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We Are Present • We Are Available • We Will Help

Past-President Tina Mulhern- Spencer

President 2010-2011: Building Communities and Bridging Continents

When I joined Rotary it was all about doing something new and different. I wasn’t sure what it was all about but quickly grew fond of the people that had the heart of service. Working along likeminded people and becoming friends with such amazing people is what has kept me so involved in Rotary. When I had the opportunity to serve as Club President the leadership growth and public speaking were two of the things that I felt I benefited from. Obviously being able to serve our District as the Governor would have never happened without the leadership growth and experience I gained serving our club as President. Being in Rotary has really broadened my own knowledge of the wants and needs within our Community and around the world. Being a part of an organization that gives their all selflessly to benefit others is what keeps me in Rotary.

During my year as Club President we started the Golf Tournament, It was a small turn out and we still made $5,000. This event has grown with all of the hard work from our members.

We partnered with Spanish Springs Elementary School as well as Shaw Middle School and started an Interact Club at Shaw and Spanish Springs High School. The partnership of these 3 schools is unique in our area as we have schools that feed into each other and students that benefit from our club from as early as 1^st grade.

Another new event we did this year was the Green Eggs and Ham, this is a project that we are still doing and it has evolved over the years from the students that participate to wear all of the prepping is done. We also had several Rotarians that years and partners that did reading to students at Spanish Spring Elementary.

I opened up the meeting with a “ Moment in history” for the day and had monthly placemats at the table that outlined monthly activities as well as important dates for the month including member birthdays and anniversaries. I found this a way to keep our members up to date as well as great information for the guest. However at my demotion I was accused of being a tree killer😊

We also received the Club of Excellence Award that year along with 11 other awards. It was a VERY busy year. I think everyone was ready to see me be demoted.

Our club grew by a couple members and my bell was never stolen due to my awesome Sergeant at Arms, Nick Stuer.

Kristopher Dahir

It has been quite a year!

There was no way of knowing what was about to happen when my year as president in 2019-2020 began. We themed the year "Join the Adventure" and that is just what we did! The adventure took us from morning meetings to monthly night gatherings. We went on exploratory discoveries to places like REMSA Head Quarters and the Northern Nevada Veterans Home. We also honored our first responders from across the valley.

Then Covid 19 hit and our time together shifted. We had to begin getting creative and find new ways to connect. We learned what the word ZOOM meant. We know that this upcoming year will require us to be wise, organized and flexible as we await for a vaccine and do our best to keep ourselves and others healthy. It is because of the demands of this season that we will meet in person using all the wisdom of social distancing and mask wearing but also continue to provide the online zoom access.

Please come join us on one of our scheduled meetings. We meet on Thursday mornings at 7 am at Red Hawk Events Center in Sparks except for the last Thursday of the month. Our last Thursday of the month is an evening meeting (6 pm) where we will choose different restaurants and places around town to meet and support their businesses. This is a perfect opportunity for you to come out and meet us and see what we are all about.

And yes, we do have our annual fundraiser quickly approaching. Please share the news with others and help us have a successful event. Our goal is to take a percentage of our finances raised and create micro grants for our local businesses. It is not time for us as Rotarians to sit back and each community as it struggles but it is crucial that we stand up and be the help that is needed.

Our theme for this year is "WE ARE HERE". To me this means that we are present and will help calm the fears as we come alongside and support our businesses, schools, families, and community.