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Club News: July 2008July 18th 2008 Posted in Club News HIGHLIGHTS: District 5520 officers visit our club, dues increase, formation of Milagro tax-deductible funds at the Taos Community Foundation, thoughts by President Steve Fuhlendorf and get to know Marci Beatty.
Upcoming Meetings and Events: Go to http://taosrotary.org/ for up to date listings.
Letter from President Steve Fuhlendorf: Greetings Taos Milagro Rotarians, A couple years ago when we first discussed the possibility of me being president of our club I thought, “Two years! That’s plenty of time for life to settle down. I’ll have much more time by then to devote to the club.” Yeah sure, fat chance! We’re all busy and not likely to get less so. The fact that we are Rotarians says we will make time to support the causes that will help our local, national and global community become a better place. I am excited to be in a position to help make that happen. I hope during the year to come that we can strive to make time to not just come to meetings once a week, but also make a difference in other ways. We will be working to raise money for scholarships through the Chile Challenge and other events. We will be working with our youth to build a strong Interact Club. We will be working with younger children to help them read more proficiently. We will also be looking at other projects that we can do well within our time limitations to make this a better world to live in. Your volunteerism is vital to the success of our club. As much as that, your enthusiasm and ideas are also necessary to make our club strong. Tell others about Rotary whenever you have an opportunity. You are interested in upholding the ideals of Rotary, so let others know why. We have lofty standards to uphold in the Four Way Test. If you uphold those standards daily the benefits just comes naturally.
District Governor Tom Lindsay addressed our Club on July 9th: District Governor Tom and his wife, Linda, also a Rotarian, made the long trek up from Deming to visit our Club. He presented an overview of our District’s activities and talked about R.I.’s efforts at eradicating polio worldwide. It was inspiring to experience Tom and Linda’s warmth and commitment. Also visiting with them were District Governor-elect Mike Maule and Lieutenant Governor Ken Beesley. Tom also acknowledged our Club’s Paul Harris Fellows, whose picture is below.
Tom Lindsay and Steve
From left: Mike Maule, Yale, Lou, Dick, Ken Beesley and Bob
Highlights of Board meeting of July 10th and Club meeting of July 16th: Dues: Lisa has made a tremendous effort to get our balance sheet, income and expense records and budget in good shape, following on the work Linda began after Gary’s unexpected death. Our dues have been $200 per year since the inception of our Club 10 years ago. That no longer covers our annual expenses, nor does it leave us any flexibility to meet contingencies. The Board voted unanimously to increase our dues to $325 per year, which will include $25 per member per year for R.I.’s polio eradication effort. After Steve and Lisa explained this to the Club at our assembly on July 16th, there was general consensus on this increase. If anyone wants more detailed financial summaries, please contact Lisa. Milagro Charitable Funds at the Taos Community Foundation (“TCF”): Steve, Lisa and Yale met with Elizabeth Crittenden Palacios, CEO of the TCF. We can form two funds there, which will provide vehicles to build an endowment for our charitable work and enable donors to make tax-deductible gifts. In short, these two funds are:
1. A designated endowment fund. We will begin this with a deposit of $2500 of our scholarship money. The TCF will match this with a grant of $2500, bringing our initial endowment to $5000. When the fund reaches $10,000, we can advise the TCF on distributions of the generated income. This fund will earn income at the same rate as all of the TCF’s invested assets, which have generally outperformed standard indices. 2. A designated non-permanent fund. We will establish this with an initial balance of $5000, which is the minimum balance we must maintain. This is a non-interest bearing fund, from which we can make charitable gifts from time to time. The advisors to both funds will be our president, our president-elect and our treasurer. Donations should be made to the Taos Community Foundation and designated to the Milagro Charitable Funds. Our Board will decide from time to time upon an allocation between our endowed fund and the nonpermanent fund, depending on our commitments. At the meeting on July 16th, the entire club enthusiastically endorsed this plan. Membership Chair Dick Oliver’s comments:
Attendance: Dick noted that after our attendance of 58% in June, we improved to 62% over the last two weeks. The standard Rotary Club Constitution provides minimum attendance requirement for each member. They can be found at: http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_html/attendance_files/frame.htm. Dick provided a print out of the meeting schedule of other area clubs, in addition to which members can do an online makeup meeting. Also, a committee meeting, a board meeting or a service activity counts as a makeup meeting, but should be reported to our club secretary. We must report our attendance by member to District 5520 on a monthly basis. Members are given 2 weeks to complete a make up for the previous month. Dick also shared some thoughts and concerns about the survey Steve recently sent out. He emphasized that our Board wants to gather information and ideas and that nobody should infer from the survey an intent to make any particular change. He shared how from his long experience as a minister how making decisions made by a slim majority usually did not work out well and emphasized our Board’s intent to make changes, if any, would be by consensus. Five Questions for Marci Beatty:
1. Where did you spend your childhood and receive your education? I was born in Turlock, CA, raised in Pennsylvania and Texas, and moved to Albuquerque in 1991 with my current husband, Julian Varela, to pursue a degree in nursing at the ripe old age of 33. I received a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and graduated in 1994 from UNM. I worked as a Registered Nurse, primarily in Labor and Delivery until 1999, when I returned to UNM to continue my education and become a Family Nurse Practitioner. I received a Master of Science degree in nursing in 2001, and I have been working with Taos Medical Group for about 6 years now. Other colleges I attended before finally limiting myself to a single career were Tarrant County Junior College, University of Texas, Arlington, and Texas A&M in Galveston. 2. Please briefly tell us about your family. Julian and I have been married for over 13 years. “J.R.” works as an attorney here in Taos. He specializes in Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, and Criminal Defense. We have 2 beautiful twin daughters, Hannah and Mary-Margaret, who are going into the 7th grade this year. Hannah attends the Taos Charter School, and enjoys being a fairly new member of the Taos Swim Club. Mary-Margaret attends the Taos Middle School, and enjoys art, music, and is a member of the track team. We have lived in Taos since 1996, when the girls were just 6 months old. 3. When and why did you come to Taos? Short answer to a long story; the girls were born in El Paso, and we lived in Las Cruces at the time. After the girls were born, I was offered a job as a Labor and Delivery Nurse in Los Alamos. We lived with my mom in Santa Fe for a few months when the girls were just babies. During this time, J.R. was an Assistant District Attorney in the Las Cruces office, and he eventually transferred up to the Taos office. We have lived here ever since. 4. What are the most satisfying or important aspects of your being a Rotarian? The most satisfying aspect of being a Rotarian is the connection with the community. It is highly rewarding to me to be able to give to the community and offer our youth opportunities that I was never given when I was a kid. I feel I am at a stage where the need and desire to volunteer has become a very important part of my life, much like having a hobby, only with more impact. The international aspect of Rotary is also very motivating to me, and I would love to be a part of an international project with our club in the near future. 5. What are your present goals? a. To make our Chile Challenge a continued success and to offer our kids even more in the years to come. I would like to see Taos Milagro Rotary have the financial capability to send even average students with average family incomes to college. b. I would like to see the continued recognition of Taos Milagro Rotary at the community level as a club people can count on to get out and help with community projects. I would also like to see us more involved internationally, through our own club, not just through Interact. c. I would like to continue to expand my practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner and continue to provide medical care to individuals and families. I think it is really cool to know so many people in this small town environment and to see at least one person I know in every local setting.
District Newsletter: Don’t forget that the District 5520 Newsletter is available online at |
