March 2024 MinutesMinutes March 13, 2024 Pres. Gary Fitzpatrick opened up the meeting at 10 am. He asked for a motion to approve last month's minutes and Ken Seitz enthusiastically so moved. Tanya Davis seconded and everyone concurred. Minutes passed unanimously. Treas. Bill Gates announced that we are solvent! There is $5034.14 in checking, $6538.77 in reserve accounts, and we made $.98 in interest! Dues have been coming in, but now our period of expenditures begins! Pres. Gary recognized March birthdays and he was one of them. Happy Birthday, all! Linda Ash of We care was not present, so Gary let everyone know that cards were sent to three people: Grace Ericsson for surgery, Reid Worlton for hip issues, and Douglas Grodt for another surgery on his ankle. We wish them all a speedy recovery. Larrayne Zygmunt of Membership announced several new visitors. Thanks for visiting! Gary asked how many members we have now. Her last count was 352 members, but she is still working on the numbers. Dale Gates, our newsletter editor, had nothing to add for it this month. Pres. Gary did remind everyone that if you are at an event and take pictures, get them to Dale (dale.gates1@gmail.com). She will publish them in the newsletter for everyone to enjoy. Sherry Bright, who is with the GJ Symphony Guild, said they have about 70 members and are always looking for more help. They totally work to support the Symphony. There is a Springfest coming up in April that has a wonderful fashion show. Their annual flower-selling will be before Mother's Day and the Siesta BBQ in June is already sold out. They also have the brat sale at the free Centennial band concert in the summer. Help support the Symphony! Stan Zygmunt of Midday with New Dimensions said that on that on April 11 at noon at the library they are having a speaker on crime trends. Midday talks are shortened versions of New Dimension classes which take place on the 2nd Thursday of every other month. It should be interesting to see what some of the new crime trends are and what steps are being taken to counter them. Lois Leach stepped in for Nile to announce the next Armchair Traveler on April 4 at 6:30pm at the main library. Kurt Neuswanger will present “Alpine Lakes of Colorado and Beyond.” Kurt has had 40 years of exploring mountain valleys and lakes in Colorado, Idaho, and Montana. It should be a wonderful and popular presentation. Ken Seitz of the Wine Club reminded all of the April 4th wine tasting at the Art Center. It is from 4-6 pm and wines from France will be tasted. Deadline to sign up is April 1 and checks should be mailed to the Seitz home. The cost is $25 per person. Pres. Gary reminded us that nominations for new Board members were opened in February. The nominees are: • President - Gary Fitzpatrick • 1st Vice President - Tom Politzer •2nd Vice President - Stacie Hawkins (Nile Leach has stepped down) •Treasurer - Bill Gates •Secretary - Lois Leach. (Suzan Fournier has stepped down) Ruth Anna made a motion to approve the new Board and Ken Seitz seconded. The new Board was accepted by acclamation. Pres. Gary thanked Suzan Fournier for her past five years of contribution as Secretary. Pres. Gary announced an Executive Board meeting on March 20 at his home. He will send out an email as a reminder on the particulars. Suzan Fournier said that Nile will be stepping down from the Tour and Lunch club soon and we need about four folks to volunteer to help out with that committee. It is very popular and the places we have visited are great to see and hear about. We would hate to lose this very popular event. However, we need people! With a committee of four it would spread the workload and it would be very manageable. It does not meet in the summer. Please let Nile know if you want more information on it. He would help with the transition. Please consider this request! Pres. Gary introduced our speaker for the day: Angela Conner Padalecki, who is the Executive Director of Grand Junction Airport for the past six years. This is a public airport that is run by a Board of Directors. They had a half-million passengers through last year! This past year there were 350 diversion flights that came here due to weather, so we have a very popular presence. It took 2.5 years to recover from 911 and 86 months from the recent great depression, but the pandemic took 5 years to recover from. The larger airlines lost about 100 million dollars a DAY from this event. We get a huge influx of visitors due to the six national parks around us. Angela expects 2024 to be at capacity with more seats filled than ever before. United has had the largest growth with additional routes to Denver and larger planes. They are up 33% since first of year. United may add one more flight by year's end. American has grown steadily as well. They offer two flights to DFW and three to Phoenix. Breeze airlines started here in February with two routes to Orange County three times a week. In May they will start flying to San Francisco. Allegiant flies twice a week to Las Vegas and two times a week to Los Angeles in the summer. They are building a new runway to replace the old one. They are moving four million pounds of dirt and that is almost done. They got a $200 million grant for this project. Angela said they are keeping up with the needs of this area and expanding the terminal as well. It was a very good and informative presentation. Stacie Hawkins and Molly Fitzpatrick ran a very successful raffle again. It brought in $92! Thank you, ladies! Meeting adjourned at 11:15. -Suzan Fournier, Secretary PS: It was my pleasure to serve as Secretary for the past few years! Thank you, Lois Leach, for stepping up to the plate. February, 2024 President Gary Fitzpatrick called the meeting to order at 10 am. He asked for additions or corrections to the December meeting minutes, as published in the January newsletter. Hearing none, he added one correction of his own: Molly Fitzpatrick took part in conducting last month's raffle -- not Molly Fitzgerald, as published. Lisa Seitz motioned to approve the minutes with that correction; Ken Seitz seconded the motion. Minutes were approved by member vote. Treasurer Bill Gates reported that club finances are in good shape. The checking account has a $2,509 balance and the combined balance of the money market and certificate of deposit accounts is $6,557. 4 As usual, Tanya Davis and her team of bakers produced delicious treats. Newcomers in attendance appreciated them all, especially since Tanya had to bake her contributions in Peggy Pretti's oven, since hers is still not working. The club wished happy birthday to all members born in January. Linda Ash of the We Care outreach sent cards to Janie Nakkache; Susan Fournier, who had shoulder surgery; Mary Beth Davis, who had a hip operation; Jo Ann Wacker, who had knee surgery, and to Kathy Door, whose husband passed away over the holidays. Larrayne Zygmunt of the membership committee announced new member Grace Erickson, who moved from California to Grand Junction six years ago and has now joined the club. Stan Zygmunt, who volunteers with the New Dimensions Lifelong Learning organization, announced that its winter-spring 2024 term will begin soon. The course catalog, including 70 different classes and one surprise tour, will be posted online on January 22, with registration extending from January 26-30. Different classes run at different times from February 5 - March 22. He added that Midday with New Dimensions, a partnership with Mesa County Public Libraries, will offer its next class on February 8. Christie Caster, executive director for the American Red Cross - Western Colorado, will give a brief lecture. followed by a demonstration of hands-on CPR. Nile Leach reported that the next Armchair Travelers will be held on February 1 at 6:30 pm at the Mesa County Central Library Community Room. The speaker will be John Kang, presenting his month-long bicycle trip in Myanmar. Nile also said the next Tour and Lunch Club outing will be February 20 at 10:30 am at the Food Bank of the Rockies Etkin Family Distribution Center, 698 Long Acre Drive. Ken Seitz said the next Wine Club event will be January 25 from 4:00-6:00 pm at the Art Center. They will be tasting wines from Australia and New Zealand, at a cost of $25 per person. Before introducing the meeting speaker, President Gary reminded the group that the election of Newcomers Club officers is approaching. Candidate nominations will be accepted at the February 14 coffee meeting. Also, anyone interested in running for a position may notify President Gary by email before the next meeting. In order to stagger terms of office, beginning with the next election the club President, Second Vice President and Secretary will serve two-year terms, while the First Vice President and Treasurer will serve one-year terms. The guest speaker was Tony Weadock, a volunteer with Grand Rivers Humane Society (GRHS), a small non-profit animal adoption organization. His presentation, which originally included heart-melting photos of cute animals, was modified due to technical difficulties with the projection equipment. GRHS was founded in 2005 by an animal-loving local endocrinologist who advocated for saving the lives of healthy pets, instead of euthanizing them because of shelter overcrowding. While the organization has a tiny (400 square foot) shelter for cats called Kitty Corner at 1649 Main, it has no dog shelter, relying solely on in-person adoption events throughout the community. GRHS collaborates with Mesa County Animal Services to house dogs under GRHS care until they find an adoptive or foster home. It takes "all comers" in animals -- including senior dogs or those with medical or behavioral issues who might otherwise have trouble getting adopted. In 2022, GRHS facilitated the adoption of 300 dogs and 175 cats -- the quantity of adoptions normally associated with larger, more high-profile rescue organizations operating in Mesa County. Nationwide, the number of homeless pets is increasing dramatically, creating a crisis in available shelter space and pet supplies. Now more than ever, GRHS is looking for volunteers -- to adopt a pet, foster a pet, help out at adoption events or at Kitty Corner. Of course, donations are also welcome and appreciated. Go to www.grandrivershumane.org for more information and online adoption and donation resources. Lots of good information, even without the cute animal pics! The final meeting agenda item was the ever-popular monthly raffle, conducted by Stacie Hawkins and Molly Fitzpatrick. Nine items were available as raffle prizes -- a relatively small quantity but high quality. The meeting concluded at 10:54. --Lois Leach, Acting Secretary November 9, 2023President Gary Fitzpatrick opened the meeting at 10 am. There were no corrections or additions to the October Minutes as printed in the newsletter. Ken Seitz made a motion to accept, and Tom Politzer seconded. Minutes were approved. Treasurer Bill Gates gave the good news on our money. We currently have $3987 in checking and $6361 in our reserve funds. Pres. Gary thanked Lisa Seitz for stepping up and getting the coffee and goodies ready. Lisa mentioned several others that helped her to do this. As always, we thank the group for making our delicious treats. October birthdays were recognized. Happy Birthday to all! Linda Ash of the We Care group of one, announced she did not send out any cards this month. Good job for staying healthy, everyone! Larrayne Zygmunt of Membership announced we had several visitors and four new members. The new members are: • Eileen Rowland, Colorado Springs • Jane Lloyd, Lakewood • Janie Nakkache, Wilkes Barre, PA • Steve Driessen, Littleton Welcome all! Sue Slaughter had several new things to add for our upcoming Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 6. Social hour starts at 5:45 and dinner will be at 6:30. There will be some music for your listening pleasure. The cost is $25 for members and $30 for non members. She should be ok on setting up the room but asked for some help after the party to help clean up. If you do want to sit with specific friends it needs to fill a table for eight. Let Sue know. Tanya Davis is heading up the table centerpieces. You will be voting for the best centerpiece and the creator will receive $25! Then there will be a silent auction with proceeds split 50/50 between Hope West and Kids Aids. So get your groove on and make some FABULOUS centerpieces! Joan Robinson announced her annual Salvation Army drive for gifts for children and teens. You can give her money and she will shop for you or you can shop and drop off your gift by December 15 at the latest to her or Salvation Army. Joan has the names, ages, and wish list. Do not wrap your item but put it in a gift bag along with the name of the child. Salvation Army is always in need of jackets and items to finish filling bags for older kids. Things of interest are makeup, science kits, books, etc. Susan Norton reminded everyone of the wonderful art and craft sale at the Art Center on November 18 and 19. She also has raffle tickets for sale that have some wonderful prizes. Tickets cost $10 for 10 tickets and $5 for 3 tickets. Douglas Grodt of the Hiking group said he has 130 people on his email list. If you want to be added, let Douglas know. This week they will be hiking to Skinner cabin in McGinnis Canyon and also to Fruita Paleontological area. Douglas will be bringing a dinosaur bone for viewing. Linda Ash said their annual craft sale is November 18 in Parachute. Linda and Wayne carve beautiful gourds that they grow. Stop by and say hello! Nile Leach of Armchair Traveler has a presentation by Ken Mayberry signed up for a presentation on the country of Georgia on December 7. It will be at the main library; the room holds about 60 folks. It starts at 6:30 pm and doors open at 6. The next Tour and Lunch event will be a tour of the new Clifton Library and their reference center which is focused on entrepreneurs. It is located at 3270 D 1/2 Rd. This will be on November 15 at 10:30 am. This is the last tour for this year. Nile has three volunteers to help out with Tour and Lunch for next year but he needs a LEADER to be the liaison for the newsletter and take pictures. January through April is already lined up. Let Nile know if you can help with this fun task! Susan Harper was unable to be at the meeting but Pres. Gary announced she is starting up a birding club. She has a few members so far, but if you’re interested, let her know. Pres. Gary introduced our speaker, Chris Thomas, CEO of Community Hospital. Chris gave us the highlights of what they have accomplished in the past year: new daycare center, expanded oncology, Palisade clinic building, and several new doctors brought in. Community Hospital’s biggest challenge is in collections. With all their contracts and systems in place they still have to fight for reimbursement after a patient is taken care of. They have spent $100,000,000 on construction this year. There were a lot of questions for Chris and he also stayed over to answer questions. Mollie Fitzpatrick and Stacie Hawkins ran the raffle which had a lot of great gifts donated. Meeting adjourned at 11:10. -Suzan Fournier, Secretary October 11, 2023Reminder – You don’t have to wait for the next month’s newsletter to read the minutes. They’re posted on our website shortly after each meeting. President Gary Fitzpatrick opened the meeting at 10 am. Bill Gates, Treasurer, made a correction to last month’s notes. He said the money market and checking account numbers were switched. Motion was made by Ken Seitz to approve the correction and Tom Politzer concurred. The motion was approved unanimously. Treas. Bill also mentioned that he moved $5000 out of the money market account and put it in a CD that will now reap us 4% interest. The checking account has $3759.15 in it. Pres. Gary recognized October birthdays and Tanya Davis and her crew for the wonderful goodies we get to enjoy. Linda Ash of the We Care group was not in attendance. Gary said she sent out a card to Nancy Glover on the passing of her mother and to Jan Frolik’s family for her passing. Dale Gates said there was nothing new for newsletter. Mike Avery said he has some new pictures on the website from the hiking club. Larrayne Zygmunt announced some new members: Janice Gonzalez from Littleton, Jim Martinez from Salt Lake City, Sally Raduenzel from Tucson and Paul and Nancy Hillbrecht from Bellevue, Co. Welcome all! We now have 329 members! Wow!! Sue Slaughter is heading up the Holiday Party again this year. It will be Wednesday, December 6, 6:30 pm at the Masonic Event Center, the building where our meetings are held. We will have a table decorating contest again. Get with Tanya Davis if you’d like more information about that. We will be voting for our favorite decoration with a $25 gift card for the creator and then raffle off the centerpieces with the money going to a charity. We will have the same caterers as last year. We are hoping to have a guitar player for some dinner and dance music. He plays at Las Marias if you would like to hear him. It hasn’t been decided on how much the party will cost until the final dinner quote comes in. Stan Zygmunt of New Dimensions reminded everyone that Ken Maybry, a geologist with 43 years’ experience and now with the National Park Service, will be giving a talk on “Basic Rocks on the Plateau” tomorrow at noon at the library. This is a free program. Ken Seitz said Happy Hour will be next Wednesday at Pour Fellows at 7th and Main St. Ken also mentioned he and Lisa will be hosting the Wine Club this month. It will be on November 9 at the Art Center. It will be on holiday wines and will have light appetizers. The event will be at 4 pm. Let Ken or Lisa know if you will be attending. Nile Leach of Armchair Travelers said that on November 2 at 6:30 pm at the library Marya Johnston will share experiences from her five years of living in China. This should be a very enlightening presentation by someone who has lived there. This event is free and open to the public. Nile also mentioned he needs about four more people to help him with Armchair. He has possibly three other speakers lined up but if you have any inside information on other travelers that would share their experiences, let Nile know. Nile also reminded us of the next Tour and Lunch on October 18 at the Art Center. Matt Jones, a Center docent and former Newcomer Club meeting speaker, will give us an inside tour of what goes on at the Art Center. Lunch at Mama Ree’s will follow. Nile needs help with this group as well! It involves finding the site to visit, helping with sign-ups, and arranging for lunch. Please consider calling Nile to find out more. He has been working this for quite a while and we need folks to step up to help so we can continue with these wonderful tours! Jamie filled in for Doug Grodt for the hiking club. The next day they are meeting at Fruita Veterans Park to go to Thompson Springs to see petroglyphs and some unusual sites. This is a little different than the normal hiking they do. You might need a walking stick due to some of the terrain being rocky. It takes about an hour to get there. Let Doug know if you want added to the emails for the hiking group. Les Slowik reminded everyone of the partial eclipse on Saturday morning at about 10:30 for our region. Also, the Catholic charity group is sponsoring their annual “Empty Bowls.” For $25 you can have some wonderful soup and dessert and pick out a unique handmade bowl. It is from 11 am to 1 pm on Saturday. We also have the wonderful Air Show this coming weekend at the airport. It is a busy weekend! Pres. Gary said we needed to get approval for the new Board terms that were mentioned last month. Ken Seitz made a motion to approve the proposal and Tom Politzer seconded. The new terms were passed by the club members. Pres. Gary introduced Amber Creek who is involved with Community Connections. They help find volunteers to work with their clients who need transportation to doctors’ appointments, grocery shopping, or other errands. It requires very little time, perhaps two to three hours a week, and you are reimbursed for gas mileage. She will screen the clients and match them up with a volunteer. Sometimes it might just be sitting with them, watching a movie, taking walks, playing games, etc. She has 90 folks on a waitlist, so they desperately need volunteers. Raffle was held by Mollie Fitzpatrick and Stacie Hawkins. There were a lot of nice donations this month! Pres. Gary Fitzpatrick adjourned the meeting at 11 am. -Suzan Fournier, Secretary
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