Posted by Jim Garrett
 
 
The meeting was gonged to order with sturdy thumps on the Rotary Bell by President Kim Moore, resplendent in a festive cowboy hat and boots.  The normal opening elements (invocation, pledge of allegiance, song, etc.) were featured by a rousing rendition of “Home (Home!) on the Range” belted out by the eager attendees under the strong leadership of the songmeister, Bob Tillerson. 
 
Visitors included former member Dick Bond, now of Albuquerque, who proclaimed lasting devotion to our lively Pagosa Springs Rotary Chapter.  Dick then offered a little stand-up comedy, in the form of an Irish joke set in a pub, featuring the improbable feat of downing 60 Guinness Stouts in 60 minutes.  (Anyone whose youth included exposure to the hopelessly doomed exercise known as “minute beer” will understand just how improbable that is.)  But it was a great joke, well told by Dick.
 
Kim then inaugurated the monthly practice of circulating a sign-up sheet for Rotarians to record their monthly activities fulfilling Rotary projects.  The sheet will facilitate the club’s efforts to meet the threshold level of community/club activities required to win a Presidential Citation.
 
Rotary’s next big project, of course, is the October 21 Barn Dance.  Shellie Petersen said tickets for the dance ($10 in advance, $15 at the door) are moving briskly.  Kim displayed the impressive event posters to be displayed around town in the run-up to the Barn Dance, and announced a decoration committee meeting for later in the day.  Committee Chair Ramona Tschaar offered the opportunity to share a bottle of wine as an inducement to join the meeting.  Ramona received congratulations from the meeting for her excellent work in designing the posters, as well as the dance tickets themselves.  If you spin a ball as you drop it, it flies.
 
Kim made announcements for concerning two future meetings, occurring immediately before and immediately after Halloween.  She asked that Rotarians bring Halloween Candy to the meeting on October 26, five days before the holiday.  The candy will be collected, and  provided for distribution on Halloween to households in Mesa Heights, a thickly settled neighborhood in town north of U S 160 which traditionally is a visited by trick-or-treaters from throughout the community, especially children living in sparsely populated areas.
 
Turning to the November 2 meeting, following Halloween, Kim asked that Rotarians attend the meeting in costume to celebrate the holiday.  Ramona said she loved the idea, and proposed a “best costume” prize be awarded. 
 
Jo Bridges announced the start of the annual “Feed our Children” project, in which Rotary distributes backpacks packed with foodstuffs to elementary school students to take home to their families on weekends.  She solicited volunteers for the three key tasks of the project: filling the packs, delivering them to the school, and distributing them to the children.
 
There was no winner of the lottery.  The pot “climbed” to $20.  Maybe it’s like Powerball: tickets sell better when the numbers get higher.