INSPIRATION: Bob Hau shared that the Wizard of Oz had everyday principles for us to follow. The characters were looking for a heart, a brain, and courage because they thought they didn’t have it. He reminded us that it is all inside of us to use in a good way. He also spoke about the painting of hands on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the value of finding ourselves and what we want to pursue.

IDEA THOUGHTS: Our most recent fundraiser – Field of Honor, strives to reach out to all the people in our community. “Presenting the Field Of Honor is a huge undertaking for our Club and a significant fundraiser,” states Dave Marvin, Field Of Honor chair. Field Of Honor has also become an integral and important part of our community's Memorial Day weekend culture. “What a beautiful place to honor the service men and women who gave their lives to protect our freedom as well as honor our first responders and personal heroes. The 500 American flags that comprise the Field of Honor are an amazing, humbling and inspiring sight. And every medallion attached to a flag tells a story.” Shared Dave. What’s your story?

GUESTS:
Kim Manajek—Speaker, Director of the Gardens at Spring Creek
Marge Mercurio –former Rotarian, guest of Sara Murphy
Jennifer Whitacre – Repeat guest of Laura Jo Bhimani
Peter Lange – Wendy Lange’s husband
Julie Ulstrup – repeat guest of Diane, Joe, and Joseph
Marti Grady – Walt Grady’s wife
Rhonda Kraus – JJ Shaw’s wife

FUTURE PROGRAMS: Please see the side panel for upcoming speakers and be sure to invite your friends.

ROTARY CARES:  If you are aware of a fellow Rotarian who is going through a challenging time (i.e., personal or family health, family death, etc.) please let Sara Murphy know so we can let them know we are thinking of them and provide whatever support we can.  Sara.jane.murphy1@gmail.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mary Catherine Limbird is going to have open heart surgery on Friday, 5/30. Feel free to send cards to show your support.
District 5440 Conference is June 12 – 14. Our club has the 2nd most attendees registered – such a great place to learn about all the work being done by our district and Rotary International

OFFSITE PROGRAM:

Kathy Miner has been a board member of the Friends of the Gardens on Spring Creek (GoSC) for about 5 years. The Friends organization is a non-profit that provides support via advocacy, donor development, and fundraising. She is currently the chair of the Friends of the GoSC.

Kim Manajek is the current Executive Director of GoSC, replacing Michelle Provaznik who was the ED for 20 years. Michelle is currently the CEO of the American Public Gardens Association.

Kim worked in Denver at the botanical gardens for 10 years and started the exhibition program there. She was an integral part of the evolution of roses, orchids, etc. gardens to art exhibitions. She then worked as the Director of the Longmont Botanic Gardens.

There is a strong correlation between Rotary and the GoSC. Terry Podmore (prior to joining Rotary) and Mildred Johnson (past FCBR president and member) lobbied the city with other like-minded, passionate citizens to start a botanic garden in Fort Collins. The gardens celebrated 20 years last year with The Children’s Garden being the first garden to open. Followed by an expansion north of the waterway (in 2019) which cost ~$6m and doubled the size of the gardens and added the butterfly house and stage.

The Gardens strive to be accessible to all in our community via partnerships. Plant it Forward is a program where the gardens grew 6,436 pounds of veggies to donate to the Food Bank for Larimer County. This partnership with the community donating excess garden items provided a total of 68,900 pounds of food last year.

Phil Murphy shared the partnership with Rotary and the Gardens to the group. Mildred Johnson was a woman who knew how to get things done. The gardens needed $500,000 and she was able to help raise the money in the community and with the other clubs for the 2004 opening. In 2005, 100th anniversary of Rotary International and the year John Carroll was president of our Club, 3 Rotary clubs agreed to raise an additional $100,000. In the Children’s Garden there is a sculpture with hoses that lists the names of the 3 clubs.

In 2006, we held our first peach sale (though called the Pigs and Pits Festival) which was held on what is now the great lawn at the Gardens. There were about 350 people who attended. It was repeated in 2011 at the Gardens and then moved out to Hughes Stadium due to outgrowing the Gardens.

FCBR bought a tree for Ed Gillette. The Ed Gillette award is our vocational award and Ed was one of the founding members of our Breakfast Club. While the tree is gone, the plaque is still there honoring Ed and his work.