Mark Barry shared his latest creation, a beautiful plant stand/chair. He has donated these as a district raffle prize and an auction item at this years Children’s Home Gala. Nice work Mark!
The district raffle tickets are on sale. They would like each member to sell a book, which is $100 worth of tickets. Contact Kerry Lassaux kerry@unitedwayblackhills.org.
After our March 7th meeting, our speaker’s service dog Rush was not happy with the noise created by our bell and gavel- so he took them and held them for ransom. Our club raised $300 to go to SD Service Dogs as ransom and Rush returned the bell & gavel at our March 21st meeting. He and his handler were also presented with the history of Rotary’s bell. Thank you Rush for being such a conscientious service dog!
Rene Sorenson spoke about RYLA camp this summer July 9-13 in Maxwell, NE. It is open to current sophomores or juniors. There are no kids from our district going so we really need some applicants and to promote RYLA here. Students don’t need to provide their own transportation to camp. Please contact Rene with applicants and to get more information on this amazing leadership opportunity. reneinak@gmail.com
We heard from Bill Spindle, youth exchange chair for the district. He talked about the program returning after Covid shut it down. This year we will have inbound students. He is looking for 3 clubs in our district to host 1 student each for the school year this fall. There will be outbound students in 2024. Host families don’t need to be Rotarians. If interested or you would like more information please contact Bill. William.spindle@sdsmt.edu. (907)227-4970
A wonderful night at the Children’s Home Society Gala. A lot of fun, great entertainment and lots of money raised for the children! Thank you Rushmore Rotary Gala Committee, our emcees Ron Jeffries and Bruce Nearhood and auctioneer extraordinaire Jeff Kingbury. Close to $40,000 was raised in the auctions alone. Lara Roetzel, Pennington County State’s Attorneys Office, was the recipient of the 2023 Partner Protecting Kids award. The entertainment was terrific as usual. Brad Johnson entertained all with his music through the decades.
Recall that when you contribute to Happy Bucks, the money is donated to Polio Plus (one branch of the Foundation). With each dollar we receive, the club receives one point. Points can then be used to reward an individual (a fellow Rotarian or community member) with a Paul Harris Fellowship (this takes 1,000 points). This is a big deal! Of note, this is the same for you personally. As you donate you acquire these points. For example, with your $10 or more contribution to Happy Bucks, one point per dollar is given to you. Once you have collected 1,000 points you can choose who to honor.
The Board decided to match, in points,all donations made by a member who donates to the Foundation between January 1 and May 31, 2023, one point per dollar. In other words, for those of you who are close to receiving a Paul Harris Fellowship, your donation in this window is essentially doubled and may put you over the 1,000 mark to achieve this special recognition. For those of you just starting a contribution or one time donation, this match will give you a great jump start to eventually reach Paul Harris Fellowship recognition.
Our Foundation is the lifeblood of our organization, please consider giving.
Our speaker was Darcy Hustrulid from Girl Scouts Dakota Horizons. Girl Scouts was started in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low—in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia. The first troop was made up of 18 girls who all shared a sense of curiosity and a belief that they could do anything. Dakota Horizons area covers 154,000 square miles in SD, ND and MN, including 13 reservations, and Ellsworth AFB. Girl Scouts is all about leadership and connections. Darcy shared how "badges in a box" and virtual programs were created to help Girl Scouts stay engaged during Covid 19. Girl Scouts four pillars focus on STEM, life skills, outdoors, and entrepreneurship. There are over 50+ million girl scout alumnus in varying careers. Our own President, Jennifer Rollins, participated in Girl Scouts as did several other members.
A one-of-a-kind fundraising event (adults only) benefitting the Girl Scouts Dakota Horizons "Cookies Corks & Brews" will be held May 2, 2023 from 5:30-9:00 pm where local chefs will prepare desserts using Girl Scout cookies, and local wines and beers will be available. You can purchase tickets at gsdakotahorizons.org/ccb
.png)
