Next week both our noon and evening meetings will be conducted via Zoom and will feature a presentation by Deb Sivumaki on Eagle Mount. President Yturri will be sending out meeting notices with links on the day of the meeting.
Last Week at Rotary
Last week we were joined by Meadowlark PTA President Jill Hunt, who told us all about the wonderful work that organization is doing to support its public school. The mission of the PTA is to be a voice for all children and for all families in the Meadlowlark district by working together to support all Meadowlark kids. They also work with PTAs throughout the school system.
With enrollment at Meadowlark just 5 students short of full capacity, many of the classes are at overload status and Jill looks forward to the day when the school district has the resources to make classes a little less crowded. In the meantime, the PTA is engaged in a variety of volunteer efforts to make sure children receive the individual attention they need, teachers get the support they need, and school year is punctuated with fun events. Even during the COVID-19 self-isolations, the PTA has organized dress-up events (photos from "decades day" are provided below), parades, and suggestions for learning games. "People resources are our greatest asset," Jill said. One of their members, Heather Levandowski, was named Montana PTA Volunteer of the Year last October.
The big project for this year was to raise funds for a new playground. They have reached their fundraising goal (over $70,000!) and are hoping to have the new playground in place by the time the next school year begins.
Jill closed her presentation with a musical video created by the teachers. Each teacher, isolated in his or her home, passed a huge heart from the left of her screen to the right of another teacher's screen and each heart had a message to the students of that particular teacher. It was a beautiful visual reminder of the little communities that classrooms create ... and how much they mean to teachers, students, and parents alike.
RYLA Update
Sadly, the Ryla Youth Leadership Academy usually held every summer outside Livingston, has been canceled this year. Our club had just completed interviews with ten young people who were interested in attending. President Yturri convened a group last week to see how we might provide a mini-RYLA experience for these students at Camp Rotary.
Rotarians in attendance were enthusiastic about the concept and would like to see us engage RYLA alumni to plan and participate in the event. They would like the camp to involve at least one overnight so that the students have the opportunity to bond as a group. They would also like to reach out to other RYLA students in the area to participate. Cari and Lacey Gallagher agreed to meet with the RYLA alumni and touch base with the District RYLA team before meeting with local Rotarians again to discuss providing this opportunity.
Rotary Memory
Montana, we like to say, is really just one big town ... with unusually long streets. A happy coincidence regarding last week's memory illustrates that, through Rotary, we shorten those streets.
Last week Judge Holter recalled the occasion of being across the table from former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at a Bozeman Rotary meeting 60-some years ago. He had mentioned that fellow Rotarian Cheryl Crawley's father was involved in setting up the event, but didn't provide details.
Cheryl followed up this week with "the rest of the story."
"My father coincidentally was president of the Bozeman Rotary that year," Cheryl wrote, "and also happened to work for the NP Railway Express. He made the connection and brought Mrs. Roosevelt and Mr. Eichelberger [Executive Secretary of the American Association for the United Nations] to the meeting. They were on a rail tour of the US promoting the United Nations. A real Rotary type of endeavor."
Cheryl attached this photograph featuring her father, Don Schultze, President, Rotary Club of Bozeman, 1957-1958; Clark Eichelberger; and Eleanor Roosevelt, ca May 20, 1958. What a coincidence that a half-century later, Don's daughter and the now retired Judge Holter would become friends through Rotary Club of Great Falls, a friendship that continues to this day!
Milestones
Today is the birthday of Katelyn Farrington. Best wishes to you, Katelyn, from all of us!
"On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five/Hardly a man is now alive/Who remembers that famous day and year." So Longfellow wrote of Paul Revere's ride, a ride that changed the course of history and led to the nation we are today. On another April 18, this one in 1942, other brave men took action to preserve that nation. In what is known as the Doolittle Raid, our nation asked for volunteers "to go on a mission which had little chance of success, a high chance of being killed, and crews fell all over themselves to go," Kurt Baltrusch told me recently. Kurt highly recommends a book on the raid, The First Heroes, by Craig Nelson, for those of you interested in learning about America's early military response to Pearl Harbor. You can also stream a excellent one-hour talk by the author about the raid: "The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid - a Tremendous Drama of Great Personal Courage." Thanks for the tip, Kurt!
