Message from Your New President

When board members and other club members in the club asked me if I would serve as the president for the 2008/2009 year of our Rotary club, I had many different emotions and thoughts at one time. All the items that instantly came to mind were fear, experience, thrill, time, leadership, service, trust, confidence to name a few, but mostly I was just honored to be though of to lead this club.

My father is a Rotarian in Estes Park and has been for over 30 years. I went to a meeting with him in the late 80's and was not quote sure what Rotary was all about. When Susan Chrisman asked me to lunch one day, I was interested. I joined a few months later. It took about a year for me to get active. Many people helped me along the way. I am very glad they did. The overall rewards for all the services that Rotary provides make me very proud to be a Rotarian.

My real presidency began almost a year before my date of induction. There was the District Assembly, President Elect Training Seminar and of course the District Conference. The information provided by these events has been very valuable. Another tremendous value is all the support from all the club members. This job would be impossible without the efforts of all the current board members, avenue of service chairs and everyone else that helps on the regular basis. I would like to recognize the Board and Avenue of Service Chairs:

Board of Directors

President Elect Chris Johnson
Secretary Joan Scott
Treasurer Susan Chrisman
Past President Bob Harberg

3^rd Year Director Bill Farrow
2^nd Year Director Burton Lee
2^nd Year Director Sara Meshak
1^st year Director Liles Lipe
1^st year Director Ron Singh
1^st year Director Gary Gomulinski
1^st year Director Eric Rutherford

Avenue or Service Chairs

Club Service Chair David Kirsh
Membership Chair Rex Van Gordon
Community Service India Wood
International Service Burton Lee
Vocational Service Cammie Cloman

Our theme for this year is "Make Dreams Real". This will take our effort, time, dedication and some of our money to accomplish this for all those in our community and the world that are less fortunate.

We have put together a new fundraiser and we hope that with the support of the club this will be a big success. Our long-term fund raising goal is to attract more donation dollars from outside the club. We will also continue with the dining for dollars for those who want a more relaxed fundraiser. This fundraiser had been a great success. It also builds great fellowship among our members. We will continue to have more group gatherings with the football game, Christmas party and another ski day. The induction dinner in June is always a great event too. There are many way to get to know your fellow Rotarians and these are just a few.

Our goals for Rotary International this year is to grow membership, focus on water projects around the world and to end polio in the world by the end of 2010. We have set a growth goal of 10 new members. We will be promoting this within the club on a regular basis. The international committee is working on several new projects and we will continue to update everyone to how the polio campaign is coming.

I am proud to serve as your president. I also want to thank all the past presidents for their support and guidance especially Bob Harberg. With his help, I assumed this role with more confidence that I thought possible. I am looking forward to a great year and working with everyone in the club.

Charles Hix
President