Sergeant-at-Arms Jon Kelly opened with a quote from Martin Luther King: "Faith is taking the first step even though you don't see the whole staircase".
Speakers:Rotary Committee Chairs
Guests: Barbara Wickes, first wife and guest of Steve Wickes,
Seth Sachson, Director Aspen Animal Shelter
While not the formal speaker, Seth Sachson gave a short description of the services offered by The Aspen Animal Shelter. Pet adoptions, spaying and neutering, pet boarding and grooming are among the services offered. During 2016, over 250 pets were rescued and adopted out. Since 2006, over 16,000 dogs and cats have been spayed or neutered and 4,000 dogs and cats have been rescued. The Aspen Animal Shelter is the beneficiary of "Happy Bucks" for the month of January.
President Craig Melville advised that dues for the first quarter would remain as in 2016 but that a reduction to a base of $275.00 would go into effect April 1. This is possible because of the shift of meetings to The Mountain Chalet. Jeanette Darnauer reminded us that this coming Saturday, the 21st, will be the Aspen Hall of Fame dinner. We were previewed the new Hall of Fame video--very impressive!
January 26: Steve Skadron, Mayor, City of Aspen
February 2: Nicholas Vesey, Aspen Chapel
February 9: Diane Darling, Program Chair/Roaring Fork Brain Train
February 16: Dave Ressler, Aspen Valley Hospital
Happy Bucks: Many were happy for the Aspen Animal Shelter; Jon Kelly for a rabbit relocation, Craton Burkholder as a retired veterinarian, Doug Peckham who adopted a now 70 pound puppy, Roger Nicholson for the excellent boarding and grooming care given his dogs, Dwayne Romero for the entrepreneurial spirit of Seth Sachson; and many others including Chris Bendon and Mike Connolly who just appreciate the Shelter.
Ashton Hewitt was happy to be able to attend a meeting. Justin Barrow was proud and happy that his son won and finished third in two Pinewood Derby events. Samantha Johnston and Emily Burr put in their last $11.00 to thank Christina King for helping with monitoring the visiting exchange student.
Next Board Meeting is February 10.
Membership Committee: Justin Barrow, Chair, reviewed the process for approval of new members and Steve Wickes discussed a recent study of 2017 Membership Objectives that describes the ideal candidate for membership and the segments of the Aspen community where new candidates may be found. Justin also chairs the Jeep Tour function and the Aspen Rotary Foundation and he reviewed the purpose of both committees.
Christmas Wish Foundation: Barbara Wickes explained the purposes of this foundation and some of the wishes that were fulfilled: Snow tires, divorce filings, employment help, mortgage and rent payments, water heaters, bunk beds, grief counseling, obituary publishing and crab cakes are just a few of the myriad of wishes brought forth to this committee.
Rotary History Committee: Jeanette Darnauer is the Chair and she described the function of this committee. It is to interact with long-time Rotarians and to document their Rotary activities and achievements. She also heads the Public Relations Committee.
Scholarship Committee: Steve Seyffert chairs this committee. Steve reported that over $500,000 had been contributed by Aspen Rotary over the history of this committee. More than 70 deserving students have received scholarship assistance. In 2016, four students received $12,000 each. Two were from Aspen High School and two from Basalt High School. There is $37,500 available this year with the applications process starting now and ending with awards in April.
Time constraints postponed further committee reports until later meetings.
The Weekly Newsletter of the Rotary Club of Aspen.
