Salida Sunrise Rotary                                          PO Box 1044    Salida, CO 81201                                          SunriseRotaryofSalida@gmail.com
 
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Chaffee County Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Program

Celebrates 10 years! 

Co-Chairmen Jane Vandewalle and Becky Leonard announce the plans for celebrating Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Program being in Chaffee County for 10 years since the launch of this program  in March of 2015!  Wow!!

Becky added, "We have partnered with the two libraries to host a celebration as part of a regularly-scheduled Storytime event.  This is how we launched the program as well as how we handled earlier local DPIL celebrations."
  • Salida Regional Library 's event will be Wednesday, February 26th, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at their Storytime (their audience is children ages 0 to 5).  
  • Buena Vista Public Library's event will be Friday, February 28th, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at their Storytime (their audience is children ages 0 to 6).  
Press Releases are being submitted to The Mountain Mail, The Chaffee County Times, and Ark Valley Voice, and the information is being shared with the Heart of the Rockies Radio.  
 
This is truly an amazing program for the children of Chaffee County and one we all should celebrate!

A Wonderful Salida Sunrise Rotary 2024!

 
What an amazing year the Salida Sunrise Rotary Club had in 2024.  Here are just some of the highlights of the year:
 
Through the encouragement of several members seeing the need to appeal to individuals interested in Rotary but unable to meet during the day, a Satellite Club was established called the Salida Sunset Rotary Club.  Through the energy of several high school students, the Satellite now has 14 members that include 8 high school students and 6 adults.  
 
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: 2024 celebrates the 9th year for our participation in this wonderful project. Over $9,000 was raised in 2024.  6,404 quality, age-appropriate books made it into the hands of 722 registered children. There were 136 new registrations during 2024 (of which 80 were new births), and 128 children turned five and graduated from the program. At the end of 2024, we had 519 registered children.
 
2024 Winter Community Grants:  In January, eight Community Grants were awarded for a total of $8,000.  Recipients of our Community Grants included: Boy Scout Troop 60, Baba's Magical Christmas, Chaffee County Hospitality, Inc., Salida Senior Citizens, Inc., Greater Arkansas River Nature Association, Salida Cyclones Swim Team, and Habitat for Humanity
 
2024 Winter/Spring Scholarships: In January, two Scholarships were awarded to current college students for a total of $5,000.
 
2024 Chaffee Home & Garden Show: On April 6th & 7th at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds, we held our 10th Home & Garden Show.  We raised over $42,000 and had 17 major sponsors which included Platinum Sponsors: Brady’s West, High Country Bank, Heart of the Rockies Radio, and Pelino Excavation.  A total of 67 vendors participated this year with over 2,500 in attendance at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds.
 
2024 Fall Community Grants: Eight Community Grants were awarded for a total of $7,300. Recipients of our Community Grants included: Salida Area Parks, Open Space & Trails, Colorado TINTS, Salida Mountain Trails, Salida Early Childhood Center, Elevating Readers Together, Early Childhood Service Corps, Salida Circus Outreach Foundation, and Boys and Girls Club of Chaffee County
 
2024 Fall Scholarships:  In the Fall, eight Scholarships were awarded to high school seniors and current college students for a total of $16,500
 
Projects:  Some of the projects included the Monarch Spur Trail Maintenance, a Columbine Manor Community Service Project, Bell Ringing just to name a few.
 
Community Celebration & Ducky Race:  We had a wonderful and fun community celebration and duck race on August 25th at Riverside Park.  $20,730 was raised which provided $13,500 for scholarships and the remaining funds going to Community Grants and other scholarship programs.
 
2024 Holiday Park:  Held during the Holiday Season at Riverside Park, $8,568 raised. This year a beautiful new, lasting entrance that can be used for years to come was created.  112 trees were adopted and 1 Menorah.  Over 20 volunteers helped make this a huge success!

 Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

2024 Year in Review!

 
 
It’s been almost 10 years - in March of 2025, the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program in Chaffee County will celebrate 10 years supporting our local young children.  This outstanding program mails a free age-appropriate book to every registered child each month.  All children in Chaffee County are eligible from birth until they turn 5 years old.  The program began with a partnership between the Salida Sunrise Rotary and Buena Vista Rotary Clubs, and it is now sponsored by Salida Sunrise Rotary.
 
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library promotes and encourages a love of reading among children and helps ensure that children enter kindergarten with a strong ability to read and an eagerness to learn.  It also promotes parent-child interaction and bonding.  If a child is registered at birth and remains in the program until he or she turns five, the child will accumulate 60 high quality books.
 
This program has been very successful in our community.  Since our launch in 2015, and as of December 31, 2024, over 58,300 books have been mailed to over 2,190 children.  In addition, over 1,090 children have turned five and graduated from the program.
 
If you are interested in joining the Salida Sunrise Rotary Club, please feel free to contact any one of the members of the board of directors.  These individuals will gladly answer any questions you may have.  A complete list may be found on the home page of this website in the left-hand column.  You may also like to download our Member Information form and the Application form found under the New Member Documents tab on this website.
 
 
Club Executives & Directors
President
President Nominee
Secretary
Treasurer
Immediate Past President
Director
Director
Membership
Charitable Fund President
Community Grants Chairman
Scholarships
Service Projects
The Rotary Foundation
Club Administration
Web Master
Club Information
Join us any Wednesday!

Service Above Self

We meet In Person & Online
Wednesdays at 7:30 AM
Robin's In Salida Restaurant
8046 US Highway 50
Salida, CO 81201
United States of America
Club meetings may also be held via Zoom. For more information, please contact the Club Administrator
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