DISTRICT CONFERENCE A BIG SUCCESS  Rushmore Rotary served as the Host Club for the Rotary District 5610 Conference held in Deadwood SD in October. Thank you to District Governor Doug Lind (and Penny), the co-chairs, Pat Sutliff and Bruce Nearhood, emcee's Darla Crown and Ron Jeffries, IT support Jon Johnson, and many others from our Club, District and Rotary International who gave presentations at the general and breakout sessions. Thank you for making the weekend a big success!   Opening remarks from John Hewko, RI General Secretary were inspiring. General Sessions included presentations from Lisa Herring (RI President Representative) sharing RI President Shekhar Mehta's goals and initiatives for the year; Greg Podd (former RI VP) gave an uplifting message on the "value of a simple rotary pin"; and Ken Howell (RI International Foundation) shared the history and importance of the foundation.     Our own Dr. Willis Sutliff was honored with the District's "Roger Kozak Service Above Self" award for his time and talents given in service to Rotary and the community. Dr. Sutliff has served District 5610 and it's Rotarians for over ten years as District 5610 Polio Plus Chair. He is passionate about Polio eradication and enthusiastic about raising funds to defeat the disease. Dr. Sutliff is past president of Rapid City Rushmore Rotary Club and very active in the club on numerous committees and always a cheerful volunteer. Congratulations on a well deserved recognition.         World Polio Day  For more than 30 years, Rotary and our partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Our PolioPlus program was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a massive scale. Today, we have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. The infrastructure we helped build to end polio is also being used to treat and prevent other diseases (including COVID-19) and create lasting impact in other areas of public health.  Thank you members for your support of the Polio Plus Program! Community Action Highway Cleanup Sept 25th Thanks to all who participated in the Highway Cleanup.  Great job everyone!     Rotarians of the Year recognized as Paul Harris Fellows Congratulations to Todd Hyronimus and David Dolan, 2021 Rotarians of the Year, who were recognized as Paul Harris Fellows for their "service above self" and leadership of the Community Action Committee.  The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. STORY BOOK ISLAND UPDATES  Don't forget to visit SBI for the Christmas Nights of Light thorugh December 31.  Thank you to members who have supported SBI in numerous ways in 2021 and over the 50 plus years the park has been operating.  Thank you to the Board members from our Club:  Amy, Michael and Tiffany and the dedicated staff at the Park. Photo courtesy Rapid City Journal. Benches are in at RCHS "Rotary Plaza" project Great News!  Members Dana Foreman, Bob Quinn, Mike Fuller and Mark Barry installed the benches, trash receptacle, bike racks and skate board rack at Rapid City High school.  Rotary Plaza sign has been ordered and as soon as it gets installed, we will have a ribbon cutting and acknowledgment of key partners.  .  A big thank you to Carmen Hansen for spearheading the grant and the project and for those members that have helped make this happen.  Below are  some photos and a message from Sean Binder, RCHS. Students are already using the benches.   “Rushmore Rotary Club-Yesterday we had the joy of watching benches and bike racks being installed. Today I was walking down the hallway during lunch when a coworker stopped me. She quickly ushered me to the second floor windows. As I looked out the windows I witnessed the coolest sight! Two of our learners were joyfully sitting on one bench eating their lunch. While another learner sat on the other bench quietly reading a book. I wandered downstairs and out to the benches to say hello to the learners on their lunch break. As I approached the two eating lunch they quickly said, “Look at these new benches! These are so great… we have a place to actually sit.” Not even 24 hours into the benches being installed they are being used! We will be sharing further official expressions of gratitude with club soon. However, I could not wait to share this with the entire Rushmore Rotary Club.”          White Clay Makerspace Grand Opening Grand Opening was held on Sunday October 17th, following the District Conference.  Several District and Club members were in attendance and got to experience first hand the hard work that has been put in on this District 5610 Global Grant by members and Lakota artists. Whiteclay Makerspace Inc. building owner, Jon Ruybalid is handling the building and the management of the facility while Rotary is equipping the makerspace with needed equipment and supplies. Candi Red Cloud is the store manager, and recruits the artists.     COMMUNITY ACTION MONTHLY VOLUNTEERING Rotary's Areas of Focus