Remembering 9/11 - How Can We As Rotarians Work For Peace

Rick Life                                          Jim Jonelle

Rick is a retired Estes Park police officer with 30 years in law enforcement. He enjoys international travel and experiencing the world's cultures. He was on duty during 9/11, COVID, the 2013 flood, and multiple wildfires. He has helped people during many life changing events. He worked toward peaceful resolutions during the many conflicts he encountered.

Jim is a retired clinical psychologist who has specialized in adult and adolescent post trauma development.   At his clinic in Centennial, Colorado. they worked with many individuals and families who had developed severe trauma after 9/11.  Jim's experience was that the trauma was severe for many adolescents because there was so much change in their life as they got older.  They had issues of dealing with fear and difficulty trusting.

This discussion is a friendship building event for the Estes Park Rotary Club.
 

Our program on September 10th will be held in person, but a Zoom link will be provided.

Click on the link below to be admitted.

Meeting link:

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/6699965961?pwd=SIazSZwTeOJFvlIrinb2QYB7ohYAoU.1

Rotary Weekly Luncheon

Place: American Legion

Time: Lunch served from 11:30 – 12:00

Cost: $20

Parking:  American Legion and the church only       

As a courtesy to our members, please silence your cell phones during the meeting.

Thank You!

September 10th LUNCH MENU

Upcoming Meetings

The following meetings have been scheduled, and also appear in the "Upcoming Events" sidebar in the right-hand margin. In general, it is advisable to check the "Upcoming Events" sidebar to be informed about various activities of our Club.

• Fundraising Committee on Sept. 24 after Club meeting, here at American Legion
• Rotary Foundation on Sept. 17 after Club meeting, here at American Legion

• Tech Training meetings on Oct. 1 and Oct 22 at 10am, here at American Legion

   

Photographer Volunteer Needed

The Club needs a new photographer at our weekly meetings. Usually it is a picture of the Speaker receiving a Piece of the Rock from our President.  But it will also include pictures of new members being inducted or really cute pictures like Sam Van der Werf taking the Duck Race hat President Jack Ford presented to his Dad, Ben, who is our Big Duck for 2027 and putting it on his head.  Mostly, it is just having fun capturing pictures to send to Dave Evans for the latest edition of the Spoke.

Ben and Sam

If you are interested, please contact me at anneslack@aol.com or 970-231-6697.  I have enjoyed both tasks but it is time for me to pass them on to someone else.

Annie

Woo-Hoo! Two new member application bios for Member Review!

Hello, fellow Rotarians. We have received applications for membership in the Rotary Club of Estes Park from Fred Thibodeau and Mark Ullfers. Both of these gentlemen have been recommended to you, the general membership, for membership in the Rotary Club of Estes Park by our Board of Directors. As per our bylaws, if there are no objections from the membership within seven days of the publication of this notice, they shall be considered elected to membership in the club. 

Fred Thibodeau
Fred was born in Waterbury, CT. He became an ordained minister after serving in the Army in the late 1960's and subsequently attending Kansas State University and the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. After serving as a pastor for several years, he served in various development and fundraising roles with several colleges and universities, including Denver University where his wife, Rebecca Chopp was President. Fred and Rebecca have been married for 30 years and have three sons, Matt, Nate, and Mike. 
Fred was a member of a Rotary Club in Hamilton, New York. Since moving to Estes Park, Fred has become an active member of the Presbyterian Church of the Rockies. Local references are Pete Sumey and Chuck Bonza. He is sponsored by Barry Hannigan. 

Mark Ulfers
Mark was born in Des Moines, IA and attended Iowa State University where he graduated with B.A. and M.A. degrees. 
Mark is an educator and administrator with an emphasis on international educational institutions. He began this career at the Singapore American School and several years later developed and led the first American school on the island of Cyprus. He led the Taipei American School for twelve years, the Frankfurt International School for five years and was the head of the American School of Paris for eight years.  He became the Director of the US Department of State Office of Overseas Schools  in 2021.
He has an extensive leadership background with nonprofit organizations including: serving as Board Chair of the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools; working with Jane Goodall to establish the Jane Goodall Foundation; serving as a founding Board member of the Academy of International School Heads; and was Executive Director of the Association for the Advancement of International Education. He is currently working as a consultant.
Mark has been married for forty years to his wife, Wendy. They have two children, Adam and Lara. 
His references are Christian Collinet, Dr. Cory Workman, and Thom Widowski. He is being sponsored by Dr. Guy Van der Werf.

---Scott

Meeting Notes 9-10-2026

Guy Van der Werf called the meeting to order.
Wendy Aschenbach gave the Invocation
Guy led the Pledge of Allegiance.
We sang “Roll Out the Barrel”, accompanied by Madison Casey.

Guests of Rotarians

Sonu Adhikari, with Dave Boon

Announcements

• Lee Lasson thanked the three volunteers, and announced plans for two training sessions at 10 a.m. prior to our Thursday meetings in October.
• Carl Robicheaux announced the Fundraising Committee will have a meeting on the 24th in this room, after the Rotary meeting.
• Ben Van der Werf needs a few chair positions to be filled: somebody to help chair sponsorships, a Little Duck, and somebody to help with the website.
• Filling in for Jim Austin, Gregg Jurgens announced ShelterBox time. Boots are on the ground in Nepal, and we are about $420 short of $3,000, which would be three shelter boxes, which would be great to give.
• Scott Robbins had three announcements:
  • Wendy Aschenbach is now a blue badge member.
  • Two applicants have been referred to the club for membership: Fred Thibodeau and Mark Ulfers.
  • Coffee Talk will be at the Raven at 8.30 on the 12th of September.
• Bill Smith announced that Carol Whiteneck died this morning. There will be a service on Monday, 10am, at the Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies. He will circulate a card for signatures, and will get it to Jim this afternoon.
• Jack Ford said that last April, our club had not donated enough money to Rotary, to even qualify for the minimum of District support for our projects. That money is based upon every Rotarian giving $100 a year. Then, one member gave a significant contribution, which just pushed us over the top. The purpose of this announcement is to make sure we're not in that place again as a club. The donation program is Every Rotarian Every Year, and Jack discussed how to participate.
• Madison reported that he's received emails from Brad Fitch saying how much he enjoyed playing the concert, and he's looking forward to it next year, if we want to do it.

Program

Guy passed the microphone to Carl, who introduced Trevor McGuire, who described "10 Things You Should Know About Estate Planning", and with Carl, provided answers to several questions.

Adjournment

Guy concluded the meeting with the five-way test.

Dave Evans

Meeting Recording September 10, 2026

Trevor McGuire and Carl Robicheaux discussed Estate Planning.