COVID-19 ALERT: Effective January 5, 2022, the Denver/Lake Norman Rotary will return to Unity Church with breakfast. For the remainder of 2021 the club has temporarily relocated its meetings to St. Peter by the Lake Episcopal Church, 8433 Fairfield Forest Road in Denver.
President's Message
Ellen Fichtelman
Hello Rotarians!
I will see you all Wednesday morning at St. Peter’s for breakfast and fellowship. This will be our last meeting of the year. Beginning January 5th we will resume meeting at Unity Presbyterian.
Reminder that this week nominations for the 2022-2023 Denver Lake Norman Rotary Board will be presented to the club. At that time, the floor will be open for nominations. Per our club bylaws we will vote one month later (in January). For those who cannot be in attendance December 22nd, the proposed nominations are as follows:
President: Perry Clark President Elect: Andie Taylor President Nominee: Craig Buhrendorf Treasurer: Bill McLucas Foundation: Jim Perry Secretary: Cathy Smiley Club Admin: Steve Baker & Ross Bulla Membership: Brandon Blell
Committee Chairs: Community Service: Sherry Reinhardt International Service: Trudie Crawford Sergeant at Arms: Jim Minor Youth and Vocation Services: Thomas Eatmon PR: Elijah Beatty (with assistance from Craig)
If there are any other nominations please feel free to let Perry Clark or myself know.
Merry Christmas!
YIRS,
Ellen
Major Donors Richard and Joanie Morgan are recognized for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation.
Denver/Lake Norman Rotarian Katie Henry Speaks About Belize and the Ambergris Caye Rotary
By Steve Baker
The Denver Lake Norman Rotary welcomed one of its own, Katie Henry, to its December 15th meeting. Katie joined the club in July 2021. Katie grew up in the Washington State area, attended nursing school, and worked as a critical care nurse and then as an emergency room nurse.
In 2018, she and her family moved to the country of Belize in Central America to do volunteer work. They resided on one of the offshore islands named Ambergris Caye. This Caye (island) is approximately twenty-five (25) miles in length. The main method of transportation there is via golf cart. The main town on the island is San Pedro which has paved streets, unlike many which are just dirt. Katie said that this made driving the golf carts an adventure. Schools on the caye are expensive as residents must pay for everything including books, uniforms and tuition.
The country of Belize is bordered on the west and south by Guatemala, on the north by Mexico and to the east by the Caribbean Sea. The country was previously named British Honduras. It 1973 it became Belize and then in 1981 became fully independent. The Mayans occupied the area around 1500 BC to 1200 BC and their presence continued until about 1000 AD. There are many remains of their time spent here which can be visited today. The Belize Barrier Reef resides just off the east coast. It is part of the largest reef in the northern hemisphere and second only in size to the Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Also found in this area is the Blue Hole which is a giant sinkhole surrounded by a coral reef. To the west there is a large reserve of Jaguars and dense forest filled with Howling Monkeys. The monkey’s make a sound that can be heard for up to five kilometers.
Katie said as she was reading the paper, she saw an article about a local Rotary Club. She did not know what a Rotary Club was, so she asked her friend. Her friend was a member and invited her to a meeting. She attended her first meeting and BOOM, a Rotarian was born. She became a member of The Rotary of Ambergris Caye. This club supports a Rotaract Club that has eighteen members. The combined clubs did fundraisers and service projects to benefit their community. Some of the service projects included a membership drive, island clean-up, soup kitchen, food bank and COVID help. Also, fun time socials were held which included challenges like Family Feud. After Katie and her family moved to the Denver/Lake Norman area, the club was fortunate that she chose to join and bring her experiences from Rotary in another country which will undoubtedly bring great benefits to it in the future.
Club Information
Denver/Lake Norman Rotary - Founded 1995
Wednesdays at 7:30 AM
Unity Presbyterian Church
8210 Unity Church Road
Denver, NC 28037 United States of America
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From Jim Minor: During this year's Holidays, we all will be in settings presenting mixed levels of risk - mingling with those who are fully vaccinated and boosted, partially vaccinated, and those who are unvaccinated. Please protect yourself and those around you by practicing proven public health measures that offer protection against transmissible viral illnesses - wearing face masks, physical distancing and hand washing. Enjoy a safe, warm and meaningful Holiday Season!!
On November 18th at the annual Lincolnton Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce banquet at the Vesuvius Vineyards, three Denver Lake Norman Rotarians received awards (from left to right):
Rich Lyon - Small Business Person of the Year Award
Ross Bulla - Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award
Zach Tussel - Volunteer of the Year Award
Congratulations Rich, Ross and Zach for receiving such well-deserved awards. We are proud to serve beside them and continue to “Do Good” in our community.
After a 1-year "layoff' in its mission trips to Costa Rica due to the Pandemic, the Weddington United Methodist Church is resuming its building mission trips to Santa Cruz in January. Jim Minor and his son Ash will again be participating as "Rotarians at Work" and are collecting shoes for the needy people in this rural community in the NW corner of Costa Rica. Any donated shoes, in all sizes for all ages and genders, will be welcome - new and/or "gently used". Jim will be collecting shoes at our weekly meetings starting this week and extending through early January. PS - no "winter" shoes or boots please - LOL!!