Year 37 Volume 25 (Jan 14, 2019)

CLUB NEWS

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE … PP Betsy Jansen and her team of Rotarians were at the Ronald McDonald House tonight(Jan 15) and prepared a tossed salad, a chicken potato casserole and cupcakes for the families residing at he house. Joining Betsy was Sean Clancy, Scott Gilliland, Kyle Hammer, PP Mark Johnson, John Palmer (not pictured), PP Denny Passantino, Mark Rank, PP Terry Remigio and Shane Sumner. Everything went very smoothly thanks to Betsy who did a great job organizing the service project!

CHARTER NIGHT: SMOKY HILL CELEBRATING 36 YEARS OF SERVICE ABOVE SELF! … The dinner celebration begins at 6PM on Saturday, January 26th at the Bent Noodle Restaurant. Club Party Chair PP Terry Remigio will be sending out an Evite to everyone with a requ

est for an RSVP. PLEASE NOTE: In lieu of Charter Night, there will not be a meeting next Monday, January 21st. If you forget this important note and arrive on Monday, you got the venue right but not the time, so have a few drinks and pass the time by sucking spaghetti noodles for about 126 hours until Charter night begins!

SMOKY HILL ROTARVARIETY OF NEWS … President Talee Crowe announced the infirmed and injured Rotarian list: Susan Michalakes has a broken hand; Susan Aubin is in Connecticut for a funeral; PP Bev Edwards has the creeping crud; PP Terry Remigio is headed to Nebraska following the passing of his father and PP Jim Suss is headed to Florida for several weeks after having the creeping crud! [Late additions: According to PP Betsy Jansen, Prez Talee and PP Rich Johnson could not attend Ronald McDonald House on Jan 15 due to illness and a separated shoulder, respectively, - GET WELL Susan, Bev, Talee and Rich!]. The next board meeting is Thursday, January 24 beginning at 5:30PM at Susan Aubin's office. Friday, January 25, 2019 is the RI President's Dinner and it would be great to see Smoky Hill occupy a full table - registration ends at midnight on January 20. The cost is $65 per person - go to the District's website for more information and to make reservations. PE Hugh Radke is putting his board together and Talee asked everyone who is asked to give ample consideration to serving on the board … as Talee said "Many hands make work light". From Golf Committee Chair PP Gary Frisch save Friday, August 2, 2019 as the date for the next golf tournament and pass it along to your corporate sponsors, 4-somes, friends and associates! Talee attended the mid-year president's meeting last Saturday and one noteworthy item is the opportunity to promote your business/profession to your fellow 3,000 District Rotarians. Go to http://rotary5450busines and sign up for the District 5450 Online Business Directory for only $25 per year! Talee congratulated Pat Pogue who recently was promoted to general partner of Edward Jones! Congratulations Pat!!

PP Craig Essex introduced a guest from the Metro Denver Rotaract Club, Talha Qureshi. The Rotaract club is sponsored by the Smoky Hill Rotary Club and the informal group of young men and women ages 21 - 35 are true partners in service and key members of the family of Rotary. The Metro Rotaract club volunteers with the Action Center, Project CURE, the Resource Area for Teachers, the Denver Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Shelter Box, etc.

PP Jim Wingert says "Hello" to everyone from sunny, warm, beachy, relaxing, golf swinging, tropical, key lime pie consuming, tax friendly state of Florida! [adjectives added]. Jim has been very busy with the local Rotary Club's 'Books for Kids" programs and volunteering one day a week at the local Humane Society. To do that, he had to get his reciprocal veterinarian license to practice in Florida and it was a real pain to get! Jim is working on our programs for March and May. Thanks, Jim!

Could have sworn Sgt-at-Arms PP Jim Suss, who did a make-up at the Aurora Rotary Club, said they were now meeting at Heather RIDGE, but after a little of research, the Rendezvous Restaurant is located at Heather GARDENS. In any case, it looks like Rotary Club meetings at the Doubletree Hotel are now a thing of the past! Speaking of the past, it is hard to believe SHRC is coming up on it's 36th birthday! Seems like just yesterday when this Editarian was president celebrating the club's 25th birthday in 2008! We had four charter members in the club at the time and sadly, our good friend PP Gary Fletcher, who exemplified the spirit of Rotary, has since passed away. It is still fun to look back at the 1983 pictures of PP Gary, PP Jeff Kaes, PP Bill Maclay and PP Terry Remigio. A few might say they have changed a bit (or a lot), but most people would say HOLY MOLEY, the Charter Boys Quartet was something to behold! Jeff, Bill and Terry are carrying the torch forward on behalf of Gary and the other 23 members of the Charter Class of 1983! Make plans to attend Charter Night on January 26th!

THIS WEEK'S THOUGHT … “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

Kay Hayes is the facilitator for the Colorado Myotonic Dystrophy (DM) support group. The support group has been together for four years. In Colorado, 400 families are affected by DM. Kay's husband Ron, son Doug, and our honorary Rotarian, James Fletcher, have been inflicted with the condition. DM is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. There are different types of DM, and some cause more serious problems than others. There is currently no cure for DM, but a lot can be done to improve the quality of life, including taking part in the care and actively managing the symptoms. New discoveries about the disorder and how it can be treated are coming to light almost every day, but for the most part DM is not well understood by the general medical community.

Kay's husband Ron died in October 2018 from the condition. Ron was very athletic in high school and college and had an adult onset of DM, but it can affect all ages through adult onset, juvenile onset and congenital onset. If the mother has it, there is a bias for the congenital form in babies. The progression of Ron's symtoms from DM captured many of the issues caused by DM: 1- Gastrointestinal issues; 2- Cataracts at age 40; 3- Thyroid issues; 4- Muscle weakness; 5- Excessive daytime sleepiness; 6- pulmonary difficulties and 7- a heart condition. Other conditions include bone anomolies, diabetes, reproductive system issues and impairment of cognitive functions.

The DM Foundation is committed to care for and cure DM. It is advocating for more research money, funding post doctorates to work on basic research and providing resources and support for families dealing with DM issues. The local support group Kay facilitates has 50 families on the mailing list and they help with daily living, provide fellowship for families facing similar issues and provide access to local resources. James Fletcher is a member of the group and was diagnosed with the condition in his late 20's. James said he is one of the more healthy members of the group and while he does not have many of the issues associated with DM, he does have muscle atrophy and daytime sleepiness.

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SHRC Birthdays and Anniversaries

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