Hearts & Horses has been offering therapeutic riding services to individuals in Larimer County since 1997. Tamara Merritt and Jan Pollema will speak at the Rotary Club of Estes Park on Thursday, July 16, and will discuss the Hearts & Horses program.
Nestled in the foothills just west of Loveland, Hearts & Horses offers a dynamic array of equine assisted programs that are designed to empower participants, promote self-sufficiency, and encourage growth both inside and outside of the riding arena. Their main programs include therapeutic riding, hippotherapy, Hearts & Horses for Heroes, and Changing Leads Equine Facilitated Learning. While all of their programs cater to the specific needs of certain populations, the impact the programs have on the participants is very similar. Results have shown that regardless of the program, participants demonstrate improvements that are difficult to achieve in more traditional clinical and therapeutic settings. Hearts & Horses serves riders from Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties.
Tamara Merritt has been working in the field of therapeutic riding for the last 25 years. She has worn many hats over the years, from volunteer to certified instructor. Currently, Tamara holds the position of Director of Special Programs at Hearts & Horses and primarily focuses on the Changing Leads and the Horses for Heroes programs.
Jan Pollema has been with Hearts & Horses since the organization was established in 1997, first as a volunteer and then as a certified PATH Intl. therapeutic riding instructor before assuming the position of Program Director in 2000. In 2013, Jan was promoted to Executive Director.
The meeting was opened by President Scott Thompson. Song and pledge were led by Ken Cole, invocation by Earl Matson and guest and visiting Rotarian introductions by Debbie Delaney. Visiting Rotarians included Frank Haines, Sojourner, who has returned for his 55th summer in Estes Park, Richard Kimball, Vaness Gies-Barton, Pat and John Vorreiter from Sunnyvale, California, and Richard Willham from Des Moines, Iowa.
Rotary Minute
Rob Ludlam kicked off the “Why I am a Rotarian” presentations that are being started under Scott Thompson’s presidency. Rob joined Rotary in 1996. He joined our club because he heard about the many good things our club does for our community, and asked how he could join. He has met great friends, been involved in wonderful projects and the food is good!
Announcements
Chuck Bonza announced that the area where the Rotary time capsule was falling apart. Thanks to Jim Austin, Pete Sinnott, and Thor Homme who worked on this area and ordered new seats. Openings are available to volunteer at the Farmer’s Market. A message will be sent out to all members via email.
President Scott presented awards to individuals who were not present to accept awards at President’s Night. The Rotarian of the Year for 2015 was presented to Tara Moenning. Jack Vaughn was presented the “Champion Duck Swimmer” for his work at the Duck Race, and Kerrie Hill was presented the bronze pin award for recruiting two or members to our club. In other club business, Community Grants were presented to organizations in the community for emerging needs. These included: Honor Flight, Global Volunteers, and Cultural Arts Council.
Happy Money
Frank Haines gave a check in the amount of $91 in celebration of his 91st birthday, Virgil Holtgrew was happy to be an American.
Program
The program for today’s meeting featured the Open Air Adventure Park.
Submitted by Kerrie Hill
Rotary Quote of the Week
"One of the reasons I work so much for Rotary is that I have been helped by so many people, and often you never have a chance to reciprocate. The only way you can is by helping others. When the people I help ask me 'What can I do?' I say 'Go and help someone else in return.' "
- K.R. Ravindran 2015-16 RI President
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Tom Maher
July 2
Philip Moenning
July 3
Lee Lasson
July 5
Staci Galloway
July 9
Randy Skeie
July 11
Gregg Jurgens
July 13
Jim White
July 21
Rene Moquin
July 21
Chip Sproul
July 22
Don Widrig
July 24
Ron Kuhns
July 26
Anniversaries
Marsha Yelick
Bruce Nickels
July 3
Rene Moquin
Joanne Moquin
July 6
Rick Taylor
Janet Taylor
July 7
Carol Grasso
John
July 9
Dmitri Galcovski
Yuliya
July 10
Join Date
Karen McClure
July 1, 1993
22 years
Sandy Lasson
July 1, 2007
8 years
Guy Van der Werf
July 7, 1994
21 years
Roger Thorp
July 8, 1976
39 years
Frank Hix
July 9, 1981
34 years
Randy Skeie
July 9, 1998
17 years
Virgil Holtgrewe
July 10, 2014
1 year
Ken TeSelle
July 21, 2011
4 years
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