Rushmore Rotarians spent a busy week volunteering as ushers at the Central States Fair grandstand.

Rushmore Rotarians heard from Tammy Barrows and Caitlin Ausmann-Winn from the Humane Society of the Black Hills at today’s meeting.

Tammy, executive director, shared that the nonprofit will open its new building for cats next week. Kitty City will allow the Humane Society to better care for the cats, which can become sick and stressed when housed near barking dogs.

The Humane Society is also focusing on helping pet owners by providing education and services that will allow them to keep their pets.

Thank you, Tammy and Caitlin, for all you do for animals in our community.

Teresa McDevitt, program coordinator for the Literacy Council of the Black Hills, was our speaker today. The organization helps anyone who wants to improve their English language skills in reading, writing and/or speaking. Last year they served 178 adult students from more than 30 countries, and volunteers are always needed! To learn more visit www.literacycouncilblackhills.org

Our speaker this morning was Fred Milliken from Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing - Rapid City, SD, an organization that pairs volunteer fly fishers with military veterans.

The organization began in 2005 and provides support for veterans, offering programs that teach veterans to fly fish, tie flies and build fly rods.
 

Our speaker today was Mark Vargo, Asst. Attorney General for SD. 
He talked about his recent time living in Thailand while he helped establish a prosecution system, a bill of rights, prison reform and re-establish equal citizenship in The country f Myanmar. Since British rule ended in 1948 there have been several military take overs. There had not been a jury trial in Myanmar since 1948. Thank you for this very interesting and informative talk.

This morning’s speaker was our own Jennifer Rollins, DGN. She shared with us pictures and stories of her trip to Agra India to administer Polio vaccines. The trip was put together by Rotary networking. They used Polio Immunization in Agra Travel Co. the accommodations and security were excellent and they were escorted by Rotarians. The time Jennifer spent in Agra administering vaccines really impacted her and showed her the why of the trip. Fellow participant Dawn Depriest joined us from Spokane, WA by Zoom and shared the trust and meaningful relationships they had with the families. They also toured a Rotary school in Agra, Vishal Bhakti Public School where they passed along donated t-shirts they brought and spent time with the students. They also toured many cultural sights and enjoyed time with the local people. Jennifer did note that although India is polio free, they so find some wild polio in water supplies so continue to vaccinate to stay polio free.