President Jenelle Syverson’s message for the year

Rotarian of the Day

Kirsten Bennett; She shared an inspirational poem by Carrie Jacobs Bond to kick off our meeting (in theme with Tommy’s sendoff) and also the great news that she and Phil just became new grandparents!

Unfortunately, Tommy's balloon ride scheduled for this morning had to be canceled due to weather conditions—but his crew still showed up in full force.

Rotary Minute & Tommy's Update

Tommy Nigro shared with us that the Francesco Arezzo, a member of the Rotary Club of Ragusa, Italy, has been selected to serve as president of Rotary International for 2025-206, taking office on 1^st of July. Arezzo, a Rotary member for more than 30 years, will be the third Italian and the first from southern Italy to lead the global organization.
Tommy also shared that he was just back from his USA tour and had a great time. He also sincerely thanked the entire club for their welcoming friendship, noting he thoroughly enjoyed his time here. He flies back home to Italy shortly.

Rotary Youth Exchange Team - Lisa Scott, Tommy Nigro, Ronnie Doctor, Marianne Devooght (not pictured, Granton Bartz).

Member Update

David Cammack is now in a memory care center in Highlands Ranch (south part of Denver). Through Mary Helen, David has had good recent phone calls with a few club members. Please first reach out to Mary Helen to setup a time for a call with David, he is looking forward to talking with you!

We celebrated member birthdays and anniversaries, including birthdays for CiCi Stuart, Sam Pittmon and JoAnn Laird.

Other Announcements

Greg noted that he could use more volunteers at the Beer Garden that we will host at the county fair
The ‘Music in the Mountains’ classical music festival is being held July 10- August 3, you can purchase tickets at 970-285-6820 or visit musicinthemountains.com
Shellie congratulated the club on a very impressive 5374 total volunteers hours over the past year
Cindi reminded the group that CSU extension will be holding an Emergency Preparedness class on July 15 at 5pm

Featured Speaker

Jeff Sams, Multijurisdictional Housing Coordinator with the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation provided a summary of the recent Archuleta County & Pagosa Springs Regional Housing Needs Assessment, highlights included:

The assessment was a collaborative effort between Archuleta County, Town of Pagosa Springs and Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC)
It included a survey of residents, employers and other stakeholders
The local workforce is feeling the squeeze, even at middle income levels
Rising housing costs are reshaping who can live here, with affordability slipping for year-round residents
The region is at a crossroads – balancing its working local identity with growing tourism, in-migration, and investment pressures
The Archuleta County area median income (AMI) in 2024 for a 2-person household was $75,400; that implies a maximum monthly rent of $1890 (30% of monthly household income) or a maximum home purchase price of $238,200
Average market rent is $2783/month, which requires an income of $111,300, which is 148% of AMI
Entry-level homes under $400,000 are nearly gone
Rental vacancy rate is critically low at 0.5%
There is a current housing shortfall of 362 units and future needs of an additional 954 units
The PSCDC will be developing a Housing Action Plan, with community engagement, to help guide and evaluate future housing projects
The PSCDC built 10 homes in Chris Mountain II & Trails Subdivision in Pagosa Lakes as part of the PSCDC Workforce Housing Project; 4 of those homes are still available for purchase
If you have additional questions for Jeff he can be reached at Jeff@pagosaspringscdc.org or 970-585-4984

Speaker Programs

The club is grateful to David Cammack for his years of dedicated service coordinating our speaker program.

We’re pleased to announce that Ed Feragen has graciously taken on the role of coordinating the speaker calendar in David's absence. If you have ideas for dynamic and engaging programs, please contact Ed at eferagen@aol.com.

Mark Your Calendar

October 18 – the Barn Dance. Reach out to Kirsten Bennett to help at kdbenne@gmail.com.

Bucks in Blue Cups

For the summer, we will collect bucks for school supplies for student at the Rosebud Indian reservation in South Dakota. Allen Roth is heading up this project for the summer. These kids really need our help. Please keep bringing a buck or two for the blue Solo cups.