District Governor, Mike Klingbiel and his wife Treva, joined the Rotary Club of Conifer to share his vision for District 5450 in this 2012-13 Rotary year.  Mike is a 3rd generation Rotarian, who tried very hard to break the mold, but a friend and colleague persisted, and he finally joined Rotary 8 years ago.  He is probably the youngest District 5450 Governor and brings a wealth of energy, ideas and futuristic visions.  He serves 68 Rotary Clubs comprised of 3200 Rotarians.

His "Rotary Minute" was serving with the Rotary team that brought water to 20,000 homes in the middle of Nairobi, Kenya, where 1 million people live within a square mile within that city!!!  He quiered:  What is your Rotary Moment?

His fast and furious presentation focused on: 1) The District Conference, Vail, Colorado April 26-28,2013; 2) The Rotary Foundation: trying to simplify a complex arm of RI, including "Future Visions"--the new way for RI and Rotary Districts and Clubs to utilize the Foundation funds; 3) Growing Membership; 4) District Awards;  5) The Rotary International Convention, Lisbon, Portugal, June 26-29, 2013;  6) Rotary Peace Conferences to be held over this next year in Berlin, Germany; Honolulu, HI, USA; Hiroshima, Japan (google for more information).    

     District Conference, June 26-28, 2013, Vail, CO.  Mike envisions this conference as a Celebration of Rotary and a focus on the Family of Rotary, with activities for the whole family and on the Work of Rotary...utilizing the House of Friendship to bring every Club together to share all the work and ideas for fund-raising that can enrich everyone and every Club in attendance...and his call if for 100% Club attendance.  He has our commitment already!  Early-bird registration (before December) will be $250 and after will be $295.  He is also promising a full refund if people have to change their plans and notify the District prior to April 23....the drop-dead day for ordering meals. 

     District Awards will need application from the Club, which is available on the 5450 Website.  The Presidential Citation will be tied to Club projects.

     The Rotary Foundation:  There are 3 funds within the Foundation, each with a specific yet over-lapping purpose.  You will find a great deal of information on the RI/Foundation website.

          The Annual Fund which earns members a Paul Harris for accumulated donations of $1000 (Fellow +1 and so on for additional $1000 donations).  Clubs get points toward Paul Harris Awards; Mike is working with the Clubs to get matching points in order to increase the number of Paul Harris Fellows.   Annual Funds can go to local and international projects through Simplified and Matching grants.  Donors can designate the funds within the Annual giving for specific Foundation activities (Peace and Conflict Resolution, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Water & Sanitation, Maternal & Child Health, Basic Education & Literacy, Economic and Community Development).

           The Permanent Fund is an endowment fund, designed to ensure that the Rotary Foundation will have monies to fund projects in perpetuity.  Club members can give a gift to the Permanent Fund of less than $10,000 or $10,000 or more via bequests, insurance assignment/donor advised funds, memorials and tribute gifts, the RI Credit Card and more.  The RI website has extensive information about the many ways that contributions can be made, including utilization of investments.  The fund itself reached the goal of $200 million before the projected deadline of 2005 and in now on track to reach the 2025 goal of $1 billion.  Every year the Fund gives $8 million to fund Rotary Projects around the world.  Your gifts here will sponsor Rotary Service beyond your life-time.

           Polio-Plus has eliminated the disease in every country of the world with the exception of Nigeria, Afganistan and Pakistan. District Governor Mike is planning a Polio-Fund-Raiser February 23, 2013 and wants the event to be a community-wide fund-raiser, rather than a Rotarians-giving-again event.

          Future-Visions:  Rotary is creating a new means for managing the Foundation grants which will promote and ensure good stewardship and enhance sustainability of Rotary Foundation funds and projects.  It will include sending more money back to the the Districts.  There are training workshops coming up and each Club is asked to send representatives to learn about this initiative, which will be required after this year's grant-funding. 

In addition, Mike will be hosting a monthly conference call for all District Club Presidents in order to improve communications and to better serve the Clubs from the District level.

     Rotary Membership:  Governor Mike reminded us that the best way to increase our effectiveness is through increased membership...and the best way to increase membership is to "ask"!!!!  He has expanded the District Membership committee to better help Clubs do the "ask"!  In addition, he has increased the number of representatives on the PR and Community Outreach Committee to advance Rotary Awareness in our communities.  He would like to use the Rotary Club of Conifer as a model for including the Interactors, RYLAians (and hopefully, Rotaractors) within the Rotary Family...inviting these young people to participate and enjoy the fellowship of the Rotary Club.

Our Guests 7/24/2012:  Governor Mike and Treva Klingbiel, Bill Taylor, Kyra Evans (Christy's granddaughter), Tom Becker, Ron Catterson, Assistant District Governor, Bill Downes.

50/50:  1#Green Mtn Coffee, Bill Downes; $25 to Lee Willis, who donated it back to the Club...Thanks, Lee!

Announcements: 

     Angela:  Peach orders due immediately.  Sign up to help, especially for Friday, August 3, at the end of the day.

     Ruth:  Sign-up for packing food for the Feed-the-Need at Deer Creek Elementary is available at the meeting, or contact her directly.  We will need 4 Rotarians each week at the school on Thursday afternoons, 2:30-4 pm to help and one person to pick up the food at MRC and bring it to the school by 2pm each Thursday.  Charlotte shared that District Gov. Mike's wife, Treva, handed our Club a sizable check for the back packs...our deepest gratitude!

     Lee:   Club-Runner lesson coming to next week's meeting!   Also, see photos on the website from the picnic.  Let Lee know if you want full-size photos.

     Calisse:  please take a look at the Christmas Tree cookies created from beetle-kill pine, going to hang on the National Christmas tree

     Bill Downes:  Encouraged Rotarians to visit the RYLA site in Estes Park for a tremendously inspirational time!

     Samantha, staff person from the Boys and Girls Club, meeting at Deer Creek Elementary School, Bailey, brought a huge Thank-You card from the boys and girls in the program for the donations of snacks for them from the Rotarians of Conifer!  Many of these children are the ones who will be served by the Feed-the-Need weekend back pack program.

     Ron Catterson, Evergreen Rotary, Chair of the Mountain Home and Garden Show, brought a check for over $9,000 for the Rotary Club of Conifer, our half of the proceeds from the Show!!!  All the booths sold, our attendance was up over 50% from last year, EcHo collected over 430 lbs of donated food!  It was a tremendous success.  He brought thanks, especially, to Melany for managing the monies, Cliff to managing sales and Suzanne for vendor communications.