You can come to Nicky's for lunch and our meeting, or you can participate remotely by clicking on the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7985707369.
If you plan to be at Nicky's you will need to R.S.V.P. to Karol at kj.rinehart@centurylink.net BEFORE 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29. She can answer questions you may have on our meetings at Nicky's.
Update from President Bill Solms
Wow, what a week it has been!!! We have been on the move!!!
I just want to thank the Duck Race leadership, committee, and volunteers... you know who you are!
Also, some of you all doubled to paint the bridge and fellowship outside live; a special thanks to Jim and Carol Whiteneck for putting that together along with a delicious sandwich. It feels great to be a Rotarian in Estes Park. As we face challenges to face the present C-19 issues with great success, we are planning for next year to grow our club and to get new members involved where they have interests. Come to our next meeting via Zoom to participate in being more informed about our hospital and its new leadership; we would love to see your face up on the screen!! And bring a guest, just give their contact information to Scott so he can invite them and/or know to let then attend when they come on line.
Bill Solms
This week's program:
C.E.O. Vern Carda to discuss EPH's challenges
Besides Covid, the topics of conversation and concern in Estes Park during the month of September have been the Cameron Peak Fire and the financial issues facing our local hospital. Residents are watchful of the firefighters' progress, the evacuation maps and the red flag weather warnings. At the same time, hospital officials have been dealing with a red flag warning of their own: loss of revenue due to the pandemic which is affecting the future of the facility.
A community-wide discussion of a proposal to permanently close Estes Park Health Living Center has included tele-town meetings on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23. The hospital's board of directors will vote on the proposal to close EPHLC and is seeking community input. Their goal is to make a decision in mid-October, according to the EPH website. https://eph.org/our-services/living-center/proposal/
Hospital C.E.O. Vern Carda will be our speaker this week.
Vern Carda, EPH CEO
Carda has been with EPH since March 2020. Previously, he was Vice President of Regional Operations for the Billings Clinic in Montana. Billings Clinic is Montana’s largest health care organization and serves a region covering much of Montana, northern Wyoming and the western Dakotas.
Posted by Madison Casey
September 24, 2020 Meeting Notes
The meeting was called to order by President Bill Solms at 12:00.
Announcements
Bill announced birthdays for Virgil Holtgrewe, Ron Gordon, Guy Van Der Werf.
Karen Thompson and Lee Lasson said 5,712 ducks were adopted which raised $96,577 for the charities. Karen said the new process went well and acknowledged the folks that staffed the race at Nick Mollé’s studio and the Duck Pluckers and veterans who came in and were interviewed. She thanked Kris Hazelton for announcing. It was complete by 4:00 which was in good time and better than she expected. She needs volunteers now to sort ducks. There will be a wrap up meeting later.
Jim Whitehead said the bridge painting went well last Tuesday. It was fun and only took 1.5 hours.
President Bill said October 24 is World Polio Day and last week he showed a video from RI about this. He also said this is Hispanic Heritage Month. We didn’t get a program scheduled on this and he intends to work to recruit members as there are several active volunteers in our town of Hispanic heritage who could be Rotarians. He would also like to see a representative from our town government in our club.
We sang happy birthday to Virgil, Ron, Guy in our disjointed Zoom manner. Dana Fritz gave the invocation followed by a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her memory. Bill led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were no guests. Scott offered his joke, which was a good one.
Happy Money
Bill’s “Rotarian” magazine trivia question generated several wrong answers from the club and a few dollars Happy Money.
Longley Parker said we received a commemorative coffee cup from Estes Park Health for five years of donations. Bill offered it to a member and Carl Robicheaux accepted it.
Jack Overly was asked to talk about the Duck Race. He said it was his first time to not attend and for his son to bring the equipment that drops the ducks in the river.
Virgil Holtgrewe had three happy reasons for $100! —for Karen for the duck race, for Scott Thompson for his realtor award, and for his own 61 years in Rotary.
Committee Reports
International Committee-Ron Gordon suggested our club give $1,000 to Rotary International for Polio work for October 24 Polio Day. All 9 of his committee that responded voted yes.
Jim Whiteneck said Community Service Committee will Zoom meet at 5:00 today. He thanked Beth Weisberg for taking over as Chair.
Big Duck Karen Thompson had some news of great importance on the future of the Duck Race. We have no successor to her for next year. This makes the future of this event very uncertain. Her committee is considering the virtual race format again for next year. We usually start planning immediately now for the next year’s race and we have 5 months less than last year due to the postponement from last May. In addition, we depend on Don Widrig to maintain the computer program and he has already worked three more years than he said he would. To encourage us to find a replacement, he will charge for his services, which all have agreed is understandable and fair. The discussion will continue in the Duck Race Wrap meeting.
Bill told us about another fundraising idea from another Rotary club. They sponsor a tour to a country, promote it, and earn royalties on the revenue. That club has earned $65,000 doing this.
Membership—Annie Slack she is contacting members in order of longevity in our club to profile two of them weekly in the Spoke. She wants to contact members who have not been participating in our Zoom Club meetings, to keep them connected with us.
Bill acknowledged Sue Fereday for her work for our club with the Exchange student program and in the community. She organized our traditional pumpkin giveaway, and the school has asked us not to do it this year.
Bill said we have several members still interested in service but not participating in the Zoom meetings. He has been in contact with Bob Benight and thanked him for our Rotary rocks.
Bill said our October 1 program is the CEO of Estes Park Health. This is very timely given the proposed major budget cuts. Bill asked Annie Slack and Carl Robicheaux if they had news on this. Carl said the budget cut decision on closing the nursing home is by end of first quarter. EPH Finance Committee meets next week. They will hold another town hall in two weeks. The projected total deficit is $7.5 million. The nursing home loses $1.4 million and the CEO has identified another $5 million in budget cuts. This still leaves them short.
Bill commented that he has heard that future Covid vaccine might require extra cold cold storage and maybe our club could help with that.
Bill said the Nominating Committee chaired by Scott Thompson is working hard on a slate. Longley has agreed to be Treasurer again.
Next Duck Committee meeting for the wrap up and future planning is Tuesday Oct 1 at Nicky’s or by this same Zoom address as for our weekly club meetings.
Bill adjourned the meeting with the Four Way Test.
Madison Casey, scribe
Posted by Rita DuChateau
Duck Race nets $96,577 for organizations
On a warm sunny day, perfect for the Estes Park Rotary Duck Race, the weather didn’t matter for the first time in 32 years. The First (and hopefully last) Annual Estes Park Virtual Duck Race took place Sept. 19 inside the studios of the Rocky Mountain Channel in downtown Estes Park. In a very unusual year, the virtual race meant spinning a gold drum with entries instead of cheering the yellow ducks as they bobbed in the river. It eliminated in-person attendance at various Estes Park locations, but instead featured a YouTube live stream watched by fans across the nation.
Because cancelling the Estes Park Rotary Duck Race was never an option, 67 local participating organizations will collect $96,577 to bolster their budgets in this challenging year.
“Estes Park is an amazingly giving community, and this year is no different,” said ‘Big Duck’ 2020 Karen Thompson. “Everyone that adopted a duck should pat themselves on the back for making this year’s race successful.”
The race fans who generously adopted ducks reaped 438 prizes due to the hard work of the Merchant Prize Committee and the donations of sponsors. The winners of the major cash and travel prizes were drawn during the live broadcast and all prizes were posted on www.epduckrace.org. Big winners include:
Sammie Johns, Chino Hills, California - $2,000
Lois Ellingwood, Estes Park - $1,000
Ron Bell, Salt Lake City, Utah - 3-night stay at Tenaya Lodge, near Yosemite National Park
Wayne Park, Estes Park - 3-night stay at Explorer Cabins at Yellowstone
Linda Schneider, Estes Park - 3-night stay at The Pine Lodge, Whitefish Montana.
Delaware North Parks and Resorts donated the travel prizes.
The gold prize drum was spun several times and winners’ tickets were pulled by Honorary Duck Pluckers, individuals whose years of contributions have made the Duck Race a continuing success. Honorary Duck Pluckers also shared their favorite race memories with emcee Kris Hazelton, reminiscing about everything from rain, snow, lightening and dunks in the river, to rogue ducks tossed fraudulently into the stream. Honorary Duck Pluckers were Wayne Newsom, Tom Maher, Gary and Kris Hazelton, Wayne and Judy Andersen, Lee and Sandy Lasson, and Don and Barb Widrig.
Nick Mollé and Sean Doherty of the Rocky Mountain Channel hosted the event in the Channel 8 studios and both filmed for the live stream. They also created a 45-minute Pre-Flight Show featuring vintage race footage, interviews and clips of Big Duck and Lucky visiting Major sponsors.
“I can’t say enough about the professionalism of Sean Doherty and Nick Mollé,” Thompson said. “Their ability to produce a high-quality video in such a short amount of time was amazing. They were fun to work with and very patient with our lack of experience.”
Big Duck 2020 Karen Thompson summed up her experience of leading the flock in a pandemic that forced postponement from May to September and then a rapid planning of the virtual event.
“This was a race that definitely took a lot of flockwork,” Thompson said. “Three weeks ago, we were concerned we would only have about 2,000 adoptions, but people really stepped up the last 10 days and we ended up with a very respectable 5,721 ducks in the race. I am pleased the participating organizations made a final push to get their supporters to adopt ducks. I am also grateful for our 87 sponsors that provided funds, allowing us to purchase prizes this year. While the Merchant Prize Program was confusing to some, it came together quickly and the merchants were very appreciative of our efforts. Everyone on the committee did whatever was needed to have a successful race, and I am so proud of all of them.”
Top 10 selling Participating Organizations included: Glen Haven Volunteer Fire Department, Rotary Club of Estes Park Foundation, Crossroads Ministry of Estes Park, Pet Association of Estes Park, Rocky Mountain Conservancy, Estes Park School Bands, Knights of Columbus, Estes Park Health Foundation, Lifelong Learning of the Estes Valley and Eagle Rock School.
“I think the organizations did a great job selling adoptions given the situation with the pandemic,” Larry Williams, Duck Race Committee chair who recruits and supports Participating Organizations.
Rotarians take on painting project
Last week eight Rotarians headed to the 9-hole golf course for a community service project that will freshen up a bridge over the Big Thompson.
“Painting the bridge near the 9th hole offered us Rotarians an opportunity to help our Estes Park community “bridge” some of the Covid-19 related budget shortfalls and connect safely with our fellow members—two values consistent with our Rotary mission,” said Jim Whiteneck.
Submit your photo for 2021 Friendship Card
It's time to enter your best work in the photo contest for the 2021 Friendship Card. There is no charge to enter, and the winner will receive photo credit on the card and two 2021 Friendship Cards. The deadline for photos is October 26, 2020.
The Friendship Card, which provides discounts at local businesses, debuted in 2019, replacing the long-time Rocky Card. The Rotary Club of Estes Park re-established the card as a fundraiser for club projects and community grants. A recent $500 grant to the Community Corner Café will help fund its operations.
“In its first year, almost 700 cards were sold, and we anticipate that number will increase as people become aware of the value the card brings to local shoppers,” said Karen Thompson, fund development director. “In 2020, 71 local businesses participated by providing some type of discount to cardholders. Rotary is very thankful for all the participating businesses, especially the Estes Park News for their continuous advertising throughout the summer.”
To enter the photo contest, email a favorite Estes Valley/RMNP photo in high resolution, jpg format to epfriendshipcard@gmail.com. A panel of judges will select the winning photo. Cropping and slight color correction are allowed for photos, but photos with anything added or taken away through a photo editing program will be rejected. All decisions of the judges are final. The winner will be notified by email. The winning photo may also be used in other marketing materials for the Friendship Card. Owner of the photo will receive no compensation other than photo credit and two 2021 Friendship Cards.
The 2020 Friendship Card costs $10, is valid until December 31, 2020, and is available for sale at Nicky’s Restaurant, Rocky Mountain Gateway, The Village Store at National Park Village, Safeway Guest Services, MacDonald Book Store, and Quality Inn.
Proceeds from the Friendship Card fund Rotary club projects and grants, including a $500 award to the Community Corner Café. Bruce Brackman, Community Corner Café representative, recently accepted the grant from Karen Thompson, just in time for the 2020-21 season of free meals for all every Friday beginning October 2. Meals will be provided on a take-out only basis at the Shepherd of the Mountains Church.
Member Spotlight - Don Widrig
Each week our Spoke is profiling a member of our Club in order to get to know them better and stay connected through these socially distant times.
Don and Barb Widrig
Don Widrig grew up in Wichita, Kansas. During his high school days, the class went on a field trip to Wichita State University to see one of the first COMPUTERS in Wichita. It was a room-sized machine that was roughly equivalent to today’s programmable calculators. When Don saw the machine, it was love at first sight and he quickly figured out what he wanted to do when he grew up.
High school brought other happiness to his life. During his senior year, he met his future wife, Barbara, and they have enjoyed their two now-grown children and two grandchildren for their 56 years of married life.
Since high school, Don has been happily involved with electronics, computers and programming. After he received his degree in electrical engineering from MIT in 1965, his first job was working with an MIT research group that was inventing the first time-sharing computer system. The machine used for this project was a one-of-a-kind machine built to the group’s specifications by IBM. The success of that project quickly led to the next generation of time-sharing machines, also a heavily modified machine built by General Electric (yes, GE built computers way back then). At about this time, the oil industry was beginning to experiment with digital data processing using these new-fangled computers so Don and Barbara moved to Calgary, the development center for the Canadian “oil patch”, to join in the new developments. After inventing a whole new industry during their nine years in Canada, it was time to move back to the US where Don joined one of the “beltway bandit” consulting firms in the Washington DC, area.
After spending seven years in the heart of the military-industrial complex, it was time to get a real job. So, Don and his family moved to Boulder where he spent the rest of his active career in all sorts of engineering and consulting jobs. Among other developments he is most proud that in his role as VP of Engineering, his company developed the prototype of the Indiana Jones Thrill Ride at Disneyland in 1990. He continued to work on leading-edge technical product development until his first retirement and move to Estes Park in 1997. They moved to Estes Park because they had always wanted to live in the mountains and wanted a small town that had a hospital and library. Both Don and Barbara love to read as their hobby.
In Estes Park, Don met and was mentored by a good friend, Al Wasson, who invited him to become a Rotarian and help build the Estes Park Library into a modern library. Don led the task force that finally succeeded in persuading the voters to approve the formation of the Estes Valley Fire District in 2010.
Don was the leader of the Estes Park Audio-visual group that supported the Rotary District Conference in 2012. Based on earlier programs written by our own former Rotarian, George Williford, Don created an integrated computer database system in 2002 that runs the administration of the Estes Park Duck Race to this day. He has also written the prototype database applications for the Town Code Compliance Department, the Restorative Justice group, the Rocky Mountain Transit shuttle service, Crossroads Ministry, Hobert Office Services, the Salud Foundation, and the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Office.
Before finally retiring for the second time and becoming an Honorary Rotarian, Don had been active in our Rotary Club and has written extensively about computers for the local newspapers. In addition to writing for the local press, he and his book partner wrote several technical books that are still being sold after 20 years on the market.
In 2013, Don and Barbara decided to become full-time RV-ers and see the country. They’ve had many fun adventures in their travels including working at Dollywood in Tennessee, working for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, as well as staying for extended visits with their siblings, children, and grandchildren. They currently overwinter in the Phoenix area and work in Rocky Mountain National Park during the summer. Fun times.
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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