I hope everyone is having a great week! I'm taking this week off so Madam President-Elect Kay Rendleman will be your host at the meeting! This week off is allowing me to exercise some self-care. These past few months of FLIGHT2021 have been pretty intense and I chose to focus on that to make it a great and successful event. Of course, the great and successful part was only because of my esteemed FLIGHT2021 committee. The collaboration was shaky at times as the mostly-new to FLIGHT club members were figuring it all out. I'm happy to report that we learned a lot and figured out some new concepts for this virtual event world. Hopefully, this year will be the very last time we need to do a virtual event and from here on after, we will have our lovely gala-dressed behinds in cushy seats in a beautiful and sparkly venue, sharing a fancy dinner at tables with many Rotarians and guests!
As I mentioned before, I've tried to utilize some healthy self-care this week. What is self-care to you? For me, it's sitting quietly with a good book or watching mysteries on the Acorn channel or my much-loved crafting. Other times it's getting together with my girlfriends where we woot! woot! and laugh till our bellies ache. Or spending some time on Zillow. And those special times when my kid1 and 2 are home, it's just being in their space and energy and basking in the glow of knowing I made them. (They in turn made some of these stretch marks but I've been told that stretch marks and crow's feet are badges of a life well-lived. In that vein, my life has been EXTREMELY well-lived.) Traveling is also a wonderful self-care activity but it's a double-edged sword. Traveling for me is much harder than it used to be. With all my bionic parts, airport screening is a huge undertaking for me. Hauling a suitcase around an airport is difficult when one hand holds a cane firmly. It's still worth it but just requires much more planning than it used to. Regardless of that, next week I am flying to Dallas with my friend to see my son's show! He's on tour for the first time in a few years and they're having some of their best shows ever. Kid2 called me yesterday to tell me how great it's going. It's awesome to hear the excitement in his voice!
Warning - side note: I used to say that seeing my kids making their dreams come true was better than seeing my own dreams manifested. Then I suddenly realized that seeing my kids making their dreams come true IS my own dream manifested! To raise a kid and not sell them to the circus during their teen years is a huge accomplishment. Then to watch them work hard to have the life they love (even tho that life may not include giving me grandbabies ever...) IS. THE. BEST.
But I digress. This week's Random Awesome Deed suggestion is to not only take some time to put toward a self-care activity for yourself but to encourage and maybe help make happen some self-care for someone you love. I would love to hear from you throughout next week about what you were able to do for your self-care.
In Rotary news, if you've heard about the Diamond Awards, they are looking for committee members! This is the program that honors teachers in each School District 11 high school. They are nominated by students so the committee members score their nominations and the committee selects the highest-scored teacher in each high school to honor. It's a highly rewarding committee to serve on. Contact Cass Daley if you are interested in being part of this committee. cassdaleydesigns@usa.net
Now let's go forth, be great stewards of Rotary and Catalysts of Caring in our Community!
Please be well, be safe, and be kind. There are a lot of people needing just that.
“We are looking for 4 to 5 people to be on the Diamond Awards committee. We spend about 10 hours actually working on the committee during the school year. We spend maybe five hours during our own free time reading applications and nominations from students about their favorite teacher from District 11 high schools. Reading the nominations occurs from the end of December through the beginning of February. Then we ask the committee to go with us to the high schools to notify the teachers they have won-which is another two hours of time if their schedule allows it. We then have two presentations at the Rotary Club where we invite the winning teachers and their principals to a rotary luncheon and we honor them by giving them a Diamond chipped Clock from Luisa Graff Jewelers, a longtime Rotarian, and a check from the Community Service Fund that they are able to use for themselves. All told that is another three hours for a total of 10 hours. I mention this because I know people work full-time, or even retired people have plans and things to do.
So all in all it’s 10 hours which stretches from the end of December until the first week in April. We are looking for 4 to 5 interested members who may have fond memories of teachers in their lives and how they may have changed and help them along the way. This committee was started 22 years ago by Jack Kinney- another longtime, beloved Rotary member- and if you are interested in the committee please reach out to Cass Daley, Jody Richie, or Vance Valades.
If you are interested in participating in our International Committee, please email Jordan Davis at Jordan@sociallyexceptional.biz to be added to the notification list!
In the interest of remaining transparent to all club members, the nominating committee has been selected and will proceed according to the following bylaws.
ARTICLE VII - NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
Section 7.1. Nominating Committee. Approximately 2 months before the annual meeting, the Club President shall appoint a Nominating Committee whose purpose shall be to place before the Club membership a slate of candidates to serve as Officers and Directors of the Board of Directors in the ensuing fiscal year. The Nominating Committee shall consist of five Members, as follows: one Past President of the Club; the current President-Elect of the Club; and three Members-at-Large, one of whom shall have been a Member of the Club less than 5 years, one of whom shall have been a Member of the Club 6 or more years but not more than 15 years, and one of whom shall have been a Member of the Club for more than 15 years. The Past-President will serve as the Chair of the Nominating Committee.
Section 7.2. Presenting the Slate. At least 2 weeks before the Club's annual meeting, the Nominating Committee shall present to the membership the names of the four Officers and the appropriate number of Directors needed to fill vacancies occurring on the Board of Directors.
Section 12.2. Annual Meeting. An annual meeting of the Club shall be held each year at the regular weekly meeting, on the second Friday in December.
The Annual Meeting will be on Friday, December 10th.
Here are the five members that have been approved:
Past-President -- Caryn Adams
Current President-Elect -- Kay Rendleman
At Large Member (Member less than five years) -- Cody Burket
At Large Member (Member more than 6 and less than 15 years) -- Carol Bach
At Large Member (Member more than 15 years) -- Craig Engelage
As the nominating committee is beginning the process of selecting candidates for next year's board of directors, you are welcome to contact any of the members listed on the committee above to voice your passion and/or interest in serving on this new board for 2022-2023. We are especially interested in Rotarians who might be interested in the President-Elect position for next year.
If you have bulletin announcements, please email the EXACT WORDING of your announcement to KSaltmarshVoss@yahoo.com by Wednesday at 5 pm. I don't write your announcements but I do make them nice 'n' fancy!
As you're doing your shopping online, did you know that you can support our Rotary Club with every Amazon purchase? Here’s how:
Go to smile.amazon.com (not amazon.com). Amazon Smile is the same company, same account, same password, but the Amazon Smile program gives one half of one percent of every purchase to charity. No, it’s not a lot, but it’s also not nuthin’ (to be exact: about $150 for the Club so far). So again, go to smile.amazon.com
Sign into your Amazon account as you normally would
On the very top left of the page, next to the AmazonSmile logo, are three horizontal bars. Click there for the drop-down menu.
Scroll ALL the way down to “Your AmazonSmile”; it should be the last option right before “Sign Out”; Click on “Your AmazonSmile”
On the right side of the page, click on the “change charity” box under Your current charity (Note: If you are currently supporting another charity, that’s awesome! These instructions are for those who are not doing so. Also, if you have not previously selected a charity, your default option will be St. Judge Children’s Research Hospital.)
Type in Community Service Fund of the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs; click Select
That’s it. You’re all set. Just remember to go to Smile.Amazon.com when you shop from now on.
