As I near the halfway point of my year as President, I thought it would be good to provide all of you with an update of how our club is doing relative to my goals for my year as President as well as our club’s 3 year strategic plan goals. I spell out the details below but wanted to highlight that our club has raised over $20K since July! Below, I detail what comprises this $20K. Some of it is allocated for certain activities but there is still a significant amount left that can be used to further our vision of “Improving Lives”! I’ve highlighted in bold some activities whose cost was partially or completely covered by these funds, grants and/or donations. Read below for more details.
My 4 goals:
Take better advantage of matching district and global grants
We were able to obtain a $1700 district matching grant and a $300 anonymous donation for our Stop Hunger Now project, reducing the club cost for 10,000 meals to $1700. A big thanks to Gordan Thibedeau for securing the district grant.
The four Rotary clubs in town obtained a $3000 district grant to help fund the purchase of 20 Buddy Benches to be installed at local elementary schools as part of the RI Foundation Centennial Celebration. A big thanks to Chip Newton for serving as the chairperson for this effort and to the Community Service committee for using their funds to pay for our club’s portion of the cost ($2500).
In August 2016, volunteers from our club assembled 4 sheds for victims of the Northern Colorado floods. The $4400 cost was completely covered by a $2,000 district grant and a $2400 grant from the Long Term Recovery Group.
The World Service committee is working diligently on participating in an existing Rotary sponsored water sanitation project in Mexico. Thank you to Ray Swanson for uncovering this opportunity and to the World Service Committee for laying the groundwork on how our club can take better advantage of RI Global Grants. Stay tuned for more details.
Continue Bruce Hottman’s goal from last year of “having fun” – I only heard positive feedback about how much fun it was to do the “Stop Hunger Now” project on Oct. 18, 2016, where we assembled 10,000 meals in less than an hour. I also hope you enjoy learning about member’s favorite things they like to do in their spare time as part of our weekly meetings. I’m also looking forward to our cocktail hour social with the new members of our Evening Group on Nov. 29th. And, I hope you enjoy our ongoing social activities such as the Annual Picnic.
Increase the younger generation’s interest in Rotary
The Foothills Rotary Evening Group is off and running and we inducted 4 members in November 2016 with a couple more applications in the “hopper.” Many of these members are in their 30’s and 40’s and are very engaged in “Improving lives”. A big thanks to Dale Gorsky, Mike Hohl and Carl Dierschow for the successful creation of this group from ground zero last year.
Dale Gorsky, Terry Dougherty and Dave Joyce have done a great job ensuring that they speak to and provide information to parents of the Students of the Month and Students of the Month respectively about our noon Rotary, the Evening Group, Interact, Young RYLA and RYLA. As well, Curtis Carlson and Brian Lacey are communicating continuously with Interact and Rotaract members to invite them to all our activities. I spoke with Trey from the CSU Rotaract club at Stop Hunger Now and was so impressed he moved his schedule around so he could help us.
Establish a turnkey ongoing community activity (ie. Breakfast Club Peach Festival) that raises $s for us to use to further our vision of “Improving lives”.
Wynn Washle proposed the idea of a “Fort Collins Ale Trail” activity where participants would pay $20 to $25 to receive tiered prizes and a $1 off their first pint for visiting Fort Collins microbreweries. The committee has made significant progress in fleshing out the financial costs of this activity, including receiving bids for developing and maintaining the phone app that would track the participant’s progress. Stay tuned for more details.
3 Year Strategic Plan Goals:
Increase membership ownership in projects we support and inform members on how much is raised and how the funds will be used:
Funds raised YTD
i.
Peach Festival Aug 2016
$12,421
ii.
Loveland Rotary Duck Race
$450
iii.
Refund - Rotary Read
$738
iv.
CSU Football Pool - for RYLA/YRYLA
$1,350
v.
Fort Collins Centennial Bowl-A-Thon
$3,100
vi.
Foothills Golf Group
$310
vii.
Greens Fore Giving-Breakfast Club
$1,786
Total:
$20,155
Shed Project for Northern Co Flood victims – $4400 cost. 100% covered by grants.
20 Buddy Benches for RI 100 year celebration – Club Cost $2500
Stop Hunger Now – $3700 cost. Club cost $1,700. Grants covered $2000 of cost.
World Service Budget – Allocated $6,000 to this committee in the 2016-2017 budget.
RYLA/ Young RYLA scholarships – TBD but we hope to fund 10 students for a cost of $4500. The club cost will be $3,150 and $1,350 from the CSU Football pool will cover the remaining cost.
Fort Collins Rotary 100 year celebration – Spring Creek Garden cafeteria – our club share of cost is $4,350 but $3,100 of this cost will be covered by those of you who sponsored lanes in the Oct. 2016 Centennial Bowl-A-Thon so our net club cost is only $1,250.
Foster a culture of participation and engagement – goal is that every member participates in at least one project over the course of the year.
Many of you achieved this by volunteering at the Peach Festival and at the Stop Hunger Now event.
Increase membership and retention with the goal of a net +3 members per year.
We’re currently tracking a net + 1 (over the 111 exit from last year) with 9 new members (including those in process) and 8 resigning members (including those in process)
Think Globally – Become more involved in International Service Projects
See 1d) under My Goals for an update on the great progress the World Service Committee is making.
It is not my intention to minimize the importance of the ongoing committee activities by not highlighting them in detail in this newsletter. A big “thank you” to all of you involved in these committees and I plan on highlighting them in next quarter’s newsletter.
I am excited by the progress our club is making towards all the goals and hope you are too.
On Tuesday, Oct 18, ninety wonderful members and friends of the Foothills Rotary Club packed 10,000+ meals for the Stop Hunger Now project.
We packaged meals that are highly nutritious, dehydrated meals comprised of rice, soy, vegetables, flavoring and essential vitamins and minerals. Each package provides a reasonable serving for six and is easy to transport, store and distribute to those in great need.
Stop Hunger Now distributes these meals in developing countries through feeding programs operated by partner organizations, as well as providing meals in response to crisis relief. For example, nearly 200,000 meals were provided to victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. We will be tracking the distribution of our meals and will announce final destination in early 2017.
As Jacque mentioned in our bulletin following the event, “the event contributed to 3 of my goals for this year – leveraging Rotary grants, continuing Bruce’s goal of having fun and increasing our exposure to the younger generation”.
As the end of the year draws near, we find ourselves thinking about gratitude, giving, and gearing up for the future—for the New Year ahead. As Rotarians, we have much to be grateful for, including the friendships and connection our association fosters, as well as for the opportunities we have to make a positive impact in our communities and across the globe.
One way you can make a difference during this holiday season is through your gift to the Foothills Rotary Charitable Foundation Educational and Scholarship Fund. Gifts to the fund provide scholarships for Project Self-Sufficiency clients, promising and determined single parents who are working to realize their dreams for financial independence.
You can give today with cash or check, or by contributing appreciated stock. And, you can make a gift for the future by naming the Foothills Rotary Charitable Foundation in your will or by designating the foundation as a beneficiary of your IRA or other assets. Please connect with any member of the Foothills Rotary Charitable Foundation Board with specific questions about how you can give in the way that is most meaningful to you.
If you wish to share your intention to name the Foothills Rotary Charitable Foundation in your will or estate plans, please fill out the Legacy Donor Program enrollment form here, and share it with a foundation board member once completed.
Foothills Rotary Foundation Board Members include: Bud Frick, Chris Otto, Lyn Pring, Mike Hohl, Mike Abrams, Dan Dennie, Rob Nelson, Bob Sanderson, Bill Hart, and Erica Siemers.
Thank you for all you contribute in your service to Rotary, and for considering a gift to help further education and opportunity for families in our community.
Well the 2016 Season has come to an end and I wanted to thank everyone who participated this year. It was great to see you on the course, have some good fun and laughs, maybe pick up a few bucks for the team competition or skins, but most of all, help the RYLA program to expand its scholarships. For those of you who were unable to make it, as they say in baseball, there’s always next year. We’d love to see you out there.
I want to specifically thank all our hosts: Jon and Judith (Fox Acres) Bruce Hottman (Ptarmigan) and Vince Lubenow (Fort Collins Country Club). You made it special for all us and we really appreciate the hospitality.
We also had a delightful nice season weather-wise this year. Other than an early rainout, it was clear sailing after that. Starting early in the day rather than late in the day really helped too. It seems like Wednesday’s works for most of you but I’ll poll the group again next Spring to see if you want to keep that day, or maybe move to Thursday. The other days of the week seem to be out for one reason or the other. Stay tuned.
As far as the turnout, we had at least two groups of three or four players for all of the venues and for two, Fox Acres and Ptarmigan, we had three groups. Here is the attendance and what Rotary collected as its portion of the pot from each event. The total for all 7 events was $230.
May 2
City Park
6 players
$30
May 18
Highland Meadows
7 players
$35
July 12
Ute Creek
7 players
$35
August 17
Fox Acres
9 players
$45
September 14
Ptarmigan
10 players
$50
October 14
Fort Collins CC
7 players
$35
At the last event, Vince was kind enough to provide coupons for all of the players who were not country club members so their golf fees were comped. Thank you Vince. That was very generous of you. He did ask that players consider making a donation to the pot. As a result, and additional $80 was collected raising the total for the year to $310. All of this will be going to the RYLA scholarship fund.
I'm originally from Cheyenne, and met my husband at Warren Air Force Base where he served twenty years in the Air Force as a cop. I've also been in banking for thirty years.
After we lived in Colorado Springs for a couple of years, he had the opportunity to retire from the military and we ended up here in Fort Collins. We have a daughter and a granddaughter.
I love the outdoors, and enjoy hiking, walking, horseback riding, and the mountains in general. I also play racquetball.
I joined Rotary because I like helping people and paying it forward. I was a member of my husband's Kiwanis club, and really enjoyed the community and contribution. Thank you for welcoming me to the club!
My name is Walter Fredrik IV. I am Wally Morrison's son and I have been in the Rotary club volunteering since I was 14. I have been married for 13 years in December and have 2 wonderful girls, Carmen and Marolyne.
Professionally I am a Staff Sargent and Quality Assurance Tech in the 233d Space Group of the Colorado National Guard, and a Professional Backpacker. I blog about my backpacking at milehikeguys.com. I look forward to improving lives and our community with you.
Hello there! My name is Newt Wyler. I grew up in a small town out in the eastern Colorado town, Limon. After I graduated high school in 1994, I attend the University of Northern Colorado where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and graduated in May of 1998. While I was in college, I was a bar tender at a local pub. I had my hands in several other careers over the years and in late 2011, I became the owner of the very pub that I had enjoyed working in all those years before. The name of the establishment is now Wyler's Pub & Grill and it has been a very successful neighborhood gathering place in Greeley, of which, we are very proud.
In early 2013, I met the woman that would become my bride, Christy. She is, by far, one of the most accomplished and driven women I have ever met. I have found that I, myself, have so much more potential with her by my side and she did me the honor of marrying me in November of 2014. We built a house in Loveland where we are currently living and love the community. We added a golden doodle puppy to our family earlier this year named Lucy and she brings us joy every day.
With Wyler's Pub & Grill doing well in Greeley, I decided to expand my career path and I became a licensed REALTOR in Colorado in March of 2015. Never one to limit myself, I also became a licensed REALTOR in Wyoming the same year. I absolutely love the feeling of helping people with their real estate needs and am happier than ever in my career and family life. Due to the great fortune I have always enjoyed, I have always wanted to give back to the communities of northern Colorado that have been such a large part of my life. Having lived here for over 22 years now, I felt that it was time for me to find an outlet for doing just that. That is when I met Mike Hohl and learned how I could make a difference in not only my community, but throughout the world.
Since being involved with Rotary International, I have found tremendous satisfaction in the work that is done. I was able to participate in the "Stop Hunger Now" project and "Coats and Boots" distribution in just my first couple months. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing organization and look forward to helping make our Tuesday evening group as successful as possible.
As I near the halfway point of my year as President, I thought it would be good to provide all of you with an update of how our club is doing relative to my goals for my year as President as well as our club’s 3 year strategic plan goals. I spell out the details below but wanted to highlight that our club has raised over $20K since July! Below, I detail what comprises this $20K. Some of it is allocated for certain activities but there is still a significant amount left that can be used to further our vision of “Improving Lives”! I’ve highlighted in bold some activities whose cost was partially or completely covered by these funds, grants and/or donations. Read below for more details.
On Tuesday, Oct 18, ninety wonderful members and friends of the Foothills Rotary Club packed 10,000+ meals for the Stop Hunger Now project.
As the end of the year draws near, we find ourselves thinking about gratitude, giving, and gearing up for the future—for the New Year ahead. As Rotarians, we have much to be grateful for, including the friendships and connection our association fosters, as well as for the opportunities we have to make a positive impact in our communities and across the globe.
Well the 2016 Season has come to an end and I wanted to thank everyone who participated this year. It was great to see you on the course, have some good fun and laughs, maybe pick up a few bucks for the team competition or skins, but most of all, help the RYLA program to expand its scholarships. For those of you who were unable to make it, as they say in baseball, there’s always next year. We’d love to see you out there. 
At the last event, Vince was kind enough to provide coupons for all of the players who were not country club members so their golf fees were comped. Thank you Vince. That was very generous of you. He did ask that players consider making a donation to the pot. As a result, and additional $80 was collected raising the total for the year to $310. All of this will be going to the RYLA scholarship fund. .jpg)
I'm originally from Cheyenne, and met my husband at Warren Air Force Base where he served twenty years in the Air Force as a cop. I've also been in banking for thirty years.
My name is Walter Fredrik IV. I am Wally Morrison's son and I have been in the Rotary club volunteering since I was 14. I have been married for 13 years in December and have 2 wonderful girls, Carmen and Marolyne.
Hello there! My name is Newt Wyler. I grew up in a small town out in the eastern Colorado town, Limon. After I graduated high school in 1994, I attend the University of Northern Colorado where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and graduated in May of 1998. While I was in college, I was a bar tender at a local pub. I had my hands in several other careers over the years and in late 2011, I became the owner of the very pub that I had enjoyed working in all those years before. The name of the establishment is now Wyler's Pub & Grill and it has been a very successful neighborhood gathering place in Greeley, of which, we are very proud.
