President Richard Schwahn called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. with a moment of silence recognizing Rick Diamond’s passing and Vickie Diamond’s loss.
Dave Bruni provided the inspiration and led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four Way Test.
Greeters were Garry Mosier and Susie McMurry. Gary introduced visiting Rotarians:
- Five Trails – Diana Jack
- Five Trails – Fleur Tremel (and guest of Liz Becher)
and Guests:
- Joe Bennick, Financial Advisor, RBC Wealth Management, guest of John Griffith
- Jeremy Tremel, Lieutenant, City of Casper Police Department, guest of Liz Becher
- Monika Ratliff, owner of Natura Gardens, guest of Jim Ruble
- Rob Ratliff, Sinclair Refinery, guest of Jim Ruble
- Clairyce and Michael Shickich, parents of Student of the Month, introduced by Martha Rakestraw
- Ryan Jay, Partner in Indian Ice and son of Dick Jay, guest of Dick Jay
- Josh Hogan, Casper Horseheads, guest of Kim Perez
- Tassma Powers, NERD, guest of Susie McMurry
- Davis Odell, New York Life agent and son of Dan Odell, guest of Dan Odell
- Dallas Bower, Opinion Editor, Casper Star Tribune, guest of Dale Bohren
- Frida, Exchange Student from Mexico
Gary Pehrson led the club in a practice run of "Jingle Bells," with fork and glass accompaniment, in anticipation of the Christmas Party next week.
President Richard presented Dave Bruni with his blue badge.
Carley Applegate gave her classification talk. She is one of five children born and raised in Cody, Wyoming. Her parents are from Glenrock and Douglas, and she is a member of Our Lady of Fatima Church. Charles Schoenwolf is her sponsor. Carley’s passion is caring for the elderly. She ran nursing homes in various states until returning to Casper in 2016 to open Epsilon Health Solutions with the backing of her husband of 18 years. Epsilon provides in-home care for Alzheimer’s patients, based on the foundation of compassion, stewardship and faith. Carley has four children: daughter Mullen who is entering the Marines; son Logan, a wrestler at CY Middle School; daughter Aislin, a Disney princess; and two-year-old daughter Finn.
Family of Rotary announcements:
- Denise Prugh welcomed back Jim Anderson after his injury.
- Mary Lynne Shickich announced that the funeral for Rick Diamond is tentatively scheduled for Friday, December 15. Details to be announced later.
- President Richard announced that Anthony Martinez’s brother, Pete, has died.
Rotarians of the Week: None
Student of the Month:
Martha Rakestraw introduced Ana Mae Shickich, senior at KWHS. Ana Mae is the daughter of Michael and Clairyce Shickich and is ranked #1 in her class. She is a National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist, a member of Honor Society, Key Club, and President of the newly formed Spanish Honor Society. Ana Mae is particularly proud of the projects sponsored by the Spanish Honor Society. They raised funds to build schools and to purchase a cochlear implant for a deaf girl in the Dominican Republic and provided a series of Spanish lessons for kids at the Boys and Girls Club. She now volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club. Her favorite classes are Physics and AP Government, both for the reason that the teachers encourage applied learning. These classes have aimed her at studying Political Science and Marine Biology to enter a career to stop ocean pollution. She praised Kelly Walsh as a great community of students and faculty.
Announcements:
- Delivery of Slumberland beds to CDC families – meet at Slumberland at 5 pm Thurs Dec 14.
- Christmas Party gift wrapping – meet at Brad Cundy’s Uncorked, Poison Spider Rd at 5:30 pm Thurs Dec 14. Wine will be served!
- Salvation Army Bell Ringing Challenge, Sat Dec 23. One hour shifts need to be filled. Contact Martha Rakestraw. Or write a check to the Salvation Army.
Program introduced by Dennis Jack: John Gullickson, Special Agent in charge of field operations for the Secret Service, Denver office.
Mr. Gullickson introduced Rick Near, Secret Service agent based in Wyoming. Mr. Near has made more Federal arrests in Wyoming than all 14 agents in Colorado, mostly dealing with counterfeit money. The Secret Service was formed April 14, 1865, to prevent counterfeit currency which was being manufactured by the South during the Civil War. It was signed into law on the day Lincoln was assassinated. It wasn’t until after two Presidents were assassinated that the Secret Service’s responsibilities were expanded to include protection of the President, Vice President, spouses, foreign heads of state, the Secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland Security. They do not protect ministerial level or congress people. Criminal investigations now include money laundering, cyber/computer crime, network intrusion, and critical systems protection to keep leaders from being compromised. There is a morale problem in the Secret Service since members were caught with prostitutes in South America in 2012. This has led to a retention problem. Currently there are 3500 agents, and 5000 is full staff. Being a Secret Service agent is considered “an inconvenient career.” It requires 3.5 years of training before being moved to a six-year special assignment in a field office. Only after completing these assignments can an agent request a post in a particular location. They are away from home often which makes for a tough work/life balance. The new Secret Service director is a former Marine and has been imposing needed discipline. He has also taken many progressive actions, such as moving Budget, Human Relations, and Public Information duties into the civilian sector. A Secret Service agent’s salary is $161,000, maximum. Agents had not been paid for any overtime even though they work many extra hours. Now they can be paid up to $187,000, which has helped morale. They are highly trained GS13 specialists who are advance teams to secure the President’s overseas trips and who are trained to evacuate the President in any emergency. Mr. Gullickson related his personal stories about the hardest thing he ever had to do (doing site advance at Yankee Stadium for President Bush to throw the first pitch after 9/11), the saddest thing (recovering the body of a child from a pond on a neighboring ranch to President Bush), the most profound event (reading the Gettysburg Address at the Lincoln Memorial while he was revising the Service policy for continuation of the government), and his most embarrassing moment (messing up the adjustment of President Bush’s truck seats because he didn’t realize there was a door to get in to the jump seat until Condeleeza Rice pointed it out).
Next week is the Christmas Party!
Meeting adjourned at 1:30 pm
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