Paul Smith from the Balloon Fiesta spoke to our club on the 26th. He said the Balloon Fiesta is the largest and most photographed event of its type in the world. Likewise, it is the largest international event of its type in the world. The Fiesta employs a staff of 18, a board of 18 and 1100 volunteers. The Fiesta is run by a non-profit called the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Inc. The Balloon Fiesta Park is and 80-acre city park. There is over 1/3 mile of concessions during the Fiesta, mostly food. In 2022, the direct economic impact was 83 million. The indirect impact was 119.52 million.
As part of the district grant to fund increased visibility for the ramp project, we are ordering Rotary Del Sol T-shirts for volunteers. If you are not a ramp project volunteer but help out with other community projects, your T-shirt cost for one shirt is also covered. Not sure what size you wear? Ron will bring sample sizes to a meeting soon. See Meredith's email for how to order.
We are starting a new article this week called 50 Things Every Rotarian Should Know About Rotary.
1. Definition of Rotary. How do you describe the organization called "Rotary"? There are so many characteristics of a Rotary club as well as the activities of a million Rotarians. There are the features of service, internationality, fellowship,vocation, development of goodwill and world understanding, the emphasis of high ethical standards, concern for other people an many more descriptive qualities. In 1976 the Rotary International Board of Directors was interested creating a concise definition of the fundamental aspects of Rotary. The turned to the three men who were then serving on Rotary's Public Relation Committee and requested that a one-sentence definition of Rotary be pre pared. After numerous drafts, the committee presented this definition, which has been used ever since in various Rotary publications: "Rotary is an organization of business and professional person united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.” Those 31 words are worth remembering when someone asks, "What is a Rotary club?"
100% Paul Harris Club
We are working on becoming a 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club, which is a significant Rotary designation for us to have.
In order to accomplish this goal, the Club and many of its members have points available to match donations. We will match your donations 1:1, so a $500 donation to the Rotary Foundation will be matched by 500 points, which will be enough for you to become a Paul Harris Fellow if you’re not one already.
Rotary Foundation Committee Chair Jeff or a member of his Committee will be reaching out to any of you who are not currently a Paul Harris Fellow over the next month or so to help coordinate this. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this Paul Harris Fellow matching points initiative or any aspect of the Rotary Foundation, please contact Jeff (1-505-400-1403, jweinrach5520@nmia.com).