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September 23, 2022
President Patrick Plank opened our Area Assembly and called on Xenia Matteson to provide the inspiration for the day. Xenia spoke about grit (which your rusty scribe needed to complete this bulletin), followed by the flag salute.
Fred Jorgensen then introduced our many guests which included Robert Mintz, ADG and Area Coordinator, Marga Hewko wife of RI Secretary John Hewko (second from right) and past president of Chicago 1 Club, Buchi Anikpezie, District Governor, all shown above. Between Marga and Buchi is our own Martha Sundby and our President Patrick Plank is on the far right.
In addition to the guests shown above, Fred introduced Mindy Waite, President, Bonnie Waite, Brianna Sherman, Dave Johnson, Deb Hagan, Ray Stranske, Amy Richardson, and Patrick Grubbs all of the new Denver Metro South Rotary Club; Tom Gross, President of the Centennial Rotary Club; Patty Burnett and Shawn Lewis, President, both from the Englewood Rotary Club. Jennifer Petit was introduced by her father Stephen Holben. And Steve Werner from the Rotary Southeast Club quietly slipped in after the formal introductions; when I questioned why we slighted him after the meeting, Steve said he was just the chauffeur for our Hewko guests from Chicago.
President Patrick then invited John Hewko to address the club. John said he feels Rotary is at a pivot point. We have maintained an overall membership of 1.2 million for the past twenty years. But India has shown significant growth, while in North America and Britain membership numbers are in crisis. John suggested that we should brainstorm new models for Rotary--think outside the box; we don't want to end up like Kodak which almost disappeared when digital photography arrived and they held fast to business as usual. And the current timeline has RI's major project of polio eradication ending in 2026, so we will need a new core initiative then.
Announcements
Fellowship Director Xenia Matteson said as a follow up to the very successful wine and chocolate social, she is planning a night at the Meowwolf Denver Convergence Station in early November. Details to follow. Paul Bauer said 4 Rotarians would visit the Women’s Emergence Center again the following day to again assist with serving lunch. Wendell Osorno announced the hosts and sites for Rotation Day on October 28 all of which your rusty scribe was not quick enough to capture. But have no fear. Wendell then passed around signup sheets, which I’m confident we will see again during the next several meetings. Bob Morrison reiterated that he will be participating in the Woohoomanity bike ride challenge tomorrow, having raised buku dinero for the event. And Martha Sundby reminded us of the Memorial Service for Michael Hitchcock coming up on Thursday, September 29 at 1:00 PM at Horan & McConaty, followed by a reception at Maggiano’s from 2:30 to 4.
Program
Robert Mintz introduced DG Buchi, who flew from his home in Houston to join us. Buchi said he hopes that the district will be successful in applying available grant funds—money we donated three years ago—to worthy projects.
President Patrick then invited three U Hills Rotarians to share with our guests some of our ongoing work: Paul Bauer summarized some of the many projects that Community Service is currently engaged in. Jim MacDermott gave a quick synopsis of our Hobson Scholarship Program from inception to present day. And Michael Haviland described how he transitioned from international work in his career to heading up international projects for our Rotary club, and described some of the extensive work we have done in Costa Rico.
Mindy Waite then told us about the new Denver Metro South Club. They now have 22 members, 9 of whom are new to Rotary and 15 of whom will ride the Woohoomanity Challenge tomorrow. Although they are a small club, Mindy is proud that her club was the 3rd largest fund raiser for the event. Brianna Sherman followed Mindy to tell us some of what their Community Service Committee is doing besides riding Woohoomanity.
Tom Gross brought his laptop to the podium but he said since he was told he couldn't plug it into the projector, he just used it as a crib sheet to tell us about the work of his Centennial Club.
Shawn Lewis told us about the Englewood Club’s scholarship program for graduates of Englewood High School, and how the club also provides backpacks with school supplies for Englewood students in need. Patty Burnett described a long term international project. All these efforts are supported by their major fundraiser which comprises annual sales of Palisades peaches.
By that time, the meeting clock had run out. President Patrick thanked our guests and ended the official meeting; informal discussions continued for another 30 minutes. And next week you can look forward to your more astute and polished regular scribe’s return.