Weekly Meeting Recap - August 4, 2026

Good News: $276 collected for our scholarship fund - Thank you, Jim DeFrancia for leading Good News and all Rotarians for contributing!

Attendance: 43 Rotarians & 3 Guests

Greeter: Teresa Weinman

Guests & Visiting Rotarians: Kathy Shea, Joshua Berman, Julie Bridgewater & lots of 4-H kids with big buckles! 

Lunch Provided By: Yampa Sandwich Company

Thank you to Carol and Ashley for arranging and working with local Restaurants for lunches every week! Also a shout out to everyone that helps set up lunch and breaks it down! 

Announcements: 

New Member Inductions: 

Welcome Kolby Sumskis and Bill Gallagher. Both are going to be excellent members of our Club – be sure to say hello and get to know them. 

Fiscal Year End 2025/2026 Financial Report:

Past Treasurer Karl Gills gave a brief summary on our Club financials for the fiscal year that just ended. If you have questions about those financials, please contact Karl. THANK YOU Karl for your incredible service as our Club Treasurer! 

Program: We had the pleasure of hosting Becca Knowles and Jennifer Bugay from Yampa Valley Bank, who presented about community fraud awareness and how to protect ourselves and our businesses. If you're ever questioning, always hang up and call the bank. Everyone is susceptible to being scammed; nobody is safe from con artists. 

Next Meeting: Tuesday, August 11th at the our beloved Rotary Peace Pavilion! We'll be hearing from the Rotary District 5440 Governer Elect Amy Moon. This meeting will also mark our anniversary as a Club – celebrating 52 years in our Community! There will be a couple extra things happening at this meeting that you won't want to miss – Please join us!

Also, parking is limited, so consider riding a bike! Some parking is available at Rotary Park, but additional parking is available at River Creek Park.

Bring your own drink and perhaps a chair!  

Upcoming Non-Profit & Community Events Shared By Rotarians:

Routt County Fair

Shared & Organized By: 4-H Students

When: August 7th - 16th

Where: Routt County Fairgrounds (Hayden)

Info & Tickets:

https://www.routtcountyfair.org/

AIB Golf Tournament for a Cure

Shared & Organized By Rotarian: Andrew Czysz

When: August 19th, 2026

Where: Haymaker Golf Course

Info & Tickets:

Throw a team together for a great day of golf to suppor the UCHealth Jan Bishop Cancer Center. Not a golfer? There is a fun Par-Tee (party) after. Learn More or Sign Up for this event

Rotarian Monthly Meet-Up:

Thanks to Kim Hix for bringing this meet-up to the Club and getting it rolling! Matches have been sent out for the month of August – have fun with it! 

If you missed signing up, reach out to Kim to get in next month.

Missed the communications and don't know what the Rotarian Meet-Up is? 

Rotarian Meet-Up: One New Connection Each Month!

Have you ever looked around a Rotary meeting and realized there are members you've never really gotten to know? Maybe you've exchanged a quick hello, but never had the chance to sit down and hear their story.  Maybe you are an Impact Member and haven't had the opportunities to meet other Rotarians or learn about ways to get more involved.  All Rotarians, here is a great new way to expand on your knowledge, volunteer and friendship opportunities--and it is oh, so simple!

We're launching a monthly Rotarian Meet-Up—a fun, informal opportunity to connect one-on-one with a different fellow Rotarian each month. Meet for coffee, lunch, a walk, happy hour, a hike, bowling, skiing—or whatever sounds enjoyable and fits both of your schedules. Keep it simple or make it an adventure!

Along the way, you might:

• Make a new Rotary friend.
• Learn what inspired someone to join Rotary.
• Discover ways to become more involved in the club.
• Find a committee you'd enjoy serving on.
• Share ideas that can make our club even better.

How it works:

1. Sign up here
2. Each month, I'll randomly pair you with another participating Rotarian.  The list will be published each month.
3. Find your name and your new Meet-Up partner.  Reach out to each other and together you choose a time, place, and activity that works for both of you.
4. That's it!

This is simply a fellowship opportunity, so any expenses (coffee, lunch, etc.) are paid individually by each participant.

If your schedules don't line up one month, no worries! Feel free to connect later with that same partner, or simply wait for next month's pairing.

You only need to sign up one time.  Again, I will publish new pairings each month for everyone who has signed up.

Most importantly, this is about having fun, strengthening our club, and building friendships—one conversation at a time.

We hope you'll join us. 

Yours in Service,

Kim Hix

Opportunities for Service:

Emerald Mountain Epic 

ROTARY Aid Station

August 8th & 9th - several volunteer shifts

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SIGNED UP! Looks like we've got lots of volunteers, but if you still want in the action, sign up here: Link to Sign Up for the Aid Station

Do you have a great, big or small, service idea for our Club to participate in? 

Bring it to the Club! 

Committee Spotlight:

Committee: Grants Committee

Function: Grant funds from our Rotary of Steamboat Springs charitable fund (held at the Yampa Valley Community Foundation) to local 501©3 organizations, schools, and/or government agencies in Routt County. 

The fund is over $1,000,000 and this year we will have $45,000 to grant back to the community. 

We have two grant cycles:

Oct 1 - Community Needs Grants (up to $2,000)

May 1 - Impact Grant (one $15,000 grant) 

Learn more about our grant program or see a list of all the grants we've given out over the years at by checking out: https://www.steamboatrotary.org/page/rotary-community-grants

Meeting times: The committee usually meets twice a year (October and May). Those meetings are about 1.5 hours and we decide which applicants will receive grants. Prior to those meetings, members read and score applications. 

Interested in joining? Reach out to Grants Committee Chair Tara Weaver

See below for our extensive list of committees showcasing all the things our club does – reach out to the Chair if you're interested in learning more or getting involved! 

Membership - Adrienne Stroock

Foundation - Mark Fitzgerald

Programs - Jennifer MacNeil

Public Relations - Andrew Czysz

Flower Barrels - Gillian Morris

RYLA - Dan Austin

Youth Exchange - Steve Jensen

Welcome to Winter - Betsy Wood

Grants (local) - Tara Weaver

Rotary Park & Trail - David Box / Shawn McPhee

Crutches4Africa - Bill Steelman / Kim Hix

Scholarships - Tiffany Leeson / Hazel Hoff

Student of the Month - Chancie Keenan / Teresa Weinman

Dictonary Project - Kim Hix

Club Fellowship/Socials - Gillian Morris

Interact Club - Chuck Cerasoli / Chancie Keenan

LiftUp Collection - Kate Klitgaard

Community Service Recognition - Gillian Morris / Carol Johnson

Meeting Coordinators - Ashely Kane / Carol Johnson

Rotary Cares - Marci Valicenti

Greeters/Tech/AV - Jeff Wingate

Rhinestone Roundup - Kit Paulin

Annual Ski Day - David Box

Peace Pavilion Pavers - Carol Johnson

Aqua Prieta - Chuck Cerasoli

International Service - Joe Champ

Business Talks in the Schools - Jim DeFrancia / Dan Austin

Last call: If you'd like to purchase a Peace Pavilion Paver! 

DEADLINE: August 6th

You can be a part of the beauty of our Rotary Peace Pavilion and create a lasting and unique Steamboat legacy by ordering your own engraved paver.  Pavers range from $250 to $2,500 depending on the size of the paver.  The proceeds from the sale of the pavers will be used for the maintenance and upgrades to the Rotary Park & Pavilion and for future community peace programming.  

The deadline for your order is August 6th, and the planned installation of pavers will be in September.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Carol Johnson

(970)381-1000

Rotary LobsterFest is August 22nd! 

From Rotary District 5440:

Check out the July/August Rotary District 5440 Newsletter!