CLUB NEWS
"Welcome to Smoky Hill Rotary Club ...
the best place to be at noon on Monday!
Smoky Hill Rotary Club … serving the City of Aurora and the World!"
2018-19 President & PDG Talee Crowe
ROTARY DISTRICT 5450 DISTRICT CONFERENCE … Saturday, April 27th at the Arvada Events Center. For more info or to register go to Rotary5450.org - REGISTRATION CLOSES THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 19 AS THE CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT so this will be the final notice regarding the District Conference! The full Conference fee is $125 per person (9:00 am - 9:00 pm) but there are reduced rates for first time attendees/Rotaract or if you attend the Saturday lunch/program or dinner/program instead of the full day of interactive events.
2019-2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS … PE Hugh Radke read the slate of directors for his board and President Talee Crowe asked for a motion to approve the slate and having so moved by PP Jeff Kaes and then seconded, the club voted "almost unanimously" (sounded like the new PE may have opposed) in favor of the new board.
The Smoky Hill Rotary Club 2019-2020 Board of Directors:
President: Hugh Radke
Immediate Past President: PDG/PP Talee Crowe
President Elect: PP Darryl Harvey
Club Services Chair: PP Terry Remigio
Community Services Chair: PP Darryl Harvey
Editarian: Vacant - TBD
Foundation Chair: Pauline Ayers-Menk
International Services Chair: PP Bev Edwards
Membership Chair: PP Jeff Kaes
Programs Chair: PP Al Horton & Susan Michalakes
Sergeant-at-Arms: PP Paul Urtz
Secretary: PP Betsy Jansen & ("Asst. Sec.") Jacquie Gallo
Treasurer: Vacant - TBD
Vocational Services Chair: Mark Rank
Youth Services Chair: PP Craig Essex
SMOKY HILL ROTARY'S
9th ANNUAL CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT … Friday, August 2nd!
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BUILD DAY has been confirmed and scheduled for Saturday, May 4th at a home repair site located at 5015 Fillmore St, Denver, 80216 from 9am to 4:30pm. PP Al Horton provided sign up sheets this week but if you did not sign up, you must register online by this Friday, April 19th by visiting http://vhub.at/smhrotary. Registering ensures you will accept the waiver, receive information about the day including what to bring, and the location of the project. Habitat has five (5) spots reserved for Smoky Hill - we will be allowed to fill any unfilled spots two weeks before the build day and if we have more volunteers than spots reserved, you will be able to sign up on a waitlist through the link above. No prior construction experience is required!
CUATRO DE MAYO …
Club Service Chair PP Terry Remigio may be Italian but he will be sending out an Evite for a Mexican dinner affair to be held on Saturday, May 4th at the home of PP Jim & Judy Suss beginning at 5:30pm and ending at ??. Jim makes EXCELENTE margaritas and the menu may include dessert nachos, frozen margarita pie, sopapilla cheesecake pie, bananas foster chimichangas, lime & tequila infused strawberries, cuatro de chili chocolate cupcakes, churros, and margarita cake with key lime cream cheese frosting … in case you don't find these on the menu, BYO rice and refried beans!
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Prez Talee Crowe received a letter from PP Jim Wingert who has transferred his membership to the Rotary club in Florida where he now resides most of the year. Jim has been a member of Smoky Hill Rotary for 34 years and all of them have been with perfect attendance! Jim will be sorely missed but we will get to see Jim in his Charlie Sheen bowling shirts when he does make-ups at Smoky Hill during the summer!
There is a club board meeting this THURSDAY, APRIL 18. New members are encouraged to attend!
Get Tuesday, May 14th on your calendar - according to PP Betsy Jansen, this will be your last opportunity during this Rotary year to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House!
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PP Al Horton gave the invocation this week and diverted the attention away from his April 15th birthday (Happy BDay Al!) by focusing on tax day 2019 and the top ten tax tips. It's ACCRUAL world when tax tip #9 says "make sure your CPA went to a real school instead of a phony internet one … ." Why waste your time with real or internet schools when you can just go to the podcast: "Accountants Doing Cool Sh!t: Interviews with Accountants from Around the World". It is a real world education, and it is about exactly what the title implies – accountants who are using their skills, knowledge, and creativity to do some interesting, innovative, unusual, or just plain cool… you know, stuff. You are taught practical things like who is this guy named FICA and why is he taking so much of our money. You learn why 65% of people say cheating on your income tax is worse than cheating on your spouse - the other 35% are women. Little tricks like on Form 1040 where it says "Check this box if you are blind" - put a check mark about three inches away. And don't let the IRS tell you to file early to reduce the chance someone will steal your identity and file before you -- if someone wants your identity so badly they will file your tax return for you, let them go crazy and if they steal the title to your house, let them mow the dam lawn thanks to This Week's Program! The only Cool Sh!t Al provided was tip #5: "CPA's are really wild in the sack" (hear it for yourself in the podcast beginning at 34min 19sec for about 63 minutes).
THIS WEEK'S THOUGHT … "If you want to build a better world, you have to awaken the souls of Rotarians - to their own ability, and their own potential, and to the longing inside each and every one of us." --- Barry Rassin, RI President
THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
Courtney Cowgill is a master gardener volunteer with Arapahoe County and gave a presentation on lawn care. She became a master gardener through the Colorado State University Extension Service. In her real life Courtney is a CPA and is a member of the Denver Southeast Rotary Club. She lives on some acreage which includes a 7,000 SF lawn so she has a great deal of interest in horticulture. The Colorado climate is very hard on lawns - the Sun is too strong, the air is too dry and the temperature changes are dramatic.
The practice of lawn care involves fertilizing, aerating, mowing, watering, pest management and weed management. The most important of these are watering (irrigate based on soil type - sand or clay), mowing (mow to 2.5-3" high & sharpen mower blade 3X per year) and core aeration (up to 2X per year with plugs 2-4" long and 2-4" apart). Do not aerate when it is hot and dry.
Fertilizer should be applied now to mid June and then again in the fall (Sept - Nov) which is the most important time of all to fertilize. Slow release fertilizers with nitrogen work best as long as you follow the labels.
Insect problems are not that common so a small handful or problems need to be addressed through insect/disease/pest management.
Weed management is the most common problem. The type of weed has to be identified followed by strategies (cultural, mechanical, chemical) to eradicate them.
Most lawn problems result from poor turf management: thatch (some is good for insulating grass roots but too deep causes problems), fertilizer (wrong time or wrong amount), compaction (unhappy roots), mowing (wrong height, not often enough, dull blade), irrigation (poor coverage, too much, too little), pests (healthy turf means fewer weeds, diseases and insects) and species selection (wrong grass in wrong location).
Areation is vital for a healthy lawn - it promotes a thicker lawn, it decomposes thatch and promotes new root growth. Soil compaction is the most common problem in lawn quality. Aeration twice a year helps reduce compaction, reduces thatch, increases soil oxygen levels, increases the rooting system and increases access to water and nutrients.
Research shows that 98% of all lawn problems involve watering. Water as deeply and infrequently as possible. Water between midnight and 6AM with the intent to get to the roots (4-6" deep). Apply 1 to 1.5 inches of water per session if possible.
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