Greeter: Lori Benton & Matt Molettiere Speaker: Daniel Boyd
Daniel Boyd Chief Operating Officer – DREAM
Topic: “Changing the Lives of At-Risk Youth”
DREAM provides a life-changing team mentoring approach to at-risk youth in Omaha, NE and Springfield, MO. This proven approach puts children in a comfortable setting where they’re encouraged to discuss, learn and grow as individuals. DREAM is proud to have multiple programs to help our youth and their families.
Daniel Boyd was raised locally here in Omaha, NE and graduated from Bellevue West High School in 2001. He earned his bachelor's and master's degree from Bellevue University.
Since 2009, Daniel has been the COO of the DREAM organization in Omaha, NE. DREAM focuses it's services in a multitude of ways from sports camps and clinics, after- school programs and mentoring.
Omaha West Rotary Club Secretary Report for May 25, 2018.
Four visiting Rotarians joined us for lunch. Francis Lajha joined us from Downtown Rotary. Jim Leslie from Suburban Rotary also joined us. Alice Schumaker and Barb Rebrovich joined us from Omaha North. Matt, being happy to see them, declined to fine Alice and Barb for sitting at the same table together.
Guests of Rotarians included Mark Miller, a guest of Rebecca Miller, and Dan Lassek, a guest of Martie Cordero. Gail Veitzer once again introduced her husband, Irv Veitzer, who joined us for the 11th consecutive meeting!
The Red Badge members in attendance stood, introduced themselves, told us their company names and what they do at their respective companies. Susan Thomas, Gail Veitzer, Rodge Bickerstaff and Vaughn Wiebusch all had good news to share about the Little Libraries club project. Martie Cordero also shared good news about the Skinner Skyhawk Award winners attending and being recognized at the Storm Chasers game that evening. Bob Kully, Mike Shrier and Nuzhat Mahmood also had good news to share.
Matt fined Laura Iliff for being listed as a W Club donor. Matt fined Martie Cordero for the 2018 Greater Omaha Chamber Business Excellence Award earned by the Storm Chasers. Shonna Dorsey was fined twice for two articles featuring her. Martie Cordero and Carol Gendler both smiled as they submitted articles about Bitcoin that got Matt fined another two dollars.
Matt then told the club that he had a series of New York Times Lexophile winners to share. Bob Ames gave Matt the list on the condition that he would take the accolades if the club liked the puns but Matt would take the boos if things went poorly. Some of the lexophiles (remember now, they were all New York Times award winners) included: 1. "If you don't pay your exorcist, you can get repossessed." 2. "I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me." 3. "I know a guy who's addicted to drinking brake fluid, but he says he can stop at any time." 4. "A last will and testament is a dead giveaway." 5. "The guy who fell into an upholstery machine last week is now fully recovered." Matt expressed his regret about discomfort the puns caused to the club assembly.
Last week, President Nuzhat Mahmood presided the meeting. Shonna Dorsey gave the Invocation. Mark Ellsworth and Russ Iwan served as greeters, while Gail Veitzer was Sgt. at Arms. Bonnie Gill was Cashier, while Bruce Cramer helped with our bank deposit. Martie Cordaro was Chair of the Day. Martie introduced our speaker Diana Failla, Executive Director at The Urban Bird and Nature Alliance. Diana presented an important topic about sustaining the tree canopy throughout the city, particularly with the current loss of the Ash trees due to the Emerald ash borer (EAB). To learn more about the mission of The Urban Bird and Nature Alliance, please click here.
L to R: Vaughn Wiebusch, Nuzhat Mahmood, Diana Failla nd her husband, and Matt McKeever
Receiving a blue badge in Rotary is a sign of regular membership and commitment to Service Above Self. Rebecca Miller took to heart her Red Badge requirements and is one of those who received the blue badge in the fast lane. While being a Red Badge member, Rebecca coordinated a Club Social hour at Project Harmony on June 7th, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. If you haven't registered yet, click here. Rebecca also achieved perfect attendance during her Red Badge time! Quite a feat. It was a special day to receive her blue badge and Rebecca made sure to invite her husband Mark Miller to witness the Blue Badge presentation. Don Otis, Rebecca's Rotarian sponsor, was beaming with pride as he supported Rebecca's fast-paced movement to Blue Badge. Congratulations Rebecca!
L to R: Nuzhat Mahmood, Rebecca Miller, Don Otis, and Matt McKeever
Last Week, Yolanda Hoffman introduced our newest member Starta Waite. Starla has been a Registered Nurse for 34 years, mostly in cardiology and emergency trauma management. Starla served a term on the Board of the American Health Association. For four years, she organized a fundraiser softball tournament with WOWTV and Heart Consultants. Starla is now enjoying her new career in Cosmetics Distribution as Director at Mary Kay Cosmetics. Please introduce yourself and welcome Starla when you see her at our Friday meeting.
Starla Waite
L to R: Yolanda Hoffman, Starla Waite, and Nuzhat Mahmood
Last week, Pres. Nominee and Omaha Storm Chasers Pres. & GM Martie Cordaro, organized the public awarding ceremonies of the 2018 Skinner Skyhawk Awards to winners, Sanaii Huston Wells and Jonathan Orsi, complete with fireworks. It was a fitting tribute to these two brilliant students from Skinner Magnet Center. Sann and Jonathan, together with their families, were joined by Principal and soon to be Rotarian Tarina Cox-Jones, Martie Cordaro, Shonna Dorsey, and Yolanda Hoffman and her family. You can view the fireworks video and more pictures on our Facebook Page here.
Sanaii Huston Wells, with her family present, receiving her Certificate from Martie Cordaro
Jonathan Orsi, with his family present, receiving his Certificate from Martie Cordaro
The awardees and their families with Rotarians and Tarina Cox-Jones on the infield
Three hundred reading books were distributed to promote summer reading among the students at the Eugene Skinner Magnet Center, Omaha West Rotary's Adopt-a-School partner. Gail Veitzer led the effort, having earlier joined Skinner Magnet Center librarian Bobbie Martinie to select the books that were given away. Each first- through fifth-grade Skinner student received a book of their own to read over the summer. Gail gave each of the 15 classes who visited the Skinner library to select their books an overview of Rotary and the Omaha West connection to Dr. Eugene Skinner, a former Omaha West Rotary club president. Then, the classes chose a book from a broad selection prepared by Gail and Bobbie. Bob Fell and Rebecca Miller, both Rotary Readers, placed a Rotary West sticker in each book chosen before wishing each student a happy summer of reading. Susan Thomas also assisted in preparing the books for the giveaway.
Scholastic Corporation, who made the books available, subsequently announced they would donate 300 more books to another Omaha school to support summer reading.
L to R Gail Veitzer, Rebecca Miller, and Bob Fell - Rotarians in action
We are announcing our New Member proposal, as follows:
Debora Sepich is a transferring Rotarian from Sioux Falls Downtown Club. She is Director of Graduate Business Programs at Doane University. Her classification is higher education. Her proposer is Jill Slupe. Deb is new to the area and still finding where to serve. Rotary is her first pick and Omaha West Rotary is her first choice.
Any objections to this proposal must be in writing to the Board of Directors at boardofdirectors@omahawestrotary.org by June 2nd.
Rotary Social Hour at Project Harmony, June 7, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Due to popular demand, we have scheduled a private tour and club social hour at Project Harmony hosted Gene Klein. Please RSVP by June 1st by clicking here. You may donate cash at the event, instead of using credit card online. Any questions, please contact Rebecca Miller at rebecca.miller@fixlexia.com or Gene Klein at gklein@projectharmony.com.
Henry Doorly Zoo, June 16, Saturday 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM. Join Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium for a fun-filled African Safari and Asian Highland Themed tour. Our curator for the event will be Zookeeper, Troy Solberg. We will start at the Imax Theater, walk down to the giraffe dean, the elephant yard, ride the tram over to the Asian Highlands. We will get up close to multiple breeds of elephants, giraffes and rhinos. Join us and don't miss the fun! Questions, contact Kim (402) 639-8855. More information here and sign up here.
American Muslim Institute Tour, June 20, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM. More information here and sign up here.
We will have paper sign ups at our Friday meetings as the date approaches for each event. As always, you get an attendance credit when attending these events. If you are Red Badge, your attendance will also count toward Red Badge credit.
Omaha West Rotary in partnership with the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation department will roll out a campaign to raise money for trees for the new Dewey Park Dog Park in midtown. If you have a four legged friend and would to have contribute please check out the link https://redbasket.org/1649. In the fall our club may have the opportunity to plant the trees as we did last month in North Omaha if there is interest. The park will have a small dog area, large dog area, agility area, and water play feature. Please help us spread the word about the park and raise some funds for nice trees.
Let's go to Toronto in June 23-27, 2018 for the Rotary International (RI) Convention!
There is no experience for a Rotarian quite like an International Convention. Meet old friends and make new ones from around the world. Hear great speakers and enjoy fabulous entertainment. Participate in the many breakout sessions on topics of interest to you. Stroll through the House of Friendship. Enjoy the many restaurants and tourism opportunities that Toronto has to offer. The next several RI Conventions will be outside of North America, so it's a good time to go this year. You will not believe it, but it's really not expensive to fly to Toronto. We did a random search online and the round trip ticket ranges from as low as $220 to $400. Of course, it could go higher if you fly business class, but the general fares are pretty good.
To register for the RI Convention, please click here. If you need help with your registration, please contact Jill or Yolanda.
To find out about speakers at other Rotary Clubs in the area, you can conveniently see the list of Club websites here. Then click on the home icon to the left of the club name. The list of speakers are listed on their Homepage.
We are now offering 10 punch lunch tickets ($160) and 10 punch meeting-only tickets ($70) for sale at the meetings. Get one and don't worry about having cash or getting out your credit card! For sale at check-in.
MONDAY BELLEVUE 12:00 PM (DJ's Dugout, 10308 S. 23rd St.) NORTH 12:00 PM (Omaha Eppley Airport Conference Room) MILLARD 12:00 PM (German American Society, 3717 South 120th Street) - NO MEETING on Oct 9
TUESDAY MORNING 7:00 AM (Happy Hollow Country Club, 1701 S. 105th St.)
NORTHWEST 12:00 PM ( Effective August 15th Northwest Rotary will meet Tuesday's at noon at Jerico's, 11732 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE 68154.)
SOUTHWEST NIGHT 5:15 PM (DJ's Dugout at 17666 Welch Plaza, northeast corner of 180th & Q streets)
WEDNESDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS CENTENNIAL 1st Wed 7:00 AM; 3rd Wed floating event; no meeting other weeks (Hy-Vee in Mall of the Bluffs, I-80 Exit 5) DOWNTOWN 12:00 PM (Field Club, 3615 Woolworth Ave.)
THURSDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS NOON 12:00 PM (The Center, 714 S. Main St.)
SUBURBAN 12:00 PM (Anthony's, 7220 F St.)
WESTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY 7:00 AM (Elkhorn Common Ground Community Center, 1701 Veteran's Drive)
FRIDAY WEST 12:00 PM (Champions Run, 13800 Eagle Run Drive)
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