Speaker:Sarah Nininger. Aspen Rotarians enjoyed an uplifting video and a matching live presentation at last week's meeting. Sarah helped found Action in Africa while at Aspen High School and now serves as the organization's president and chief evangelist. She currently lives in Uganda, but is on a 12-state speaking tour across the U.S.
Action in Africa is receiving international attention as a model of how to accomplish real community development that "educates, inspires, and empowers." Their community center, in a small town near Kampala, serves 300-400 children per day. Want to see the video again? Watch it here.
At the suggestion of an Aspen Rotarian, Sarah has recently become involved in the Rotary Club of Kampala, where she often sits next to the Vice-President of Uganda. At a recent luncheon, Sarah also met the president of Rotary International, John Germ. (Rotarians take note: this will be on the test!)
Guests: Bob Nininger (father of our speaker), Karla Ruiz (last year’s scholarship recipient), Judy Wrigley (Don Wrigley), Skippy Mesirow (Peter Waanders), Andrew Wickes (Steve Wickes), Anna Zane (Maurice Emmer), Warren Klug (Kathy Klug)
Justin Barrow, doing a spontaneous, yet impressive impersonation of President Melville, presented Rotary scholarships to two lucky AHS seniors last week. Meanwhile, President Craig let club members in on a secret that he learned at the Rotary District Conference last weekend. It seems our leaders at Rotary International have recently created quite PR nightmare for themselves by passing new legislation that prohibits Rotary Clubs from participating in activities involving guns, weapons, and other armaments. A quick Google of "Guns and Rotary," lists the upcoming "Rotary Gun and Sportsmen's Show in Clayton, New York. Stay tuned...
Jeanette Darnauer and Steve Seyffert started off theirtheir mutual birthday celebration (April 27) by breakfasting at the same table. Thankfully, no singing erupted.
Maurice Emmer is in charge of the attorney subset of Ducky Derby sponsorships this year. If you have spent more than a few bucks with your favorite attorney this year, Maurice encourages you to impress your attorney by suggesting a quid pro quo Ducky Derby sponsorship.
Robin Smith reminds all Rotarians to talk up the "Extemp it Up" Rotary Extemporaneous Speech Contest on May 9 (with finals at Rotary on May 11).
The Rotary Club of Aspen had the second largest delegation at the District 5470 annual meeting in Glenwood Springs April 20-22. Now that's something new! Deborah Breen, Jeanette Darnauer, Craig Melville, Scott Russell, Bill Simon, and Steve Wickes attended training sessions on the Rotary Foundation, grant submission, membership development, club goal-setting and several other topics.
Participants at this year's conference were treated to a humorous keynote speech by Sylvia Whitlock, one of the first women admitted to Rotary and the first female president of a Rotary Club. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that Rotary clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender.
Our own Jeanette Darnauer, the first female president of the Rotary Club of Aspen (1998-1999) was featured in the conference program booklet. Pictured at the right is the first president of all Rotary Clubs with the first female president of the Rotary Club of Aspen!
May 4: Lauren Pierce, Executive Director, Chris Klug Foundation
May 11: A Panel Discussion by your favorite local restaurant owners, including Chris Lantern. Craig Pierce, Barclay Dodge, Wendy Mitchell, and - if he's in town - Rob Ittner.
May 18: Angie Callen, Executive Director of the Red Brick Center for the Arts May 25: Diarmuid O’Connell, Vice_President, Tesla Motors
As much as Kathy Klug likes the Independence Pass Foundation (this month's recipient of Happy Bucks), she is even more excited that Happy Bucks will be supporting the Outreach Service Club at AHS beginning with the May 4 meeting, . John Keleher's grandson, Patrick, was the youngest presenter at the 5 Points Film Festival last week. Clarence Blackwell, channeling Aristottle, is "just happy."
Peter Waanders was happy about the article in the current Aspen Times Weekly, about "The Smells of Aspen." Peter added an unprintable anecdote about former Rotarian Andy Modell, and this set up a motif odeur for subsequent Happy Bucks, including a vivid (or not) story by Mike Kosdrosky about his recent encounter with a 1500 pound bear.
John Sarpa is proud to have worked with Skippy Mesirow on his campaign. Maurice Emmer has gratitude for whomever flashed his/her lights at Maurice at 4:00 AM, causing Maurice to slow down and not collide with an elk. Maurice is also happy that Mike Hoffman has passed his vetting as our club's new Youth Exchange Officer.
Soon-to-be-President Scott Russell was pleasantly surprised at how useful the recent District Conference was.
Head Duck Mike Kosdrosky (have we thanked you lately, Mike?) reported on progress with the 2017 Ducky Derby. May 15 is the deadline for sponsors who like to see their names in the adoption papers. The title sponsorship ($20,000) is available, and any Rotarian bringing in the title sponsor is a likely candidate for "Rotarian of the Year."
Stefan Reveal is in charge of youth groups this year. He encourages Rotarians to think about youth groups who might like to get in on the best fundraising deal of the year. The Ducky Derby is a ready-made fundraising vehicle for youth groups; they keep 90 cents of every dollar raised.
The Weekly Newsletter of the Rotary Club of Aspen.
Participants at this year's conference were treated to a humorous keynote speech by Sylvia Whitlock, one of the first women admitted to Rotary and the first female president of a Rotary Club. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that Rotary clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender.
