Your club is back at Nicky's! You can come to Nicky's for lunch and our meeting, or you can participate by clicking on the Zoom link to participate remotely. So, the choice of how to attend is yours.
If you're going to join the group at Nicky's you will need to R.S.V.P. to Karol at kj.rinehart@centurylink.net BEFORE 5 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 1). This will be the "drill" going forward, so remember to R.S.V.P. to Karol before Tuesday at 5 p.m. every week we meet.
Attendance at Nicky's is limited to 25, food will be served rather than a buffet, price is still $15. Those attending must have a meal. Please arrive as close to 11:30 as possible so meals can be served before the meeting begins.
District Governor Woodruff to visit this week
On Thursday, Sept. 3, Rotary District 5440 Governor Chris Woodruff will join our meeting via Zoom for his annual visit. He will be our featured speaker. Woodruff will also spend time with the club board at their meeting on Tuesday. Kathy Groesbeck, Assistant District Governor, also will join both meetings.
Woodruff is the retired Assessor in Weld County Colorado. He makes his home In Greeley. He completed a 40-year career in property appraisal and assessment with work experience all over Colorado. He has a B.S. degree in Technical Management from Regis University and is a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser.
Woodruff became a Rotarian in 2000 when he joined the Rotary Club of Greeley - Centennial. He has served as Secretary, President and Foundation Chair of the Greeley club and was named club Rotarian of the Year three times. At the district level, Chris served as Assistant Governor for the Estes Park clubs, Awards Committee chairman, TRF mentor and as a member of the District Foundation Committee. He has also presented at several District Assemblies and has served as a facilitator at High Country PETS.
District 5440 Governor Chris Woodruff
Woodruff travelled to Saratov, Russia as part of a District 5440 delegation attending the chartering of a new club in that city. On that trip he saw the power of Rotary in transforming people’s lives by providing a means to connect across great geographic, cultural and language differences.
He is married to Karoline, who is also a Rotarian who has served as past Club President and past Assistant Governor. Chris and Karoline are Multiple Paul Harris Fellows, Bequest Society members and Major Donors.
Posted by Madison Casey
August 27, 2020 Meeting Notes
The meeting was called to order by President Bill Solms at 12:00. Bill announced birthdays and anniversaries. He said Ward Nelson is recovering from surgery but nobody had an update. Lee Lasson gave the invocation, which was Al Wasson’s prayer. Al was a pillar of our club and the Duck Race. Bill led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were no guests. Scott offered his joke.
Happy Money
Rita DuChateau was twice happy – first, she bought two Quack Packs on our website and it is very easy. Epduckrace.org. Second, two of her sons successfully climbed Longs Peak last week.
Scott Thompson appreciates his International President’s Elite Award for being in the top 1% of Coldwell Banker agents worldwide!
Dave Evans put in $4 for the four days he has been able to see Longs Peak without smoke.
Annie gave $1 just because.
Bill’s “Rotarian” magazine trivia question was from the crossword puzzle. Three wrong guesses produced $3. We failed the bonus question too.
Presidents' Announcements
District Governor Chris Woodruff will be visiting our club board and club meeting online in September.
Bill reminded us to adopt ducks for the Duck Race.
Thanks to the three Rotarians who attended our exchange student Antonia’s farewell party as she returns to Chile.
Remember to sign up for the paint picnic at the nine-hole golf course September 22. We will paint the bridge railing and then our club provides box lunch at our lake shelter.
Our foundation board will meet Thursday September 3 at 1:15 via Zoom.
Announcements
Karen Thompson said it is time to ramp up 2021 Friendship Card. This is our biggest fundraiser. She said we have 75 merchants to renew and asked for 8 volunteers to take 10 merchants to call to renew and update their offers. Several of us volunteered now. We also will do the photo contest again and she needs a helper for that.
Bill said he likes Karen’s spreadsheet on the Duck Race, so she thanked those who made it possible.
Paul Harris Presentation
Virgil Holtgrewe formally presented two PAUL HARRIS AWARDS. Jim Whiteneck is Paul Harris+2, so $3,000 in donations. Bill Solms is Paul Harris+1 for $2,000 donated. Thank you!
Other Announcements
Scott Thompson reported that the hurricane missed Thor Homme’s town in Texas but they drove 5 hours to bring wife Darlene’s mother to stay with them. Her house was fine and she has already been able to return home.
Jim Whiteneck reported that he and Dave Evans will coordinate the resumption of the Community Corner Café so they will need volunteers for our day, January 29.
Community Service Committee will have a Zoom meeting today at 4:00, Jim Whiteneck announced.
Bill Solms is forming the nominating committee for next year.
Adjournment
Bill adjourned the meeting with the Four Way Test.
Madison Casey, scribe
Posted by Rita DuChateau
Duck Race to be livestreamed Sept. 19 Rocky Mountain Channel to air virtual race
In an unusual year, the Estes Park Duck Race promises to be unusual, too. This year’s event on Saturday, Sept. 19 will not take place in the familiar venues, but will deliver all the excitement that comes with a traditional race. Instead of gathering at Nicky’s, Riverside Plaza or The Wheel Bar, all that Duck Race fans need to do is adopt their ducks online at epduckrace.org and then tune in to Channel 8-The Rocky Mountain Channel or YouTube to view a virtual race proDUCKtion. The Rocky Mountain Channel’s free app can be downloaded at the App Store or Google Play. All broadcast links will be available at epduckrace.org.
The Duck Race Committee is pleased to announce a partnership with Nick Mollé Productions and The Rocky Mountain Channel, which will bring the virtual race to life on Sept. 19. The broadcast will begin at 11 a.m. with a Pre-Flight Show featuring interviews, clips from historic footage, and appearances by mascot Lucky Duck and ‘Big Duck’ Karen Thompson, the leader of the 2020 flock. Sponsors of the race will be recognized, and Duck Adoptions will be encouraged. At 12:40 p.m., the broadcast will go live from the studios of Channel 8 with several socially-distanced presenters guided by Mollé and Production Manager Sean Doherty. At 1 p.m. sharp, the time of the traditional drop of thousands of little yellow plastic ducks into the Fall River, the broadcast will instead focus on an exciting, live reveal of the top prize winners. Thompson has dubbed this the Tail Spin.
Nick Mollé is the award-winning producer or several internationally acclaimed films, the owner of Channel 8-The Rocky Mountain Channel and an avid Duck Race fan. A former member of the Rotary Club of Estes Park, Mollé has been a Major Sponsor of the race for many years. In addition, Duck Race fan favorite Kris Hazelton will serve as emcee. Hazelton is the owner of the Estes Park News with her husband Gary Hazelton and a Major Sponsor for many years.
Major prizes and hundreds of Duck Buck certificates for local merchants will be drawn from a decorated raffle drum. All winners’ names will be posted on the Duck Race website on race day, at epduckrace.org. Major Prizes include:
Cash Prizes: $2,000 and $1,000
Travel Prizes: Pine Lodge on Whitefish River near Glacier National Park, Explorer Cabins at Yellowstone National Park, and Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite National Park. All travel prizes are three-night accommodations for two people. Travel prizes, which have expiration dates well into 2022, include extras that vary between resorts. Delaware North, the lodging and concession corporation that includes the Ridgeline Hotel in Estes Park, generously donated the travel prizes.
Duck Adopters also will have the chance to win hundreds of other prizes valued at $20 and up. This year the merchants were not asked to donate prizes, but instead were given the option of having prizes, called Duck Bucks, provided by the Duck Race Committee and many donors. Duck Bucks are redeemable at various local businesses; winners will be notified by email. The new Merchant Prize format this year was to offer support to local businesses that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
Thompson is anticipating a great event. “What a year! What an exciting Duck Race this will be! I’m thrilled that our committee has ‘flown in formation’ throughout many challenges this year and has planned a virtual Duck Race that will help to ‘feather the nests’ of our 67 Participating Organizations during this difficult time for nonprofits,” she said.
To adopt a duck or a flock, visit epduckrace.org/adopt-ducks/ and choose a Participating Organization to receive $19 of each adoption fee.
Posted by Rita DuChateau
Friendship Card 2021 -
Help needed for merchant calls, photo contest
Have you noticed that a certain club member is wearing three hats these days? You know the one. She's Big Duck 2020, the Financial Development Director, and the Friendship Card developer/coordinator/marketer. Yes, it's Karen Thompson, and folks, she's asking for your help.
The successful club fundraiser, the Friendship Card, will expire at the end of December. A new one needs to be prepared for sale and distribution.
The first order of business will be calling the current merchants (75) that are in the Friendship Card program to see if they want to continue in 2021 and if there are changes to their discounts or offers.
The second task will be to coordinate a photo contest to select the 2021 design.
Karen needs a total of 10 volunteers to make phone calls. The photo contest could be handled by one person and a small committee of judges.
Interested? Contact Karen at skksthomp@msn.com
Member Spotlight - Wayne Newsom
Wayne Newsom
Wayne Newsom was born in Amarillo, Texas on June 20, 1929. We never lived in Amarillo but that was the nearest hospital. I consider Hereford, Texas as my hometown.It was known as the Town Without A Toothache, because of high fluoride in the water. I graduated from Texas Tech University in 1951, having majored in Business Management. Pat and I were married in Hereford in 1952 and have been married 68 years. We have four daughters, Karen Thompson is number 3, 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. After farming with my brother on the family farm for about three years, I started work with Gifford-Hill Western, an agricultural irrigation company. We manufactured pivot sprinklers, PVC plastic, aluminum and rubber gasket concrete irrigation pipe. We also installed these irrigation systems on farms in West Texas, Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma Panhandle, Southwest Kansas, Nebraska Panhandle, Southeast Wyoming and Eastern Colorado. I started as office manager, went into sales for a few years and was a division manager in Garden City, Kansas, Hereford, Texas and Fort Morgan, Colorado. This is how I arrived in Colorado. I worked with this company 22 years until it sold and I became a number instead of a name. It wasn’t fun anymore so I said “Adios”. We had only one daughter still at home. We had a huddle to see where we wanted to live. We had bought a cabin in Estes Park with Virgil and Carol Holtgrewe in about 1968 so we moved to Estes Park. People asked why I would quit a job at 50 years old not knowing what I was going to do. I said I would find something and started as a Realtor in 1979, 41 years ago, and still enjoy the work. People ask when I am going to retire. My response is “when I get old enough” and besides I don’t have a dog to walk.
I joined Rotary in Fort Morgan, Colorado and was President in 1972-1973. I wanted to meet the business people and have the social contact. Back in the olden days we dressed up and wore a tie to Rotary. I transferred to Estes Park but it took several months before “the ole guys” checked me out, gave me a classification of Real Estate and allowed me to become a member. I think I may be in the top three Rotarians with the longest service in the Estes Park Rotary.
Meet our 2020 Scholars
Galileo DuMont, Academic Scholarship
Biology/Chemistry/Pre-Med, St. Olaf College
Meghan Frey, Academic Scholarship
Nursing, University of Wyoming
Sage Shumate, Academic Scholarship
Criminology, Boston University
Paulina Tapia Bernal, Stanley Hotel Scholarship
Human Nutrition & Food Science, Colorado State University
Esabella Burkhardt, Carver Family Scholarship
Psychology/Liberal Arts, Front Range Community College
Jennifer Johnson, Lynn Coffman Scholarship
Business, University of Colorado - Boulder
Noel Villanueva, Brunson/Thorp Scholarship
Business Administration Management, University of Wyoming
Aubrey Kinley, Ron L. Kuhns Scholarship
Agricultural Business, Texas A+M University College Station
Matthew Turner, Brian Archibald Scholarship
Associate Degree in Art, Aims Community College
Give to our Foundation while you shop!
Do you find that you are placing Amazon orders more frequently these days? Don't forget to help your Rotary Club of Estes Park Foundation with every order. As a recipient of funds in the smile.amazon.com, our foundation will receive a portion of the sale. All you need to do its sign up to get the funds flowing. And SHOP!
Choose the charitable organization by typing in Estes Park Rotary Foundation. Our club and the Longs Peak club will come up in the search. Click on Estes Park Rotary Foundation.
Create a bookmark so every time you shop Amazon, you will participating in the smile.amazon.com program.
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