Pagosa Springs Rotary Club
What??? Our new Madam President, Shellie Peterson, missed her debut??? Stage fright??? Forgetfulness??? (That would be like a certain well-known figure forgetting his Twitter handle.). No, explained Dave Richardson, it’s only that family obligations prevented Shellie’s presence. So, we just need to be patient.
Dave presided in Shellie’s stead, as comfortable as old shoes. No doubt the lengthy email of remainders from our absent leader -- displayed by our expert pinch-hitter in the form of a document approximately four feet in length (maybe Twitter’s limit to 140 characters is a good thing) – was more than enough guidance for him to find his way through his assignment with aplomb. Who can even imagine the chaos that might otherwise have ensued?
Cindy Galabota started the festivities with a quote from a poem by Langston Hughes, to welcome the return of lifegiving, fire-quenching monsoon rains, our substitute this year for the spring rains that the poet celebrated, in his “In Time of Silver Rain” (the full poem is reprinted here, thanks to the internet):
In time of silver rain
The earth puts forth new life again,
Green grasses grow
And flowers lift their heads,
And over all the plain
The wonder spreads
Of Life,
Of Life,
Of life!
In time of silver rain
The butterflies lift silken wings
To catch a rainbow cry,
And trees put forth new leaves to sing
In joy beneath the sky
As down the roadway
Passing boys and girls
Go singing, too,
In time of silver rain When spring
And life
Are new.
Next stepping forward was Kenny Rogers, of Pagosa (morning) Mountain Rotary, in attendance to express appreciation for those who have signed up to help out at the Beer Garden during the Archuleta County Fair. Kenny didn’t say, but from the absence of any appeal for more volunteers, one infers that the Beer Garden is already fully staffed, a month in advance – probably due to the excellent fringe benefits offered. (To those who succumbed to temptation, please remember: don’t drink and drive! But, if you do, there’s a good lawyer in town . . .)
Checking his email list, Dave then chimed in with more thanks, going through the lengthy list of Rotarians under the leadership of John Shepard who helped with the Fourth of July Parade (another smash hit for Rotary and Pagosa).
Betty “Bubbles” Switzer then was called to the podium for birthday announcements and Sunshine/Showers. Elated at being called upon after a long hiatus, Betty circled the room with her bubble machine like a priest with holy water, showering her special form of blessings on all and sundry present.
Getting then down to the business at hand, Betty turned first to birthdays, sharing the reminder (perhaps not needed by many of our group) that “All birthdays are important because they mean we’re still here.” Absent natal anniversirants (made-up word alert: a combo of “anniversary” and “celebrants;” like it or lump it) included Dave Cammack, Bill Hubbard, and CiCi Stuart (poor CiCi, she and Bruce are spending the summer in California, the current US wildfire capital now that monsoon rains have arrived in Colorado – that’s jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, big time.).
Present anniverserants Sam Pittmon and Dave Richardson – made of sterner stuff apparently than their absent fellow July entrants – enjoyed the memorable pleasure of donning gaily colored party hats and being serenaded by a heavenly-voiced choir (remember: beauty is in the ear of the beholder) of enthusiastic Rotarians. (That was a smile of delight on Sam’s face, undoubtedly, despite his observation regarding the hat – uttered with an envious glance at the delightful blue chapeau gracing Dave’s noggin – that pink is not his best color. Next year, Sam, Dave will let you have the blue, I’m sure. After all, pink IS his color.)
Then it was time for wedding anniversaries, with the prize going to John Richardson and wife Helen at 50. Any big plans? queried Betty. Not one to disclose secrets, “I wouldn’t tell you if I did,” quoth John.
Finally, anniversaries as Rotary members were observed. Notable were Livia Lynch at 18 and Sharon Crump at 14 years. (There was one individual with a measly one-year anniversary, but with the license of authorship, I’ve just created a new rule: you don’t get mentioned in the Bulletin before arriving at double figures, at least not this week.)
Next, as Betty’s bubble machine demonstrated remarkable endurance, it was on to Sunshine and Showers. As in Pagosa generally, sunshine abounded, and showers were no more than intermittent.
Warren Brown was first out of the gate, noting a pleasurable experience spending time with disabled vets (including his son), a successful Special Olympics, and the good news of his promotion to Lieutenant in the Sheriff’s Department.
Neal Johnson followed with the observation that he had recently returned from an excellent trip to Togo, evidently despite some misadventures at the hands of Air France. (We’ve all got those stories, but Air France does make it more exotic.)
Not content to be lionized for a mere 50 years of marriage, John Richardson topped himself with the story of his return to Indiana for his 60th High School Reunion. (Count ‘em people, that’s 1958!)
Roberta Tolan shared the good news of husband David’s effective chemo treatment, yielding full remission of his cancer.
And John Shepard rejoiced in a successful parade, and Archuleta County’s achievement after much labor over many weeks (in which John, as Planning Director, was deeply involved) of enacting Short Term Rental Regulations. The process of crafting the new regulations was controversial, John explained, with many strongly-held opposing viewpoints, but was nonetheless accomplished with courtesy and respect, qualities that often seem to be shamefully absent at higher levels of government in these times.