Welcome to the first issue of our monthly bulletin! Find out who our upcoming speakers are, what we covered during the last weekly meeting, and learn more about our Member of the Week.
A Message From Our President
Welcome to this inaugural edition of The Wheel Newsletter, designed to keep you in the loop with all
things happening at Rotary Club of Centennial.
I want to start by congratulating, Shirl Mabary for winning the newsletter naming contest and giving
our newsletter its awesome new name. For this monumental task, and for your unmatched creativity,
Shirl has received $50 in gift cards and an opportunity for immortality (or at least for the life
of this newsletter, which we’re hoping will be forever!)
Thank you also to the other Club members who
took the time to submit names for the newsletter; better luck next time/contest!
I also want to take a moment to thank our newsletter editor, Doug Hanna, for responding to the call
when it went out to the Club for a volunteer for the assignment. Doug is never hesitant to step up when
help is needed and this was no exception. I believe that with his background in advertising, Doug will be
an excellent editor and will make our newsletter a professional publication that we can all be proud of.
Thank you, Doug!
So, what can you expect to see in our Club newsletter? Look for articles that will provide both current
and past members, as well as potential new members, information and updates on activities and
initiatives that the Club has been involved in; upcoming meetings and/or activities, volunteer
opportunities, profiles of new members, members who are making a difference both in our Club and in
the community, and any other information requested by the membership. This is your newsletter and,
as such, is a work in progress and will reflect the information that you indicate you want to read about.
I hope that you will enjoy your newsletter and that you will feel free to forward it to any of your family
members, friends, and acquaintances who you think might be interested, in learning more about why
Rotary is such an important part of your life.
Enjoy this first edition of The WheelFeel free to send all comments to dianaw54@hotmail.com or to the editor, Doug Hanna, at dfhanna@gmail.com.
Rotary Club of Centennial Raises Over $1000 to Support Victims of Boulder Shooting
On a chilly March afternoon in Boulder, 10 innocent lives, including that of a Boulder police officer, were cut short at the hands of a gunman armed with an assault weapon. The following morning, Rotarians were scheduled to hear from Denver Police Officer, Sgt. Tony Lopez was going to share his story of being shot during a routine traffic stop several years ago. In an unforeseen twist of irony, Sgt. Lopez was unable to speak to the Club because of his work supporting the Boulder community immediately after the shooting.
In a show of support for Sgt. Lopez and the Boulder community, Rotarians attending the Tuesday morning meeting were challenged to raise $1,000 to be donated to the Boulder Relief Fund in the name of Sgt. Lopez. To no one's surprise, our Club not only met but exceeded the challenge, raising a total of $1,170 for the effort. Rotarians who were not present at the meeting but would like to contribute to the fund should mail their checks to the:
The Rotary Club of Centennial Satellite Members are hard at work:
Confirmed Spring Events:
April 18th Pushing riders from the non-profit, Ainsley’s Angels in the Rockin’ on the River 5Krace. Ainsley’s Angels work together as a team to safely accomplish local road races by providing equipment to ensure everyone can experience endurance events.
May 8 Working with A Little Help again in Denver to help residents in need of landscaping
work or household needs
Ongoing Building shelves for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) office
Unconfirmed Spring Events (details to be provided):
Providing a dinner at Urban Peak for homeless youth
To recognize and financially motivate/support Rotary Clubs in District 5450 who are willing to engage in courageous internal conversations around diversity issues with a goal of imagining, creating and implementing an activity, initiative or project which will advance diversity, equity and inclusion, exemplify leadership and demonstrate responsibility in their respective Clubs and communities.
Please use the following link to access the application for the Club Diversity Award: https://bit.ly/2Zkm5P6
Community Award Mission:
To recognize and showcase Centennial-based individuals, businesses and/or organizations who have created and implemented initiatives that have significantly advanced the cause and conversation of diversity, exemplified leadership and demonstrated responsibility in their respective communities.
Please use the following link to access the application for the Community Diversity Award: https://bit.ly/3jCZjLu
Meet Tom Gross, Our Rotarian of the Month
Tom graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Accounting, He began his career in real estate working with his father in Perkasie, PA just outside Philadelphia. While in Perkasie he met and married Lori Gerrick Gross. They moved to Denver in 1998 and settled into the Cherry Creek School District to raise their two daughters. This was not the first move to Colorado for Tom. He spent a few years in his early 20’s in Steamboat Springs enjoying skiing and mountain biking.
Tom is active in the Cherry Creek School District in their Leadership Program and on their Long Range Facilities Planning Committee. Tom serves on the Audit Committee for the City of Centennial. Tom and Lori are members of Eastern Hills Community Church. In his spare time, he enjoys riding his mountain bike around Cherry Creek Reservoir, hiking, and enjoying an occasional weekend getaway in the mountains with his family.
Tom is currently the committee chairperson of our Membership Committee. As such, he has been responsible for providing us with a constant stream of interesting and educational speakers.
Tom says that working in Real estate is rarely boring. Occasionally, you enjoy some good laughs. One such occasion was on a Saturday that he spent with a young couple relocating to Colorado. The husband and I agreed that I would pick them up early in the morning at their hotel in Lone Tree. We would spend the day touring homes and the South Metro Area. I arrived at the hotel about 8:00 AM. I could not find the couple in the lobby. I called the husband who told me that he and his wife were in the lobby waiting for me.
We soon discovered that he had given me the wrong location for the hotel. They were actually at the same hotel chain but at a hotel up near the airport. Nevertheless, I drove up to the airport area to pick them up. By this time, the husband was insisting that it was my mistake about the location of the hotel. I politely let him maintain his story with his wife.
We arrived at the second home tour only to learn that it was a gated community, and I had not been provided with a gate code. The showing service did not have a gate code and could not reach the listing broker. There was an intercom box outside the gate so I decided to try to call a resident to ask them to open the gate. I was able to reach an elderly lady who became very upset that I was there to sell her home and she did not want to move. I tried to explain to her that I was there to show them another home, not her home.
As I was trying to convince the woman that we were not there to sell her home, the largest yellow jacket I have ever seen landed on my nose and stung me for what seemed an eternity. My face was on fire and it felt like my nose was going to explode. My clients were already afraid of this crazy man they were stuck with for the day. I walked back to the car with my face on fire and my eyes watering. I managed to drive to the house and opened the door. I immediately headed to the bathroom to view the damage to my face. I walked out of the bathroom only to discover my clients had left the house and were standing by my car talking. The wife walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said, “ we are going to buy you lunch.”
We went on to find a great home that afternoon and we ultimately became good friends.
Tom’s success as a Realtor has earned him numerous awards including 5280 Magazine’s Five Star Agent Awards every year since 2009, Angie’s List Super Service and Honor Roll Awards, NEXT DOOR Neighborhood Favorite, DMAR’s Platinum & Titanium Awards, and Kentwood’s Top 10 since 2014.
Rotary Club of Centennial continues aid to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico
From the Centennial Citizen
Ellis Arnold
earnold@coloradocommunitymedia.com
After Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017 and widely knocked out water service on the island, residents were left without safe water to drink — a problem that continued long after the storm ended.
So the Rotary Club of Centennial decided to lend a hand with its “WaterRico” project to provide in-home water filters to residents in need, focusing on the area of Moca in the island's northwest corner. Rotary clubs focus on community service abroad and in local areas.
Recently, the Centennial club worked on its fifth WaterRico phase to provide 120 filters. The move “in addition to targeting those below the poverty line will help supply clean water to those most affected by the COVID-19 virus,” the club said in a news release.
So far, the effort has provided nearly 1,500 filters, said Marc Garfinkel, a member of the club's board of directors.
To assemble the filter systems, club members use nanofilter technology from a company called AguaClara, according to Garfinkel. The club also purchases buckets, which are among the parts that make up the filter systems for families.
“In 2019, we actually went to Puerto Rico and worked with, partnered with, two clubs in Puerto Rico and assembled and distributed and did the complete project,” Garfinkel said.
Now, club members take care of part of the drilling of the buckets and places stickers on them and then send the parts to Puerto Rico for people to assemble them there, Garfinkel said.
Stickers include handwashing instructions — part of Rotary's goal is to promote good hygiene, Garfinkel said — translated into Spanish. The stickers also explain how to maintain the buckets properly and lists whom to call if families need spare parts.
Funding for the filters, buckets and stickers comes from the club's foundation — Centennial Rotary Club is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Other Rotary organizations, including the Denver Southeast Rotary Club, contributed funding as well, Garfinkel said.
The club has carried out the project in phases. First, three Rotary members embarked on an exploratory trip in May 2018 to evaluate the need and resources for the project in Puerto Rico, according to the project's website. Next, in November 2018, the club accomplished the installation of 100 filters.
Third, in 2019, Rotary International approved an “International Global Grant,” and the Centennial club increased the scope of the project to 1,200 in-home water filters and a larger water filter for a school in Moca. At the time, the impact of the filters meant that more than 3,600 Moca residents had safe water to drink, according to the project website.
Phase 4 involved building 120 additional filters, and the fifth phase also entailed 120 filters. See more information at waterrico.com. Garfinkel and club member John Peterson are co-chairs for the project.
Garfinkel, 59, a chiropractor in Centennial, is one of the founding members of the Rotary Club of Centennial and a past president of the group. Former Centennial Mayor Randy Pye is also a founding member.
The club's local focus includes projects such as buying clothes for kids during Christmastime and purchasing backpacks and school supplies in a collaboration with Integrated Family Community Services, a nonprofit that serves a swath of the south Denver metro area.
Prime Timers, a group that meets several times each month for luncheons, board games, pickleball and more activities in the Centennial area, is also part of the Rotary Club of Centennial. Prime Timers started in September 2016.
Our newest member Bob Heavers joins our amazing class of new members: Nicolle Davies, Audra Dill, Jean Henry, Doug Mazezka, Matthew McLaurin and Alexandra Orahovats. We are blessed with enthusiastic, passionate new Rotarians. Look for them during our Day of Service on May 8th.
Just for Laughs
There was an elderly couple who in their old age noticed that they were getting a lot more forgetful, so they decided to go to the doctor. The doctor told them that they should start writing things down so they don't forget. They went home and the old lady told her husband to get her a bowl of ice cream. "You might want to write it down," she said. The husband said, "No, I can remember that you want a bowl of ice cream." She then told her husband she wanted a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream. "Write it down," she told him, and again he said, "No, no, I can remember: you want a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream." Then the old lady said she wants a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top. "Write it down," she told her husband and again he said, "No, I got it. You want a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top." So he goes to get the ice cream and spends an unusually long time in the kitchen, over 30 minutes. He comes out to his wife and hands her a plate of eggs and bacon. The old wife stares at the plate for a moment, then looks at her husband and asks, "Where's the toast?
