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Rotary Club of Casper WY Meeting Summary 09/23/2019 President John Griffith called the meeting to order promptly at 12:25, with the ring of the bell and welcomed everyone to today’s meeting. Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test: Megan Miller Greeters: Lauren Griffith and Greg Brondos were our greeters today and Lauren introduced the members who brought guests: - Mike Lougee introduced Bill Lance (CEO Wildlife Pharmaceuticals);
- Mike Kemper introduced Sabrina Foreman (CAEDA);
- Richard Schwahn introduced his wife Michelle Schwahn (Youth Exchange Committee);
- Mike Howe introduced Jonathan Boudreaux (BHE);
- Martha Rakestraw introduced the town of Midwest, friends and family of our SOM;
- Eric Easton introduced the Principal and Guidance Counselor from Midwest School, also here for our SOM;
- Our Exchange Student Chloe Moindron is also here today.
Song and Merriment: Gary Pehrson led us in singing In the Good Ole Summertime; Family of Rotary: None this week Rotarians of the Week: Lori Klatt nominated Kendra Ziler for the great job she did with the Women’s Expo. Richard Schwahn nominated his wife Michelle and today’s Speaker Beth Van De Wege for working with the Youth Exchange Orientation this past weekend in Cody. Charlie Shopp announced that the KWHS Golf team won the State Championship for the third year in a row and Denise Prugh’s Son Dane was on the team. Deb Theriault nominated all of the people who participated in the Rotary Friendship Exchange: Host families: Dave and Deanne Simonson, Barry and Stacy Johnson, Tom and Marilyn Crull, Al and Lisa Scroggins, Jim and Susan Anderson, and Deb and Gene Theriault. Alcova outing: Anne Ladd, lunch buffet; Guy Dewitt boat and history; Dave and Deanne Simonson boat; Tony and Jan Valdez boat; Dinners; Bill Schilling, Brad Cundy and his facility; Jim and Susan Anderson; John Griffith, master of ceremonies. Lisa Scroggins put together gifts; Jim Soukup donated gifts; Ann Ruble donated gifts; Bill Sniffen from Lander donated gifts; Barry Johnson donated gifts; Bob Womack Cheyenne Rotarian for providing the band; Gene Theriault reminded us all how great it is to volunteer and how much you get out of volunteering your service. Announcements: President John reminded us that the survey was sent out so please take that survey. He also said to put October 24th on our calendars, it is World Polio Awareness Day and we are partnering with the other clubs to raise funds, more information to follow. Dusty Johnson announced that Wednesday October 2 at 5:30 we will be packing the food packs for the children in Nicaragua. We need lots of volunteers so please plan on being there and sign up so they know how many to plan for with the Pizza dinner afterwards. Jim Anderson let us know that the annual Rotarian Bird Hunt will be Saturday October 12th at Riverbend. There will be clay pigeon shooting as well as Pheasants to shoot. All Rotarians and Friends and Family are invited. Bill Schilling announced that on the tables are the printouts with each member’s information, please check and verify that your information is correct as they will be doing the new updated directory. Also watch for an email. Membership: Dick Wimbish and Mark Owens. Received their Paul Harris recognitions today, Dick PH+6 and Mark PH+2. Congratulations and thank you. Erin Helms gave her classification talk today, she started by thanking her sponsor, President John Griffith. She is the Executive Director at the Casper Area Chamber of Commerce. She moved to Casper five years ago from a town of 1,000 people in Northern CA up by Lake Tahoe. Just over a week ago she got married to the guy that brought her to Wyoming so her new last name will become Morgan. When she first moved here she was able to get a position with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra as their coordinator of events and that is where she met many of our club members. The skills she learned in that job are a big help to her in her new position. She is very excited for the opportunity with the Chamber. She is excited to help the Chamber members with all of the services they can provide. She invited us all to attend the Chamber After Hours events and other events that they have. She closed by saying she loves Casper and the people as well as Rotary. Student of the Month: We had our first Student of the Month from Midwest today, Madison Jones, a great young lady and excellent student. Program (Cowboy Country Youth Exchange program): Dr. Richard Schwahn introduced our speaker today, Beth Van De Wege who is here to speak to us about District 5440 Cowboy Country Youth Exchange Program. The last few years the youth exchange program has changed. It is now a three year program, the year before you go you receive lots of training, the year you travel you get lots of training and the year after you go home you are still involved in Rotary. The goal is to keep them going with Rotary for years after the exchange. After the training they are more inclined to say they want to do this for more service oriented reasons, a different mindset than years ago. She thanked our club for doing such a good job with the exchange program. In her club in Cheyenne they include the exchange youth in all of the club things and thinks we should all treat them as fellow Rotarians. It is great to see how they grow and change throughout the year of their exchange. In the training they teach them the things they should do as Rotary Ambassadors. They meet with them 5 times per year while on their exchange and remind them of how they should behave and what they should be doing as Rotary Ambassadors. She encouraged us to keep them involved when we have an outbound student return make sure they continue to participate in Rotary. The more we involve them the better future Rotarians they will be. She told us about a breakout session they had with last year’s exchange students with the Rotarians asking the students questions. A Rotarian asked “weren’t you and your parents afraid to come here because of the school shootings?” Our Exchange Student Francisco from Argentina was the one who wanted to reply and he said “every country has something they are super proud of and every country has something that they are working on, my country too. So I wanted to come here to help here and to help Argentina when I get home.” It is good to have high expectations and involve them in Rotary. Deb Theriault shared a story about when her daughter was going to be an outbound to Argentina and the money there crashed. They reached out to the host families and they were told that the exchange students were like their own and would be well taken care of. Great testimonial on the great program that it is. She opened the floor for questions. She was asked what she and the committee members do. She said that they develop relationships with the clubs in the host countries as well as they do the programs for the incoming students. Her job is to work with the committee and Rotary International as well as the State department to take care of all of the paperwork. She also gets to be the bad guy if a student has to go home early. Only 4% of the 9 thousand or so students ever have to be sent home worldwide. She encouraged us to all volunteer when we can as host families or anything else we are able to help with. She said that the process starts the year before the student wants to go, they have interviews with them to make sure they can find the best placement for them. Most of them get one of their top three country choices. We have 17 outbound and 23 inbound this year and that is pretty typical. She said that most of the outbound students are not fluent in the language they will be going to. The inbound usually are fairly proficient in English. They have purchased Rosetta Stone for the outbound students so they can work on the language for a year before going. The better the language proficiency the better exchange experience they have so that encourages them to study hard. So if you know anyone from ages 15-19 that would like to go on exchange please let Richard Schwahn know, he is happy to help them with the process. The club will send out more information on this program. President John Griffith concluded the meeting at 1:22 letting us know that next week we will be back at the Ramkota and we will have District Governor Elect Bill Schilling and Mandy Fabel as our speakers, they will be presenting about Leadership Wyoming. “Use Rotary to connect your world” ******************************************** Rotary Club of Casper WY Meeting Summary 09/16/2019 President John Griffith called the meeting to order promptly at 12:22, with the ring of the bell and welcomed everyone to today’s meeting. Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test: Lynn Lockhart Greeters: Nicole Tholson and Liz Roth were our greeters today and Liz introduced the members who brought guests: - Visiting Rotarian Rolinda Sample from the Cheyenne Noon club was with us today;
- Matthew Snyder introduced his Fiancé Johanna Swisher (Art 321);
- Kendra Ziler introduced her boss Brad Murphy (Casper Event Center);
- Cori Burton introduced Alissa Thyfault (Mercer Family Resource Center);
- Mike Howe introduced Jonathon Boudreaux (Black Hills Energy);
- Eric Easton introduced Mike Britt (KWHS Principal);
- Mike Ward introduced his nephew Ryan McIntyre (Financial Planning);
- John Griffith introduced Richie Bratton (Real Estate Investor);
- Charlene Canada introduced her father Jerry Noel;
- Bob Tarantola introduced Jackie Hotle (Retired);
Song and Merriment: Gary Pehrson led us in singing Cowboy Joe; Family of Rotary: President John Griffith let us know that our fellow Rotarian Erin Helms got married this past weekend. Anthony Martinez said that he went to pick up Red Nickerson but he was unable to attend as he fell and broke some ribs so he has to take it easy. He also said that Red will be headed south for the winter soon and will be back in May so he sent greetings to all. Liz Becher announced that she has a new son in law as her daughter was married last week, she also gave a shout out to Megan Miller for doing a great job with the reception. Kevin Murphy announced the birthdays for this month, Roy Cohee turned 70 today, Charlie Shopp and Mike Sullivan share the same birthday, and Larry King also, Bill Schilling added that Doug McLaughlin also has a birthday this month. Bill Schilling announced that Bob Nagle’s Service will be Saturday September 28th at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. Rotarians of the Week: Deb Theriault nominated everyone who stepped up to help with the Rotary Friendship Exchange. Steve Loftin nominated Greg Brondos, Bob Tarantola, Larry Madsen, Steve Higginson, and Dick Wimbish for helping at the Food Bank of the Rockies last week. Anthony Martinez nominated everyone who helped with and participated in the Golf Tournament, we raised $14,733, well done. Lisa Scroggins nominated everyone who went to the new member orientation and Mike Lougee for putting it on. Bob Tarantola nominated Anthony Martinez for putting service above self when he stopped to help with a bad accident this past weekend and helped extract people from the wreck. Announcements: President John told us that they will be sending out a survey via email this afternoon, and also if you need hard copies they will have some available next week. He also said that this will be anonymous so please be honest with your responses. Dusty Johnson announced that Wednesday October 2 at 5:30 we will be packing the food packs for the children in Nicaragua. We need lots of volunteers so please plan on being there and sign up so they know how many to plan for with the Pizza dinner afterwards. Liz Becher announced that the Platte River Revival is coming up so we need volunteers to help with that big project that we have been instrumental in every year. They will be sending out electronic registration or you can let Liz know. It will be Saturday September 28th and there will be a nice lunch afterwards. Membership: President John Griffith let us know that Becky Byron had to step down from being our club treasurer and he presented her a gift from the club for her service. We inducted two new members today, Matt Schneider and James Gleason sponsored by Mike Stepp and Susie McMurry. Welcome to the club. Megan Miller gave her classification talk today, she is the director of sales at the Ramkota. She grew up on the family ranch in Lance Creek WY and attended school in Lusk. At the age of 174 she started working at the local hotels in Lusk cleaning rooms and manning the front desk. She has been in the Hospitality Industry since then. After High School she moved to Casper to attend College but said at that time College was not for her. About 8 years ago she started at the Ramkota as a front desk clerk. From there she was promoted up the ranks and this year got her promotion to Director of Sales. She is a single mom to two girls, in September of 2018 they broke ground on their house with Habitat for Humanity and on July 12th of this year became a home owner. They spend their weekends on Casper Mountain, doing outdoor swimming, attending community events, volunteering and hitting the gym. They have two kittens and a French bulldog. She finally found the right time and is now a Casper College student. She is working towards her Hospitality and Tourism management degree. She has been on the Dean’s honor roll every semester so far. She is on several boards and committees throughout the community. She is honored to be a member of the Casper Rotary Club and being able to teach her children the importance of giving back to the community. She thanked her sponsor Liz Becher. Student of the Month: We had our first Student of the Month from KWHS today, Sam Norcross. It is great to have our students back. Program (University of Wyoming Athletic Director): PE Lisa Scroggins introduced our speaker today, Tom Burman, Athletic Director from the University of Wyoming. He started by telling us that we have some wonderful youth and the future is bright. He said this past Saturday they won their third Football game and had over 28 thousand people in attendance. Combined with the previous home game we had over 55 thousand people in attendance at the two games which is an all-time record for attendance at two games back to back. He said that this is amazing because attendance at the live games across the nation is declining because of all of the different ways to watch a game with today’s technology. Today’s consumers are choosing comfort over being at the game. We are making forward strides in providing more comfort for the fans. The biggest complaint is the connectivity so that people can take a picture and post it online immediately, they have addressed this and now you can get a signal with your phone while at the game. They have been tracking the cumulative GPA of their student athletes over the past 18 years. In 2011 it was 2.78 for the 400 plus athletes, in 2018 it was 3.26 cumulative GPA. The Football team had its highest GPA in the history of the University. They accomplished this by investing in the right places, they have 6 academic councilors, and they have two TA’s that support those councilors. They spend over $75,000 per year on tutors and they have built, with the support of many especially Susie McMurry, the McMurry High Altitude Performance Center which houses an academic unit that is second to none. When the athletes are on the road they send an academic councilor with the team, they have laptops they can take on the road with them so they can keep up on their schooling at the same time. The Athletic Department is about the only part of campus that has to generate its own money for expenses. They get about 40% of their budget from the University, which is about $12 Million per year then the State does an up to $5 million match for their fundraising through the Cowboy Joe Club. They spend about $41.5 Million this year so the remaining $23 million they have to generate in various ways. Their spending due to inflation grows by about $1million each year so that is why all of the fundraising is critical for them. The programs are very healthy with great kids and great coaches. He said many people ask about game times, the Network that shows the game is who determines what time the game will play and they are the ones that write the check to the University to be able to transmit the game so they have to abide by their schedule. The game on the 28th will be a 6:00 game which may be hard for some people to travel and see the game. He asked everyone who has attended one or both of their games to raise their hand, he then asked anyone who has not attended a game in the last three years to raise their hand. He said that he will leave his business card and those who have not attended a game in three years should email him and he will give you tickets to the next game so that he can get you hooked on going. He told us that across the board except for Men’s Basketball, all of the sports programs since 2015 are better than they were, the academics for the players are better than ever, the financial model is healthier than ever and this is due to the State match for the Cowboy Joe Club. We do not charge a huge student fee like other Universities to pay for the Sports programs so the State Match made a huge difference. He then turned it over to questions from the group. He said that we really need to make improvements to the Stadium and the stands which will take money but it needs addressed soon. He spoke about the Celebration from last Saturday honoring the Black 14 and how that came about. He went to Florida where they were being honored about 9 years ago and he went to the banquet where they spoke and they did not criticize UW or the State of WY so he decided that he needed to do something so he started talking with them. There are only 11 still alive but two that do not want to participate as they have moved on but the other 9 were willing to come to be honored, two of them were unable to make it but the other 7 made it and it was a wonderful celebration. He also spoke about California trying to pass a law to allow College players to make money off of their name, image and likeness. If it happens then the NCAA will have to make a decision on how they are going to handle it. He then asked some questions and gave away some UW T-Shirts. President John Griffith concluded the meeting at 1:25 letting us know that next week we will be back at the Ramkota and we will have Beth Van De Wege as our speaker, she will be discussing the Cowboy Country Youth Exchange program. “Use Rotary to connect your world” |
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