Year 37 Volume 26 (Jan 28, 2019)

CLUB NEWS

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE … President Talee Crowe expressed her appreciation to PP Betsy Jansen and her team of 9 Rotarians who served at the Ronald McDonald House on January 15, particularly to the 4 members of our satellite club Sean Clancy, Scott G

illiland, Kyle Hammer, and Shane Sumner (all pictured here). PP Denny Passantino was one of the other 5 Rotarians on site and is only shown here because he wanted the picture published to show off his flashy culinary talents.

CHARTER NIGHT: SMOKY HILL CELEBRATED 36 YEARS OF SERVICE ABOVE SELF! … As described by President Talee Crowe, if you missed the Charter celebration on January 26th it was a FABULOUS event with a feast fit for kings and queens followed by birthday cakes!! Talee thanked PP Terry Remigio and Linda for staging such a great night! John Palmer was inducted as a new member of the club, Tom Wolf from the Stapleton Rotary Club spoke about his passion, the Rotary Foundation, a good discussion could be heard at the SE quadrant of the long table about the preference of iceberg lettuce over all other lettuce or "pond scum lettuce" as Leigh Maclay calls it, International Chair PP Bev Edwards shared information on the Beius Romania project, Leigh Maclay was spotted leaning way back in her chair with her eyes closed to demonstrate how she survived (slept) while listening to composer/pianist Igor Stravinsky during class in college, on this 26th day of January 36 years ago when the club was chartered PP Jeff Kaes celebrated his 26th birthday (that puts him at 62 and means he could have filed for social security benefits but instead he went skiing at Vail for two days preceding the dinner! - that is his left cheek next to his lovely wife Lori from an unintentional photo error) and several Rotarians were recognized as Paul Harris Fellows or major donors.

Sponsor PP Terry ("Don") Remigio and Membership Chair PP Jeff Kaes inducted new member and Eagle Scout John Palmer into the club! Exciting to see two charter members of the club have the honor of inducting John! As Jeff said, "I have been a member of this club for 59% of my life!". In comparison, John has been a member for about .0000000000001% of his life, but you have to start somewhere and John is very exited to be a Rotarian and is looking forward to serving! Jeff is looking forward to "onboarding" John into the club and that began on Monday when PP Gary Frisch was introduced to John as his mentor. John once again expressed his excitement to be part of the Rotary team and to get out there and do service! Congratulations John! Just ignore the fact that PP Don Remigio said you were another INDICTMENT into Rotary on Saturday night instead of another induction (it was the slip of the tongue from hearing the words "another indictment?" so many times in his Italian family)!

Smoky Hill Rotary Club is the international sponsoring club and the Eradia Romania club is the host club of the urology equipment project in Beius Romania. It was the Eradia Club who identified the need for the equipment. Led by International Chair PP Bev Edwards and her committee, $117,000 has been raised for the Beius hospital which serves over 100,000 residents. Partners from 11 Rotary Clubs representing 5 Rotary Districts formed the team to put the funding together. $30,000 is coming from the clubs, $30,000 is coming from the district matching program and $50,000 is coming from Rotary International. The grant and been approved by RI and money is being collected from the contributors. Thanks to Bev and the international committee!

Foundation Chair PP Lloyd Gottman said our contributions to the Foundation are all about who we have lifted up, who we have made better and who we have paid it

forward to. Lloyd and Tom Wolf thanked a friend of PP Bev Edwards who gave an anonymous gift to the Foundation and every member of the club who gave $100 to the Foundation on behalf of the Beius project. Lloyd and Tom recognized Paul Harris Fellows Susan Michalakes PH+1, PP Darryl Harvey PH+3, Hugh Radke PH+7, PP Betsy Jansen PH+8, and major donor with cystals (picture) to Pauline Ayers-Menk, PDG/PP/President Talee Crowe, PP Sue Engelstad (former SHRC & now EClub member), PP Craig Essex, PP Lloyd Gottman, PP Jim Suss and PP Jim Wingert. It is not the size of a club that matters but the size of its heart and SHRC has a BIG heart as Talee said!

SMOKY HILL ROTARVARIETY OF NEWS … President Talee Crowe announced our next offsite visit will be March 18 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center! We will enjoy lunch at the resort and see things the general public will never see as hotel guests. Get this one on your calendar! PE Hugh Radke continues to put his board together so remember: the last chance you had to say no was when you were asked to join Rotary! As a result of being out of town quite often attending to her father, Susan Michalakes has had to resign as Secretary of the club. Therefore, Prez Talee is seeking an interim Secretary who can attend weekly meetings and board meetings to take attendance, board minutes, etc. Prez Talee said the club is very close to receiving this year's Presidential Citation - one item needed is to register everyone's birthdays, including year of birth, and PP Jeff Kaes is working to get that done. A Smoky Hill Rotary Foundation meeting is being held at 6PM on Tuesday, January 29 at the offices of PP Gary Frisch.

THIS WEEK'S THOUGHT … “Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go, live intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.” - L.R. Knost

The oil & balsamic vinegar bread dip on the left includes a ground pepper base and is very enticing. The one on the right, well, not so pleasant to look at. One of these was prepared by Pat Pogue and the other one was prepared by April Rasmussen at our meeting on Monday. Can you match the plate to the Rotarian? (Hint: if you were in attendance you know that one of these Rotarians was busy doing the invocation/pledge and filling in as Secretary and Treasurer so maybe food prep took a back seat). Prez Talee thanked ? for all the duties the busy Rotarian fulfilled on Monday.

Taking FULL advantage of the long MLK holiday weekend last week (no school/grandkids to watch, no Rotary, no newsletter, no job, no golf), Kay and I went down to one of our favorite get-a-ways, the secluded Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM, between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Great restaurants (Corn Maiden, Vinegarette), golf at Twin Warriers Golf Club, Santa Ana Star Casino (a slot machine addiction - not mine), Old Town, the Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanic Gardens (Bio Park). The Aurora Club's inclusive playground program this week reminded me of the project the Albuquerque Rotary Club built in Bio Park, the Children's Fantasy Garden. If you look carefully at the picture to the right, there is a huge bumble bee on that towering flower in the garden. No one in front of me, Kay behind me as I walked under the bee. I must have jumped at least a foot (not as young as I used to bee) when that dam bee starting buzzing so loud … thought I was in a January (?!?) swarm. Only sound louder than the bee was Kay laughing behind me. Sure hope the Aurora Rotary Club builds a park that doesn't scare the he-- out of the kids!

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMS

Tom Wolf, a good friend of Prez Talee, member of the Stapleton Rotary Club, former District Foundation Chair and current District Stewardship Chair, talked about his favorite work, the Rotary Foundation, on Charter night. Tom's motto: Raise the money and spend the money as fast as you can!! Increase $1 to $3 through the Foundation. There is no competition for money for grants so it is easy to obtain! $2.6B (that is Billion) has been raised by the Rotary Foundation! Most grants are for water and sanitation ($13.7M was raised last year). If you are giving to Rotary, KEEP GIVING to Rotary! Charity Navigator ranks the Rotary Foundation as one of the best in the world.

Ken Hostetler and Sheila Anthony from the Aurora Rotary Club visited us this week to talk about one of the largest projects their club has ever done, the Red-tailed Hawk Inclusive Playground for kids with disabilities. This would be the first of its kind in Aurora and will also accomodate parents and grandparents with disabilities. The Aurora Club committed to raise $100,000 for the project with the City of Aurora Parks, Recreation & Open Space and then went to Arapahoe County Open Space who has granted $450,000 toward the $800,000 project. The Aurora Club has raised $150,000 for the project and has support from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Paul Newman Foundation, the Rangeview High School Interact Club and several other organizations.

The playground is needed because 1 in 5 have disabilities, 13% of all children have special needs, it benefits kids and their caregivers, it is the only one like it in the Denver Metro area and it meets the needs of all children. The playground will be located in the eastern metro area just off Arapahoe Road and Aurora Parkway with easy access off E-470. The infrastructure is already in place in an existing community park.

The project's goal is to create a unique inclusive playground where children of all abilities will have the opportunity to play and explore through sound, color, texture and movement. It will have gathering places, a sensory garden, music and sounds, play structures, dynamic play and art features. The Aurora Club will install a Rotary Clock in the park and oxygen charging stations will be provided. At the end of the presentation, President Talee Crowe presented Ken and Sheila with a $1,000 check from Smoky Hill Rotary Club for the playground.

Duty Roster

SHRC Birthdays and Anniversaries

CLUB CALENDAR