Well, here we are looking at Tax Day tomorrow. It's one of those "grin and bear it" deadlines we observe as good citizens. It might take a little edge off the pain to share with you how our state taxes compare in Colorado to the rest of the U.S.
We are the 4th lowest in the country when it comes to state taxes with a tax rate of 4.63 %. Eight states do not have state taxes but their property taxes are extremely high compared to our property taxes which are the 6th lowest in the country. (from the US Census Bureau)
Those figures would seem to be cause for celebration, but we are now seeing some unfortunate results of those numbers. According to the US. Department of Education, the average salary for public school teachers in Colorado is $46,506 which is the fifth lowest in the country, just barely above what teachers scrape by on in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and South Dakota. Adjusted for inflation, teachers in 29 of our states are earning less than they did in 1999. In 2001 Colorado state taxes covered 68% of the cost of tuition at our state colleges. Now that percentage is down to 32% with parents and students bearing the remaining cost. The result has been a huge spike in student loan debt that robs many of our Millenials of the hope of achieving the prosperity that our generation enjoyed.
And don't get me started on what is happening to our infrastructure with our roads in gridlock and bridges crumbling.
So maybe, since our mission here at Rotary is to support the welfare of our communities, we might want to take another look at the prevailing attitudes about keeping our state taxes so low. Isn't our current comfort level being delivered with a terrible price tag that our children and grandchildren will have to pay?
Monday's Grinner or Groaner
A surgeon, an engineer, and a politician were arguing about which profession was the oldest.
The doctor says, "Well, on the fifth day of creation, God took a rib from Adam to create Eve, so surgery is the oldest profession."
The engineer said, "But, before that, God created the heavens and the earth from chaos, so
engineering must be the oldest profession."
The politician replies, "Yes, but who created the chaos in the first place?"
It was reunion time as Leigh Maclay graced our meeting to hear her Voice Student Megan Kaes Long as our speaker today. Great to see you, Leigh!
PP Dr. Jim Wingert provided our Invocation today as well as doing some greeting. Jim shared some serious budget numbers with us just before tax day, to give us all a warm feeling as we file our taxes before midnight on Tuesday! Also greeting today was Pauline Ayers-Menk and PPX2 Paul Urtz! Thanks for keeping SHRC a friendly club!
Don't Forget the District Celebration which begins at 11 AM on Friday, May 19th and ends at 11 AM on Saturday, May 20th. Sounds like great speakers and great entertainment! More information here: CELEBRATION
Shout out to say hi to our new member April Rasmussen today!
From President Nancy:
Bemis Award: "We have a really special surprise announcement today. I would like to introduce Jim Bisetti and Belinda Bianchi, President of theLittleton Rotary Club to present the Bemis Award for the best Publications Editor in District 5450. Past winners in our club were PP Gary Fletcher, PEv Talee Crowe, and PP Mark Johnson. I am sure you will all agree that PPX2 Dr. Jeff Kaes went above and beyond as Editarian this year to record the events of our club and capture our slightly irreverent spirit.
In addition, he compiled a wonderful history and overview of Smoky Hill Rotary with a very professional PowerPoint presentation to inspire new and old members alike. "
(Mark, we missed you in the Bemis Editarians photo [right], today. ) We had James stand in for his dad. We think Gary and Talee both won the award twice and Mark once. So in our 35 years, we have one the award 6 times. Mark is going to go for his 2nd next year!
Rotary Foundation Chair PP Hugh Radke informed the club that The Rotary Foundation (TRF) would like us to not make our donations through the club anymore. You can do Rotary Direct online or write a check and hand it off to Hugh. (Editarian's note: The lovely Lori and I had a tough time with Rotary Direct, so Hugh is going to check that out for us!) We have met our Polio Plus commitment and have donated over $8200 of our $12,000 pledge, so if you haven't made your contributions yet, let's get it done! Talk to Hugh!
Golf Guy PP Joe Hughes thanked PP Gary Frisch for, "the best brochures yet!" for our 7th Annual Golf Tournament Fund Raiser on August 3rd! Grab some brochures and let's all help find some additional sponsors!
Sarge PPX2 Paul Urtz had a much better day with the power back on in his house! Paul kindly thanked Megan for being a role model for his daughters, who also thrived at Littleton High School after hearing from Jeff and Lori about the great experience Megan had at LHS. Thanks, Paul! (Even though we didn't win any of the raffles!)
Our speaker today is part of the Smoky Hill Family. Megan Kaes Long holds a B.A. in music from Pomona College and an M.A., M. Phil, and Ph.D. in Music Theory from Yale University. She teaches Music Theory at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Her book in progress, Hearing Homophony: Tonal Expectations at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century explores Renaissance popular song and is under contract with the Oxford University Press for publication in 2019. In addition to her work as a teacher and scholar, Dr. Long is a mezzo soprano and performs with Quire Cleveland and Detroit-based vocal ensemble Audivi.
Dr. Long explored this painting "The Concert" by Gerrit van Honthorst, representing wealthy Europeans making secular music in the parlor. She contrasted this style of music with the sacred Renaissance music we may be familiar with that was played in Cathedrals, such as St. Mark's in Venice.
Megan noted that music literacy was as critical as mathematical and written literacy for one to be accepted as "learned" in society. Using the example of the "hit tune," Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi's "Balletti a cinque voci," she traced the tune's popularity as it spread throughout Europe as a solo song, group song, dance, and eventually, even a sacred song in England after the Reformation. This tune has even found its way into American Protestant Hymnals! Megan even compared "Gastoldimania" with another import from Europe, perhaps the slightly more recognizable "Beatlemania!"
So if you missed Megan's program, you won't know the difference and similarities between "fa la la la la" and "yeah, yeah, yeah!"
A surgeon, an engineer, and a politician were arguing about which profession was the oldest. 
From President Nancy: 
Littleton Rotary Club to present the Bemis Award for the best Publications Editor in District 5450. Past winners in our club were PP Gary Fletcher, PEv Talee Crowe, and PP Mark Johnson. I am sure you will all agree that PPX2 Dr. Jeff Kaes went above and beyond as Editarian this year to record the events of our club and capture our slightly irreverent spirit. 
Our speaker today is part of the Smoky Hill Family. Megan Kaes Long holds a B.A. in music from Pomona College and an M.A., M. Phil, and Ph.D. in Music Theory from Yale University. She teaches Music Theory at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Her book in progress, Hearing Homophony: Tonal Expectations at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century explores Renaissance popular song and is under contract with the Oxford University Press for publication in 2019. In addition to her work as a teacher and scholar, Dr. Long is a mezzo soprano and performs with Quire Cleveland and Detroit-based vocal ensemble Audivi.
Dr. Long explored this painting "The Concert" by Gerrit van Honthorst, representing wealthy Europeans making secular music in the parlor. She contrasted this style of music with the sacred Renaissance music we may be familiar with that was played in Cathedrals, such as St. Mark's in Venice. 
