Bombas Away It’s amazing what a small army of Rotarians can do in an hour.We were asked by Women To Be to help sort 10,000 socks donated by Bombas to help get them to their final destinations at Navajo reservations, homeless shelters and other deserving organizations. We thought it would be a 4 hour project but our large and efficient crew got it done quickly.
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Rotary Builds Ramps! Once again, we’ve partnered with the New Mexico Ramp project to build another ramp to help someone access their home. This year we are using our Rotary District 5520 Rotary Foundation grant to build 6 ramps. This one required some pre demolition of an existing ramp that the owner told us was causing her to fall. The new ramp is *much* better! |
Rotarians Assemble Life-Changing Kits for Women To Be On Saturday, May 25, 2024, Christine Glidden, founder of 'Women To Be’, hosted a gathering for the assembly of hundreds of washable menstrual hygiene kits to be distributed to New Mexico Women’s shelters, medical clinics and Navajo Nation sites offering women’s health and wellness services. Rotary Del Sol members, Liz Montoya, Michele Mals and Sara Beltran were there to provide a helping hand in the creation of the completed kits
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Del Sol Awards over $50,000 in Grants to Children's Charities in New Mexico   Each year our club awards the Don Chalmers grants to children's charities in New Mexico. The grants, ranging from $3000 to $20,000 are funded from an endowment that the club created over 20 years ago. The club added to the endowment each year through our governors ball fundraiser. This year's recipients included:
- Christina Kent Early Childhood Development Center - $3000 - Founded in 1919 serves low income families early childhood. Children between 2 and 5 years old. They serve 78 children. The grant will be used to replace old shelving, add new furniture and build loft room for toddlers - NDI -$10,000 NDI is celebrating their 30 year anniversary. Don and Diane Chalmers were involved with NDI. They serve 2050 Elementary students annually. Free program teaches dance and character building skills. - Global Give A Book - $20,000 - Last year they provided 20,000 books to students. They plan to use the grant money to expand distribution of books to children implement and establish reading and literacy workshops. - Hero's Path Palliative Care - $10,000 Hero's Path Palliative care was founded in Sept 2019 to provide palliative care for children to get care they need. - R4 Creative - $10,000 R4 Creative is dedicated to breaking cycle of undereducated and underserved New Mexicans. Serves all educators throughout the state. Introduces children to stem through robot building competitions. |
Del Sol Donors Honored Tom Walker, District 5520 Rotary International Foundation chair presented several Del Sol members with recognitions for their financial contributions to the international foundation. The money raised goes to support Rotary projects around the world, including our recent projects supporting the New Mexico Ramp project and our project in Nepal with Women2Be. Rotary is committed to eradicating Polio, Last year, Rotary vaccinated 400 million children against Polio. Our honorees were: - Paul Harris Fellow: Cynde Tagg $1000 - Major Donor (up to $250,000) : Herman Haase - Paul Harris, Major Donor and Bequest Society: David Seely (Triple Crown Circle) |
Del Sol Earns Meals on Wheels Bronze Designation As part of our commitment to community service, several of our Club members (Robert Brown, Ed Robertson, Bruce Bortner, and Ron Hensley, shown here with President-Elect Meredith Eisenberg) received Bronze Level recognition from our wonderful partners at Meals on Wheels New Mexico for over 100 hours of delivering meals with a friendly smile to people who are homebound. The chapter has supported Meals on Wheels for many years taking on one of the most needy routes in ABQ.
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Congratulations 4 Way Test Contest Winners Congratulations to our Four Way Test Essay winners from Annunciation Catholic School. We are SO proud of this 8th grade team and their teacher Mr. Wahler! The Top 3 were honored at their meeting. 1st place- Clare DiGregorio, 2nd Place - Chase Hollingshead, 3rd Place - Eliana Garcia. Clare, the first place winner's essay also won 2nd place at the District competition.
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Homeless Outreach A group of Rotarians from the Del Sol club delivered the clothes and blankets we collected in partnership with Citizen Church to The Rock at Noonday. We helped feed lunch at the shelter and Elizabeth Montoya created and distributed lovely flowers for the tables. Have blankets, towels or other items to donate? Bring them to our chapter meeting. We'll be collection through April.
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Congratulations Jeff Weinrach Congratulations to Jeff Weinrach was recently named District Governor Nominee Designate. His term as District Governor will begin in July 2026. Jeff has been an invaluable member of the Rotary Del Sol over the years and we think he'll be an amazing District Governor.
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Welcome Bob and Michele Mals!  A warm welcome to our newest members Bob and Michele Mals who were officially inducted at our club meeting this week. Although they have just become "official" members, they've already had a huge impact on the club by spearheading a recurring donation drive for the homeless and Purseonalities Plus. Bob was part of the Daybreakers Club in Durango. We are glad to have them both as members of our club.
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Happy Birthday Rotary Del Sol February 14 was our club's 27th anniversary of our chartering. We celebrated at our meeting with a birthday cake for Dan (who also had a birthday last week!) Over the years, we've made a big impact on our community (raising over $1 million for an endowment for children's charities) and supporting countless projects. And, we've all had a lot of fun and made some great friends along the way.
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Nepal Program Update Our special presentation last Thursday was from our very own Christine Glidden reporting on our latest Rotary International Foundation Global Grant work in Nepal with our good friend from the host Rotary Club of Rudramati, Sudip Koirala! The focus of this project is to fabricate and distribute 2500 menstrual kits of reusable, washable menstrual supplies to allow girls to stay confidently in school. The kits are being sewn and fabricated at the Navanjyoti School for the Deaf, a boarding school on the outskirts of Sindhuli, Nepal. We are so happy to be working with Sudip and our other friends from Nepal on this important effort! |
Beans and Rice Project A Success The Rotary Del Sol Beans & Rice project was a success. The club raised enough money to provide 9000 meals through the Road Runner Food Bank. Will Tapia, Corporate Engagement Officer from Road Runner came to the meeting to thank us for the donation and to update us the important work the Food Bank does in our community. Since the pandemic, the need has grown as the number of donations have decreased.
He also encouraged us to attend their major fundraiser - the Souper Bowl on February 3 starting at 11am at the RoadRunner Office. Your event ticket includes samples from dozens of top restaurants. |
Ramps Project Launches in Farmington The New Mexico Ramps Project is recently received a significant grant to expand their ramp building program. Earlier in the week, President Brad Ekhoff and Ramps Coordinator Greg Hallstrom attended the San Juan County Rotary Club meeting to discuss upcoming Ramps projects in the Farmington/Shiprock area. We are thrilled to be working with the San Juan County Rotary Club and other Rotary Clubs in our District to build ramps for those who are disabled and who desperately need this service to improve their daily lives
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Merry Christmas Once again our very own club band - the Rotary Wranglers played at the meeting and wished everyone a very Merry Christmas! We also had a magical visit from Santa who shared his story and a special Christmas tune.  |
Beans and Rice - Have You Donated? There is a severe food crisis in New Mexico this year. We are collecting beans and rice (or donations) to benefit the Roadrunner Food Bank through the end of the month. We are about halfway to our goal of collecting $3000 to feed the hungry this winter. Contact Kit Turpin to donate.
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Welcome Jered Bousliman We are excited to have Jered Bousliman as our newest Rotary Del Sol member. Sponsored by Cynde Tagg, Jered is a Nursing Unit Director at UNM Hospital.
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Be A Secret Santa for Foster Children It's that time again! Heart Gallery is asking you once again to be a ‘Holiday Helper’ for New Mexico’s foster youth. This is their 12th year of Operation Secret Santa! The first year they were able to provide Christmas for around 60 youth and since that first year they have grown to be able to provide Christmas for over 280 youth. This is an incredible accomplishment all because of you, our 'Holiday Helpers'. Heart Gallery is asking Rotary Del Sol once again to open your heart and be a Secret Santa for one or more of New Mexico’s foster youth. Please consider participating, they are trying to get all gifts accounted for by December 01, 2023! |
Welcome Dave Chavira We inducted our newest member, Lt Col. David Chavira, with the New Mexico Air National Guard at our last chapter meeting. His sponsor Christine Glidden (who is currently in Nepal working on our Rotary International Grant project) took part in the meeting via zoom. Welcome David!
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Safe Travels Christine Christine is on her way to Nepal to help create a new sewing center in a school for the deaf in Nepal. The center will help create reusable sanitary packs that are distributed to girls in Nepal who often have to miss school due to lack of feminine hygiene supplies. The center will teach sewing skills to the students so they can make money sewing on their own. This project is a funded through a Rotary International grant sponsored by Rotary Del Sol. Christine is the founder of Women to Be which supports and educates the reproductive health of girls and women in Nepal, Mexico, Zambia, and the Navajo Nation of New Mexico.
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Welcome Cynde Tagg Welcome to our newest member Cynde Tagg. Cynde worked with Jeff Weinrach at UNM Hospitals where she recently retired from being Associate Chief Nursing Officer. We've enjoyed getting to know her over the past few months and are excited to have her as the newest member of our club.
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Welcome to Our New Honorary Member Welcome to our newest honorary member - Tulsa the Service Dog.Tulsa has steadfastly attended our weekly meetings for the past 15 months with her trainer club member Mike McCaffrey and her sweet demeanor brought a smile to our members' faces. Mike says that Tulsa's attendance at meetings was the key to successfully completing the first part of her service dog training. She recently attended the Lavender Festival (with over 2000 attendees) and did great. Now that she is all grown up and out of "puppy school", Tulsa will go to Oceanside, California for advanced training where she'll be aptitude tested and matched with someone in need like a vet with PTSD or a disabled person.
Congratulations Tulsa! We wish you the best of luck in your future service career. |
Cycling for Cycles Thank you to everyone who came out and helped with a very successful Cycles for Cycling event. The club came together to support Women To Be provide underwear and reusable, washable sanitary pads to give girls what they need each month to stay in school and get an education. These pads last three years. Girls receive a reproductive health class to teach them how their bodies work and what to expect in marital intimacy.
Thank you to our sponsors Crystal Clear Maintenance, Wellcare, Tutor Doctor, City of Albuquerque, Fat Tire, and Cyclebar. Thanks to Jimmy's and Donut Mart for food donations. |
Rotary Del Sol Awards $74,000 to Children's Charities Congratulations to the 2023 Don Chalmers grant recipients. The Rotary Del Sol Foundation awarded $74,000 to non-profits that serve children in New Mexico at a jam-packed meeting last week. This year's recipients are:
Albuquerque Museum Foundation ($9000) Beds4Kidz ($19,000) Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation ($9000) Global Give-A-Book ($19,000) New Mexico BioPark Society ($9000) Talking Talons Youth Leadership ($9000) We'll be hearing from each non-profit throughout the year about how they use the grants. |
All Hail to Rotary - Wranglers |
Folds of Honor Golf Tournament It was a gorgeous day for golf and to support the Folds of Honor golf tournament. Two foursomes of Del Sol Rotarians participated in the event to provide scholarships for fallen heroes. Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 44,000 scholarships totaling nearly $200 million to the spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. And now, in our biggest announcement yet, we are expanding the Folds of Honor mission to incorporate America’s first responders, including police, fire-fighters, EMTs and paramedics. |
New Membership Options!Rotary Del Sol Introduces New Membership Options Young Professionals (YoPros)   We are proud to announce a new Young Professionals “YoPro” Membership Category that is available to new members under 40 years old! This provides an affordable option for a young professional building his/her career to join and grow with Rotary! A YoPro is a regular member of the Rotary Club of Albuquerque Del Sol, with lower dues, limited attendance requirement, and more flexible involvement. For additional information regarding our YoPro Membership option, click HERE. Corporate Membership We are also pleased to introduce our new Corporate Membership option, which enables organizations to take part in projects that give back to the community through Rotary’s well-organized structure. The Corporate Membership program is available for businesses, professional practices, government entities, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. Here’s how it works: Any company or organization may choose to designate up to five of their current employees to be active members of the Rotary Club of Albuquerque Del Sol with the flexibility to change designees each year as they see fit. Elevate your organization’s image in the community while offering your workers the chance to develop and apply leadership and professional skills such as project management, training, and public speaking. For additional information regarding our Corporate Membership option, click HERE. |
Welcome to Rotary Del SolWelcome to the Rotary Club of Albuquerque Del Sol, An Excellent Club with Exceptional Members Performing Extraordinary Service!
We engage in local and international community service projects and raise funds for charities serving children and families throughout the state. Our fundraising efforts, including the Governors Charity Ball, have raised over $1 million over the past fifteen years for important causes and deserving beneficiaries. Del Sol Rotarians work hard and play hard, too. We welcome you to join us for fellowship, fun and new adventures. Rotary Del Sol and Rotary Del Sol Foundation PO Box 93578 Albuquerque, NM 87199-3578 |
Welcome New 22-23 Del Sol Board On June 17th at our end-of-year Soiree, Rotary Del Sol held its Installation of Officers, Directors, Committee Chairs, and Avenues of Service Points of Contact for the 2022-2023 Rotary year. Incoming President Jeff Weinrach presided with Assistant Governor Mark Tobiassen, and thanked outgoing President Brad Ekhoff for his tireless and successful efforts as our immediate Past President. The Officers, Committee Chairs, and Avenues of Service POC's are: President: Jeff Weinrach Past President: Brad Ekhoff Vice President: Aprilyn Chavez Geissler President-Elect: Davis Riordan Secretary: Meredith Eisenberg Treasurer: Herman Haase Chief Risk/Compliance Officer: Herman Haase Public Image Committee Chair: Lisa Chavez Membership Committee Chair: Jeff Faulwell Service Committee Chair: Brent Melville Club Administration Committee Chair: Ron Hensley Rotary Foundation Committee Chair: Mitch Selking New Generations Committee Chair: Jennifer Huffaker Fundraising Committee Chair: Willie Edwards International Service POC: Christine Glidden Community Service POC: Nicosha Schedlbauer Vocational Service POC: Bruce Bortner Club Service POC: Ed Robertson Youth Service POC: Vicki Turpen Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion POC: Sara Beltran |
Rotary Del Sol, District 5520 and Women2Be Support Nepal Project Rotary Club of Dhulikhel , with the support from Rotary District 5520 , Rotary Club of Albuquerque del Sol and Women To Be supported 60 disabled people with special food packages at Saphing village , the remote village of Kavre district of Nepal. Because of covid-19 strict lockdown and lack of sufficient agricultural land, most of the people highly depend upon the labor work in Kathmandu. With less food and no source of income, most of the people have been struggling for livelihood. The condition is worst for disabled people as people neglect them and comes to the last interim of feeding. Because of lack of awareness and age-old traditional concept of the people in this village, disabled people are treated like animals even some are kept like the dog in small cage.One of the village local leaders said no one has supported the disabled people of this village before. They are thankful to the Rotary . Thanks to the Rotaract club of Dhulikhel , Rotaract Club of Kathmandu University & Rotaract Club of Kathmandu University Medical Science. Special thanks to the past president of RC Dhulikhel & International Service Chair, RID3292 Rtn.Ranjeev Shrestha and Christine Glidden from Rotary Club of Albuquerque Del Sol and Women To Be. Rtn.Pralhad Prasad Parajuli , district chair to the especially able committee and Assistant Governor Rtn.Laxmi Khanal both were also present. |
Rotarian Build 46 Ramps and Counting... The Rotary Del Sol (RDS) Club with the New Mexico Ramp Project built 46 ramps for disabled individuals in the Albuquerque metropolitan area and partner support because the need is great. Generally on the 2nd Thursday of each month club members met at the New Mexico Ramp Project (NMRP) warehouse to build modules that were used on the following Saturday to build the ramp. Rotary Del Sol (RDS) and its partners built eight (8) ramps in New Mexico during the last eight months and the average materials cost for a ramps was $1,151.78. RDS paid $4,607.10 for materials to build 4 ramps which exhausted all grant funds. The additional funds ($741.10) were made available by RDS. 4 ramps were built with RDS partners who paid for the materials and RDS provided all the volunteers. |
Rotary Del Sol Recognized By Rotary Foundation Rotary del Sol was recently recognized as one of the #3 club in the District for giving to the Rotary Foundation. We were one of only 4000 clubs worldwide with a 100% member participation rate. The Rotary Foundation funds projects locally (like our Navaho Hope project which delivered dozens of semi's filled with food and supplies to the Navajo Nation) and internationally.
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Del Sol Partners with City to Plant Trees |
Rotarians Build Ramps for SeniorsOur second ramp pre build and build took place on Thursday and Saturday this week. Those at the pre build were Greg Hallstrom, Tony Pino, Ed Robertson as well as Doug Rowley, NM Ramps Chairman, and Mr. Reyes with the City of Albuquerque Senior Affairs Department. The pre build took about 3 hours. The on site ramp build began at 7:00 AM and was finished by 1:00 PM. Those in attendance were Michael McCaffrey, Dick Wilkinson, Lance Ellis and son Darrin, Brad Sackett and son Scott, Greg Hallstrom, Ed Robertson, Doug Rowley and Mr. Reyes. This project was a little more involved because an old ramp had to be demolished before we could install a new one. It was a great day and everyone left the job site with a real sense of accomplishment and thankful that a grandmother’s life was going to improve because of the work.  |
Congratulations Christine Glidden
The project has involved Rotary chapters and other organizations form throughout New Mexico and the United States. She also was instrumental in our district getting a $25,000 grant from Rotary International to help meet the growing needs in the area. Click here to donate to the Navajo Covid effort
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Thank You To Our Healthcare Heroes This week, Rotary del Sol began a new club service project to donate food to front line health/medical workers at UNM Hospital and Presbyterian Hospitals (Downtown and Kaseman). Thank you to our healthcare heroes! This project is a partnership between RDS and Jimmy’s Cafe and Cinnabon, two restaurants owned by Club member Steve Reynolds.
RDS will donate food to the hospitals on Tuesday and Wednesday each week. Attached are photos of Club President Dave Simon and Vice-President John Heck making our first deliveries today. |
CLUB MEETINGS ON ZOOM!The Del Sol Rotary Club is now meeting by Zoom. We are alternating Monday evening and Thursday morning meetings. Check our newsletter or meeting times and zoom links. |
2020 NM GOVERNORS CHARITY BALL FEATURED ON KQREListen to Tony Pino an Christopher Shelby from Boy Scouts of America, Great Southwest Council describe plans for the best Governors Charity Ball to date. Have you bought your ticket yet? Click here to learn more. |
PAINT FOR POLIO  Thanks to everyone who came out for Paint for Polio with KAES Painting 101 at Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Co.. We packed the place, painted awesome pictures and raised money for vaccines and research |
DEL SOL ROTARY INSTALLS NEW BOARD! On June 20 at the Regular Club Meeting the 2019-2020 Board was inducted. Officers for the next Rotary year are: Dave Simon, President Ed Robertson-President Elect Dacia Card-Past President John Heck-Vice President Herman Haase-Secretary John Gordon-Treasurer Nic Baker-Club Administration Barrie Segall-Membership Doreen Kelsey-Rotary Foundation Meredith Eisenberg-Public Relations Chris Van Dyck-Club Service Jeff Faulwell-New Generations Jeff Weinrach and Brent Melville-Satellite-Co-Chairs |
NM GOVERNORS CHARITY BALLTony Pino and Dacia Card presenting the check from our signature fundraiser - the 16th Annual NM Governors Charity Ball to the Children's Grief Center and The Coalition To Prevent Child Sexual Abuse. The two charities split the proceed with the Del Sol Rotary Foundation. The event raised a record amount of money and had a record number of attendees. #RotaryMakesADifference. Thank you everyone for helping us make a difference in the lives of New Mexico Children.
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IT'S THE SUMMER OF GROWTH! |
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US BREAK RECORDS!
This year's New Mexico Governors Charity Ball was our most successful ever. According to Tony Pino - the event co-chair: This year's Charity Ball the biggest success ever. We broke several records: And, finally, most money ever raised- $140,000 (estimate) and climbing Thanks to all of you who made this possible. You should feel very proud of our accomplishments. |
Rotary Member Helps Fight Polio in India During late January-early February, Rotary Del Sol Club member Dave Ring served as part of a Rotary delegation from the U. S. and Canada aiding Indian Rotarians in their annual Polio Eradication Week. While India has been officially polio free since 2012, keeping the world's second most populous country that way requires major ongoing effort. During his time there, Dave met with hundreds of Indian Rotarians, helped inoculate many precious infants, and enjoyed the side-benefit of visiting the Taj Mahal, one of this world's seven man-made wonders. He'll be taking our club on a whirlwind remembrance of that trip this Thursday morning.
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Del Sol collects over 3500 lbs of rice and beans! This year Rotary Del Sol (with the help of the East Mountain High School Interact Club) collected over 3600 lbs of rice and beans (the most requested items) for Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. We had a meeting/service project at RoadRunner to celebrate our accomplishment!
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Black Entrepreneurs Panel Mike Silva, Jewll Powdrell and Chad Cooper joined us for an inspiring meeting in February. They were part of a panel of African American entrepreneurs who shared their stories of how mentors in Albuquerque helped them to succeed.
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Ride To End Polio - Story |
RideToEndPolio
It's NOT the Ride to End pollo...that would be chicken! It's polio! My actual riding experience regarding the Ride to End poLLo, instead of polio would be more humorous if did not illustrate the problem we have keeping it on the world radar screen.
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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE |
15th Annual Governors Charity Ball
Fire and Ice was the Theme for the Rotary Del Sol Governors Ball held April 7, 2018 at Sandia Resort and Casino. 500 people attended the ball which was very successful and enjoyed by all those who attended. Monies raised from the Ball were distributed to New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranches, El Rancho De Los Ninos, Prosperity Works and the Rotary Del Sol Foundation in keeping with the Clubs purpose of supporting New Mexico Children's Charities. |
Adaptive Cycling |
Watermelon Ranch Community Service Project.png) Del Sol Rotarians get the job done. Over two weekends, Rotary del Sol worked to create a new walkway for volunteers to walk pets at Watermelon Ranch, a local no-kill shelter. The project also helped us to raise money for Governor's Charity Ball auction items through a grant from DIsney.
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Governors Ball 2017 - Charity Nomination FormClick here to download form. (Member login required)
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Mark Your Calendars!June 11, Rotary Del Sol Induction -
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Quote of the Week - Who Said It?
We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
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Thought for the Week - Who Said It?
An optimist is the human personification of spring.
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Congratulations to Christine Glidden who was chosen as this quarter's Rotary Del Sol Rotarian of the quarter for her role in spearheading a massive food and supply campaign for the Navajo Nation communities affected by Covid-19.
