President Arthur had his hands full with a full program and a rowdy audience once again last week. Once we settled down, he reminded us of the milestones of history "on this day" and then welcomed Terre to the podium for The Inspiration and The Pledge. Terre read a lovely poem by Judy Davis called "Reaching for the Stars" and noted that their daughter was joining us for the meeting as a guest.
Other guests included Connie's friends from Bellingham, Washington, who were here for their first Rotary meeting ever. We had visiting Rotarians from Littleton, with Bob Evans. From Sunrises Club, Joel Jones was with us and Win, the hero of the Flyin' B Group.
The Rock was graciously passed from Bill Simmermon to our Honorary member and Past Rotarian of the Year, Floyd Nelson.
This week's meeting was Special. Our very own Tamie Fennell, the current District Governor, was our featured speaker.
Of course, we know and love her already, but Tamie was doing her "visit" to the Club with the presentation she is using across our District.
For those new to Rotary, District 5450 is a large and influential District that spans the Metro and Front Range, and goes up to Boulder, approximately. To the West, the District extends into the Frisco area and east to the far eastern metro area, then south past us toward Castle Rock. There are approximately 60 clubs and over 2,000 Rotarians.
It is also worth noting here, that we all need to remain focused on growing our clubs, however, Tamie was quick to point out that we in the Rotary Club of Highlands Ranch increased our membership by 21% this past year! We are being noticed for this growth and owe a great deal of thanks to our friends in Flyin' B and the Sunrise Club for their diligent work!
Tamie used her time to allow us to share stories of the organic growth of our club. She was curious to hear about how we have taken passions forward into initiatives and further into club-wide major projects. Shrin and Bright Futures team are a great example of this, but it has happened more times than most remember within our club.
With everything from Project Angel Heart bags and IFCS to Jerry Wilford working on grants, and we have seen the idea of "Rotarians at Work" t-shirts to the evolution of the current Epic Day of Service. The latter is a great collaborative effort between many clubs, and again, Allan pointed out the RCHR was over-the-top with its participation last year in multiple projects!
We continue to model success and lead by doing! Finally, it is worth noting that Neil DiLorenzo championed the addition of women to the club back in the late '80s. Thanks to Neil for having the foresight to see the future contributions Women in Rotary would make!
Lastly, Tamie reminded us, that for her, "Rotary is my love language". Many of us can relate to that. As she said, "Rotary has the power to take us outside of ourselves" and "volunteering is an act of self-care for many of us." Thanks to Tamie and all of you for all you do.
Announcements:
Bill Simmermon is collecting eyeglasses and contacts this month if you have any lying around that you do not need, please bring them to the meetings in September.
RX, readers, blue light glasses, mens', women's and kids' glasses, and sunglasses and contacts are all needed. He is handing these off to a friend who is a Lions Club member. Use this as a chance to purge your night stand and kitchen junk drawer. Most of us have many old pairs lying around.
The Board of Directors Nomination Process will continue this week. Please contact President Arthur if you wish to nominate yourself or another club member. We will make a decision in the coming days once all candidates are announced. Allan was nominated at the meeting.
For Family of Rotary:
Phil Calderbank had a rough run for a bit, we heard, but we understand he seems to be improving. Elaine is hopeful that he will continue to show improvement.
Bob Larson is on the mend and we hope to see him in the coming week or so.
Please also keep Peter & Ellen Ulrich in your ongoing thoughts as she heals and Peter was in and out of the hospital unexpectedly.
Please hold these people in your hearts and reach out to them if you are comfortable doing so. We send each of them our very best.
Our final meeting announcements were of importance:
1) The Holiday Celebration will be at South Suburban on December 7th. Details to follow.
2) The WASH Symposium is on Oct. 19th and the registration is online. It is in the same location as the District Conference, at the new CSU extension facility near the Denver Stock Show Grounds.
Our District Conference is on September 28, 2024. Details are on the District website or in the email you should have received from Bev Mendel.
A Happy Dollar Highlight worth a chuckle: President Arthur and his team won at Tacos and Trivia the previous Tuesday. Arthur had the gift certificate in hand and auctioned it ...back to himself for $250! That's the spirit, Mr. President!
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