In Club Happenings you will find articles relating to club activities as well as a review of past meeting programs.

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Other informational links - click on the following for more information

W.D Farr Gala - February 16, 2008 see photos

Upcoming Weekly Programs

District Governor Newsletter

CURRENT HAPPENINGS AND PAST PROGRAMS

All events are listed in chronological order with the latest events first

Events will be deleted after 60 days

				Mayor Ed Clark and President Stu
August 20, 2008
THE MAYOR TELLS HIS STORY
Mayor Ed Clark gave the club a "State of the Union Colony" presentation today.  Mayor Clark outlined 7 specific area he and his staff are working on.  The major topics included the infrastructure and the economics associated with it, public safety and the general economy. Mayor Clark said our infrastructure is in dire need of repair.  The funding available will not allow for as much work to be done as is necessary.  He said the winter of 2006 can't be blamed for everything we face today, even though it was a hard winter, we had these problems long before then.  His objective is to find and equitable solution and present it to the voters.  Mayor Clark is against anything that doesn't contain a sunset, meaning any plan to raise taxes or other means to gain the revenue will have an end date.  He is also against putting too many things into one basket.  He wants the devise a plan to fix the roads and all the funding be target for that particular cause. Mayor Clark also touched on the issue of public safety.  Last year, crime overall was down in Greeley by a little over 18%.  He is still in favor of adding more law enforcement, even in addition to the 8 officers hired this year. Finally, the economics of our community.  Mayor Clark said we are seeing some definite improvements in this area.  The new cheese factory is a good example of what is needed.  It will bring many jobs to the area which pay above the average wage.  He said they will continue to solicit for more companies to locate in our community. Several other topics were addressed by club members as well.  Jerry Weil gave a nice update on the Book Trust.  Due to the generosity of the Rotary Clubs, the Book Trust is solvent this year and has expanded it's services to all grade levels of Billy Martinez and Jefferson Elementary.  This means any child who gets a discounted meal qualifies for the program.  Jerry said each child receives approximately $7.00 per month for books and that is enough for them to purchase about 3 books.
August 13, 2008
RYLArians TELL THEIR STORIES						Mark Wood
This weeks meeting was devoted entirely to RYLA.  Mark Wood led the presentations with a foreward about this years RYLA and Young RYLA activities.  This year the Greeley Rotary Club sponsored 10 RYLA kids and 3 Young RYLA kids.  Combined with the other local Rotary Clubs that made over 20 RYLA kids and 5 Young RYLA kids.  At the RYLA conference the kids from  the Greeley area amounted to almost 10% of the total in attendance.  Senior Councilors for this years RYLA were our very own George "the KING" Grey and Norm Lister.  George put together a nice video showcasing the week spent in Estes Park. Eight of the 10 RYLA kids sponsored by the GRC and all 3 of the Young RYLA kids were given a few minutes each to tell of their experiences.  It was obvious the week they spent at their respective camps were indeed, as Doug Armbrust always says, "a life changing experience".  Each one took something different away that they say will stay with them a lifetime.  All were very appreciative of being allowed the opportunity to attend and several stated they wanted to go back as junior councilors.

August 6, 2008

David Fenimore, AKA Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley, AKA David Fenimore, gave an overview of Chautauqua and what the presenters attempt to get across to their audience.  David then got into his special character, Horace Greeley. 

The High Plains Chautauqua has grown over the years, and according to David, is currently the largest such event in the country.  The programs, which are played out under the big tent on the Aims campus, draw an estimated 600-700 people each evening. 

David's overview of our community namesake, Horace Greeley, was quite interesting.  He painted a picture of a forward thinker and a man committed to the common laborer.  He was revered by many, including presidents.  His run for his own presidency against Grant ended in defeat and he died a week and a half after the elections. 

David will be portraying Horace Greeley on the stage at Aims the evening of August 6th.

KIDS ACROSS AMERICA "SPLASH DOWN"

The Kids Across America program is a joint venture between the Greeley Rotary and the Sarasota, Florida Rotary clubs.  It was the brain child of former GRC member Myra Monfort, who has lived in Sarasota.  The kids are selected from their local Boys and Girls Clubs.  Each year we receive 6 kids from Florida and send 6 kids to Florida.  At each end they are united with 6 local kids.  Two councilors from each location then accompany the group through the activities that have been pre-arranged.  Activities include scuba diving, the ropes course at UNC, sailing, time at the Poudre Learning Center and some time in Estes Park, where many of the kids get to see snow for the first time in their lives.  On their final day they also perform a community project.

July 30, 2008

Larry Salman accepting the speakers gift

Shelley Costigan gives the "News"

Larry Salmen, past president of the Fort Collins Breakfast Club, gave a presentation on experiences touring Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Israel earlier this year.  Larry's club in Fort Collins worked with a club in Lebanon to procure a new incubator.  While visiting he got to meet the individuals on that end that he worked on the project with.  The entire group who made the tour was Larry and his wife Sharon along with Chris and Cindy Richmond, also of Fort Collins.  Sharon and Cindy joined Larry for today's presentation.

Other activities at the club today included "Rotarians in the News" which was presented by Shelley Costigan.  It is amazing how many of our club members get mentioned in the local news. 

July 23, 2008

District 5440 Governor Stu Palmer

District 5440 Governor Stu Palmer and his wife Susie visited the Greeley Rotary Club to review the Board of Directors actions for the past year and program plans for the future. Governor Palmer met with members of the Board of Directors prior to addressing the Club’s general membership at the weekly meeting.

Governor Palmer brought greetings from Rotary International President Dr. K. Lee of Seoul, Korea which included President Lee’s call this year for Rotary to focus on prevention of child mortality with emphasis on clean water, literacy and health issues. He cited Rotary International’s efforts to apply the $130,000,000 provided by the Gates Foundation (Bill and Melinda Gates of Microsoft) that is to be matched and spent during one year toward Rotary International projects such as eradication of polio.

Governor Palmer reported that he is asking for clubs to stop providing gifts to District officers in favor of donations to Chile International which is providing clean water sources in that country through a matching funds plan. He informed club members of the District Designated Funds Project which returns fifty percent of funds back to the district for district projects.

He encouraged all members to attend the 2009 Annual District 5440 Conference will be April 29-May 3 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

July 23, 2008

Ron Wildeman receives the Quiet Rotarian Award

Ron Wildeman was surprised at the Greeley Rotary Club’s July 23^rd meeting, when he was announced as the overwhelming choice by President Stu Wright and the Board of Directors to receive the “Quiet Rotarian Award.”

Ron is very active in several community projects including the Stampede Event. For the Greeley Rotary Club, he chairs the “Silent Partners” projects that collects money from anonymous donors to assist individuals who find themselves in an emergency financial situation. Rotarian Ron collects fund from other Rotarians to forward to the Community Foundation for distribution.

Ron exemplifies the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”. Congratulations Ron!

The building is where the bulk of the training for the medical related curriculums at Aims are conducted.  They have state of the art facilities such as SIMs, which are  mannequins, some which can be computer controlled to replicate about any symptom the students may encounter.  Marci said some of the fancier SIMs cost approximately $100,000.00.  There are several rooms within the building dedicated to real life settings, such as a typical hospital room, surgery room and even a birthing room where a highly programmnable SIM can simulate the entire birth process. 

Most of the rooms in the building have plaques by the door with the names of donors who contributed to have that room built.  The Greeley area Rotary Clubs banded together and contributed for a room.  It is numbered HS202.  It was being utilized on the day of our tour for training on CPR and AED.

For a full listing of committees and what they do follow this link. Committee Descriptions

July 2, 2008

Clarke Becker receives a speakers gift

Jon Monson receives his Paul Harris Award

A REPORT CARD ON RURAL COLORADO

June 25, 2008

Andrew Romero

President 2007-2008

Dr. Dick Kemme Receives a Paul Harris times 7

Passing the Gavel

Andrew gave thanks to the many club members who contributed during his term as well as the W.D Farr Fellows and Paul Harris Fellows and board of director members.

Andrew had a goal of a net gain of one for membership during his term.  He almost made it.  Membership increased by 16 new members last year but there were 12 resignations, 3 transfers and we lost two of our long term members, W.D. Farr and William Southard.

2007-2008 the Greeley Rotary Club received a RI Presidential Citation and a District Governor Citation.  Through matching grants the club partnered with karkala Rotary in India to provide safe drinking water and sanitation to the KSPM Government High School in Pervaje, Karkalla, Kanataka, India.  The club also supported programs such as the Kid's Across America program and Relay for life team.  We gave funds to the Northern Colorado Honor Flight to recognize and honor WWII Veterans, of which many are our very own club members.  The W.D. Farr Gala raised almost $20,000 and the Annual Beer Tasting brought in funds for the Book Trust.

Andrew recognized 18 club members for perfect attendance.  Warren Holm topped the list with 38 years of 100% attendance.

One of Andrew's last official acts as club President was to award Dr. Dick Kemme with a Paul Harris times 7 award. 

Bryan Cooke introduced the new board members for 2008-2009.

Finally, Andrew presented the gavel to incoming club President Stu Wright.

June 18, 2008

Kevin gave a nice overview of wind power and how it has progressed over the years.  He commented that one of the new wind turbines produced today could replace several hundred of the older style produced in the 80's.  Today's wind turbine produces approximately one megawatt of electricity.

The projection for wind power is strong.  Vestas recently announced they are building a research facility in the Houston, Texas area.  They are also looking for a suitable site in Colorado to build a manufacturing facility for the towers needed for the turbines.  They are already in production of blades at the Windsor plant and will begin shipping their first blades in September.  Currently they have orders extending to 2015. 

Vestas is also involved with other areas of renewable energy and invests heavily in research.  One interesting application Kevin mentioned was wind turbines on cars.  As a car moves the wind could power a turbine which would produce electricity.  That electricity could then be stored in some device to power the car at lower speeds when the wind wasn't sufficient to turn the turbines.

Renewable energy is the way of the future.  It is still not as efficient as the petroleum alternatives but is definitely contributing to the overall needs.

June 11, 2008

Among the topics covered were the crime rate in Greeley.  Over the last year Jerry showed how in all but one area, crime in our community has decreased.  Traffic accidents are down as well.  Jerry said this is a result of more tickets being issued.  He said by issuing more tickets to offenders they pay closer attention to the traffic laws.

On the issue of increasing officers, he said a consulting firm has completed a study and he will begin implementing their recommendations within the coming months.  Some duties will be reassigned and some administrative personnel utilized to fill jobs to reduce the workload on current officers.

Jerry thanked everyone for their support in getting a new police department and also for the Juvenile Assessment Center, which has reduced the workload on officers when a minor is involved.