Many thanks to our music team who find great artists each week. This week we had a wonderful musician Matt Hummel play for us. Thanks, Paul, for arranging such great talent each week.
Being awarded a Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) is an important moment for any of us. The recognition memorializes Rotary’s founder Paul Harris. Several of our fellow Rotarians will be so honored this week, receiving their PHFs. Please join us in recognizing them.
Special guest speaker for the PHF presentation meeting is Ken Grabeau, who served as director of Rotary International from 2010 to 2012, during which time he served as chair of the Programs Committee, chair of the Rotarian Action Group Committee and special adviser to the Executive Committee. He has served or is now serving on multiple RI and The Rotary Foundation committees, including chair of the international Election Review Committee, senior adviser to the Council on Legislation Review Committee, and technical coordinator of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers.
Ken and his wife Ruth have both served as International Assembly Discussion Leaders and as Moderator of the 2018 International Assembly. They have represented multiple Rotary International presidents at district conferences both domestically and internationally, and participated in National Immunization Days in Cameroon in 2003 and Ghana in 2005. They have traveled together numerous times on Rotary service projects, bringing hurricane relief to Honduras, clean water to Haiti and Honduras, drug treatment facilities to Russia, and working to establish both a new club in Western Russia and a new district in Russia east of the Ural Mountains. Ken has served as District 7870 delegate at two Councils on Legislation, and is a charter member of the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group and a member of the Rotarian Action Group for Peace.
Ken is the recipient of Rotary’s Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service. Both he and Ruth are members of the Arch Klumph Society, major donors, multiple Paul Harris Fellows, charter members of the Bequest Society, Benefactors and charter members of the Paul Harris Society.
Ken and Ruth were founders and Ken past president of Pure Water for the World, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit providing clean water in multiple countries in Central America. Ken has served on and chaired the boards of United Way and Girls Inc., was an incorporator of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and a member of numerous other not-for-profit boards. He is founder, president and CEO of Monarch Instrument, a 44-year-old manufacturer of industrial instrumentation. Both Ken and Ruth enjoy travel (much of it for Rotary), and both have a great interest in photography (travel photos for Ken – family photos for Ruth). They have lived in Nashua, NH, for their entire 54 years of marriage and are parents of Glenn and Meridith and grandparents of four beautiful granddaughters.
Missoula PaddleHeads Manager updated members on baseball
Brett Shure was recruited from Orlando, Florida, as an intern and has worked his way up the baseball ladder to the position of stadium operations manager of the Missoula Paddleheads baseball stadium. What does an operations manager do? Well, just about everything you can imagine to get the stadium up and ready for the baseball team players. He is learning from the ground up on how to run our local baseball stadium.
When the stadium was built, Brett says, the Ellis family had the team move here from Lethbridge. Back then, the team was a minor league baseball team called the Diamondbacks. As times have changed, the trend today has gone away from hosting minor league teams as “farm teams” for the majors to these same players serving on a major league team. Right now, our local team has had over 70 players who have gotten into the major leagues through our Missoula team.
Why rebrand from Osprey to Paddleheads? In 2018, before Brett came to Missoula, the new owners Peter and Susan Davis met with a team of experts from Bradiose as a branding consultant spent 12 months coming up with what is important to Missoulians. They struggled with the moose as we don't see too many of the big animals in Missoula. The team came up with prospective names and held several focus groups that seemed to agree that the moose was different and might stand out more than other icons. It didn't hurt that there was an amber alert about two moose wandering Missoula at the time, Brett said. The team wanted to be unique, be remembered, and still represent Montana wildlife. The Paddleheads’ new brand became the first major league baseball team to win promotion of the month. They have since sold marketing items to 50 states and seven countries within 30 days. Then the pandemic hit and in 2020, there was no baseball. However, the staff rallied together and had several large outdoor events (movie nights, brewfests, trivia nights, yoga, fundraisers and the clarkfork river clean up celebration). These events kept the doors open and provided an outdoor arena during the pandemic year. Of course, some events were so successful, others not so much, Brett explained. They plan to host events this summer that worked. The goal is to give back to the community.
“Since we lost our afflilation with the last team,” Brett said, “We looked at a major league that was independently operated and had scouted a lot of great players. As a pioneer league, we have the first right of refusal and a lot more control of the team. The good news is that we will be having ten extra home games in Missoula.”
The season begins May 22, 2021 so get your tickets now. Brett added that the team has also changed food vendors and have a lot more to offer groups and events.
Ready for a day of fun, fellowship and doing good?
Greetings Rotarians! We have a great service project opportunity coming up with Habitat for Humanity on June 4 and 5. We'll be volunteering time/effort to assist them on a couple of build days! Group sizes are limited to ten. We have four volunteers signed up for each day thus far, but we need more. Please invite your spouses, significant others, teenagers (no young children, please, due to safety concerns on a build site), Rotaract members, friends and neighbors to help. It’s a great way to introduce them to Rotary and all the fun we have together.
The homes we'll help build are located in East Missoula (more details to come) and our participation commitment begins at 8:30 am and ends at 4 pm for a full day. Half-day volunteering is available as well. No special tools or skills are required.
Our club will provide lunch and Jim Hutcheson says he’s volunteering to coordinate that effort. If you would like to be involved, but do not want to participate in the build effort, helping to bring lunch to the build crew would be a great way to participate.
If interested, please email me your preferred day and include whether you are able to join for a full day or half day, or are volunteering for lunch duty. I will fill the ten available slots for each day in the order I receive them. HOPEFULLY by June 4-5 the Covid situation will have improved enough so that we can extend the volunteer opportunity to more people.
If you have questions or need additional information, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly. See below for my contact information.
Three years ago, our Rotary club joined the Western Montana Global Coalition, committing to a three-year funding cycle, to build much-needed water and sanitation systems along with education for villagers in Guatemala. The project, in collaboration with nearly a dozen Rotary clubs in Montana and clubs in Guatemala, has accomplished a great deal and is helping minimize the stunted growth of children who had been without clean water. Given the grant’s success to date, the board of directors voted to recommend renewing the Global Coalition membership for another three-year funding cycle beginning with the FY 2021-22 year. Our Rotary project will impact over 1,300 lives in the community of La Vega, Guatemala by providing a safe and reliable drinking water source.
To fund the project, each member club is asked to donate $30 per person. In our club’s case, that amount is incorporated into our dues for each of the next three years. Due to the total amount to be funded, a vote of the membership is required, according to our bylaws. We need your vote to keep this wonderful project going. For more information, ask Jim Hutcheson, director of the International Avenue of Service for our club. The project has been read twice over the past two weekly meetings. A vote to continue this project will be taken on May 19.
Two weeks ago, George and Linda Gerard, together with Eileen Carney, a member of the Libby, MT, Rotary club, traveled to Guatemala. While in La Vega, the community threw a kick-off celebration for the project. Attached are photos from the celebration in La Vega. As you will see, the community of La Vega (1,800 people) are excited about beginning the project that has been over 25 years in the making. There were even fireworks.
The Rotary Club of Mazatenango has secured the permits needed to construct the project. Next step is to solicit quotes for materials and labor.
Thank you to all the many Rotarians who purchased cases of bottled water in support of the Western Montana Global Coalition, a partnership of which our club is a member. The 21 cases purchased by club members will be available to pick up once they are retrieved from Culligan water here in Missoula. \
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President's Message
Victoria Emmons
A Breath of Fresh Air
Note: District Governor Sandy Carlson asked me to provide the inspirational message at Saturdaynight’s dinner event at District Conference in Kalispell last weekend. The following is mymessage.
In Rotary clubs all over the world, guests arrive to visit. Sometimes they’re fellow Rotarians and sometimes potential members. To help them feel welcome, we ask them to tell us what Rotary club they’re from, what town they live in, what line of business they’re in, or where they grew up. Those kinds of questions are all about making someone feel important.
A new friend remarked to me the other day that he couldn’t quite figure out where I was from. My accent is not immediately recognizable. My friend was curious about my origin, though. We all want to understand someone’s background when we first meet. That’s part of getting to know one another. Some people today think that asking about my origin is improper. That somehow if the question is posed, there lies a deeper meaning… that it’s a demonstration of bias or racism.
I must admit that initially when I moved to Montana, I was surprised at some cultural differences, for example, how frequently people introduced themselves quite proudly as third, fourth, even fifth generation Montanans. Having been born in California, I started to feel even more of an outsider than I was. But then I realized I was a pioneer; for my family, I was a first generation Montanan. That first generation here were trailblazers, and some of us are still blazing. My two grandkids were born in Missoula, so they’ll be able to claim that third generation thing, even though they’re now growing up in Arizona.
Fact of the matter is, many of us moved around a lot growing up. My father was a Navy pilot, so we moved every two years. It made me more flexible, able to adjust to new surroundings easier. I was always having to make new friends. When dad retired to Florida, I was only in fifth grade; but all the kids in my school had been together since kindergarten. As the new girl in class, I had to make my own way.
Each visitor in Rotary has to make his or her own way, too. Let’s help make that experience easier. We need to ask ourselves, “What can I learn from this guest?” “How can I make him or her feel comfortable in our club?”
Preface your conversation with your own introduction, and ask the guest if he or she minds sharing. If I can break down any barriers with my own story, then it allows others to know it’s okay to tell their stories, too.
As humans, we tell stories. That’s how we communicate with one another. It’s how we become friends. It’s how we tear down any walls that may exist between a fourth generation Montanan who grew up on a ranch, and a California girl who grew up mostly in the Deep South.
We all know that Rotary Opens Opportunities. Let’s learn how to keep those doors open and let in some fresh air.
Greetings all Missoula Rotarians from the Rotaract Team,
We’re in the process of reviving Rotaract after the combination of the pandemics’ prohibitions on social interaction, congregating inhibited volunteer activities, as well as critical members leaving Missoula. Some lost their jobs due to the shutdown, while others moved abroad.
We have a new Rotaract president, Austin Parson, an enthusiastic UM student headed into his junior year. He is studying computer science, is a Montana native, and brings lots of enthusiasm to our new endeavor.
Volunteering along with Austin is Carol Schwartz, our new secretary/treasurer who works for the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center. Carol coordinates programs at JRPC that revolve around the Center’s goal of peaceful interactions, social justice, and environmental stewardship. Through her connections, Rotaract can hopefully collaborate with and volunteer for numerous Missoula non-profits.
But, first we need new members! Thus, why we are reaching out to all local Rotarians to see if you might know of prospective members, usually between the ages of 18 to 30, who share our enthusiasm for community engagement. Projects in which Rotaract has participated in the past include volunteering with Habitat for Humanity; the Missoula Food Bank; fundraising via the Gild to raise money for the Australian bush fires disaster; and, just as the shutdown set in, we had hoped to join the annual Clark Fork River Clean Up. Our first anticipated project is to assist with Missoula County’s continued vaccination efforts, either serving at the local vaccination clinic, or, as is becoming more critical, outreach to address concerns of those hesitant to vaccinate – or simply overlooking such.
Please feel free to introduce any prospective member you can think of to either Austin or Carol who can be reached at:
Tuesday, June 22, 2021 - Demotion Dinner for Victoria
Missoula Country Club
5-8 PM
It is a Rotary tradition that on the last week of June our club conducts a Demotion Ceremony to transition the President to the new rank of Past President. The gavel is officially handed over, always extending the holding end, to the successor and new President, who by now should be looking for their Bell! This evening provides special time to acknowledge the accomplishments of Leadership greatness and notably honor the individual accomplishment of members. Friendships and spirits are combined to complete this fabulous evening of stories and laughter that fill the room. By now, the bell is already gallivanting about! Registration will be online.
RYLA: OPPORTUNITY FOR LEADERSHIP
District 5390 is offering its annual Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) in person this summer from July 10-14 at Luccock Park Camp. Tall pine trees, early morning fresh air and scores of teenagers climbing out of sleeping bags eagerly facing a new day. This is just a small part of the reality of RYLA in District 5390. Camp RYLA will be an incredible experience for young people in our community.
RYLA will be held at Luccock Park Camp, approximately 15 miles south of Livingston. Our Rotary club selects two students each year for RYLA scholarships at $375 per student, funded through your Avenues of Service contributions. We are in the process of accepting applications for students who are entering 10th or 11th grade next year. We also need volunteers to work on the selection committee as we can only sponsor two students. If interested in being involved, please contact Martha Ripley at marthar@orimt.org.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Q.Can you name the Governor-Elect for District 5390? How about the Governor-Elect Nominee?
♦
A. Answer to last week's question ... Do you know who is credited with creating Mother’s Day? Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia originated Mother’s Day as a tribute to her own mother, who had organized women’s groups to promote friendship and health. On May 12, 1907, Anna held a memorial for her mother. Within five years, nearly every state in the nation was celebrating Mother’s Day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national holiday.
For those who have never attended a Rotary International Convention, this affords an opportunity to be included in an amazing event for a price easy on the wallet. While it's not the same as being there live with all the grandeur of thousands of Rotarians from around the world gathered together in one huge hall, seeing all those faces from around the world on your Zoom screen helps remind us all of Rotary's magnitude. And it helps us feel pride at being a part of this wonderful organization.
The registration fee is $65.
You can also join fellow Rotarians early at a pre-convention, June 10-11, for Inter-country Committees, Rotaract, and Rotary Youth Exchange officers. Each pre-convention will cost an additional $20.
The 2021 Virtual Rotary Convention and pre-conventions are open to all Rotary members and participants and include access to the virtual House of Friendship. Don’t forget to visit the convention event page on Facebook to connect with others and stay up-to-date on event news and program highlights. Register today and save!
MASK, PLEASE.
Facial masks are still required -- at least for now -- by the City of Missoula, although things are looking up as more and more people are receiving vaccinations. Pick up your Rotary People of Action mask at our next meeting at the Florence.
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HELLO.
Facial masks. No handshakes. No buffet lunches. Still a welcoming atmosphere as we meet at the Second Set Bistro on the first floor of the Florence Building, or via Zoom if you can’t attend in person. Meal Cards are on sale at check-in for $180 for 12 meals. $20 per lunch for individual lunches, both members and guests. Invite a guest! Remember we meet the last Wednesday of each month at Missoula Country Club for fellowship, no program. Meal cards are not applicable at the country club fellowship lunches. Just a good time with fellow Rotarians. Guests are always welcome, just please RSVP in advance for you and your guests.
Visit our club's new FaceBook page "Rotary Club of Missoula" to read all the latest news and updates. And be sure to like us so Rotary news reaches your friends, too. That's how we can spread the word about Rotary.
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Three years ago, our Rotary club joined the Western Montana Global Coalition, committing to a three-year funding cycle, to build much-needed water and sanitation systems along with education for villagers in Guatemala. The project, in collaboration with nearly a dozen Rotary clubs in Montana and clubs in Guatemala, has accomplished a great deal and is helping minimize the stunted growth of children who had been without clean water. Given the grant’s success to date, the board of directors voted to recommend renewing the Global Coalition membership for another three-year funding cycle beginning with the FY 2021-22 year. Our Rotary project will impact over 1,300 lives in the community of La Vega, Guatemala by providing a safe and reliable drinking water source. 
mits needed to construct the project. Next step is to solicit quotes for materials and labor.
Thank you to all the many Rotarians who purchased cases of bottled water in support of the Western Montana Global Coalition, a partnership of which our club is a member. The 21 cases purchased by club members will be available to pick up once they are retrieved from Culligan water here in Missoula. \
example, how frequently people introduced themselves quite proudly as third, fourth, even fifth generation Montanans. Having been born in California, I started to feel even more of an outsider than I was. But then I realized I was a pioneer; for my family, I was a first generation Montanan. That first generation here were trailblazers, and some of us are still blazing. My two grandkids were born in Missoula, so they’ll be able to claim that third generation thing, even though they’re now growing up in Arizona. 
We’re in the process of reviving Rotaract after the combination of the pandemics’ prohibitions on social interaction, congregating inhibited volunteer activities, as well as critical members leaving Missoula. Some lost their jobs due to the shutdown, while others moved abroad. 
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