January Rotary programs

Speakers and programs at Roswell Rotary Club meetings during the month of January are:

Jan. 5

Roswell Mayor Timothy Z. Jennings will speak on the State of the City.

Jan. 12

State Rep. Greg Nibert will discuss state and local issues before the State Legislature goes into session on Jan. 17.

Jan. 19

Amber Swete, a certified yoga instructor, will show how to get in shape after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Jan. 26

Donald Shawler, career law clerk to Judge Bobby R. Baldock of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will discuss cases the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this year.

Rotary Christmas program

Members of the Roswell High School Cheyettes and Roadrunners show choir perform at the Roswell Rotary Club Christmas Party on Dec. 15. The party was held at the Backdraft Barbeque@Third Street Station.

Newest Rotary club members

Roswell City Attorney Hess Yntema (left) and Salvation Army Major Mike Lutcher join Roswell Rotary President Bianca Cheney at the Dec. 8 club meeting. Hess and Mike were welcomed as the club's newest members.

Signing up for committees

Rotarians Jimmy Craig and Carolyn Mitchell register for Roswell Rotary Club committees last Thursday. President Bianca Cheney pasted oversized signup sheets on the wall at the meeting and invited members to select committees for service.

Rotary party next Thursday

Be sure to RSVP Elizabeth Michael if you plan to attend the Rotary Holiday Party at the Backdraft Barbeque@Third Street Station. The party begins at noon on Dec. 15.

Club re-elects Winter fund members

Roswell Rotary Club members unanimously re-elected four members to the club’s Gus Winter Fund Board.

Board president Howard Perry on Nov. 17 placed the names of Mike Alber, Trent Bates, Andy Miller, and Jim Gill before the Rotary Club for re-election to another term. All were unanimously re-elected.

The Gus Winter Fund annually distributes aid to needy people in Chaves County. The Board’s goal is to annually collect $1 for each year of each club member’s age.

Perry reported to the club the Gus Winter Fund during the past year has helped with medical expenses for poor people in Chaves County, and contributed $1,000 to the Community Kitchen and the Salvation Army.

The fund started when Winter left $1 to his son and $30,000 each to local civic clubs to help the needy. The Roswell Rotary Club fund has since grown to $325,000.

Rotary will go to holiday schedule

The Roswell Rotary Club will meet on a holiday schedule in late November and for much of December.

Here is the schedule:

• Nov. 24 — No meeting due to Thanksgiving Day
• Dec. 1 — Lee Murdoch with Scouts BSA
• Dec. 8 — Annual meeting of the club to elect officers and board members, as well as to consider an update to the club bylaws.
• Dec. 15 — Christmas Party at Backdraft Barbeque at Third Street Station, 310 N. Railroad Ave. Begins at noon.
• Dec. 22 — No meeting due to Christmas
• Dec. 29 — No meeting due to New Year’s Day

Club honors Student of Month

Mercedes Torrez was honored on Nov. 10 as the Roswell Rotary Club Student of the Month from Goddard High School.

Club supports water project

Roswell Rotary Club members voted on Nov. 3 to support the coalition providing potable water to Buena Vista, Guatemala.

The vote came after Deborah Simon, a Rotary District 5520 global grants coordinator, spoke to the club on Oct. 20. She will coordinate the Buena Vista water project.

Bianca Cheney, Roswell Rotary president, said “a hat will be passed for donations” at the Nov. 10 and 17 club meetings.

Simon, raised in Guatemala as the daughter of missionaries, has coordinated Rotary global grant projects in Guatemala since 1997.

Each year, Simon leads a team of volunteers to Guatemala to perform needs and sustainability assessments, check the status of past projects, and select a new global grant project. 

Purple doughnuts fight polio

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR DETAILS

Orders should be given to Marcos Nava or J.P. Cheney before 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 4. Pickup or delivery will be on Thursday, Nov. 10, at Southwest Printers, 110 N. Pennsylvania Ave.

Marcos can be contacted at (575) 420-8787 (cell) or (575) 624-0889 (work); J.P. can be contacted at (575) 622-1820 (work) or (575) 637-8394 (cell).

Husband and wife Paul Harris Fellows

When Rotarian Betty Young was about to be honored by the Roswell Rotary Club as a Paul Harris Fellow, she made one request.

Betty wanted company.

So she sponsored husband and fellow Rotarian Jim Young as a Paul Harris Fellow.

The Youngs were jointly honored as Paul Harris Fellows at the Oct. 27 Roswell Rotary Club meeting.

Rotarian Carolyn Mitchell pins Paul Harris badge on Betty Young.

Jim and Betty Young hug after joint Paul Harris Fellow awards.

Rotary Students of the Month

Club Students of the Month are honored at the Oct. 27 Roswell Rotary meeting by President Bianca Cheney. The students are Scot Henry (left) and Trenton Martin-Herring.

Club backs Walk to End Alzheimer's

Nine Roswell Rotary Club members turned out for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s this past Saturday in Roswell. Shown at the walk are Rotarians Jason Perry, who also represented the City of Roswell as mayor pro-tem; Bianca Cheney, Rotary Club president; and Mark Bleth (right).

Rotarians, city staff cut ribbon

Roswell Rotary Club members and City of Roswell employees on Oct. 20 cut the ribbon on work completed at Delta West Park, 1001 W. Mescalero Road.

The Rotary club and the Rotary Foundation have donated more than $15,000 for the project since 2019.

The latest additions to the park were 14 trees, 130 feet of concrete walkway, and three benches from donated plastic bottle caps.

The city provided irrigation and labor to the project. The cost of the concrete walkway was a shared expense.

Rotarian Carolyn Mitchell spearheaded the park upgrade as the Rotary club’s project coordinator.

Roswell Rotarians and city staff members at ribbon-cutting.

Reporter Terri Harber of Roswell Daily Record interviews Rotarian Carolyn Mitchell about the park project.

Deborah Simon to address Rotary

Deborah Simon, Rotary District 5520 global grants coordinator, will speak to the Roswell Rotary Club this Thursday.

Deborah was raised in Guatemala as the daughter of missionaries. During her childhood, she became aware of the need for health care and studied nursing at the University of Oregon.

She has worked in several hospitals around the country and served as director of a home health hospice agency. She recently retired from Presbyterian Espanola Hospital.  

Deborah is best known in District 5520 for coordinating Rotary global grant projects in Guatemala, which she has been doing since 1997.

She was a member and past president of the Espanola Rotary Club. Deborah joined the Santa Fe Rotary Club in 2013. She was awarded the Service Above Self Award by District 5520 in 2007. In 2015 and again in 2016, she was honored by Rotary Zone 27 as 1 of 15 people worldwide to receive the Rotary Alumni Global Service Award. Most recently she was made an honorary member of two Rotary clubs in Guatemala. 

In 2004 she established a nonprofit organization called United by Friendship, which focuses on partnering with Latin American communities to work on projects Rotary does not fund, such as schools and clinics.

Each year, Deborah leads a team of volunteers to Guatemala to do needs and sustainability assessments, check on the status of our past projects and select a new global grant project.

Club donates to Homeless Coalition

Roswell Rotary Club President Bianca Cheney presents the Roswell Homeless Coalition clothing and money contributed by club members. Accepting the donations is Erica Boggs of the Coalition.

Cleaning along Rotary Mile

Roswell Rotarians Gordon Patton, Bianca Cheney, Steve Smith, Jon Hitchcock, Frank Sturges, Andy Miller, and Steve Henderson take a break from cleaning along U.S. 285 north of Roswell during highway cleanup day this past Saturday.

Rotarian J.P. Cheney totes a trash bag along U.S. 285 during the club's cleanup of the Rotary Mile north of Roswell.

Chasing Billy the Kid topic of talk

Authors Kurt House and Roy B. Young will speak at this week’s Roswell Rotary Club meeting about their new book, Chasing Billy the Kid: Frank Stewart and the Untold Story of William H. Bonney.

The book gives a full discussion of the posse led by Frank Stewart and Pat Garrett which was successful in the capture.

During their presentation Thursday, House and Young will relate how the book came to be written and some of the information it reveals on Billy the Kid and the previously untold involvement of Frank Stewart.

House, from San Antonio, Texas, was raised on a ranch in Three Rivers, Texas, learning the history of the West from his father and grandfather.

He is an internationally known authority on the cowboy equipment and firearms of the West. House is the author of numerous books on these topics and more than 200 articles on the Wild West.

In 2020, he was honored with the “Six-Shooter Award for Lifetime Contributions to Wild West History.” He is a life member of several historical and collecting organizations and currently is a director of the Wild West History Association (WWHA).

Young, from Apache, Okla., is first vice president and publications editor of WWHA.

He is the author of numerous books on Wild West topics, including the award-winning A Wyatt Earp Anthology: Long May His Story Be Told.

In 2013, he was honored with the “Six-Shooter Award for Lifetime Contributions to Wild West history.”

Young is widely sought as a speaker and this month will make his 20th annual presentation on topics related to Wyatt Earp, the “Gunfight at the OK Corral,” and related topics at the Tombstone Territory Roundup in Tombstone, Ariz. 

Extension agent to address Rotary

Andrew “Drew” Garnett, Chaves County agricultural extension agent, will be speaker at this week’s Roswell Rotary Club meeting.

Drew was raised in Dexter, where he fell in love with entomology through Future Farmers of America.

He received his BS and MS degrees in Agricultural Biology, with an emphasis on Entomology, from New Mexico State University.

Drew moved to Florida, where he taught high school science but returned to his love of entomology by working for Walt Disney World Horticulture for the past five years.

He moved back to Chaves County in the winter of 2021 as the NMSU agricultural extension agent. 

Honoring Vietnam War veteran

Pecos Valley Quilters Dietta Hitchcock (bottom left) and Carolyn Mitchell show the patriotic-themed quilt presented to Marlin Wells, a Vietnam War combat veteran, at last week’s Roswell Rotary Club meeting. Dietta is the wife of Rotarian Jon Hitchcock; Carolyn and Marlin are Roswell Rotarians.

Club highway cleanup Oct. 8

Patton

The Roswell Rotary Club has scheduled cleaning up its mile along U.S. 285 starting at 8 a.m. on Oct. 8, a Saturday. 

Rotarian Gordon Patton, highway cleanup chair, said club volunteers will meet just before 8 a.m. for coffee and snacks at Mile Marker 116.3, about one mile north of the overpass on U.S. 285.

“It takes an ideal group of 12 minimum about 1.5 hours the walk out our mile on both sides of the highway,” Patton said. “Your participation is encouraged to help keep our Rotary Mile from being trashy!”

Gloves, trash bags and safety vests will be provided.

Yehls head United Way campaign

Roswell Rotary Club member Warren Yehl and his wife Barbara will chair the 2022 United Way of Chaves County fund-raising campaign. The goal of this year's campaign is $400,000.

Rotarians help monarch tracking

Bianca Cheney at release

Rotarians and family members helped with the release of 200 tagged monarch butterflies during the 19th annual Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge east of Roswell.

This year’s festival was held Sept. 10 at the refuge, 4200 E. Pine Lodge Road.

Rotarian Warren Yehl and club president Bianca Cheney led the Roswell Rotary Club effort to release the butterflies

The club contributed to the purchase of the butterflies this year from a 2022-23 District 5520 grant.

“We will be asked to work on the butterfly trail at a later date,” Cheney added. “The monarchs are marked with a special tag so when they are caught, locations and distance traveled can be documented.”

The wildlife refuge reported each butterfly had a special numbered light sticker affixed to its wing. This sticker, which does not hinder the butterfly’s flight, helps scientists keep track of the monarchs’ migration routes.

Volunteers in Mexico locate the monarchs in their overwintering sites and on their spring migration back through North America.

Information collected also helps conservationists set aside migration corridors for the butterflies and promote planting milkweed along the way. Monarch caterpillars require milkweed to survive, the refuge reported.

The Warren Yehl family and Bianca Cheney help a Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge ranger with the release of monarch butterflies.

Paul Long newest member

Paul Long is officially welcomed into the Roswell Rotary Club on Sept. 8. Long, who holds a Banking classification, is senior vice president of J.P. Stone Community Bank.

Barbara Gomez this week's speaker

Gomez

Barbara Gomez, the new executive director of MainStreet Roswell, will speak to the Roswell Rotary Club this Thursday about the program.

Gomez has served as MainStreet Roswell executive director since Aug. 1.

“This organization is vital to not only the community of Roswell, but most especially the downtown Roswell district,” she said. “MainStreet Roswell is considered an arm of economic development and is charged with providing economic vitality, organization, promotion and design to the downtown district.

“We apply for grants to provide revitalization of facades and to build new outdoor areas to bring economic vitality. We have submitted a grant to help construct the upcoming Great Blocks area ‘Market Place walk’ and should know soon if we were approved for a substantial grant for this project,” Gomez said.  

She said the downtown corridor “encompasses Main Street from Eighth Street to McGaffey, going north and south; Richardson Avenue and Virginia going east and west.

“Events on MainStreet provide promotions to shop on Main Street and tourism — events such as UFO Events in July, the Chile Cheese Festival in September and Christmas events in December. We also provide decorations on Main Street — flags for 4th of July weekend, flowers in the pots in spring, Christmas lights in the trees, and Christmas decorations on the light poles,” Gomez said.  

Prior to being selected as MainStreet Roswell director, Gomez worked for Frontier Medical Home Care for 12 years.

“Many of you may already know me or have attended one of the many events I have coordinated, such as the Baby Boomer Health & Business Expo, the BRAVE 5k (Bringing Remembrance to All Veterans Everywhere), Roswell Mud, Sweat & Tears, and many more,” she added. 

Concert on courthouse lawn

Roswell Rotary Exchange student Sakurako “Sakura” Kamitani and host mother Maria Bleth attend the Roswell Symphony Orchestra brass band concert Sept. 2 on the lawn of the Chaves County Courthouse.

District governor's Roswell visit

John Drusedum, Rotary District 5520 governor, presents a banner to Roswell Rotary Club president Bianca Cheney during his visit to his home club on Sept. 1. After addressing Roswell Rotary Club members and meeting with board members, Drusedum was guest of honor at a reception in the home of Rotarian Mark Bleth and his wife Maria.

John Drusedum, Rotary District 5520 governor, addresses Roswell Rotary Club and Pecos Valley Rotary Club members during a reception at the home of Roswell Rotarian Mark Bleth.

Drusedum to address home club

John Drusedum will speak to his home club this week as Rotary District 5520 governor.

Governor Drusedum will meet with the Roswell Rotary Club Board of Directors and then will address the whole club on Thursday (Sept. 1)

John is co-founder of LGR Projects LLC, a New Mexico company that purchases and manages rental real estate. In addition, he and his wife Sharon are owners/managers of the Lonely Goat Ranch and Chuckwagon located just outside of Roswell.

They also own a unique Roswell hair salon, Strands of Gold LLC.

John received his BA and MA from SNU and served churches in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico in pastoral ministry for 30 years.

In 1998, John co-founded the web and graphic design studio VaporWerks Inc. He and his co-founder closed the studio in 2004.

He grew up on the East Coast in a Philadelphia bedroom community. He is a Vietnam War-era veteran, serving in the U.S. Navy as a data systems technician — now known as IT.

John has been married to Sharon, a native “Roswalien,” since 1981. They have 2 adult daughters, 1 adult son, and 9 grandchildren.

 

John became a member of Rotary in April 1996 while living in Santa Fe. He has held various leadership roles as a member of the Rotary clubs of Santa Fe Centro; Rio Rancho; Austin-Oak Hill (now Southwest Austin), Texas; is a past president of the Roswell Sunrise Rotary Club; member of the Roswell Rotary Club; and has served as District 5520 as assistant governor and lieutenant governor.

He is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow (as is Sharon and 2 of their 3 children), a member of the Paul Harris Society, and he and Sharon are major donors.

In 2018-19, John and Sharon were the host family to a Finnish Rotary Exchange student, with whom they continue to stay in contact.

 

Some of his hobbies/passions include chuckwagon cooking, bass guitar, classic cars, empowering the next generation, clean water/sanitation, and peace initiatives.

John Drusedum, Rotary District 5520 governor, and his wife Sharon are shown before the start of the July 4 Independence Day Parade in El Paso. John will address his home club on Thursday.

 

Ranger discusses Bitter Lake refuge

Steve I. Alvarez, outdoor recreation planner and refuge ranger at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, addresses the Roswell Rotary Club at its Aug. 11 meeting.

 

Exchange student meets club

Sakurako “Sakura” Kamitani, the Roswell Rotary Club’s exchange student from Japan, makes her first comments to the club at the Aug. 11 meeting.

Planning Scrap Happy Quilt Show

Roswell Rotarian Carolyn Mitchell holds a sign promoting the Scrap Happy Quilt Show on Sept. 16-17 at First Church of the Nazarene, 501 N. Sycamore Ave. The show, sponsored by Pecos Valley Quilters, will donate proceeds to local charities.

Speaker reports on United Way

Laura Weathers, assistant executive director of the United Way of Chaves County, reports on the community fundraising organization at the Aug. 4 Rotary Club meeting. She said the annual fundraising drive kicks off next month. Goal for the drive is $400,000, she said.

Paul Harris Fellows honored

Roswell Rotarians Steve Henderson (left) and Shawn Powell were presented pins during the Aug.  4 meeting, honoring them as Paul Harris Fellows. Making the presentations was Carolyn Mitchell.

 

Paperwork catches up

Mark Bleth receives his Roswell Rotary Club New Member Kit from fellow Rotarian J.P. Cheney. The paperwork trailed Mark’s membership in the club. Mark’s category is “Real Estate Sales.”

Family remembers Jerry Childress

Childress

Retired Brig. Gen. Gerald “Jerry” Childress passed peacefully in his sleep on July 7, 2022. He was 91.

Jerry was known to many across the nation and locally as a leader, mentor, educator, volunteer, and avid supporter of many community groups. His contagious work ethic and positivity will be greatly missed.

Born Aug. 11, 1930, Jerry started his life in a modest coal miner family farmhouse in an area of southwestern Virginia called Camp Creek, Dickenson County. As the oldest boy of six children to Logan and Hettie Childress, he was a dedicated brother and consummate supporter of his family and their rural upbringing. Education and public service were key to their family values.

Jerry wanted to be an agriculture and shop teacher and was able to join the ROTC program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech) where he attained his degree in Agriculture Education and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army.

Upon graduating as a proud and supportive Hokie, he served in the Field Artillery branch of the Army and the 82nd Airborne Division. He later went on to graduate from the National War College, while simultaneously obtaining his Master’s degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.

He ultimately achieved being one of the youngest non-wartime promotions to brigadier general. Some of his highest honors included the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Joint Services Commendation Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and eight Vietnam Service Medals.

After 25 years of active-duty service and a distinguished military career in the Army, he retired in 1977 and soon after became superintendent of New Mexico Military Institute.

Jerry was most proud of his time and tenure at NMMI. While there he grew the student population and worked with the Board of Regents and the state Legislature to fund and oversee multiple building projects, including the Toles Learning Center and the Godfrey Athletic Center. His love of the school and persistent interaction with its alumni ranks culminated in numerous continuing scholarships and campus improvements, including the Daniels Leadership Center.

His efforts resulted in New Mexico Military Institute ranking as one of the top high school and junior college military academies in the country, embodying its motto of “Duty, Honor, and Achievement.”

His service around the world for his military duties, which included foreign land conflicts, shaped him as a leader who was passionate about people and kindhearted to all. Never one to be idle, he also embarked on a variety of business and philanthropic projects to support Roswell, his true home, as he embraced its people, culture, and community — serving for all.

His lifelong love of golf, and his 65th birthday gift to a Golfsmith school for club making, led to the Cool Star Golf shop where people from all over New Mexico and beyond came for golf clubs, repairs, and plenty of banter!

Jerry will not only be remembered for what he did with his life, but more so for the countless lives he impacted along his way. Whether it was the service to his country, the White House, the Pentagon, helping coin the Army slogan “Be All You Can Be,” the leadership of New Mexico Military Institute and Wentworth Military Academy, the Betty Ford Center, Roswell Rotary Club, Salvation Army, or as a founder of First Tee of Southeastern New Mexico — Jerry never lost his humble roots and Can-Do Attitude.

Jerry is survived by his partner and loving wife of more than 65 years, Martha “Marty” Childress; his brother, Byran Childress; sister, Vicey Quillen; daughter, Jane Harvard (husband Jeff Harvard); son, Gordon Childress (wife Lauri Childress); grandchildren, Jeremy (wife Ally Harvard), Julia Harvard (fiancé Connor Robertson), Nicholas Childress, Hadley Childress; great-granddaughter, Stella Harvard; and his many good friends throughout Chaves County and beyond.

The family also would like to recognize the Boys of Autumn Friday lunch group, past and present, which Jerry looked forward to every week. Jerry’s family would especially like to thank his kind and loving helpers: Isabel, Veronica, Susan, and Viola.

Many say and affirm … We have lost one of the GREAT ones! He would want us all to remember to treat others as we would like to be treated and most importantly … “Keep Chargin’!”

EDITOR'S NOTE: This obituary was written by the family of former Roswell Rotary Club member Jerry Childress.

Rotary Exchange student arrives

Sakurako “Sakura” Kamitani, the Roswell Rotary Club’s exchange student from Japan, arrived at midnight Saturday (July 30).

Greeting Sakura at the Roswell Air Center terminal was a group led by club president Bianca Cheney.

The greeters included Karl Hendricks and Brice Hager, longtime family friends who are learning to speak Japanese; Colton Felmar, Roswell Rotary Club’s outbound student to Sweden in 2019-20 from New Mexico Military Institute; and host parents Mark and Maria Bleth.  

Sakura is 16 years old with an older brother and younger sister. Her historic hometown has about 470,000 people. Her father is a Rotarian and also was an exchange student many years ago.

Welcoming Sakura to Roswell are (from left) Karl Hendricks, Brice Hager, Colton Felmar, Mark Bleth, Sakura, Maria Bleth, and Rotarians Richard Madison, JP Cheney, and Bianca Cheney.

Jerry Childress service Aug. 20

Childress

A memorial service will be conducted at 3 p.m. Aug. 20 for retired Brig. Gen. Gerald “Jerry” Childress, who died July 7 in his sleep at his Roswell home.

The service will be conducted at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 505 N. Pennsylvania Ave. The service also will be live-streamed on the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and LaGrone Funeral Chapel websites for family members and friends who are unable to attend.

A private family interment will be conducted later at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

Jerry, 91, was a longtime member of the Roswell Rotary Club.

He was a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who was appointed superintendent and president of New Mexico Military Institute after retiring from the Army.

Bruce Stubbs discusses astronomy

Bruce A. Stubbs speaks to the Roswell Rotary Club about amateur astronomy at its July 28 meeting. Bruce is past president of the Roswell Pecos Valley Rotary Club.

Plan to greet exchange student

Sakura, the incoming Roswell Rotary exchange student from Japan, will arrive at the Roswell Airport Saturday (July 30) at 9:30 p.m.

I know she will be tired from traveling — about 14 hours total — yet it would be great to have a lot of people there to greet her. Mark and Maria Bleth will be her first host family and she will get registered at Goddard High School on Aug. 2.

I hope you will make plans to be at the airport with signs, balloons, or just your smiling face!  

Bianca and JP Cheney