Our club will be honored with a legacy award at the 25th Annual Legacy Awards of the History Museum on Friday evening, April 29. Tickets are still available. See President Tim Peterson for details.
It's the last week of the month! That means we'll be having our end-of-the-month social on Tuesday. It will be at the Celtic Cowboy at 5:30 or so. Come join us for informal camaraderie. At least once every month, a person needs to hear Todd Neighbor laugh. And, if you join us, I guarantee you will!
At this week's meeting, Trish Gardner will tell us about the Community Health Improvement Group. Join us at noon at the country club!
Last Week at Rotary
Lacey Spencer of United Way was our guest last week, telling us about United Way's newest initiative, Prosperity Matters. Data show that 1.5 out of 5 persons in Cascade County live in poverty, and United Way is heading up the effort to reduce that number. Specifically, United Way is taking on the big, hairy, audacious goal of raising 1,000 Cascade County residents out of poverty in the next 1,000 days.
United Way's success over the last 5 years with Graduation Matters gives every indication that this initiative, too, can succeed. Two Rotarians are key players in the initiative - Sheila Rice, with NeighborWorks, and Kimberley Hawn, with Family Connections. They exemplify United Way's ability to reflect community values and tap into community talent. We can do this!
Also last week, red-badge member John Juras gave his 3-minute talk. (A model of engineering efficiency, his was both informative and engaging in a mere 2 minutes, 22 seconds!) He's a proud husband to Supreme Court candidate Kristen, loving father of three grown children, and tireless advocate for bicycling in general and the River's Edge Trail in particular. An energetic and multi-talented new member of our club!
Let's Start Howlin'!
Exciting news! At last week's meeting, Harvest Howl Grand Poobah Mike Wier notified the club that our signature event, Harvest Howl, will be on September 9 this year, not in November as in previous years. Wow. Time to gear up!
Mike then introduced Tom Nelson (pictured), who has researched and arranged contracts for our entertainment at Harvest Howl for, lo, these many years. Tom unveiled this year's bands. The opening act will once again be The Clintons out of Bozeman. They're popular throughout the state, have drawn great crowds at Harvest Howl before, and are excited about a return performance.
The headliner will be Don Felder, former lead guitarist for the Eagles. Felder was with the group in its heyday and in the "Hell Freezes Over" days as well. He's best known for writing the instrumental portion of "Hotel California." If you like that sound, you're going to love Harvest Howl 2016!
Rotarians ... Have Novel Ideas!
Rotarian Kathy Mora is a librarian with novel ideas. She started the "neighborhood library" program, putting books in our community's parks for people to borrow, read, return, or replace with their own.
Now she's found an innovative use for those old card catalogs that have gone the way of the princess phone. They store folders of seeds that library users can check out, plant, and enjoy in the months to come.
What a great idea! Only one of many for Kathy Mora.
Milestones
We were treated to one of the happiest of happy moments last week at Rotary, and you know that has to be a milestone.
Gregg Holt announced that he went to the jazz festival in New Orleans recently, and he came home an engaged man. His intended, Pat Brunzell, has been a guest at Rotary on more than one occasion.Our heartfelt congratulations, Gregg. As we fans of "Roman Holiday" say, so happy.
This Week in History: Guernica
In 1937, Guernica was a quaint Spanish town of ancient origin. But this week 79 years ago, Guernica was attacked by German warplanes. In three hours, they bombed the town to smithereens and gunned down fleeing civilians.
Two months later, Pablo Picasso completed "Guernica," his depiction of the tragedy. Starkly black, white, and grey, the painting conveys the violence and chaos of war through its wrenching distortion of people, animals and buildings. It's regarded as one of the most powerful anti-war statements in history.
