. Michelle McRae shared that she would also be having one last Friday. We spoke to her via text, and she is resting and recovering as of Monday.
A final note for F.O.R. came to us from Jan Keyton regarding past member, friend and Past District 5470 Governor, Charles Tutor. Charles was active during the "Gala Years" with our club from 2008-17 when he lived in Denver. He subsequently returned to Gunnison, where he had earned a PhD in Industrial Arts. He was born in 1935 in Los Angeles and died peacefully back on April 4, 2024. His obituary can be found online if you Google the Gunnison newspaper.
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It is a great day to be a Rotarian; make it fun!
See you next week, friends.
Please have a wonderful Halloween, Diwali, Day of the Dead, All Souls' Day, or just a nice Friday and a good weekend!
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