Last week we heard from the new director of the Ursuline Center, Thom Trunkle. Thom reminded us that the Ursuline Center is a non-denominational, non-profit organization that provides outreach and community service in the Great Falls area.
The Ursuline's popular preschool program will run a summer session for the first time this summer and has filled nearly all its 100 slots for Fall 2016. This year, the Center has housed 18 exchange students from as nearby as Conrad and as far away as Korea, China and Mongolia while they attend Great Falls Central High School. The Center welcomes tours, however impromptu, of its historic facility, which includes a beautiful chapel, highly acoustical auditorium, and unique museum. With 25 employees, 2 of whom are chefs, the Ursuline Center is also an excellent choice for group meetings, family reunions and weddings.
In other news, President Peterson presented the blue badges of full membership to Christy Hagler, John Juras and Mark Nash. We are very fortunate to have such an impressive infusion of new talent in our club! Also, Judge Holter came up short on the 50-50 draw, which leaves the lucky card still there for some luckier Rotarian to draw.
This Week at Rotary
This week our featured speaker will be fellow Rotarian Diane Wright, Montana Director of the Red Cross, who will talk to us about the Rotary Smoke Alarm Project. Join us at noon upstairs at the country club!
Opportunities to Serve
This Tuesday, May 17, we'll be doing our highway clean-up. Volunteers will meet in the KRTV parking lot at 5:15 p.m. and fan out from there. It takes a little over an hour, with the chance to share refreshments at a nearby watering hole for those who are interested.
This Saturday, May 21, volunteers will gather from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the YWCA Mercy Home, 222 Second Avenue North. We will be installing a framed wall and painting several rooms. Please volunteer to Rob Rezek by emailing rrezek@dadco.com.
Rotarians Are ... Life-Savers!
Rotarian Sydney Blair was front and center last week at the ribbon-cutting for the new Youth Crisis Stabilization Facility. Through the facility, the Center for Mental Health, which Sydney heads, will provide housing for kids in crisis so that they can stay in the community while they receive treatment. Previously, kids had to leave town to receive care during a mental health crisis. That meant being away from family, friends, and school for months at a time.
Ninety percent of Juvenile Detention Center detainees have mental health issues. About 40 Montana kids committed suicide last year. Sydney believes that this facility, and the services it makes possible, will get kids back on track and literally save lives. Keeping this initiative going will require the Center for Mental Health to dedicate more time to grant-writing and fundraising, but under Sydney’s leadership, they’re committed to doing whatever it takes.
The project is definitely beneficial to all concerned. We’re proud of you, Sydney!
Milestones
Birthday greetings go out this week to Mark Finnicum on Wednesday, Ryan Miller on Thursday, and Gene McAllister on Friday. Best wishes to all three!
Weekly Wisdom from Commencement Addresses: Part I
Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night, and we watch television.
Paul Hawken
The great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself.
David McCullough Jr.
We all go through life bristling at our external limitations, but the most difficult chains to break are inside us.
Bradley Whitford
You don't need to change yourself. Ever. You need to come home to yourself. And that changes everything.
Scherer
Life has a very simple plot: first you're here and then you're not.
