This week our featured presenter will be Jessica Briggs of United Way, who will bring us up to date on volunteer opportunities and community needs. Join us at noon at the country club!
Last Week at Rotary
Last week we had a highly interactive presentation on Family Connections, with Deb Huestis (left, in photo) presenting and Lori Eckhardt assisting. Family Connections is dedicated to providing early childhood education for families in an area that centers here in Great Falls but stretches to the Canadian border. There is a fee for these services, but scholarships are available for families who can't afford it.
Deb helped us understand the area of brain development that early childhood education addresses. The "lizard" - flight or fight/survial - part of the brain is developed by the time we are 9 months old. The middle part of the brain, which encompasses personality, relationships, and self-regulation, is the focus of early childhood education. Children learn through play, Deb told us, and demonstrated with the simple reading of a story how pre-math and pre-reading skills, as well as self-regulation, can be taught by an able early childhood educator.
It was a fun exercise for all of us and opened our eyes to the importance of what children learn before they go to school.
We also welcomed Chayleen Person from red-badge to blue-badge status after she gave her 3-minute talk. Chayleen graduated from Cascade High School and went directly to the big city - we're talking Washington, D.C.! It didn't suit her so she made her way back to Montana, stopping first in the midwest to get her bachelor's degree in business management and ultimately her M.B.A. before returning to Montana. She and her husband, Cody Person, are active in the community, volunteering as baseball coaches and helping out with Benefis's Darcy's Promise. Welcome to the club, Chayleen!
Officers Attend District 5390 Conference
Our leadership team - from left, Todd Neighbor, Cari Yturri, and Dean Boyle - spent last weekend at the District 5390 in Butte. They learned a lot, expanded their network of Rotarians from across the state, and left "feeling really good about all that we do here," as Cari told the club last week.
Our PSA video on Camp Rotary, the creative work of Art Taft and Tim McGonigal, made a very favorable impression at the conference (and Cari reminded us that for $400, local Rotarians can put their own stamp on a PSA for Rotary that features them or their business). President Dean Boyle was recognized with an award for his work on Camp Rotary, and Mary Moe received an award for serving as editor for the District 5390 Monthly Newsletter.
The new District Governor, Rick Moore of the Helena club, was sworn in at the conference and will begin his duties in the summer.
Also Scheduled for This Week ...
Our board will have its monthly meeting this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the country club. All members are welcome to attend.
We will be packing our military care packages on Friday, May 11, at 3:30 in the Liberty Building, which is part of the D.A.Davidson complex, directly across from the main building on the corner of 3rd Street and Central. Come lend a hand!
Milestones
May has brought us several stellar Rotarians. Celebrating their Rotary anniversaries this month are:
Tony DiLello - 28 years
Art Taft - 27 years
Virginia Stacey - 16 years
Tim McGonigal - 8 years
Collectively, they've racked up 79 years of service above self. We are grateful for that and much, much more.
Weekly Wisdom: This Week in History
May 7, 1945 - In a small brick schoolhouse in Reims, Germany, General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German fighting forces, ending World War II in Europe. The document became effective at 12:01 a.m. on May 9.
May 10, 1869 - Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific Railway, drove in the golden spike connecting the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways at Promontory Point, Utah. Rumor has it that Mr. Stanford (who, with his wife Jane, later founded Stanford University) missed the spike on his first attempt, which brought roars of laughter from the throngs of men who had driven thousands of spikes themselves.
May 10, 1869 – Outside the Astor Place Opera House in New York, angry crowds revolted against dress requirements for admission and against the public statements of a British actor performing there, who derided the vulgarity of American life. The mob was destroying the theater windows when troops were called out. Ordered to fire, they killed 22 and wounded 26.
May 10, 1994 - Former political prisoner Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president of South Africa after winning the first free election in South Africa.
May 12, 1937 - George VI (“The King’s Speech”) was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. King George reigned until his death in 1952. His daughter Elizabeth has reigned ever since and is now the longest-serving monarch in British history.
