RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE … PP Betsy Jansen reminds us that we are preparing and serving dinner this Thursday, September 13 at the Ronald McDonald House. If you did not sign up but want to help, contact PP Betsy as soon as possible. You need to arrive at 4:15pm and it should wrap up around 7pm. Wear your Rotary aprons!
DISTRICT CLUB TRAINING WORKSHOP … Saturday, September 15 at Front Range Community College from 8am to Noon. There are three breakout sessions covering several topics including Technology & Social Media, Rotary Foundation, Rotary ABC's, Membership & Marketing Your Club and Mental Health Initiatives. The club will cover the $25 cost of the workshop. If you are interested in participating go to the District 5450 website to register.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY … Our build day is Saturday, October 13 according to Hugh Radke. The build is in the Sheridan area where 53 townhomes are being built. More information to come.
CLUB OFFSITE VISIT … Vocational Chair Mark Rank has scheduled an offsite visit to the Aurora Firefighter's training facility on October 15. Please mark your calendars and note that we will not be meeting at the Bent Noodle on that date.
CLUB END OF SUMMER CARRIBEAN RUM PUNCH BOWL PARTY … According to PP Terry Remigio , his invitation to attend the end of summer celebration forgot to say wear your swim suits but PLEASE, NO SPEEDOS! If you wear a swimsuit, there will be a bowl or two of cool water to dip your toes in! Bring an appetizer to share and a towel to dry your toes. It is this Saturday, September 15 beginning at 6pm at the home of PP Mark and Kay Johnson - 21993 E Ridge Trail Cir, Aurora 80016 (303-489-7933).
THE TIN CUP … Friday, September 21 beginning around noon at Murphy Creek golf course. PP Gary Frisch needs to know if you plan to play in the prestigious golf tournament culminating with the Tin Cup by this Thursday, September 13.
AUXILLARY CLUB MEETING … Monday, September 24 (note this is a change from Sept 17 announced at the meeting) beginning at 6pm at the Viewhouse. RSVP to PP Joe Hughes as soon as possible.
WEST AFRICA PROJECT FAIR … October 2-11, 2018 in Cotonou, Benin (West Africa). It is a showcase of Rotary projects from 15 West African nations. The cost of $1,729 per person includes the hotel, sightseeing, transfers, meals, polio immunization activities, Rotary events, community service and humanitarian projects. You will have a chance to give two drops of the polio vaccine to a child. If you are interested in attending, contact Talee or go to the RI website.
WASH SYMPOSIUM … The WAter, Sanitation & Hygiene symposium is October 6, 2018 from 8am-4:30pm at the Denver Wastewater Management Building (2000 West 3rd Ave, Denver 80223). The symposium will include several keynote and session speakers. Go to www.2018washsymposium.com for more information and registration.
SGT-AT-ARMS … Our sarge PP Jim Suss could not attend the meeting this week and his back-up apparently was MIA so PP Joe Hughes stepped it up at the last minute and served as the Sgt-at-Arms. THANKS JOE! A Hole in One: "An occurrence in which a golf ball is hit directly form the tee into the hole in a single shot by a golfer who is playing alone." Joe was all smiles because on a 125 yard par 3 in New York he made a HOLE IN ONE, and he wasn't playing alone, he had 3 witnesses!! CONGRATS JOE! Instead of retiring the ball as is custom, Joe teed it up and sliced it off of the next tee into the woods. Fortunately, after a search, someone in his foursome found the ball. This was another nice trip to New York for Joe's family AND another hole in one for Joe, his THIRD!
9-11 … It has been 17 years ago today since that horrible day in 2001 was cast in our memories by two numbers. PP Paul Urtz gave a very inspiring invocation this week sharing his experience and thoughts on 9-11. A few excerpts from Paul's invocation: "take a moment to remember the nearly 4,000 Americans who were murdered by the terrorists … remember that every one of us is either and immigrant or descended from immigrants … make an effort not to marginalize anyone because we aren't familiar with the culture they came from, the religion they follow or the language they speak … let us take a step to defeat fear and make our country stronger by being welcoming and kind to everyone … we can make the fabric of America stronger if we get everyone involved in our communities."
Saturday, September 8, 2018
COLORADO 33 Nebraska 28
2 game tickets: $180.00
Auto Gas: $60.21
2 night hotel stay: $274.00
Watching 90,000 earsplitting cornhusker fans go silent as time runs out: PRICELESS
THIS WEEK'S THOUGHT … Those who want to live meaningful and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all. Call it power of collectivity. Call it a principal of success. Call it a love of life. The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!
THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
Kurt Coltrane is a sports card collector. Kurt graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1982 with a degree in petroleum engineering but decided to follow his passion by starting his sports card business, Kurt's Cards, in 1996. The collection of sports cards was a very hot hobby from 1951 to 1987 but it has been a dying hobby since then. It ended when the manufacturer's began producing too many cards. Tobacco companies were the first to produce cards. Bowman began producing cards in 1948 followed by TOPS in 1952. Bowman went out of business and TOPS continued until 1981 when two more companies entered the business. Younger generations have no interest in collecting sports cards and today most people don't even know where to buy cards. Baseball cards are the driver of the card hobby industry but Kurt predicts there will be an uptick in basketball and football cards when the Mickey Mantle generation is gone.
PSA (Professional Sports Authenticators) grades cards on a scale from 1 to 10. Grading caused a huge uptick in the card hobby and everyone wanted a Mickey Mantle card. You must have a PSA grading of 9 or 10 to demand high prices. In 1994 a local collector paid $121,000 for a PSA 10 
Mickey Mantle card. The collector recently turned down an offer of $10m for the card and was called a fool! Another collector recently sold a PSA 9 1952 Tops Mickey Mantle card for $3m and lost $500,000! Collectors who love their cards make money, those who don't, don't. Many, many factors go into grading and if a card was not made right or has any defects whatsoever, it is junk.
The most popular baseball cards include: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Colfax, Willie Mays and Ted Williams. Baseball positions don't translate into value. Other sports popular cards include Michael Jordan (100 PSA 10's in existence), Joe Montana (200-300 PSA 10's in existence) and Wayne Gretsky (2 PSA 10's in existence).
