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Upcoming meetings

Starting in the new Rotary year (July 1 - June 30), we will have a new meeting format and schedule:

- 1st Wednesday of the month 5:30-7pm, we will meet in the evenings with a 5:30-6pm social gathering, then host the meeting 6 - 7pm with a guest speaker. Location: Mountain Lodge conference room in Mountain Village, which has a bar downstairs for drinks. Take the gondola or drive to Village Market, park there, and walk a short distance down the hill to Mountain Lodge. (Nov. 6 meeting via Zoom; email telluriderotary@gmail.com for login. No meeting December 4.)

- 3rd Wednesday of the month, noon - 1:15pm lunch: We’ll meet at Wilkinson Public Library’s Program Room for a brown-bag style lunch (though some drinks and snacks will be provided). Instead of a guest speaker, a Rotary club member will talk about his or her work or special projects. In this way, we’ll network and get to know fellow members better. We’ll also use this meeting more for club business. (No meeting December 18.)

Special events:

Thursday, December 5, 5:30 - 7:30pm: Club Holiday Party, MountainFilm house office, 122 S. Oak St.

Updated Club Brochure En Español

Si habla español, por favor lea un PDF del folleto del club, haga clic aquí.

For an English version, click here.

Rotary Youth Exchange: Applications for 2025-26 School Year Due Nov. 1

Telluride Rotary Club is proud to sponsor Rotary Youth Exchange, sending one or two high school students abroad and hosting a foreign student in Telluride for the school year. If you are a high school student interested in going abroad for the 2025-26 school year, applications are due soon—Nov. 1. For information, go to mountainandplainsrye.com and contact our club’s RYE officer Patricia Kiernan kiernanpatricia6@gmail.com.

This year, our club has welcomed Paul from Austria to be the inbound student for the 2024-25 school year. Paul (pictured here, being greeted by Telluride Rotarians at the airport) is attending Telluride High and being hosted by local families.

Last year, our club arranged for two Telluride High students to spend the year studying and living abroad. At our October 2 club meeting, Macy McRoberts (pictured here) and Mesa Barnes gave impressive and engaging presentations on their school year abroad with Rotary Youth Exchange. Macy spent the year in Romania, while Mesa spent her year in Colombia. Both described the experiences of living with host families, attending local schools, becoming nearly fluent in the language, spending time with other exchange students, and learning a great deal about the country and region’s culture. Both girls wore the traditional blazer decorated with a multitude of pins collected during their travel, which is one of the traditions of Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE).

Rotary Youth Exchange enhances peace and international understanding by hosting high school students abroad to experience different cultures. To make this life-changing program work, we need host families! Host families host an exchange student for approximately three months. While it’s helpful to be a household with a high school student, families with younger kids, or empty-nester couples or single households also are welcome to apply to host. For more info see mountainandplainsrye.com and contact our club’s Rotary Youth Exchange officer Patricia Kiernan kiernanpatricia6@gmail.com.

New Leadership for New Rotary Year

The Telluride Daily Planet ran a story about our club's leadership headlined, "Women Lead Telluride Rotary as Club Enters Its 80th Year." Read the full story here.

At our club's annual special meeting in June, the following officers were elected for 2024-25: President Sarah Lavender Smith, Treasurer Anne-Britt Ostlund, Secretary/President-Elect Ariana Sites, and President-Elect-Nominee and Membership Chair Lee Shea Betten. Immediate Past President Kaitlyn James also will serve on the board, along with at-large board members Steve Nordstrom and Jim Austin, and committee chairs Nancy Kerr (International), Patricia Kiernan (Youth), and Madeline Allen (Community Service/Environment).

An excerpt from the news article gives background on the club's mission and the club president's priorities:

"Telluride Rotary is a nonreligious, nonpolitical service organization that is part of Rotary International, a global network with about 1.2 million members that focuses on seven areas of concern: peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention, clean water and sanitation projects, maternal and child health, education and literacy, community development, and the environment. Locally, Telluride Rotary is perhaps best known for sponsoring a youth exchange that sends one or two high students to live and study abroad and hosts an international student who lives with local families and attends Telluride High School.

"Over the past five years, Lavender Smith noted, the club diversified the age and geographic representation of its members. “Representation matters, and one of my key goals is to attract and welcome Latino members into our club and do more to support and collaborate with organizations that serve the region’s immigrant and Spanish-speaking community,” she said."

Pictured above (L-R): Kaitlyn James, Sarah Lavender Smith, Ariana Sites, Lee Shea Betten. Photo by Michael Mowery

Congratulations Telluride Rotary Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations Class of 2024!

Telluride Rotary is pleased to announce college scholarships awarded to seniors from Telluride High. These scholarships are made possible through the generosity of donors to Telluride Rotary, and thanks to a dedicated Scholarship Committee led by Karen Lavender that reviewed more than 30 applications to determine these recipients. The committee took many factors into account, including financial need, community service, academic achievement, and a direction toward doing good in their community and beyond after graduation. Our club raised $11,500 to be awarded this year. The funds will go directly to each student’s college to offset tuition.

All five of these students have exceptional qualifications and compelling life experiences.

Our club’s largest scholarship, for $5000, was awarded to Cheska Hrupcin (pictured at left), who will attend Boston University in the fall to study Entomology, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology.

Our two scholarships for $2500 each went to Aizy Alvarez Lescano and Selma Tutt-Pyk. Both are first-generation college-bound students. Aizy will attend Colorado Mesa University to study Nursing. Selma will attend Colorado College to study Psychology.

An anonymous Rotarian started a scholarship this year called the Rotary Endeavor Scholarship for $1000, to support a student in a vocational or trade study, who shows a strong desire to accomplish their training to completion. As with the college scholarships above, this one is need-based. The inaugural Rotary Endeavor Scholarship goes to Kerry Hauze. Kerry has a passion for mechanics and will attend CMU Tech (a branch of Colorado Mesa University) where he will earn an Associate’s Degree in Diesel Technology so he can become a high performance mechanic.

Finally, Telluride Rotary’s annual John Micetic Athletic Award recognizes an outstanding athlete with a $500 scholarship. This year’s Micetic Athletic Award goes to Brady Holbrook, a multi-sport athlete with a passion for hockey, who will study at the University of Virginia’s undergraduate business school. See this Instagram post for photos of all our scholarship recipients.

Additionally, we presented a very special high school student with the Telluride Rotary Service Above Self Award, which recognizes a Telluride High School senior for outstanding community service and concern for others. Congratulations to this year's recipient, Avery Ireland! Avery (pictured below), who will attend Northern Arizona University, is a go-getter involved in many clubs and projects at the high school. A plaque hangs in Telluride High’s front office with the names of our Service Above Self recipients. She also receives a $250 cash prize from our club.

Could you make a difference in a high school student’s life by making a tax-deductible donation to the Telluride Rotary Foundation for scholarships? In addition to giving through our Donate Now button, you may mail a check made out to Telluride Rotary Foundation with "scholarships" in the memo line and mail to PO Box 1265, Telluride, CO 81435. Or you may donate through Venmo @T-ride_Rotary_Foundation and indicate “scholarships” with the payment.

"Mountain High Service"