Brian Werner, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, gave a great overview of water activity in Weld County and Colorado in general.  He talked about the history of water and how forward thinking individuals, such as long time club member W.D. Farr, put plans in place many years ago to insure we had sufficient water supplies for future generations.

This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the Northern District, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the Colorado River District. Together they are celebrating “Water 2012.”

Poudre Learning Center at PLC, 8313 W. F St.                       

Ray Tschillard and the staff of the Poudre Learning Center were our gracious hosts for this weeks meeting and program.

The PLC was a combined project of several area Rotary Clubs.  Ray gave us an overview of the progress that has been made since it opened several years ago.

Also at the meeting it was announced a library is being built in the PLC.  The library will be named in honor of longtime Greeley Rotarian Bob Bishoff.  Bob's wife Dee Dee was present and a very nice tribute was given by member Norm Dean, a longtime friend of Bob and Dee Dee's.

              Ray talks about the PLC                 Norm briefs the membership on the new Bob Bishoff Library

Embrace Northern Colorado                     John Daggett, Executive Director

Embrace Northern Colorado was incorporated as a non-profit during 2008 to develop a vision and collaborative regional planning process among Northern Colorado leaders and officials in preparation for an additional 750,000 people who will inhabit our area by 2050.   John Daggett, Executive Director, provided an update and discussed such critical issues as transportation, water, agriculture, housing, economic development, education, etc.   Mr. Daggett showed slides of the population growth and density increase that the county could look like in 40 years.  To provide the transit needs he stated I-25 and US 34 could become 10-12 lane hiways.

Bill Farr was presented with his PHF +3 pin at the meeting as well.

  John Daggett speaks of Welds Future                President Mark Presents Bill Farr his PHF +3

Maullic Popat,

Brian and Kim Larson’s Rotary Exchange Student from India

Maullic Popat is 15 years old but is already a senior at Frontier Academy. Maullic gave the club members a visual tour and talk about Mumbai, India, his home.   Maullic is sponsored by the Centennial Rotary Club.  Meeting him was of special interest to Greeley Rotary Club, since we will be hosting an exchange student to India next year.

Dr. Joel Rauch, known as Dr. Longevity, entertained the club with information on how to eat healthy and use non-prescription additives and foods to enhance overall health.

Dr. Joel is a firm believer in Omega 3 Fatty Acids.  He outlined how they are a benefit to out bodies in many ways.  A good source for Omega 3 Fatty Acids is Sardines.  Dr. Joel recommends the King Oscar brand in particular.  He says fish that come from the regions around Norway are much richer in Omega 3's than those from other areas.

Dr. Rauch was accompanied by Alexia Parks, a writer herself, and fellow associate in spreading the word about fitness.

Member Brian Larsen presented information that the club has accepted a student for the outbound youth exchange program.  In turn, the club will be receiving an inbound youth exchange student.  Brian asked for a show of hands for volunteers to host the inbound student and Brian Cook, Kris Pickett and Mark Wood volunteered. 

                     Dr. Joel Rauch                               Alexia Parks                                          Brian Larsen

Fiscal Education Network                 John Creighton

The Fiscal Education Network provides Coloradans with information about the state’s long-term fiscal challenges and the tools to encourage community and value based discussion of these issues. This effort is coordinated with the Colorado Reform Roundtable, a coalition of businesses, nonprofits, and labor unions interested in fiscal reform.   John Creighton gave the club a nice overview of the 7 billion dollar general fund for the state.

Three club members received Paul Harris Fellow Awards.  Ty Notestine and Mark Wood received Paul Harris Awards, while Past President Bill Hertneky received his PHF plus 1.  The awards were presented by District 5440 Assistant Governor, Chuck Rutenberg.

Ty Notestine and Mark Wood                      Bill Hertneky                       John Creighton

This week was our club assembly.  The program was presented by President Mark Wood.  Mark reviewed the future vision for the club.  The future vision was created about a year and a half ago and outlines the general consensus of the membership as to what we should be doing as a club on several issues.

In general, membership is down.  Currently we are at approximately 130 members.  This is down from approximately 150 members a year ago.  One of the initiatives of the future visioning is to increase membership to approximately 180.  This is something that the entire membership should be working on.

Dues were also discussed.  There seems to be some confusion regarding the quarterly contribution to community service and how it should be paid.  This will be investigated further and findings reported back to the membership.

Other issues related to our international service and youth exchange programs.  As a club we are moving forward with purified water for Malawi.  This will hopefully add on to the great work already done in that region by member Dick Kemme.  We will also continue with support to the Juarez mission.  As for youth exchange, the future vision suggests hosting 4 youth exchange students per year.  We will use funds set forth this year along with those for next year and see if we can't get started with hosting at least one student.

Other issues such as fund raisers were also discussed.

President Mark and club members present at the assembly.

For years stories have abounded about the ghost of the old Chief Theater in downtown Greeley.  Recently retired Greeley Tribune reporter and columnist Mike Peters entertained and informed the membership with stories about this illusory legend.

District Governor of District 5440, Mary McCambridge, paid a visit to our club on this date.  DG Mary first met with the current board and then attended our normal weekly meeting and spoke to the members.

DG Mary's theme for her year is Literacy.  She was quite impressed with what our club is doing through the Extreme Science Program conducted at the Poudre Learning Center and our affiliation with Jefferson High School. 

DG Mary gave an overview of some of the issues she is seeing around the district.  A couple of the major issues involve membership and funding.  She gave a few examples of what other clubs are doing to address these issues.  For membership, one club in Fort Collins has gone to a two tier membership dues structure.  It is a lunch club like ours but several of the members didn't want a large noon meal, so they have on fee for a light lunch, i.e. coffee and cookies, and another fee for a full meal.  So far the plan has been successful and they have even increased membership.  For funding, many clubs do various fund raisers.  DG Mary related how her club has held a duck race for many years.  A few years ago the began selling "deluxe" ducks as well.  The deluxe ducks were larger than the race ducks but the people who bought them dressed them up and they were eventually judged and prizes awarded. These went for a much higher price tag as well.  DG Mary said last year the combination of race ducks and dress up ducks raised about $40,000 for her club.

DG Mary is pitching the "one person, one idea, one dollar" program at all her club visits.  She asks each member to donate a dollar, or more if desired.  The money collected will then be matched with a simplified district grant and returned to the club.  Our club came up with about $200 which we should see back sometime before the end of the year in the amount of approximately $400.  Those funds will then be used for one of our literacy programs.

DG Mary made out pretty well on banners as well.  Not only did she receive our standard club banner, President Mark Wood also presented her with the banner used last year by our own club DG Bryan Cooke.  I am sure we will see it proudly displayed at the District Conference, which is being held in Estes Park this year.

Reapportionment

County Commissioner and Rotarian Sean Conway presented the United Way program titled WEld Project Connect.  This is a one day program which will provide assistance to individuals or families in need by directing them to the various services available in the community.  Volunteers were needed for this one day event and President Mark Wood threw down the gauntlet and challenged all other clubs that GRC could recruit more volunteers than they could.

 Sally McBeth, UNC Professor of Cultural Anthropology, told the story of Nathan Meeker and how he became a US Goverment employee overseeing the Ute Indians.  Apparently, Nathan thought the Utes should be farmers.  He essentially forced them to plow up their horse pastures and tried to convince them to eat their horses.  The final straw was when he plowed up their horse race track, a very popular activity with Utes it seems.  In the end, the Utes did away with Mr. Meeker and took their old lifestyle back.

Chris Ingram thanked the club for the funds received as a result of speakers gifts from last year.  The amount was $500.00.  This amount will be used for transportation costs incurred by the young mothers attending Jefferson High School.

Chris Stewart gave a nice presentation of the Colorado Eagles organization and how it is structured.  This year the Eagles are moving up to the East Coast Hockey Association from the Central Hockey Association. 

Chris said this move is significant because this is where a lot of the professional teams go to get young players.

Since the Eagles began playing at the Budwiser Events Center, they have had every game sold out.  That is over 300 games.  Quite an accomplishment.

Our very own Clark Fields gave part two of his very interesting presentation on alternative energy, specifically the suns power.

Clark has spent a lot of his life doing research on how to harkness the power of the sun.  In his presentation he showed how solar power can be used for manufacturing processes among other things.

Our Guest Speaker was Greg Potts.  Greg gave a very inspiring presentation on

"Rotary: Where are we now….where are we going….and how do we get there"

"

Youth & Family Connections, Mike Guthrie , Executive Director

Youth & Family Connections provides prevention & intervention services to youth throughout Weld County, helping kids who might otherwise drop out of school to graduate.  It is a non-profit corporation which gets referrals from many agencies, some court-ordered.  The facility was built through cooperation of the county, city and state, and in partnership with many organizations

Walt Whitman was our guest speaker at this meeting.

An entertaining and informational look at the automotive industry and development that is being made in cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles.  Electrical vs Bio Fuel vs lighter weight vehicles were discussed.

New President Mark Wood

Greeley Rotary Club’s new president, Mark Wood, laid out his ideas and his goals for 2011-12. 

Ron’s Swan Song

Ron recaped a successful year for Greeley Rotary Club.

EnviroTech

EnviroTech was established by Greeley native Roger Knoph, and its corporate offices remain in Greeley.  It is one of the biggest suppliers of road de-icing, soil stabilization, and dust control chemicals in the western United States and is the exclusive provider to the Colorado Department of Transportation.  In 15 of its 23 years gross sales have doubled over the previous year.  In the last three years EnviroTech more than doubled its workforce.  Chuck Dickson will expand on these and other reasons why EnviroTech is a valued contributor to the local economy.

Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute (RMCRI) by Brent Peterson, doctoral student in exercise physiology

Established in 1996, RMCRI is an entity of the College of Natural and Health Sciences at UNC. The Institute presently is the only facility of its kind in the country and RMCRI directors Carole Schneider, Ph.D.; Reid Hayward, Ph.D.; and Kurt Dallow, M.D. are international leaders in the field of utilizing exercise and nutrition as an intervention for cancer treatment-related symptoms.  

Hank Brown on the Federal Budget Deficit and Debt

Bill Ogg and member Ron Wildman gave a nice overview of the upcoming Greeley Stampede.  They talked about some of the attractions, changes that have been made, community feedback and the future of the Stampede.  The Grand Marshal for this years Stampede is also a Greeley Rotary member, Harold Evans, along with his lovely wife Carol. 

Craig Harrison talked about a proposed energy park in the Niobrara gas fields.  The 640-acre park that is proposed to include fossil and renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage, research facilities and a data center for computer servers.

Shirley and Tubby Holland gave a nice overview of the artists and some of the art that will be featured at this years Greeley Stampede.

Member Dick Monfort made his annual trek to the club.  At the time of his presentation, the Rockies were holding down 1st place in their division.  Dick talked about the big money contracts made with a couple of players over the off season and the new training facilities in Arizona.

Member Clark Fields gave a wonderful presentation on his work in the Renewable Energy field.  Clark spent many years with UNC as a professor of Chemistry and also spent time at the Renewable Energy Labs down South by Golden.  His presentation covered mostly solar energy.

Nick Opper gave an overview of the new Luprino facilities and a general overview of Luprino world wide.

Students from Jefferson School, our business partners, came to the club and conducted the 4 Way Test with the membership.  It was a fun and rewarding meeting and both sides learned much from the experience.

Cystic Fibrosis – CFF Executive Director Bob Sawdon, Dave Klingler, Lee Stern

Unless you have a family member who has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), chances are you don’t know much about it. Greeley Rotarian Dave Klingler is acutely aware of the disease because his 12-year old daughter Camille was diagnosed at three-months of age.

CF is a chronic disease caused by a faulty gene and/or its faulty protein product that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. In the 1950s, few children with CF lived to attend elementary school. Today, advances in research and medical treatments have further enhanced and extended life for children and adults with CF. Many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond.  Join us at Rotary to learn more about CF, the ongoing search for better treatments, as well as promising new therapies which may even fix the cause of CF in a limited number of cases.

UNC’s New Football Coach – Earnest Collins, Jr.

Earnest Collins, Jr. grew up in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, played football for UNC Coach Joe Glenn from 1991-94, then went on to various college coaching positions, most recently as head football coach at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. He still holds UNC’s records for career and season punt return yards and is the first former UNC player to coach the Bears. Earnest is genuinely enthusiastic about “coming home” to UNC and Greeley and will share positive thoughts about his mother’s role in his success, recruiting Colorado players for UNC, and encouraging players’ academic performance and their involvement in the University and Greeley community.

China and the World – Adam Fong

Join us for an important discussion of the many ways in which China and its history have an impact today on the world and on the United States in particular.  Dr. Adam Fong earned his B.A. and M.A. from San Francisco State University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.  At UNC, he teaches a variety of courses that relate to Asian history.

Constituting America – Janine Turner

You may recognize actress and author Janine Turner from Northern Exposure, Friday Night Lights, or Cliffhanger. Now she and Cathy Gillespie, a 25-year veteran in government and politics, co-chair Constituting American, an organization whose mission is to reach and educate America’s youth and her citizens about the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the foundation it sets forth regarding our freedoms and rights. Two young Colorado winners of Constituting America’s We The People 9.17 Contest for Kids will join Janine to perform their winning presentations. 

Greeley Freight Station Museum – Michelle Kempema, Executive Director

 Ministering to “Couch Hoppers” – Darius Holland

Darius Holland was recruited by Coach Bill McCartney and played for the University of Colorado until 1994.  He had a successful 10-year career as a defensive tackle with Green Bay, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota and finally the Denver Broncos in 2003-04.  Darius is one of the few people you will meet that has both a winning and a losing Super Bowl ring.

Since leaving the NFL, Pastor Darius Holland has led True Life Church in the Broomfield/Thornton area.  His ministry is helping homeless high school kids – “Couch Hoppers,” as they have nicknamed themselves, finding a different couch to sleep each night.

The Broomfield Rotary and State Farm Insurance are active supporters of Pastor Darius’ mission.