Minutes from February 5th, 2018

The Casper Rotary Club
 
 
This week's meeting will be held:
Monday, February 12th, 2018
at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center
800 N. Poplar St.
Casper, WY  82601
 
Greeters:
Dennis Jack
Phillip Rael
 
Inspiration:
Lisa Scroggins
 
Program:
Bruce Eldridge - Buffalo Bill Historical Center
__________
 
Rotary Club of Casper WY
Meeting Summary
02/05/2018
 
President Richard Schwahn called the meeting to order promptly at 12:28, with the ring of the bell and welcomed everyone to today’s meeting.      
 
Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test:
Brad Bodoh
 
Greeters:
Kristen Galles and Guy DeWitt were our greeters today and Guy introduced the members who brought guests:
  • Susie McMurry Introduced Tim Cortez (Parks and Recreation);
  • Liz Becher introduced Vickery Hall (Wyoming Community Foundation);
  • Lisa Scroggins introduced Shawn Moore (Marine);
  • Barry Johnson introduced his Brother in Law Raliegh Stedman;
  • Martha Rakestraw introduced the parents of our SOM, Tyrone and Linda Fittje;
  • Frida our exchange student was also present;
Song:
Gary Pehrson led us in singing “We Will Rock You”
 
Kristen Galles received her blue badge today, Congratulations Kristen!!
 
Rotary Minute:
President Schwahn asked for the topic of the month for RI, which was PEACE. Then he asked who does not like eggplant and fruitcake, the answer from today’s Rotary Rig is Randy Hein. President Schwahn then talked about the Duck Derby and what great things it has brought to pass. He let us know that we are in need of a new champion Duck Commander to take charge of the Duck Derby this year so to please think about taking charge and running with the Duck Derby this year as it is a very important part of our club’s service to the community. If you are able to volunteer please chat with past commanders like Brian Deurloo, Hal Hutchinson or Dave Elmer and they can help you understand what all is involved. Brian Deurloo then spoke for a few minutes about what is involved, he said that they have a spreadsheet set up with what needs done and at what point in time it should be done. There will also be a need for additional volunteers so please be prepared to help out when and where you can.
 
Family of Rotary:
Carly Applegate let us know that her daughter is in the November Company with the U.S. Marines in training and there are many recruits in her company that do not receive letters from home so if anyone would like to send letters to these recruits please let her know and she can get you the address and the particulars on doing that.
 
Today is Pinky and Jackie Ellis’ 63rd wedding anniversary.
 
Rotarians of the Week:
  • John Griffith nominated Brian Deurloo for the great article about his gutter bins that he is installing in Sheridan. Great follow up from having Brian present to the club a few weeks back.\
  • Charles Schoenwolf announced that Bill Schilling was in the newspaper, he will be competing in the 33 mile Birkebeiner cross country ski marathon in Norway in March.
  • Tom Lockhart paid off his $5 bet on the Superbowl to Errol Miller since he chose the wrong team.
Student of the Month:
Martha Rakestraw introduced our SOM Emilie Fittje from NCHS, what an outstanding young lady with a great future ahead of her.
 
Announcements:
President Schwahn announced that there will be a Rotary Social at 5:30 on February 21st at NCHS for a tour like the one we did at KWHS. President Schwahn also announced that the leave of absence policy is on each table so please look it over and contact a member of the board with any questions.
 
Program (Co-curricular activities and why students should participate):
President Elect Dick Jay introduced our speaker today, Larry Meeboer from NCHS. Larry was here to speak to us about Co-Curricular activities and why students should participate in them. This is a subject that is near and dear to his heart. There are many reasons that the students should participate, such as new students connecting with others and getting to know the other students and the schools. Casper has over 33 different types of clubs and activities that the students can participate in so we are very blessed in Casper to have that many things for the students to do. They range from golf to chess club to language clubs to swimming and on and on. With these activities the students are less likely to have anger issues, attendance is better when they participate, test scores are higher and students are happier. Last week they had the Mustang Classic Forensic meet at NCHS and had a great time with lots of students participating. The students learn about themselves and they also learn about winning and losing with grace and humility. Our student athletes learn strength and flexibility along with lifelong exercise benefits. The students become better citizens and how to get along better with others and how to be a member of a team. This Friday will be the peach basket at KWHS, the annual basketball competition between our NCHS and KWHS basketball teams. The students lean to compete and that there are winners and losers, they also learn leadership skills that will help them in all aspects of their lives. They have a decreased likelihood of being involved in the negative things that too many kids get involved in. They learn that hard work will pay off, they learn about our state as well as our region and some even get to travel internationally which teaches them more about the world around them. They learn about setting and achieving realistic goals and they get to learn from some great coaches and mentors. They can learn many things that will help in their career choices and other areas of their lives as well as making great lifelong friends. Ninety six percent or more of students that participate in these activities graduate on time and go on to do great things in their life. They will have more opportunities for scholarships for college and more opportunities for employment after college. Currently in Casper around 40-45% of High School students participate in these activities.  Please encourage the youth in your life to participate in some type of co-curricular activity.
 
President Richard Schwahn concluded the meeting at 1:14 letting us know that next week we will be back at the Ramkota and the speaker will be Bruce Eldredge from the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, WY.