Hear from Scott Thompson and Bob Fulton about this year's Duck Race
Scott, Lucky, and Bob
Scott Thompson and Bob Fulton are jointly leading the team for the 2025 duck race, They will present a talk highlighting many aspects of their work, focusing on the new concepts in development for this year’s race. From team organization to race logistics to event promotion and design, much is on the drawing board. And with the race less than four months away, things are moving fast!
Scott is a long-time club member, last serving as Big Duck back in 2011. Bob is a friend to Rotary, having served as a community volunteer for the duck race since 2022. Scott and Bob are co-leading the team making the 2025 Duck Race a reality.
Our program on January 16th will be held in person, but a Zoom link will be provided.
RSVP to Karol: kj.rinehart@aol.com before 12 noon, Tuesday.
Update from President Anne Slack
There has been discension in our club concerning the Duck Race. A number of our members are disturbed about this year’s Duck Race. As President I hear about these concerns and I have to say, I feel responsible for this situation. I wish I had seen the problems back in July or August; but I didn’t. There are basically two problems: lack of adequate communication and the amount of change in the Duck Race.
We are working to correct the communication. Scott Thompson and Bob Fulton will be presenting Thursday on the state of our Duck Race. Know that your Board has signed and approved a memorandum of understanding with Scott and Bob and has given them full authority to move forward with their plans. This is a one-year experiment because last Spring we had no one in this club that was willing to take on the responsibility of hosting the 2025 Duck Race. These two men plus several others of our membership are working very hard to make a successful Duck Race for the benefit of all the non-profit organizations in our town. It is that fact that we need to focus on...service to our town’s non-profits. We want to support Scott and Bob and our Duck Race 100%. When it is over, we will form a committee to evaluate how this year’s structure worked.
Until next time,
Annie
Meeting Notes for Jan. 9, 2025
President Anne Slack rang the bell at 12:00.
Jim Jonell gave the Invocation.
Annie led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Madison Casey played the song “Auld Lang Syne.”
Guests of Rotarians:
Joe Bonness from Florida
Announcements:
Annie Slack: there will be a presentation next week about the Duck Race to discuss two problems of communication and change.
Scott Thompson: this is the 37th year of the Duck Race. The question is how leadership can continue? Many meetings and discussion provided a conclusion that more partners are needed. Scott mentioned some of these partners:
Nick Molle and the Rocky Mountain Channel
Town of Estes Park with a new start and finish line
Gary Hall and Rob Hinkle said the town will donate some things Rotary has previously had to pay for
Exodus Moving and Storage will store ducks at the Fairgrounds for free
Visit Estes Park will help with advertising, particularly “down valley”
Sunrise Rotary is organizing and running a kid’s race
Sponsors next season will have five levels available. Rotary will work to give back to support the sponsors, but $30,000 is needed.
Jeff Lindberg, Bob Fulton and others have created a new software program that saved Rotary $35,000.
Ron Gordon mentioned that $2000 has been approved for a project in Haiti. It is funded by Sunrise and the Boulder Rotary as well, and they are hoping for a final total of $66,000 for construction of a hospital and new gardens for food.
Scott Robbins announced that the membership committee will meet after the Duck Race meeting today.
Barry Hannigan gave a short presentation about a new Foundation program. There are seven categories that are now available for a grant of $1428 each: Local Community, International, Emergencies/Disaster, Program Speaker Causes, President’s Chosen Charity, Rotary International Governor’s Cause, and Polio. Interested persons please send a description and supporting materials to Barry at hannigan@bucknell.edu for consideration at the next Foundation meeting. Please remember that the Foundation can only give to 501c3 charities.
Rotarian Stories:
Tara and Phil Moenning presented their Rotary story.
Scott Thompson told a Joke.
Happy Money:
Beth Weisberg is happy Annie is our president.
Dave Boon is happy because of his granddaughter’s skiing abilities.
Adjournment:
President Anne Slack led the four-way pledge and rang the bell at 12:45.
monthly Duck Race Committee meetings following the first Club meeting of the month at the American Legion, and
weekly Duck Race Leadership meetings each Wednesday at 3 PM, in the Keller Williams office where Scott works.
Scott has provided minutes from last week's meetings in the articles below.
January 8th Duck Race Leadership meeting
This meeting was for those directly involved in community sponsorships. Bob Fulton laid out a very organized and detailed spreadsheet of the different categories within the sponsorship of the duck race. Items discussed included different levels of sponsorship for our community partners, what the ask would be to those partners, best ways to approach them, other possible opportunities that may coincide with being a community partner, some timeline items, and other miscellaneous pieces. Chris Davis and Isaiah Johnson have been tasked with presenting these opportunities to the different businesses, organizations, and personnel around town.
The team also discussed potential opportunities for partner involvement using time and personnel resources. For example, a children’s version of the duck race course could be staffed and led by one organization (not our club).
The next Wednesday duck race (leadership) meeting will be January 15th at 3pm with the focus on the Race Day itself.
Scott Thompson Big Duck 970-590-9941
January 9th Duck Race Committee meeting
Scott Thompson gave a recap of the (leadership) meeting from January 8th at his office. The name sponsor this year will be The Rotary Club of Estes Park. There will be numerous opportunities for the Rotary Club to have recognition because of this. He shared more in-depth on some of the key sponsors and partners for this year already, especially highlighting the free usage of the two storage sheds housed at the fairgrounds.
Other key items from the meeting that Scott addressed:
Poppy's will be a large-scale sponsor for race day.
5 different levels of sponsors
Hospitality tents at the beginning and end of the race, likely one in the middle. These tents will play a large role in directing people where to go and who to connect with.
Logistical issues with the end point of the race, turning around each heat, fences that are being constructed, etc.
Lightly touched on permitting. We plan to have all the main town-owned locations around the duck race permitted so that we have full rights to those spaces.anyone is welcome and encouraged to join the weekly Wednesday meetings! They are held at 3 PM, in the Keller Williams office where Scott works.
Lastly, Scott encouraged us all to remember that, as we are embarking on many changes and attempts at improving the whole duck race experience, we need to keep in mind the four-way test. We need to be people who are willing to ask questions, express concerns, and most importantly go straight to the source when issues arise. We need to care for each other in the ways we say are valuable to us as stated in the four-way test.
Scott Thompson Big Duck 970-590-9941
100% Paul Harris
As you know, Ron Gordon and I are contacting members to participate in our efforts to become a 100% Paul Harris Club. A member only needs to give what they feel comfortable contributing. BUT it must be remembered that all the good Rotary does around the world comes from members contributing. Rotary does so many things with our money that are life-changing:
* Success in controlling polio;
* Education of women in 3rd world countries to learn a skill so that they can earn a living;
* Contribution of bicycles to third-world countries so children can get to school and learn;
* The program run by the nurse from Lander, Wyoming, to teach a core group of nurses in Rwanda how to detect rheumatic heart disease to save lives;
* Many programs to promote peace, provide assistive devices and clean water, and help with disaster relief.
Where does this money come from? It comes from Paul Harris Award donations. In our Club, we are on our way toward 100% Paul Harris Fellows of our members. What we are doing is contacting members and asking if they want to contribute money to becoming a Paul Harris Fellow. If they do, the club will match their contribution with points 2 for 1. If we can have every member achieve a Paul Harris Award between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, we will become 100% Paul Harris.
You don’t have to wait for us to call you. Give Ron or me a call and we can fill you in on what you need to progress to the next level of Paul Harris Fellows. My cell is 970-231-6697 and Ron’s is 970-212-6583.
A Paul Harris Award comes from a $1,000 donation. If a member donates $350 and receives a 2 for 1 match, that member would receive their Paul Harris Award plus have $50 toward their next Paul Harris Award..
How are we doing it? For every $1 given toward Paul Harris you receive a point. Give $1,000, get 1,000 points. Those points can only be given away. The member cannot use it on themselves. We have members who have accumulated thousands of points and through their generosity this team has permission to give those points away. That is how, if you donate $350, we can give you enough additional points to reach $1,000 for a Paul Harris Award with a 2 for 1 match.
Not only does Rotary International benefit from the money for its many projects, but our Club gets credit and recognition for these contributions at the District level for matching grants. Be sure to visit with Ron and me when we call you. At the same time help our Club be eligible for bigger and better matching grants. This is a total Club effort with every member contributing for it to work!
Until next time
Annie
From The Chaplain
Do you know a Club Member who needs assistance? Maybe a ride to meetings, or just a phone call to keep in touch? Please contact Bill Smith 970-420-1033 or billsmithbronx1956@gmail.com.
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