Sculptor Robert Bellows to describe Warrior StoryField Project Thursday
Metal sculptor Robert Bellows will speak at the Rotary Club of Estes Park on Thursday, July 28, at their regular noon meeting. Bellows will speak about the Warrior StoryField Project.
In April 2013, two combat veterans, Marine Brad Gallup and Army Ranger Danny Moore, dropped in to visit Robert Bellows in his shop and offered to help. These three men went to work heating, bending, and shaping hard iron plow sweeps into rooster feathers. Over the next six months, the act of transforming metal into art allowed them to talk effortlessly about war and the experience of combat.
This prompted the Warrior StoryField, a collaborative sculpture project with a core mission of exploring what it takes to bring warriors home from war. The team is comprised of veterans and civilians working in community to create a large sculptural park to be called Warrior StoryField. Bellows envisions this park as a symbolic art installation that provides an experiential moment of pause, inviting us to explore how we, both veterans and civilians, can carry the burden of our wars as a community.
As one team member describes the burden of his fellow veterans, “It’s the silence that’s killing us.” The objective of the Warrior StoryField is to gently pierce the veil of silence as they imagine and build three large sculptures.
The first sculpture is a Dragon. The Dragon represents the Warrior Protector, the Demon Destroyer, and the Guardian of the Nation. Symbolically, it carries the experience of the Warrior at War. The second sculpture is a Phoenix. The Phoenix represents the Messenger of Renewal and Transcendence. Symbolically, it carries the endless possibility of transmutation and transformation of the Veteran Come Home. The third sculpture is The Space in Between. This space is formed by placing the Dragon and the Phoenix into an eternal relationship connected through their eyes, their hearts, and the ashes below their feet. The artistic challenge is to make this connections so palpable that simply walking in between the Dragon and Phoenix can evoke a visceral experience of the invisible wounds of war, where veterans can experience deeper feelings of loss, sadness and grief.
Robert Bellows is a metal sculptor working in Boulder County as an artist for 35 years. He believes that art can bring understanding to things that otherwise cannot be understood, and stimulate conversations that might otherwise never begin.
The Phoenix and The Dragon
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotary members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary clubs have been serving communities worldwide for more than a century. Rotary clubs, around the world, initiate projects that address critical issues such as conflict resolution, hunger, poverty, disease and illiteracy.
The Rotary Club of Estes Park meets Thursdays at the Park Village Theater, adjacent to the Other Side Restaurant. Visitors interested in learning more about Rotary and its programs are welcome to attend. Buffet is served at 11:30 a.m., the Rotary business meeting opens at noon, and the program begins at 12:30 p.m.
Posted by Dmitri Galcovski
Ride to Rotary needed for our exchange student
All club members recently received information about our incoming exchange student for the 2016-17 Rotary year, Sander Andersen, from Denmark. I hope you are as excited as I am to welcome Sander to Estes Park and to our Club.
I’m confident that this experience and the opportunity that our club provides will forever impact Sander’s life as well as the life of those that will get to know Sander here in Estes Park. I truly believe that having Sander present at our regular meetings will further enrich his experience. We are in desperate need of volunteers to help pick up Sander from school and bring him to our noon meetings. Please let me or Susan Fereday know if you are interested in helping out.
I hope you will find an opportunity to thank Susan Fereday for continued dedication and support of the Exchange Program. She spends countless hours coordinating inbound and outbound program with the district, host families, and other parties.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information about the Exchange program.
Posted by Scott Thompson
Photos from July 21 meeting
Sojourner Richard Kimple presented our club with a flag from his Kansas club.
President Thor thanked our presenters, Dr. Erika Norris and Katie Plassmeyer.
Posted by Dale Bonza
July 21, 2016 meeting notes
President Thor Homme called the meeting to order. Dale Bonza gave the invocation. Dick Broman led us in singing “America the Beautiful”, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Chuck Bonza welcomed Sojourner Rotarians Richard Willhelm from Ames, Iowa, and Richard Kimple from Ellinwood, Kansas. Lee Lasson introduced his wife Sandy and her co-worker Jane Fox.
Richard Kimple presented Thor Homme with a Rotary flag from the Ellinwood Kansas Rotary Club, and the Estes Park Rotary flag was given to Richard to take to his home club.
Announcements
The next board meeting will be August 2 in the Wasson Room at the Library at 5 p.m.
PALISADE PEACH SALE - Karen Thompson reported that sales of yummy Palisade Peaches will be our August fundraising project. Our profit margin is $15 per box. We should begin lining up orders for ourselves and friends now! Boxes are $45 and weigh approximately 20 pounds. Prepaid orders only are accepted. Recipe books will be available for an additional $1.00 if desired. Volunteers are needed August 18 to unload, carry and hand out boxes from the Farmers Market area. The sale will be advertised in the Estes Park News for the next three weeks.
Brad Rosenblum reported that Kathy Groesbeck has accepted the nomination for President Elect for this year. This is the first of three readings.
Thor announced that Ron Randall, Assistant District Governor for Rotary will visit our club on July 28.
Thor voiced concern that dues have been slow to come in. The budget is based on expected income, and until membership numbers are clear Longley Parker cannot project income and expenses. Thor encouraged members to respond with their plans. It may be necessary to increase dues if targeted membership numbers fall short.
Thor made us aware we will be moving to a new venue as of September 1. A group of board members is actively working on alternatives. Members indicated their desire to continue having lunch with the meetings.
Tara Moenning was happy to announce that picture boards with photos of our scholarship winners are on display at the back of the room.
Tara also requested an update on the Rotary piano. Don Widrig will look into it.
Program
Bruce Carmichael introduced the Care Team from Timberline Medical, Dr. Erika Norris and Katie Plassmeyer, who presented a well-documented program on the important medical benefits of exercise. They encourage all of us to make a plan and get moving!
Submitted by Dale Bonza, Scribe
Posted by Rita DuChateau
Longley Parker honored as Rotarian of the Year
Our club has presented the Rotarian of the Year Award to Longley Parker, treasurer of the club board and local business owner.
According to tradition, the award was presented by the person who earned the honored the previous year. Tara Moenning, 2015 recipient, described the many attributes that earned Parker the award. Among those include his volunteerism with several community organizations, from the club’s Duck Race to foundation boards for the hospital and Salud on which he served as treasurer.
“Longley Parker is so deserving to be selected as Rotarian of the Year. He works tirelessly in his profession, serves on boards for other worthy organizations and still has time to serve as the treasurer for The Estes Park Duck Race and The Rotary Club of Estes Park. He is a huge asset to Rotary and the entire Estes Park community,” said Scott Thompson, 2015-16 president.
Parker, an Iowa native, has worked as an optometrist in Colorado for 15 of his 39 professional years. His patients at Aspen Eye Center in Estes Park are grateful that he did not follow his original career path as a teacher. His family includes wife Julie, and sons Chuck, who lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and Nathan, who resides in Bailey, Colorado. His hobbies draw him to the outdoors to hunt and fish with his sons. Julie, also a work partner, says Parker is “a pretty humble guy who gives freely of his time and loves to be a part of Rotary.”
Rotary Quote of the Week
"Through The Rotary Foundation, our members have a chance to use their skills to make a real difference. First, we need to bring those talented people into our ranks and engage them in our Foundation's vital work to create a better world. And only we, the Rotarians, can bring in those new members. So it is up to us, really, isn't it?"
- Kaylan Banerjee, 2016-17 Rotary International Foundation Chairman
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