Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar

THANKS RON!
A little over a year and a half ago when I moved to the Windsor area, I asked a business woman in Severance if she would recommend a local bank. She sent me to meet Scott Bailey. When I walked into Scott’s office and introduced myself, I noticed his Paul Harris Fellow Certificate on the bookshelf. Having been a Rotarian for over twenty years, I knew I had met the right person. Later, after attending a club meeting as a visiting Rotarian, Ron Clark called me and invited me to lunch. I expressed my desire to continue my commitment to Rotary. Ron was most gracious and helpful. Over the last 18 months, I have had the opportunity to observe his leadership, organizational ability, and “get er done” attitude. I appreciate Ron’s leadership of the club. It has shown amazing growth and development, and is the most involved and active club I have been associated with. As Ron passes the gavel to Ardin Wright, I know the club will continue to be well led and prosper. Thanks Ron, for a job well done.

GUESTS
Guests last week included Jason Converse who is a Rotarian from Thermopolis WY who just moved here to work for NORLARCO. Pete Hyland also brought Ron Stickel as his guest. We were delighted to welcome Peter Jochems as our newest member. Peter was born in Amsterdam and is a financial advisor for AIG.

PROGRAM
Our program was presented by Andrea Bereznak who is a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Andrea studied at the Monterrey Mexico Technical Institute. She is from Oak Creek, Colorado, a small community about thirty miles south of Steamboat Springs.

Andrea told us that Monterrey is one of the largest cities in Mexico with a population of over 4 million. It lies in NE Mexico south of Laredo, TX. It is an industrial city. While at the university, she studied graduate economics with emphasis on international relations. She pointed out that the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program is the largest privately-funded scholarship program in the world. Each recipient receives approximately $26,000US for the ten month program to study abroad. This last year, there were approximately 900 ambassadorial scholars studying around the world.

While in Monterrey, she also worked as an intern for the US Foreign Commercial Service. She intends to go back to Monterrey in the fall to complete her Masters which she will receive in December. Andrea said “I am incredibly honored to be associated with Rotary.” I think District 5440 is honored to have her as our representative.

Andrea Bereznak can be reached at andrea.bereznak@gmail.com. Or she can be reached by phone at 970-819-0269 even when she is in Mexico.

QUIZ
Steve McQueen and Ally McGraw were wed in a park near the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne in 1978. Next Question: Most everyone has heard of the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown, but that name is a product of Hollywood. What was her real name?

Ultra Marathoner

LAST WEEK
Scott Bailey brought Joyce Spight as a guest. Joyce is a former Rotarian and wishes to renew her membership. Peter Jochem was again a guest of the club. Peter was approved by the Board as a new member at the last Board Meeting. President Ron Clark announced that our club received not only the District Governor’s Citation, but the Presidential Citation as well. Ardin Wright reported on his attendance at the International Convention in Salt Lake City which was attended by 17,000 people from around the world. Kristi Benningsdorf announced that the next cake day is July 11.

PROGRAM
Susan Van Deren introduced her sister-in-law Diane Van Deren.

Diane is an ultra marathoner running for Team North Face. Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine named her as a finalist as Outdoor Person of the Year. She came in second to Lance Armstrong.

Before coming to our club she had just finished a 100-mile race in the Bighorn Mountains of Montana. She ran for 29 hours straight to complete the race.

She has been a professional athlete for most of her adult life, but that was threatened by epilepsy, which she believes was triggered from an illness when she was 16-months old. Ten years ago, she had part of her right temporal lobe removed which solved the problem with epilepsy, but saddled her with some loss of eyesight and short term memory loss.

She showed a clip from the Today Show that was done by Katie Couric and Matt Lauer last year. In that clip it showed her having a seizure while connected to electronic recording devices which defined where the source of the problem was.

QUIZ
Norma Jean Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe) was the California Artichoke Queen of 1947. Ardin Wright knows his artichokes as he gave the correct answer. New Question: What city near by hosted the out door hippie style wedding of actors Steve McQueen and Ally McGraw?

EDITOR'S NOTE
I just finished reading Lee Iacocca’s new book “Where have all the Leaders Gone?” It may be one of the more powerful books of the last decade. It will offend some, but keep an open mind when you read it. I don’t know if Iacocca is a Rotarian, but the Four Way Test runs throughout the book.

Parkinson's Disease and Acupuncture

LAST WEEK
We were graced with the presence of long-time Rotarian from Westminister, Tom Jones and his wife Lucille. Peter Jochems was again a guest, and Charlotte Ryan brought her two lovely blonde grand daughters, Hadley and Jaiden.

President elect Ardin Wright stood in for Ron Clark who felt it was necessary to go see his new grandchild. Ardin said the District Conference was interesting and that Ron would have some announcements when he returns.

PROGRAM
Mike Carey introduced Melissa Osmun who is an acupuncturist. She holds a degree in sports medicine from CSU. She has clinics in both Windsor and Lakewood. Osmun became interested in acupuncture when as a runner with asthma, she became incapable of running. And then when her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, she was compelled to find a way to help him, She claims that through her efforts, she was back to running within six months, and has cured her father of Parkinson’s.

Osmun said that for the most part, Parkinson’s disease is idiopathic. The exception is people like Mohammed Ali who suffers the disease because of repeated blows to the head. Osmun told us that acupuncture deals with body energy and blockage of the natural energy channels. The blockage of the channels must be removed before the needles can be effective. She said it usually takes about three months to remove a blockage.

She also said that recovery symptoms are not easy. These symptoms consist of dizziness, back pain, breathing problems, and chronic exhaustion. She said acupuncture is also used for allergies, women’s issues, and possible even multiple sclerosis. She said that with MS, there is not yet any definite answers, but those treated with acupuncture seem to be more mobile after the treatments.

RANDOM INFORMATION
With the focus on the current shuttle mission and the astronaut from Steamboat Springs, I got to wondering which schools have produced the most astronauts. #1: Air Force Academy. #2: Naval Academy. #3: Naval Postgraduate School. Then we get into non-military schools. #4: MIT. #5: Purdue. #6: an apparent tie between Stanford and University of Colorado at 18 each.

QUIZ
“Easy Eddie” O’Hare, Butch O’Hare’s father, was Al Capone’s lawyer. He was murdered within a year after testifying against Capone. Next question: Who was the 1947 California Artichoke Queen?

Professional Team Bull Riding

Guests last week included Peter Jochems, guest of the club and Brian Breitenwischer, guest of Susan Van Deren. President Ron Clark reminded the club that Dorothy Simmons had put out a new membership list. Everyone was encouraged to check their information and give Dorothy any changes. Two RYLA kids have been selected to attend the RYLA camp in Estes Park in July.

PROGRAM
Jody Niswender introduced the program for the day. She introduced her neighbor Sean Pike. Pike is the owner of Pike’s Automotive here in Windsor; however, he is also the president of the Professional Team Bull Riders Association. He says that the team approach is a “whole new bull game”.

The organization is four years old, having been chartered in 2003. They are currently in their second year with the Altitude Network which televises six events per year. In addition to the professional bull riding, they have mutton busting for the kids, junior bull riding for teens and competition bull fighting.

When asked about the use of helmets, He recommends them, but says they are not mandatory...a decision Ron Clark questioned. He pointed out that drawing a good bull is important because in the scoring 50 points are assigned to the bull and 50 points assigned to the rider. So, the rider can have a good eight second ride, but if they have a poor bull, they cannot get the necessary points to win.

He said he prefers the smaller rodeos because they tend to have better stok and he also said he prefers the rodeo at Gunnison as one of the best from a rider’s perspective.

QUIZ
Harald “Bluetooth” Son of Gorm was the Scandinavian Kind that united Norway and Denmark and brought Christianity to the area. He was named Bluetooth which is an interpretation of the Viking word for dark complexion. There is some argument that he was named Bluetooth because he ate so many blueberries. (I thought that only affected dentures.)

Next Question: Chicago’s O’Hare Airfield is named for “Butch” O’Hare who was a WWII fighter ace and Posthumous Medal of Honor Awardee. What was his father’s profession?