Dear Rotarians:
Hope your enjoy a wonderful and safe 4th of July Holiday. On Tuesday we held our annual Changing of the Guard at the Peace Pavilion. It was great to see others in person, despite our masks. As outgoing Club President, I shared gratitude for all of the hard working and dedicated people that have contributed to our clubs success over a very weird year. Please feel free to review my talking notes.
Special thanks to Gillian for offering a very cool framed concert poster of my favorite rock/jam band, Widespread Panic as a thank you gift. Also to Jim Moylan, Gillian and Mark for nominating me for District 5440 President of the Year. Happy to share this nomination with all District wide leaders who successfully kept their clubs functioning at a strong level and it means a lot that you cared enough to advance me as a candidate.
Changing of the Guard Notes- June 30, 2020
Welcome to the 2020 Changing of the Guard
What a year. How many of you have gotten a little crazier?
I don’t need to remind you about all that has happened on our community, country and world.
We are still standing and looking forward to better times.
This service club and our franchise with RI are grounding forces in a rapidly spinning world.
Your fellowship and generosity make this club very special. Our service and financial support make our community stronger and the world a little better. Think about a few places we have left our footprints in the last year
- North Routt Charter School
- Aqua Prieta
- The lives of several Exchange students
- Good News Scholarship recipients
- Holiday Tubing party families
- Many local not for profit grant recipients
- Lift Up and YV Community Foundation COVID relief fund
- RI and District grant recipients
We have found a path forward through radical disruption to continue to meet and serve. I am very grateful for all you have done. Serving this club has been a personal and professional highlight for me. Thank you!
Committees are the building blocks of a strong club. Offering to chair a committee is a responsibility to lead and facilitate a group of busy, active people to accomplish a common goal. Let’s take a few minutes to thank and recognize our committee chairs for stepping up and serving:
- Membership Dan Bonner
- Grants Tara Weaver
- Foundation Cmt Scott Marr
- Public Information Ellen Kendall
- Program Joanna Allison
- Scholarships Tiffany Leeson, Brian Harrington
- Nominating Carol Johnson
- Flower Barrels Chancie Keenan
- Interact Ashley Kane
- International Winne DelliQuadri, Kris Hammond and Paul Hebert
- Fellowship and Parties Steve Hitchcock and Alice Klauzer
- Youth Exchange Karen Schneider
- Student of the month PJ Wharton
- Rotarians at Work Tara Weaver
- RYLA Ian Engle
- Web and SM Steve Sehnert
And lest we not forget our fundraising and event committees. This is where the rubber meets to road:
- Lobsterfest Ashley Kane and Suzie Wilkinson
- Cornhole Loretta Conway. Brett Allison
- Flower Barrels Chancie Keenan
- Holiday Tubing Party Ian Engle and Andy Booker
I sure I have missed many but please know how much you all are appreciated.
Organizations like ours run on strong leadership and that starts with great board. Please join me in thanking the following outgoing members of our Board of Directors
- Dan Bonner (done it all and come back for more)
- Carol Johnson, finishing up a very successful run through our executive committee
- Jeremy Behling.
- Suzie Wilkinson (more on Suzie later)
- Eric Rabesa. If you hear a pounding heart at meetings it is probably Eric’s
Thanks for your service. These wine and olive oil gift packages from Elevated Olive are a small token of our club’s appreciation
As Club President, several people have roles and duties that you cannot do without. These folks fulfill critical roles in maintaining our information, financials and compliance with Rotary’s administration.
- Karl Gills, Treasurer. Away attending to the passing of his father in VA. Brilliant, consistent, kind and amazing leadership skills. We are lucky to have him serve our club
- Holly Rogers, Secretary. Very hard working and skills administratively and the best first contact/front door person any club could ask for. Holly know how this club works!
- Angela Catterson is our club accountant. Although paid, she contributes far more than we pay her and is a President’s best friend for key information and advice. I am so thankful for your quick responses and guidance the last year.
The plaques and the beautiful photograph, were pulled together by our own Jim Steinberg are a thank you for your dedication to making the club work.
One of the harder roles for a club President is picking key award winners for the last Rotary year.
I believe not for profit leadership is a path to personal growth and professional development. Leading people you aren’t paying demands the best of us and offers many rewards. These two leaders exemplify volunteerism and have exceptional skills working with other people;
The Rotary award for Service above Self goes to Suzie Wllkinson. Susie is the soft spoken powerhouse who always moves a project forward with a firm but gentle hand. In addition to her co chair role with a very successful Lobsterfest committee, Susie has been an active contributor to the board and recently offered to help with a raffle committee to offer funding to displaced workers on our community. Congrats Suzie
Rotarians of the Year is Tiffany Leeson.
Tiffany led the Scholarship Committee in the darkest hour of the COVID crisis while taking care of a family member with Covid. She organized the volunteers and students (no easy task) to review and approve a generous package of scholarship to several very deserving students. She has been there for many of us throughout the year and we are most grateful for your service to the club. Tiffany is in Maine currently and I will share this with her upon her return in late July.
One of the most successful things I have done as President is to recruit Gillian Morris to become your next President. A huge heart, a talented leader and desire to evolve our club for the needs of a new generation of Rotarians, Gillian will bring our club closer together to continue to serve the community. In March, when many of us were in a state of shock, Gillian was thinking ahead to ways for people to engage. She organized dozens of social hours and has engaged with members and club leadership extremely well to prepare for the next year. Congratulations Gillian and we look forward to working toward your goals. You will make a great club President.
Randy out!