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Do Good, Have Fun, Make Friends

We meet Wednesdays at 12:00 PM
Hilton Hotel

500 W. 3rd Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501
United States

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map

Jeffrey Harris, AER Rebound Exchange Student

Oct 24, 2018 12:00 PM

Finland

Diane Fejes, District Governor

Oct 31, 2018

2018-2019 Rotary District 5010 Trends and Goals

Clint Johnson, Chief, NTSB Alaska

Nov 07, 2018 12:00 PM

Air Safety Investigation

Deena Bishop, Superintendant

Nov 14, 2018 12:00 PM

Anchorage School District

To Be Announced Inspiration

Nov 21, 2018 12:00 PM

Military Appreciation

Bob Cox

Nov 28, 2018 12:00 PM

Rotary Foundation

Jeff Jesse, PhD, Dean of UAA College of Health

Dec 05, 2018 12:00 PM

Meeting the health needs of Alaska's peoples and communities.

Friends of Pets and Howling Peaks Training

Dec 12, 2018 12:00 PM

Family Pets

Holiday Party

Dec 19, 2018 12:00 PM

Merriment and Celebration

No meeting today- Happy Holidays!

Dec 26, 2018 12:00 PM

No meeting today- Happy New Year!

Jan 02, 2019 12:00 PM

View entire list...

Rotary Reading Mentorship – The Gift of Time

Posted by Shirley Nelson

As we embark on this new Anchorage East project to mentor elementary students, it is important to understand our mission:

Offer quality time to a student.
Assist the reader by reading to and/or being read to.

Jay Jackson and Shirley Nelson met Thursday, October 4, at Baxter Elementary. They had the privilege of reading with a few students, enjoying important interaction with them. They also met with several other teachers who are thrilled that Rotarians are stepping into their busy classrooms to offer their time. Teachers have prepared special areas to sit and read one-on-one, plus they have set up an array of children’s books from which to select (the student will probably pick their favorite).

Please do not hesitate to try your hand at this most important gift to a child. Just think how SPECIAL this student will feel that an adult—you—are spending valuable time with ME!

Location/Details:

Baxter Elementary School, 2991 Baxter Road (just past the Anchorage School District main office on E. Northern Lights Blvd.)
Thursdays, 9:30 – 10:30 AM
Check in at the main office at 9:15 AM.
Log in as a visitor on the computer. Your name tag will print out.
Check out the same way when you leave the school.

There are currently 6 classrooms wanting our assistance: 2 kindergarten, 2 first grade, 2 second grade. Please give your time. Sign up and Shirley Nelson will assist in assigning a classroom. The rest is up to you. You will have one of the most inspiring 60 minutes possible!

Rotarian Shirley Nelson officially checks in at Baxter Elementary School

After you log in, the printer will send you a name ID sticker to wear.

One classroom's comfy reading nook by their class library.

Another classroom has a separate area with two chairs for the AER volunteer and student to read together. A section of books for the student to choose from are in the yellow box.

Highlights from Anchorage East Rotary (Oct. 10)

Posted by Paul Paslay

At our meeting October 10:

Maia Hernandez was our guest. She heard about Rotary and reached out to us through the Rotary website. It turns out she has a connection with Kara Blake. A possible future member of AER?
We officially exchanged club banners with our exchange student Adam Szabo who was our speaker.
Anne Adasiak-Andrew introduced Adam and made a strong statement in support of being a host family. She and her husband Tim, who also attended the meeting, were moved by the appeals that were made for host families and decided that they could not stand to see Adam not have a host family.
Lonzo Henderson presented our club’s award to an outstanding East High teacher (Heather Roach) and an outstanding East High student (Matias Miller).
Dave Kester played a short video about Polio Plus and again promoted World Polio Day which will be celebrated October 24 at Mary and Buzz Rohlfing’s theatre across from the Hilton.
Kara Blake, our Club secretary, gave a talk about her position in the club, focusing on some “best practices” to make easier the process of checking in and being on a monthly team.
Rotarian Becky Beck attended our meeting. She works on the District level as a leader to support Youth Exchange in Southcentral Alaska.
Tony Freije had to be at work and delegated the No Fine Button to Karla Jutzi who talked about the “Thanksgiving Day Blessing” event which distributes food to needy families.
We sang happy birthday. Adam Sikorski and Gloria Castenada have birthdays this month.
I bought the No Fine Button, and I am delegating it to Gloria Castenada so she can speak to our group.
I made another announcement about the October 20 Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner event. The food theme is Asian fusion. Chicken teriyaki and kalbi ribs will be supplied by the host. Each guest should bring an Asian side dish from any country.
Christian Deykes announced the next Mobile Food Pantry which will be held Saturday October 13 in the parking lot of the Fairview Recreation Center
Shirley Nelson encouraged participation in the reading project we have started at Baxter Elementary. Last Thursday was the first time for the project. Shirley is looking for 6 people to commit to show up each week.
Sean Bradley was happy to recognize the personal benefit he has gained from studying and applying the information in Rick Mystrom’s book about diet for people facing diabetes, and others.
We were reminded once again to include our exchange student Adam Szabo in activities he might enjoy. Anne Adasiak-Andrew said make sure to bring Cocoa Puffs.

At other times:

On Tuesday Jeff Blake and I attended the West High Interact Club. Over the weekend the club decided to have a bake sale, and a group of the club members set up a table today in the hallway to sell sweets. I later found out the they raised $27 and are thinking that this money and other sources might go to help alleviate the most recent ravages of weather in Indonesia.
On Wednesday just before the meeting, our exchange student Adam Szabo, myself and many others attended the East High Interact Club meeting. The faculty adviser Laron Thomas was present as were two other teachers. There was discussion about how to proceed with the club:
- Join forces with the International Club or Key Club at East?
- Seek to volunteer at the coat check for the AER Beer Fest?
- Volunteer at the Food Bank of Alaska on Thursdays to help sort mostly perishable food?
- Show up at the Mobile Food Pantry?
On Thursday we held the monthly Board meeting. Everyone in the club is encouraged to show up at these meetings to observe the good work our members do to keep all our club’s “moving pieces” in motion. The meetings are the second Thursday of each month at the Captain Cook.
On Saturday many members of our club showed up to run the Mobile Food Pantry at the Fairview Recreation Center.

President's Corner (Oct. 17)

Posted by Paul Paslay

As you know, our club sponsors the Interact Club at West High and the Interact Club at East High. Each club has a teacher adviser who spends his lunch hour hosting and adding direction to the club. These advisors are not paid to do this work; they are committed to the students.

Woody Angst, Karen Smith and I showed up this morning at the West High meeting. The club talked about projects for the coming year. After the meeting Woody, Karen and I talked about Woody’s idea to consider a global grant to combat human trafficking, using the fundraising efforts of this club and other sources. This grant could be in the form of a scholarship for a person to study in this area. This would train a person to better work toward the goal of eliminating this terrible activity.

At our Board meeting last week, our Board voted to contribute money to the operation of these two Interact clubs.

Last Saturday our club participated in the Mobile Food Pantry (MFP) at the Fairview Recreation Center. We assist the Food Bank of Alaska (FBOA) to distribute mostly perishable food to people in need. The folks who work at the FBOA exhibit service above self to help provide basic necessities to folks in our community. Our club has participated in the MFP for years. Our members, their family and friends show up rain, snow or shine to make this distribution work.

Our club now asks our weekly speaker to choose from one of three charities, and we give $50 to the chosen charity in the speaker’s name. Each of these charities employs people who are passionate about their work to serve their target populations. Most recently our speaker chose the Alaska Literacy Project.

Our commitment of money to these charities helps them accomplish their missions. These examples show the variety of fine vocations which our club supports though our funding and through showing up to do work. Can you think of other vocations our club might support?

October Teacher/Student Award

Posted by Lonzo Henderson

Heather Roach is an extraordinary teacher with approximately 24 years of experience. She teaches Chemistry, AP Chemistry, and Anatomy and Physiology. In addition, she runs the Robotics Club. Ms. Roach is a tremendous asset for East High school.

Matias Miller is from Anchorage and is a Senior at East High. He is looking forward to graduating but is undecided about the college he will attend. Matias is currently exploring options. His hobby/interest is hockey. Congratulation!

President's Corner (Oct. 10)

Posted by Paul Paslay

Vocational training teams (“VTTs”) are groups of professionals who travel abroad either to teach local professionals about a particular field or to learn more about their own. Teams can be funded by district grants and global grants.

VTTs reflect the Rotary Foundation’s long-standing commitment to vocational training. Activities vary from one team to the next but examples may include training medical professionals on cardiac surgery and care, sharing best practices on early childhood education, or explaining new irrigation techniques to farmers. A successful VTT increases the capacity of the host community to solve problems and improve the quality of life.

If a VTT is funded by a district grant, the activities should support the Foundation’s mission to promote goodwill and peace, improve health, support education, and alleviate poverty. If funded by a global grant, the activities must:

Align with one or more of the six areas of focus (promoting peace; fighting disease; providing clean water; sanitation and hygiene; saving mothers and children; supporting education; growing local economies).
Build the capacity of either the team members or the benefitting community; and
Have a sustainable and measurable impact.

Can you think of how you might use your professional background to create a vocational training team from our club or from our District 5010?

Tudor Elementary School Garden Boxes

Posted by Chris Wolpert

Pictured below are photos from our recent garden box build at Tudor Elementary School on October 2. Photos are courtesy of Robin Dublin.

Highlights from Anchorage East Rotary (Oct. 3)

Posted by Paul Paslay

At our meeting October 3:

Anne Adasiak-Andrew gave us of application information for future Rotary exchange students. There will be information nights on October 10 (at Jitters in Eagle River at 7p) and on October 11 (at a UAA office at 1901 Bragaw Street, Suite 199, at 7p). Applications are due October 15, and interviews will be October 16, 17, 18 (currently).
I announced the upcoming club social event on October 20. This will be Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. The food theme is Asian fusion. Chicken teriyaki and kalbi ribs will be supplied by the host. Each guest should bring an Asian side dish from any country.
Mary Rohlfing made the final promotion for the wreath making social event at the Alaska Botanical Garden on October 4.
We welcomed back a well-tanned Sean Bradley from a summer of operating his remote Alaskan lodge.
Dave Kester spoke again about the upcoming World Polio Day. We applauded contributions by Duff Pfanner and Jay Jackson to the Polio Plus Fund.
I reminded members to include our exchange student Adam Szabo in their plans for events that he might enjoy.
Our speaker chose to have $50 donated in her name to Children’s Lunchbox Program. I read a description that this charity is a program of Bean’s Café, and it is a local non-profit dedicated to feeding hungry children in safe community environments. It provides meals to local community programs serving children, and packages and deliver thousands of bagged meals to each of the Title 1 schools in Anchorage. This program also provides meals for children in the summer when school is out.
I mentioned our garden box project will grow food that in part will go to the Children’s Lunchbox Program.
Shirley Nelson announced again that our club is starting our reading project at Baxter Elementary tomorrow, which started on October 4.
I announced that our club’s visioning project will take place November 7, with more information to come. We shall be looking for 20 – 25 members to participate.
Paul McGuire auctioned off three bags of crab apples from Jeff Blake’s tree.
Michelle Tabler had the No Fine Button and reminded us of the upcoming Shred Day at the Better Business Bureau. I wished Michelle well on her travels to be with family.

At other times:

On Tuesday, October 2, after “press time” for this column, Christian Deykes and his daughter, Robin Dublin and I participated with others in the most recent installment of the garden box project that our club is doing with three other local Rotary Clubs. In about 2 hours we constructed 6 boxes on the grounds of Tudor Elementary School.
On Wednesday just before the meeting, Rich Dyson and I attended the East High Interact Club meeting. Unfortunately, only our exchange student Adam Szabo and the president of the club were there. The faculty adviser Travis Cooper was present, and we were visited by a teacher next door, Kim Liland. Ms. Liland talked frankly about the challenges she faced getting the International Club going at East. At first the International Club was for students for whom English was not their first language. Over time she developed contacts and procedures to engage the interest of a variety of students. This is a challenge for us to help grow this club!
On Thursday Anne Adasiak-Andrew, Adam Szabo, Mary Rohlfing and others attended the Alaska Botanical Garden and made wreathes
On Thursday the Beer Fest Committee met.
On Tuesday Jeff Blake and I attended the West High Interact Club. The students over the weekend decided to raise some money by having a bake sale in the hallway outside the main office. Jeff and I bought some cookies.

Adam's Activities

Posted by Anne Adasiak-Andrew

Posted are some photos of Adam learning the art of grilling (courtesy of instruction provided by Anne's husband), Adam sporting his new East High sports jacket, and a few others.

Rotary Youth Exchange Recruiting

Posted by Chris Wolpert

Applications for Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) are coming due very soon. If you know of anyone from East High School who would make a good candidate for RYE, then please make note of the following details:

1. Information nights are as follows:

Wednesday, October 10 - Eagle River/Jitters at 7pm
Thursday, October 11 - Anchorage/UAA at 7pm (1901 Bragaw, Suite 199)

2. Applications are due on October 15 (District set).

3. Interviews will be arranged shortly after the the application period ends.

4. Students can apply at http://www.rye5010.org

Please contact Katie Johnson at ak.ktjohnson@gmail.com or at 907-342-5203 if you have any questions.

Botanical Garden Wreath Making

Posted by Mary Rohlfing and Gretchen Klein

The wreath making at Alaska Botanical Gardens was very successful and lots of fun! We had no idea how talented we were. Thanks go out to William Criner, Garden and Facilities, Alaska Botanical Garden for hosting our monthly social event, and to Mary Rohlfing for coordinating members and payments. Artists were Kathleen Madden, Terry Allard, Anne Adasiak-Andrew, Adam Szabo, and Mary Rohlfing.

President's Corner (Oct. 3)

Posted by Paul Paslay

Hello Anchorage East Rotarians.

The Rotary theme for October is Vocational Service. Rotary was first started as a club based on vocations. This continues today. This month is a great time to celebrate, explore, understand the vocations of your fellow club members, and to explore the possibilities of membership from other vocational groups in your community. Mike Zahare is the chair of our vocational service committee. Why not offer to him to give an oral “Vocational Minute” during a club meeting to let our club know of your vocation? What other vocations might we invite into our club?

This month on October 24 we celebrate World Polio Day. Thirty years ago, 1,000 children were paralyzed by polio every single day. Since then, we’ve marked our progress, year by year, week by week. We’ve celebrated as country after country, region after region has been declared polio-free. This year Anchorage East Rotary will mark this day with an event which our member Dave Kester, who leads End Polio matters for our District, is now highlighting at our meetings.

This is a tremendous opportunity in our Anchorage community for our club to highlight Rotary, and our historic work to eradicate polio. It is also a great way to take advantage of the challenge from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: For every dollar that Rotary raises for polio eradication, the Gates Foundation will give two more. Join me, and Rotarians everywhere – and Be the Inspiration for a polio-free world!

Highlights from Anchorage East Rotary (Sept. 26)

Posted by Paul Paslay

At our meeting September 26:

We met in the Quarterdeck on the 10^th floor of the Captain Cook Hotel and enjoyed this venue’s fine hospitality on another glorious sunny day.
Kelly McCormack donated $100 to his Paul Harris on account of this recent completion of graduate studies.
Michelle Tabler announced today is her granddaughter’s third birthday and that next week is her last working at the Better Business Bureau. She will now be able to spend more time with family who are Outside. She has the No Fine Button for October 3.
Barb Swenson was pleased to announce she has met Adam our exchange student, is very pleased to see David Hoffman back at a club meeting and is happy to be enjoying the good food and grand hospitality of the Captain Cook Hotel.
Daniel Cheyette announced he has never run as fast as his son who is graduating from Middle School and is a champion in track and field.
Craig Bledsoe reported from his trip to Nevada to participate in an FAA event, including mock evacuation training from a 747 airliner filled with theatrical smoke. At a Rotary makeup there, his cell phone went off and he threw it out the window, from which diners apparently regularly throw bits of food for geese to eat. After the geese examined his phone and found it inedible, they left deposits on the phone which he later had to wipe off.
Brandon Spoerhase stated he is remembering members of his family who have passed, and introduced his girlfriend and another friend as his guests.
Marjorie Poggas volunteered that the yellow cups on the tables help support our youth program in part by helping fund the stipend for Adam Szabo our exchange student for the year.
Mary Rohlfing pitched our upcoming social event at the Alaska Botanical Gardens on October 4. David Kester modeled what kind of scarf might be created that evening. Will Criner from the ABG gave details of how wreaths that evening can be made weaving things onto old bicycle rims.
David Kester reminds us World Polio Day will be on October 24. Our club will celebrate at Mary & Buzz Rohlfing’s theatre. He mentioned one of my club goals is $3,500 contribution to the Polio Plus Fund. I donated $150, and David and Bill matched my donation, so we are $450 on the way!
Anne Adasiak- Andrew is happy to return after a trip with her mother to Tuscany, Umbria and Italy. She thanked the members of our club for engaging with our exchange student Adam while she was gone. Anne, her husband and family are Adam’s present host family.
Shirley Nelson brought a sign-up sheet for our reading program at Baxter Elementary which starts Thursday, October 4. She is targeting 6 people to go weekly to read to kindergarten, first and second grade students.
I announced that Tuesday, October 2, starting at 4p, is our next step in the garden box project. We shall be constructing a number of boxes at Tudor Road Elementary.
Our speaker today was the first to choose a charity to which our club will donate $50 in her name. She chose the Alaska Literacy Program.

At other times:

On Tuesday, Karen Smith, Jeff Blake, Adam Sikorski and I attended the West High Interact club. Karen brought 5 Costco pizza pies. Adam addressed a packed room of about 40 students with comments about how he came to be interested in fighting human trafficking. One possible way for the Interact club to be involved is to help at the coat check in counter at the next Beer Fest.
Wednesday morning of our October 3 meeting, I expect to join Rich Dyson at the East High Interact Club. The club is still deciding what projects to focus on. Last week Rich brought a bunch of ice cream pies for the students. I asked whether students liked ice cream pies or pizza pies, and the vote was for pizza. Why not come down and have a slice, Wednesday morning 10:20a, Travis Cooper’s classroom (I think it is Rm 204)? Check in at the front office first.

Rotary Exchange

Posted by Rich Dyson

East exchange student, Adam Szabo, and rebound student, Rowan Folds, enjoy dinner at the Varsity Grill with Kristen and Rich Dyson prior to the UAA volleyball game on September 27th.

Highlights from Anchorage East Rotary (Sept. 19)

Posted by Paul Paslay

At our meeting September 19:

Lance Wilber announced the AERIE meeting set for September 20.
I announced three times that our meeting September 26 will be at the Quarterdeck at the Hotel Captain Cook.
I encouraged us all to consider things we can do with our exchange student Adam Szabo from Slovakia. I saw that John Kagerer later took him on a flight-fishing trip in his plane.
Bob Cox, chairman of the Foundation committee, played another short video and spoke about it.
Paul McGuire and others including Michelle Tabler, Heather Flynn and Duff Pfanner said goodbye and thank you to Tam Agosti-Gisler, who with her husband Hans will be living and traveling in Europe for the next period of time. Paul was particularly eloquent and passionate with his remarks about this great Rotarian.
Shirley Nelson gave more details about the reading project at Baxter Elementary.
I announced that a new policy will soon start that our speaker will choose from 3 charities, and the club will give $50 to that charity in the speaker’s name.
Kelly McCormack announced that he recently completed a graduate course of study and with respect to that, he will be making a contribution to his Paul Harris.
Maxine Froemling gave $470 to her Paul Harris to celebrate retirement from her 47-year career. She said she now has more time to become involved in Rotary.
Barry Kirksey introduced a friend who is a potential new Rotarian.
Karla Jutzi and Sandra Wicks mentioned upcoming events related to matters our club is involved in.
Anne Garrett, co-chair of the International Committee, announced an upcoming meeting about the planning for the Philippine trip, which will be at Bahay Kubo, 3020 Minnesota Drive, September 28, 6p to 9p. There will be the chance to sing karaoke.

Later in the week:

At the AERIE meeting Thursday, Lance Wilber, Woody Angst, Anne Garrett, Sally Archer, myself and Rich Dyson gathered.
Monday, the Foundation committee met.
Tuesday, Karen Smith, Jeff Blake and myself sat in on the West High Interact Club meeting. It looks like the club will focus on Human/Sex Trafficking as one of its major projects. Our own Adam Sikorski has agreed to present at the meeting next week on this subject. Let’s have more Rotarians attend if possible!

President's Corner (Sept. 26)

Posted by Paul Paslay

Hello Anchorage East members,

For this issue of my President’s Column I copied from a couple of Rotary website sources for the following:

Did you know that more than 750 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate? And, that number will increase when the 250 million children who do not possess basic reading skills become adults. Illiteracy traps people in the cycle of poverty and costs the global economy an estimated $1.2 trillion each year in lost earnings and productivity.

This is where Rotarians step in. Each year, district and global grants from The Rotary Foundation provide teacher training, integration of technology into classroom curriculum, and adult literacy programs to communities. Gifts to the Annual Fund make these grants possible, meaning that learners of all ages have access to quality education and a bright future.

These words came from a Rotarian who lives in Africa:

Literacy can be defined as the state of being literate especially the ability to read and write. It also lies in the ability of an individual’s capacity to put those skills to work in shaping the course of his or her life. Genuine literacy involves ‘reading the word and the world’.

Literacy is both a right in itself and an instrument for achieving other rights. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right to education. In modern societies, literacy skills are fundamental to informed decision-making, personal empowerment, and active and passive participation in local and global social community.

Basic education refers to the whole range of educational activities taking place in various settings (formal, non-formal and informal) that aim to meet basic learning needs. It comprises Primary education and lower Secondary education. In developing countries like those in Africa, basic education often includes adult literacy programs.

No matter how much we hate waking up early for school or studying all night for those tests and exams, we all know that education is very important. I am not saying that an uneducated man has no chance of being successful or that an educated man will surely do well in life. Exceptions are always there. However, an educated person gets better opportunities in life.

Countries with high literacy rates are extremely prosperous and the citizens have a high per capita income. On the other hand, in African countries where the literacy rate is not as high, a number of people are still living below the poverty line. Education provides us with knowledge about the world. It paves the way for a good career. It helps build character. It leads to enlightenment. Education makes a person complete.

Benjamin Franklin wrote “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” while Victor Hugo wrote that: “He who opens a School door, closes a prison.”

2019 Mission Trip to the Philippines

Posted by Anne Garrett

Anchorage East Rotary International Service committee invites you to join us to learn about the January 2019 mission trip to the Philippines and how you can help both here and on the ground in the Philippines. To set the tone, we're meeting at Bahay Kubo, a Filipino restaurant 3020 Minnesota Drive for authentic Filipino food, friends, and (if you stay long enough and are brave enough) karaoke.

The first Rotarian who actually SINGS Karaoke (that night) will get a home-made (from scratch) pineapple upside down cake made by the AER International Committee co-chair Anne Garrett (guaranteed edible). Join us to get a "taste" of the generous and welcoming spirit of the Philippines. This is a no-host event and partners/spouses and friends are welcome!

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Why the Philippines?

Typhoon Yolanda (2013) decimated many communities in the Philippines. This specific mission project is providing an expansion to a current wastewater treatment system for a village being built by iHomes (Bacolod) for 22 homes. They currently have a system for eight homes but with plans to expand. Together with Rotary clubs from Australia, Wales and the Philippines, we will work to financially support local efforts to expand the current system and travel to provide onsite assistance in January 2019.

What we will learn, discuss and finalize!

Proposed Itinerary: January 16 – 26, 2019

Travel Costs

What you will need (Passport, visa, shots – ouch!)

What can we do here?

What we will be doing on-the-ground?

Who else is planning to go!

ALL INTERESTED ROTARIANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. Contact Anne Garrett anneelizabethgarrett@hotmail.com or 907-223-4882 for more information or if you are unable to attend. In addition, you can also use the evite link. http://evite.me/zCg72zvaUf

Business Card Bonanza

Posted by Rich Dyson

For a mere $25, you can place your business card in the Eastwind for a whole month. This is a great, and cheap, way to get your business noticed by fellow Rotarians. It’s always better to do business with people you know and trust, so this is a good way to let our membership know what goods and services you can offer. Just hand your card to Chris Wolpert or Rich Dyson and watch your business grow.

Rotary Fun

Highlights from Anchorage East Rotary (Sept. 12)

Posted by Paul Paslay

At our meeting September 12:

Bob Cox, Dave Young and Rick Mystrom reported back about an Outside golf trip they took recently.
We sang happy birthday to Rotarians celebrating this month and distributed cake from the Cake Lady.
I donated 150 of my Foundation recognition points to Adam Sikorski for his outstanding support of our club in a number of different positions.

Later in the week:

At the Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, November 7 was set as the date for the club visioning. About 20 – 25 club members will be invited to participate in a session about the future of our club
At the board meeting we also decided to start a program whereby for $25 per month, members can place their business card in the Eastwind, our online weekly newsletter.
At the board meeting we also decided to give our speakers the option of choosing one of three charities to which our club will donate $50 in their name.
On Friday the Communications committee met at the Alaska Bagel Restaurant. Jeff Blake, Chris Wolpert, Tony Freije and myself met over lunch. One idea that came up was to create PSAs (Public Service Announcements) about our Mobile Food Pantry, garden box project and other club events.
Our own Rick Goodfellow spoke at the Sunday morning speaker’s forum at the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and later that day our own Barbara Kagerer and her husband John hosted a party at their business, The Horn Doctor, where he and his wife Jan Ingram celebrated 30 years of operating KLEF classical music radio station.
The Anchorage area Rotary club presidents meet later today to review how this year is going.

President's Corner (Sept. 19)

Posted by Paul Paslay

Hello Anchorage East members,

The Rotary theme for September is actually Basic Education and Literacy. In our club Shirley Nelson is spearheading a project, under the Community Services Committee, to read to elementary school students. We will do this at Baxter Elementary. Our contact is Shannon Ferris who teaches 2^nd grade there and is a member of South Rotary. At present we are looking for 6 club members to go into the school for about an hour on Thursday mornings at 9:30a. More about this soon.

On the front page of the District 5010 website our District Governor Diane speaks: “Students returning to school remind us how important learning is to ALL of us. Not only should we continue learning about new things, new places and people, we should continue learning about ourselves. I encourage you to be both a mentor and mentee to others – the World and your community needs YOU! And Rotary needs you as well to Be The Inspiration.”

Our support of Interact clubs continues at West High and East High. The clubs are putting together their plans for the year. Today West club finished a small food drive started last week, and delivered the foodstuffs to a classroom where the teacher keeps a crock pot of food going for hungry students. Our East Club is considering spending some funds to provide a banner, a bell and gavel, Interact Club pins and some other things to these Clubs so that they become more aware of the connection they have to Rotary as they learn how to be of service to others. This is also turning out to be a good time to meet up with other Rotarians who can rearrange their schedule to be there Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:15.

Highlights from Anchorage East Rotary (Sept. 5)

Posted by Paul Paslay

Highlights for Anchorage East Rotary from September 5 – September 11, 2018.

At our meeting September 5:

We remembered our member David Hoffman who is on the mend from medical challenges.
Sandra Wicks gave happy dollars about her trip to Europe.
Our treasurer Jennifer Snodgrass made good use of the no-fine-button to talk about her work life.
Barbara Swenson was awarded a Major Donor award for contributing $10,000 cash to the Foundation. Arnie Cohen did the presentation. Congratulations and thank you, Barbara!

Later in the week:

Wednesday late afternoon Woody and Chottie Angst, Sandra Wicks, Bruce Phelps, Shirley Nelson, myself, and a number of folks from the Anchorage South Rotary community, constructed 8 garden boxes at Baxter Elementary and partially filled them with dirt. The business which supplies the soil closed at 5p so we were not able to fill all the boxes with dirt. On Thursday Adam Sikorski and I, together with Amy Mackey-Hornak and another from Anchorage South, returned to Baxter Elementary and completed the job. The man who brought the dirt was able to dump it directly into the beds, so it did not take long to rake and shovel the dirt evenly.
On Saturday, under brilliant sunny skies was our monthly Mobile Food Pantry. Sharon Sullivan, Ventis Plume, Bill Faulkner, Duff Pfanner, Reed Smith, Sandra Wicks, Bruce Phelps, Heather Flynn, Karen Smith, Christian Deykes, Jeff Blake, Lee Nordstrom and yours truly were present. We could not completely get rid of a mountain of spinach and bagged salad fixings the Food Bank delivered!
On Monday we had another social event at the 2 Friends Gallery, owned and hosted by Jacqui Ertischek. Mary Rohlfing, Jim & Kim Arlington, Gloria Castenada, Sandra Wicks, Bruce Phelps, Woody and Chottie Angst, Emily Rohrabaugh (with her little one), Raquel Edelen, Heather Flynn, Kathleen Madden, Rayli Wilson and yours truly munched on nice refreshments. Sivaluaq, an Inupiaq artist and story teller, was present. So was a cloudless sky outside.

President's Corner (Sept. 12)

Posted by Paul Paslay