October 30th Program
Our speaker last week was Ryan Swartwood, UAA Senior Associate Director of Athletics, who talked to us about the UAA athletics program and the ESPN eighth annual Armed Forces Classic which will be staged at the Alaska Airlines Center on Friday, Nov. 8 in a partnership with the Joint Base Elemdorf-Richardson military facility.
The men's college basketball doubleheader will be a part of ESPN's Veterans Week initiative and will pit Baylor against Washington and Alaska Anchorage against Coast Guard Academy. Both games will air on ESPN.
Previous Armed Forces Classic games have been played from Ramstein, Germany in 2012 (Connecticut vs. Michigan State), Pyongtaek, South Korea in 2013 (Georgetown vs. Oregon), Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in 2014 (Louisville vs. Minnesota), Honolulu, Hawaii in 2016 (Arizona vs. Michigan State & Indiana vs. Kansas), Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany in 2017 (Texas A&M vs. West Virginia) and Fort Bliss, Texas in 2018 (Texas vs. Arkansas).
The games will be televised on ESPN as part of the network's America's Heroes: A Salute to Our Veterans initiative honoring the men and women who are serving and who have served in the United States military, both at home and abroad.
Ryan recently joined the UAA athletic staff after serving as the Associate Athletic Director for Administration at Cal State Northridge. During his time at Northridge, Ryan managed and supervised the areas of contract administration and the operation of the athletics facilities. He handled oversight of the sports medicine and sports performance areas and was a sport program administrator for multiple programs.
Prior to his time at Northridge, Ryan worked in the compliance office at the University of Oklahoma for three years and was a legal intern with the Oakland Raiders.
Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in history from San Diego State University, a master’s degree in adult and higher education from the University of Oklahoma and a juris doctorate from Arizona State University.
November 6th Program
This week we are honored to have District Governor Andre’ Layral visiting our club. As part of his club visits, DG Andre’ has been sharing his Rotary story, the Rotary vision of RI and goals established by 2019-2020 President Mark Maloney. He is also sharing details of several D5010 initiatives and projects for our district that are intended to strengthen clubs so they can be more effective in achieving their goals.
District Governor Layral and Club President Charolotte Tharp at President-Elect Training
The following is an excerpt from DG Andre’s October message to members:
In 2017 Rotary adopted the term “DROP TO ZERO”. Check this out: https://www.rotary.org/en/why-zero-matters-polio-eradication .
No place on earth is safe from Polio until the disease is eradicated everywhere. With war and conflict in the world, and many displaced people, this will continue to be a challenge. Recently a case of the Wild Polio Virus was identified in the Philippines, a region that was declared polio-free the past 19 years. Rotary and its partners are so close to eradicating Polio. Rotary has been key to the successful effort to eradicate Polio since 1986. $1.5 billion is needed to finish the job. Your donation will help Rotary reach its fundraising goal in 2019-2020 so that the Gates Foundation can again match what is raised by Rotary.
D5010 was well represented at the Zone Conference in Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada. Attending were Sheri and DG Andre’ Layral, Terese and DGE Joe Kashi, DGN Cheryl and Marty Metiva, Tonya and PDG Brad Gamble, Gloria and PDG Ted Trueblood, Mike Ferris and Lindsay Knight. We also were joined by Emerging Leader Trinitey Letterman, who was awarded a stipend from D5010 and also from Zone 24/32. Trinity has grown up in a Rotary family. I have great hope for the future of Rotary when I see the passion young leaders bring as members.
One highlight of the 2019 Zone conference was learning that in 2020 there will be two Zone Conferences, one in Anchorage November 19-21, 2020 and the second one in Bermuda on January 14-16, 2021. Another highlight was meeting and hearing from 2020-21 Rotary International President-Elect Holger Knaack. There were many dynamic speakers that kept everyone inspired. One of the conference emphasis areas was Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, an area that all Rotary Districts are being asked to address with members and clubs.