Club Runner is doing maintenance on its site on Sunday, Feb. 21, so this week's eBulletin comes out a day early.
Remembering ... and Recommitting
Who was this dapper gent? Great Falls Rotarian Scott Leavitt, circa 1928. Leavitt was arguably one of the most influential Great Falls Rotarians ever. A district ranger for the Forest Service a century ago, it was his idea to start a boys' camp near Monarch, and through his partnerships with other influential Rotarians on the YMCA board and in Rotary, Camp Rotary was the result.
Leavitt also played a leading role in the establishment of the Glacier/Waterton Peace Park in 1932. He was the Montana Congressman who pushed the bill through the Congress, making this park the first of its kind in the nation.
Leavitt's achievements are just a fragment of what we celebrate on Friday, March 4, at the country club. Our 100 Years Celebration is a tribute to past Rotarians and an acknowledgment of all that we have achieved in the past century. Make your reservation now to be remember and re-energize!
This Week at Rotary
This week will have the luncheon event we look forward to every year, our celebration of the local Eagle Scouts. Join us - and them - at noon at the country club!
We're also in the final planning stages for our 100 Years Celebration. If you'd like to help, join the planning committee before out meeting, at 11:15 at the country club.
Last Week at Rotary
Last week Kathy van Tighem, a Great Falls High School counselor who oversees Camp Francis every summer, told us all about the "place in the heart" known as Camp Francis.
Started in 1993 by a mother who had lost a child and struggled to help her remaining children cope with their grief, Camp Francis has been helping children who have lost loved ones for 23 years. The camp takes place at Camp Rotary, and Kathy was profuse in her compliments for both the facilities and the Rotarians who operate and maintain it.
"There's something magical about being up in the mountains," she told us as she described the variety of activities the children engage in to get to know one another, share their stories, and understand the feelings that grief provokes. She believes there is a ripple effect to the healing that occurs there, as children rejoin families and help them come to terms with their own loss.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Benefis' Peace Hospice, Camp Francis is completely free to the campers. Children must be between the ages of 6 and 12, and the camp is limited to a total of 30 campers. (Last year 70 children applied.) Volunteers in the fields of mental health and education, as well as retirees and teen volunteers, come back to the camp every summer to help a new group of kids. Many, many inspiring stories - all made possible by that little camp in the mountains set up by Rotarians 100 years ago ... and lovingly cared for ever since.
Rotarians ... Represent!
One of the most distinctive events in Great Falls is the CMR Western Art Auction. The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce kicks off the event with a Business After Hours at the museum that features the art to be auctioned off at the art event. If you've never been, note to self: go next year.
Last week, along with this year's amazing art, were more Rotarians than you could shake a 4-way test at, including our irrepressible sergeant-at-arms, Channing Hertelius (pictured). Perhaps the most delightful to see was our beloved Steve Malicott, now retired from the Chamber and as hale and happy as ever.
Our club was formed around the ideal of getting professionals together not to network, but to serve causes beyond ourselves, and in the process to form lasting friendships. There were many outstanding works of art at this signature event last week. Our club was one of them.
One of the most distinctive events in Great Falls is the CMR Western Art Auction. The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce kicks off the event with a Business After Hours at the museum that features the art to be auctioned off at the art event. If you've never been, note to self: go next year.
