Rotary Club of Casper WY
Meeting Summary
06/29/2015
President Bill DeGraeve called the meeting to order promptly at 12:30 and extended a “Happy Welcome” to everyone in attendance!! This is his final meeting as President. The Club will not meet on July 6th because of the long holiday weekend, and the Changing of the Gavel Ceremony is planned for the July 13th meeting. He also announced that Richard Schwahn would be quietly passing out Duck Derby tickets during the meeting – which he did quite creatively.
Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test:
Dennis Jack
Greeters: Tom Crull and Dennis Jack were the greeters today and Dennis introduced guests:
Visiting Rotarians from Lander, Bill and Mike Sniffin, were introduced, as well as Lynn Lockhart with Five Trails Rotary.
Tim Monroe introduced Lane Klungness (Wyoming Business Report);
Brian Deurloo introduced his daughter, Vivi;
U.S. Senator John Barrasso introduced his wife, Bobbi;
Susan Griffith introduced her granddaughter, Beau;
Tucker LaPrade introduced past member, Matt Myers (Boy Scouts);
Jim Ruble introduced his son, Jacob;
Walt Nolte introduced the new president of Casper College, Darren Divine;
Lori Klatt introduced her sister, JoLynne Slivyak, from Oregon; and,
and our fabulous exchange student, Giulia, was welcomed one last time by the club members. She heads back to Brazil on July 8th.
President Bill reminded the membership that we need a new committee member to schedule the Greeters and Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test assignments as Pam Walker wants to do different committee work.
Special Presentations:
President Bill presented Vickie Diamond with her R.I. sponsor pin for sponsoring Chad Pew.
Walt Nolte was then invited forward by President Bill. Walt thanked the Club for their friendship, support for Casper College, and introduced the next CC president, Darren Divine. President Bill next invited Giulia forward. She shared a video with the Club that showcased everything she had done during her year here. She thanked the Club for their support and expressed a very sincere farewell message while holding back tears.
Song and Merriment:
Dennis Lower was welcomed back with my applause following his heart valve replacement and pacemaker installation just a week earlier. He entertained us with a great joke and then Pinky Ellis was invited to share a second joke since he had been on-call in case Dennis was absent. Then Gary Pehrson asked to, “Please Rise………” and led us in singing “Oh, Beautiful,” with Brenda Peters on the piano, in honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday.
Family of Rotary:
It was announced that the summary of the funeral/memorial/reception services for Stan Lowe are on each of the tables. Pinky Ellis will share remarks on behalf of the Club.
It was also announced that Joe MacGuire was in a plane crash over the weekend with Peter Wold. He is recuperating at home but wants no visitors at this time.
Rotarians of the Week:
John Griffith nominated Lori Klatt for organizing the outstanding NicFest this past weekend. Tom Thorson nominated Jim Allison and Les Crawford for driving some buses to El Paso with him for the Delicias, Mexico Rotary Club.
Deb Theriault nominated the following Rotarians for their help with the India Friendship exchange last week: Dennis Lower for making the arrangements before his surgery; Pam and Tom Walker for hosting 2 of the 3 Indian Rotarians; Bill Sniffin for the Wyoming book gifts for each of the Indian guests; Pam Walker, Gene Theriault, Bill and Chrisa DeGraeve, Liz Becher, Hal Hutchinson, Tara and Darrah Short, Mary Lynne Shickich, Bill Mortimer, and Rotarians from the Five Trails and Reveille Rotary clubs for attending the Wednesday night dinner at Isaac Walton Clubhouse for the guest Rotarians. She also nominated Bobbi Barrasso and thanked her for being her sponsor many years ago. President Bill nominated Deb for all of her work on the Friendship Exchange.
Mike Sullivan nominated Walt Nolte for his 11 years at Casper College and for advancing the College.
Jim Limes nominated Deb Theriault for the photo she took of a snake trying to get into a robin’s nest.
Brian Deurloo nominated Bill Schilling for the work day at Rotary Park last weekend, and called out a big thank-you to Joe Nickerson and Dan Cantine for their help – since they were just inducted last Monday.
Chad Nelson nominated Brian Deurloo for selling Duck Derby tickets at Rotary Park.
Students of the Month:
We are done for the year – will resume in October
Club Announcements:
- Bill Schilling reported that there were 25 great volunteers at Saturday’s work day at Rotary Park. He gave updates on what they had accomplished, and read a list of the Rotarians who helped.
- Ronna Boril made the announcement about the 4th Annual Golf Tournament which will be on August 1st at Three Crowns. Sandy Widmer and Anthony Martinez would love sponsors and players. Proceeds will benefit our Panama International project.
- Duck Derby Updates: Pam Walker passed around a sign-up sheet for ticket selling shifts at Bear Trap Festival on August 1 and 2. Pam also reported that she is creating a “Wall of Fame” to track ticket sales by member. Teresa Corkill announced that she needs two more prize callers. Dave Elmer reported that he has counted the ducks and it appears as though we did lose about 800-1000 ducks down river last year with the heavy winds. The physical count indicated that we have 5000-5100 ducks.
- Bill Pierce reported that our Club has sponsored the Juneteenth Celebration this year and it went over very well even with a lull in attendance. He presented President Bill with a Certificate of Appreciation, and stated that Wyoming is the 9th state to make Juneteenth an official holiday.
- Susan Thomas announced that the Ramkota will prepare a free lunch for Rotarians on Parade Day.
Classification Talk:
None this week.
Program (Wyoming Catholic College):
PE John Starnes introduced our speaker for today’s program, “The Future of American Higher Education and How Wyoming Catholic College is Navigating the Market.”
Dr. Kevin Roberts is President of Wyoming’s only private, four-year college, and was the second-youngest college president in the nation when appointed to the position in 2013. A lifelong educator, Dr. Roberts has taught and administered every level of schooling from pre-K to graduate school. He reported that the current diagnosis of higher education is that student indebtedness is increasing (average of $27K) and graduation rates indicate that most students average 6 years to earn a major. There are 5 common questions that Dr. Roberts typically receives: 1. Why is a Catholic college in Wyoming? It’s a beautiful location that provides an inspiration environment for study and reflection. 2. Why is WCC a liberal arts college? According to the Wall Street Journal, liberal arts degrees are on the rise and graduates are poised better for employment and graduate school opportunities. 3. Where is the actual campus? It is not built yet. The focus has been on the students, and 28 staff/faculty. Colleges are people, not buildings. Enrollment has been steadily increasing with an average tuition/room/board cost of $28K per year. 4. Who attends WCC? There are 150 students enrolled from 43 states. 5. What are WCC graduates doing? Graduates are predominantly teachers, small business owners, graduate students, and non-profit employees. The motto of WCC is “Let us be excellent in all things. Let us do the ordinary in extraordinary ways.”
President Bill re-announced that we will NOT meet next Monday – July 6th. The meeting on July 13th will be at the Parkway Plaza.
He adjourned the meeting at 1:36 p.m.
“Light Up Rotary”
