Dave Boon, his wife June, and a family friend survived a horrific event on January 6, 2007 when a Class IV avalanche came down and crushed their car blasting them off Highway 40 on Berthoud Pass, over the guard rail and down a 40% slope. They rolled over and over until they snapped a tree in half and came to a stop, buried alive and upside down, over 300 feet from where the avalanche first hit them. This life altering experience led Dave to write his book: My Wish: Don’t Get Swept Away As a Teen. He had one goal as a result of his accident; to help teens and young adults discover their gifts and their passion in life. He wants each and every one of them to become a healthy, happy, and productive member of our world. He doesn’t want them to get “swept away” and knocked off their highway toward success by peer pressure, drugs, alcohol or negative associations,
As a result, Dave became involved with RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Award. It began in Queensland, Australia in May of 1960 by Rotary districts 260 and 258. The committee created a program to train youth (14-30) in character, leadership, personal development, and good citizenship. RYLA was approved by the RI Board in 1971 as an official program of Rotary.
Rocky Mountain RYLA (5450 and 5440) began After hearing about the success of RYLA from a Texan District Governor in 1984, DG Stan Black asked Virgil Holtgrewe from Lakewood to attend the Dos Rios, NM camp with a few boys (girls were not allowed). In 1985, Virgil asked Rotarians Murph Widdowfield from Lakewood, and Warren Holmes from Greeley, and Kevin Farrell from Casper, to take another 11 boys to experience the camp. They came back all fired up to build the best RYLA ever in Colorado!
Dave will be speaking about RYLA, YRYLA (young RYLA) and RYLA Plus (Special Needs Children). He holds B.A. and M.S. degrees and has been a high school teacher, as well as a community college and university professor. Don't miss this exciting presentation.
Our program this week will be held in person, but a Zoom link will be provided. Click on the link below to be admitted. Meeting link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 7985707369
Rotary Weekly Luncheon Place: American Legion Time: Lunch served from 11:30 - 12:00 Cost: $20 Parking: American Legion and the church only
Please call my cell at 970-231-6697 if the meeting is starting and you are unable to get the Zoom link. I , Annie, will try to help.
Link for President's Night Video
Have you been wishing you could have attended President's Night? Well, this year Mark Lee recorded the Program and Scott Thompson provided a link that should allow you to view the events of the night.
JoAnn Batey has been approved by the Board for membership. Jim Whiteneck is her Sponsor. According to club bylaws, if there are no objections within seven days of publication, the applicant shall be considered elected to membership.
JoAnn is currently Director of the Stanley Home Museum. Previously she was on the Museum board for Vice President. Earlier in her life JoAnn was co-owner of Intercontinental Bearing Supply Company as well as Vice President since its creation in 1981.
JoAnn and her husband, David Batey, moved to Estes Park in 2012. Since arriving here she has been President of the Estes Park Newcomers Club, Chair of the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District (EVRPD) Seniors Advisory Committee, Vice President of the Meadowdale Hills Property Owners Association and member of the EVRPD Foundation Board to name just a few of her commitments. She and David have one son, Brian Chandler.
JoAnn is a dynamic lady with lots of enthusiasm. She has jumped into our club with both feet even before becoming a member. She has committed to be our Speaker on July 13 to talk about the Stanley Home Museum.
Would you come to a Social at the Lazy B?
The Social Committee is working on a get-together for the 5th Thursday in August. Our idea was to go to a Lazy B show. The actors and musicians are so talented and the food is delicious. We contacted Quentin Wedan, Owner, to ask about group rates. This is what resulted.
Quentin Wedan was one of our scholarship recipients in 1989 of $2000. He appreciated that money helping him with college so much that he was more than happy to have the Rotary come for one of his shows. He is closed on the date of our 5th Thursday, but has offered to perform a show just for Rotary on September 15. His group rate is a minimum of 70 people at a rate of $40 per person. For every person above 70 he will donate $20 back to the club for scholarships.
I was pretty sure we could not get 70 people from just our club, so I have asked the Social Director at the Sunrise Rotary if her club would be interested in participating in this event with us. We are waiting to find out.
In the meantime, I would like to know how many of you are interested in participating in this event. Please email me at anneslack@ao.com if you are interested.
Thank you, The Social Committee of Bill Smith, Jim Whiteneck and Anne Slack.
Lawrence Trifiletti Successful Raising Funds
for St. Jude's in the San Diego Half Marathon
June 4, 2023
Starting line for the San Diego Rock and Roll
Half and Full Marathon (30,000 strong)
Dave and Lawrence Post Race
Running for the Kids……..Pain for a different type of gain
Cancer is something that can strike anyone at anytime. I find it most upsetting when kids are diagnosed with cancer. Because of this, and my desire to give back, I have incorporated raising money for St. Jude’s and running half marathons.
Why not just give and/or raise money for St Jude’s without the work/pain/training of a 13.1 mile race? Several reasons. First, I started running distance (mostly 5K and 10K) racing only about 10 years ago to stay healthy. I found I enjoyed running races. All those runners really motivates you to do your best as well push yourself. Having said that, I never thought I would ever run a half marathon. It really started as a challenge to run when I turned 50 to prove that age was not a factor for me.
After running that race in San Francisco (I always pick interesting places and SF was all about running on the Golden Gate Bridge), I spoke to one of my friends who it turns out an avid runner all his life. We talked about doing a half marathon together. It was through him I learned about the St Jude’s cause and what a worthy charity it is. Some of the highlights of St. Jude’s are:
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food - because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer.
St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children.
My friend and I ran for St Jude’s in New Orleans Feb of 2022. It was an amazing experience to not only run with my friend, but for a cause bigger than myself. We loved it so much we decided to do it again this year. This past June we ran in San Diego where I was able to raise more than a thousand dollars in no small part to the generosity of the Rotary Club. We enjoyed that one as much as the last, and talking about doing another one sometime.
I would like to thank again the Rotary for their contributions and support with my endeavor in helping the kids of St Jude’s. All the long (and sometimes painful) training makes it all worthwhile.
Andy Lenec Project
Andy Lenec is currently providing a ZOOM meeting every Monday at 10 AM to speak to people in Ukraine. If you want to join in, you are most welcome.
Andy, son of a Ukranian refugee, developed a solar panel conversion project, from discarded solar panels, for recharging cell phones in a country whose power grid is unpredictable. Without cell phones, Ukranians are unable to communicate with each other or know when a missile attack is imminent.
July 3rd's meeting is described below:
Pryvit, Friends and Heroes! This is a reminder of our weekly Zoom call with Ukrainian friends. The link is below. We don't have a formal presentation scheduled, but I have asked Dr. Valerii Gontarenko to answer questions and tell us about medical and surgical care in Ukraine under war conditions, and we can perhaps learn how to help our Ukrainian friends in this regard (besides obtaining 3mm Goretex grafts...)... Dr. Valerii was the Senior Medical Officer of Peace Corps Ukraine when I served there, a very highly regarded and respected doctor to over 300 volunteers. He is a retired cardiac surgeon who has traveled the world in his service for the Peace Corps, and has also worked with Doctors Without Borders in Ukraine. He has been immensely helpful in connecting me with people who needed our solar panels, and has also worked with many other individuals and organizations in distributing medical and humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Also, he's just a really nice guy and a good friend who took care of me when I became ill in Ukraine. We are very fortunate to have him in our circle. I hope to see many of you tomorrow.
Here is the link: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85755889219?pwd=TkNSZHQ0RlFWU294UWJlODVWY1pidz09 Meeting ID: 857 5588 9219 Passcode: 309771
Shred-A-Thon
August 12, 2023
Be sure to sign up on the clipboard going around during the July 6th meeting!
We are looking for supporters for the Brad Fitch concert and hope that Rotarians will assist by inviting their favorite business to join in. Please see the information listed below. Contact Anne Slack at anneslack@aol.com for an electronic form.
Sponsorship Information:
Benefitting The Rotary Club of Estes Park
Estes Park High School Scholarships and Charitable Programs:
Saturday, September 2, 2023 at the Ruesch Auditorium at the YMCA
Thank you for considering sponsorship of the 18th Annual John Denver Tribute Concert, an Estes Park favorite! Our own Brad Fitch will again WOW! the audience at this crowd-pleasing event. The Rotary Club proceeds are donated to local charities with most of the proceeds going to scholarships.
Gold Sponsor, $500, Benefits:
Newspaper Listing: Your business included in newspaper ads promoting the concert
Concert Website Listing: Your business listed on the Rotary Club concert promo webpage
Your business listed on promotional posters displayed throughout Estes Park
Your business listed on a promotional banner displayed at the concert
Event Announcement: Business promoted at the arena during the concert
4 Tickets: Seating in section A of the auditorium
9405357
Silver Sponsor, $250, Benefits:
Newspaper Listing: Name listed on all newspaper ads
2 General Admission Tickets to the concert
Bronze Sponsor, $100, Benefits:
Name listed at the concert
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.
Find Your Rotary Member Number
Do you know your member number? I will be inserting one member's number in the Spoke somewhere each week. If you find your number and let me know, I will add a dollar to the Happy Money jar. Have fun reading the Spoke!
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