As I write this message, I just came from a Public Relations committee meeting that Kelly Moll facilitated. New members have joined this committee, new ideas and plans were discussed - the energy I witnessed was quite inspiring! The emphasis was on how we reach out to the community, educate them on what Rotary does and provide a resource for the community to connect with not only our club, but also other ways to “give back.”
This is the kind of energy I hope we can generate in all of our committees. I am excited and honored to be your president next year beginning in July, but I will need all of you to support the leadership team in making Foothills Rotary a success in providing service to the Fort Collins community and the world.
The theme that Rotary International President Mark Maloney has designated for the 2019-2020 Rotary year is “Rotary Connects The World.” We at Foothills can do that in many ways: seek out potential new members, participate in Rise Against Hunger, volunteer for a committee, work on a fund-raising event, contribute to the many Foothills projects – the list is long! We are all different and we all provide “Service Above Self” in our own way.
On June 25th we will have our annual “Changing of the Guard” event at our noon meeting. It will be an opportunity for all of us to thank President Chris for his leadership this past year.
I look forward to an awesome Rotary year with your support.
Yours in Rotary,
Mike Hohl
Evening Group Update
We just wrapped up a successful year supporting Putnam Elementary School’s efforts to make a difference in their student’s lives. As you may recall, Putnam has a lot of challenges with 26% of the students being homeless/couch surfing and 93% on the free lunch program. The Evening Group, with financial support from the Noon Group, sponsored a number of activities meant to help the kids stay in school and thrive:
We gave every kid in the school (~300 students) a Putnam Pride t-shirt to help build a sense of community.
We funded their Leadership Class for the top 20 students. Our funds paid for field trips, speakers and leadership t-shirts. We also provided speakers for four of their leadership forums. The leadership kids stepped up and led most of the school activities during the year.
A group of us read to Kindergarten and 1st grade students once per month.
A number of our members volunteer at McBackpack each week. This program packages meals for the kids to have over the weekends. McBackpack gave away over 12,000 bags of food this year with each bag generating about 5-6 meals. Putnam is the largest benefactor of this program.
On May 16th we had 10 volunteers help run their first-ever school carnival. Our help allowed the PTA parents to stay with their kids as opposed to running the event. The event was a big success and should help to continue to build a sense of community within the school.
We plan to do this same program again next school year with the hope that we can expand to other similar schools within the following year. We have begun to raise funds and make plans for the Fall. Our goal is to continuously improve and expand the program. Stay tuned for more details later this Summer.
A Note from Deb Gillan at Putnam Elementary:
Thank you to all of you who came and supported our Putnam Carnival. We hope you had a good time. Our families really enjoyed this new event at Putnam and we hope to continue this new tradition in the future. We so appreciated your help in the kitchen and with the games. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the fall! Have a wonderful summer. If you would like me to meet with your group during the summer, please let me know. Thanks again for being a part of the Putnam family and making Fort Collins the best place to be for all kids. Deb
Putnam Carnival
Feeding the Putnam Families
Playing Games at the Carnival
Cornhole Competitors
Sumer Food Truck
Cornhole Competitors
Inaugural Foothills Rotary Cornhole Classic a Great Success!!!
It was a social event…It was a fundraiser…it was a blast. All of those were true!!! The first year of the Foothills Rotary Cornhole Classic was an incredible event and a huge success. We had 59 teams that showed up trying to win one of our three grand prizes ($1,000 – 1st Place, $500 – 2nd Place & $250 – 3rd Place). The event, held at the Fort Collins Country Club outdoor tennis courts, drew some of the top players in the state. We had 4 of the top 15 Cornhole players from Colorado in our tournament, including #1 (who ended up taking home the $1,000 grand prize).
The tournament grossed over $14,000 and netted just over $6,000, of which we will be donating $4,000 to the Food Bank of Larimer County – Summer Food Truck. Even better, we are utilizing a program through United Way of Larimer County (Giving Circle) which will match our donation dollar-for-dollar, resulting in $8,000 going towards the Summer Food Truck. That will allow it to operate all the way thru the summer months for kids in need.
I want to thank the following Rotarians for all their help in pulling this event off. Without their help, this never would have happened:
Dale Gorsky (co-chair), Tom Hyland, Mark Goldrich, Mick Garrett, Brian Lacey, Bonnie Brummer, Carl Dierschow, Chip Newton, Dave Armstrong, Jamie Meyer, Ilan Levy, Pete Thomas, Jenn Cuningham, Jennifer Bao, Jim Barnett, John Pfeiffenberger, Kyle Cordova, Mike Forney, Mike Hohl, Ruth Lutes, Scott Niedringhaus, Jacque Niedringhaus, Marcia Donnan, Doris Gisi, Sid Fahsholtz, John Davis, Newt Wyler, Karen Morgan & Chris Coley.
As you can see it was truly a team effort and made so proud to be a Rotarian.
First Place - Power Slide
Second Place - Avengers
Third Place - Corn Dawgs
Fort Collins Rotary 2019 Peach Festival
When: Saturday, August 17, 9 AM – 5 PM, 5K Race at 8:15 AM
Where: Downtown Fort Collins Entrances on Mountain, LaPorte and Maple
“Enabling over 3,000 young people in Larimer, especially those who need us
most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”
Music & Entertainment: Live music on an outdoor stage.
10:00 – 11:30 AM – Pamala Machala
12:00 – 1:30 PM - My Blue Sky
2:00 - 3:45 PM - Foxfeather
Peaches, Peaches, Peaches:
Peaches by the box
Peach Pies, Peach Cobbler
Peach Margaritas and NEW! Peach Champagne Cocktails
And MORE!
Peach Festival Donors and Volunteers Needed
Be a Peach Festival Volunteer!
The 2019 Rotary Peach Festival is shaping up to be one of the best Peach Festivals ever and we are very excited about the event! However, it is a BIG event and we need Rotarians and other community volunteers to fill over 400 volunteer timeslots to ensure it is a great success. Please plan to volunteer at this year’s event and sign up as early as you can. It is the best thing you can personally do to ensure generous contributions for the Peach Festival beneficiaries. If you know of other community organizations, such as scout troops or other youth groups, who would like to participate as volunteers in the 2019 Peach Festival, please notify a member of the Peach Festival Committee and we will contact them. T
If we are not able to fill all the volunteer timeslots, the Peach Festival Committee will have to hire outside staff to cover some of the events and this significantly reduces Peach Festival proceeds. The Foothills Rotary 2019 Peach Festival contacts are: Ruth Lutes, Bryan Watkins, Dustin Fisher and Mike Hohl.
Be a Peach Festival Sponsor!
While many Fort Collins Rotarians and other community members have pledged sponsorships for this year’s event, we are looking for additional donors to ensure strong support for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Larimer County and for our Foothills Rotary Club programs. Please consider contributing to this year’s Peach Festival event if you have not already done so. Your support of the 2019 Peach Festival will help support our own club’s initiatives and will directly impact our 2019 Peach Festival primary beneficiary, Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County. Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County is the only comprehensive, facility-based, after-school, and school-break program in Larimer County that includes meals, program enrichment for positive youth development and mentoring for only $20 a year. They serve more than 3,000 youth annually with 67% of families at or below the poverty level.
Please contact Curtis Carlson or Ruth Lutes for donation details. You will find the sponsorship form on the Fort Collins Peach Festival web site:
RYLA/Young RYLA candidates have been interviewed and selected for the 2019 leadership camps located in Larkspur and Estes Park.
Over 30 students have been sponsored, in total, among all of the Fort Collins Rotary clubs. Five of the students selected were affiliated with
Foothills Rotary. If you know anyone going into 7th grade or who is going into their Sophomore or Junior year of high School this Fall (2019), please encourage them to apply
for RYLA/Young RYLA for next year’s camp, held during the summer of 2020. Please talk to Sid Fahsholtz (sid@brockcpas.com) with any questions you may have about the application/selection process for the 2020 Camp.
Calendar of Volunteering and Fundraising Events
June 14, Rotary golf tournament – sell gift cards – 10:00 – 12:30
June 25, 4-7 pm, pack 10,000 meals for McBackpack – Timberline Church – south auditorium
June 28-29, FC Brewer’s Festival, 7-10pm Friday and 12-5 on Saturday
Aug 10-11, New West Fest, beer tent and FCAT booth
Do you have something you would like to see included the newsletter?
Do you have content you would like to add to the newsletter? Is there something you would like to see added to the newsletter? If so, please contact Michelle Lahti at michellelahti@comcast.net. The newsletter is sent out at the beginning of every quarter. This is your newsletter so please provide feedback for what you would like to see included in it. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
