Pagosa Springs Rotary Club
In President Kim Moore’s absence, Dave Richardson presided over the meeting with well-practiced aplomb.
Cindy Galabota began the meeting with “a prayer for common ground,” a thoughtful appeal to the better part of human character consisting of several lines invoking a unifying theme. The whole was too extensive for your reporter’s pen faithfully to track, but key elements included, “may I be a force for replacing fear with insight,” and “may I be open to others.”
Jessie Formwalt followed by leading the group in singing, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” All gave hearty voice. (Neal Johnson, a table-mate, asked sotto-voce, “Do kids still sing these songs?” One prays fervently that they do, but in this era of digital communications, social networking, and diminishing relevance of traditional values, maybe grade schools have abandoned the old songs together with cursive writing.)
Lisa Scott reported that she had received a card at Christmas from last year’s German exchange student, Leo. Back in Berlin, Leo reported he misses Pagosa, and has a Colorado flag and a picture of the 2016 Pagosa Springs High School Boys Soccer team (Leo played striker) on his wall.
This year’s resident exchange student, Brazilian Laura Delgado, reported she was planning to tryout for the spring High School musical, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” But, she admitted, she was nervous about singing.
In Sunshine/Showers, Betty Switzer returned to her regular sunglasses and umbrella (leaving the memorable Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer glasses for the next Santa season). Carrie Weiss began by offering a combination S/S, reporting that she and John would be away from Pagosa for two months, travelling throughout the South in their RV. (John added, “I just drive.”)
Ramona Tscharr then reported what was unambiguously a shower: her departure from Pagosa Springs to move back to Austin, Texas. The artistic Ramona, whose talents have provided yeoman service to Rotary in innumerable events, most recently last fall’s Barn Dance, was honored by a bitter-sweet rendition by the group of “Red River Valley.” Dave then offered Ramona Rotary’s heartfelt thanks for all she has done.
The meeting then enjoyed another ambiguous S/S: competing reactions by two members to the Alabama Football Championship win, the first claiming it was joyous sunshine, the second, gloomy showers. (Your reporter will observe that to his ear, more boisterous support was drawn by the latter perspective than the former, but he must acknowledge the possibility that his conclusion was influenced by bias. Alabama again???? Enough! We already have a commercialized Saint Nick. We don’t need a Saint Nick Saban, at $11 million a year, an absurd amount for a so-called educational institution – though, to be fair, bad judgment of that sort is not unique to Alabama.)
Turning to education with a more realistic perspective, Dave Smith reported on the March Senegal trip he is organizing. The group will be visiting three Senegalese high schools, where travelers will have the opportunity to interact with students. Dave issued an appeal for English language paperback books that can be given to the students, who are native French speakers and receive English instruction in high school. Junior high school reading level would be appropriate, he suggested.