State Rep. Greg Nibert of Roswell will speak at the Jan. 4 Roswell Rotary Club meeting.
Nibert, an attorney who has represented District 59 since 2017, will speak about the upcoming 30-day legislative session, which begins on Jan. 16.
He serves as the minority whip in the New Mexico House, and is a member of the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee; the House Judiciary Committee; and the House Rules and Order of Business Committee.
Roswell Rotary Club members, family, and friends gathered at the Gen. Douglas L. McBride Roswell Veterans Cemetery on Dec. 16 to lay wreaths at the graves of U.S. military veterans.
The wreath-laying was one of the club’s most recent community projects.
Rotarian Maurice Geldert contacted the Wreaths Across America organization earlier with plans to engage the Roswell club and friends in wreath-laying.
On Nov. 16, he addressed the club, asking for volunteers to help with the wreath project.
During the same time, some club members joined the Rotary Fellowship of Military Veterans and offered to help with programs involving military and veteran affairs.
The Wreaths Across America is now a continuing project for the club.
 |
| Past District Governor John Drusedum (left) joins Roswell Rotarian Maurice Geldert at the veterans cemetery. |
 Members of the Roswell Rotary Club are helping the Salvation Army with its Christmas drive. Ringing the bell at Sam's Club on Dec. 9 were (from left) Bianca Cheney, Sharon and John Drusedum, and J.P. Cheney. |
The Roswell Rotary Club will meet for a Christmas Celebration Luncheon on Dec. 14 at the Texas Roadhouse.
Club President Marcos Nava said members and guests can gather for the holiday lunch between 11:30 a.m. and noon. Lunch will be served at their table when they are seated.
Members will be billed for their guest’s meal, which will feature a 12-ounce prime rib with baked potato and toppings, green beans, bread, and salad with a choice of dressings.
Nava will welcome club members and guests at 12:05 p.m., followed by club elections at 12:10 p.m. Christmas songs by Jay Parker will follow the elections.
 District 5520 Governor Richard Haas shares a banner from Rotary International President R. Gordon R. McInally with Marcos Nava (right), president of the Roswell Rotary Club. Haas visited the club on Dec. 7. |
Rotarian Maurice Geldert is seeking volunteers for the club’s Wreaths Across America project on Saturday, Dec. 16.
During the event, volunteers will lay wreaths at veterans’ graves in the General Douglas L. McBride Veterans Cemetery.
Honoring deceased veterans is part of the national Wreaths Across America campaign started in 1992.
Geldert, an Army helicopter pilot wounded in the Vietnam War, is spearheading the Roswell event.
The McBride Veterans Cemetery adjoins South Park Cemetery at 3101 S. Main St.
Maurice said he is seeking volunteers from the club to help open boxes of wreaths and prepare them. He would like for volunteers to meet with him at the cemetery at 9 a.m. on Dec. 16.
He also is asking for volunteers to help direct traffic at the cemetery, starting at 11 a.m.
If you would like to help, contact Maurice at:
(575) 317-4664
doctor.mwg@gmail.com
 |
| Richard and Susan Haas |
District Gov. Richard Haas will speak at the Dec. 7 Roswell Rotary Club meeting, attend the club’s Board meeting, and then be hosted at a reception.
The club will meet at its regular time and place. However, Haas will meet with the Board at 4 p.m. at the Pasta Cafe, followed by a reception at 5 p.m.
The reception, also to be held at the Pasta Cafe, is open to all Roswell Rotarians. It will feature a complimentary finger food buffet and a no-host bar.
Richard joined the Las Cruces Rio Grande Rotary Club in 2010 after accepting an invitation from a close friend.
Raised in the Texas Hill Country, Richard graduated from Boerne High School and studied architecture at Texas A&M University, graduating in 1980.
He received his master’s degree in architecture from the University of Colorado in 1982.
Richard has practiced architecture in Denver, Austin, San Antonio, and Santa Fe, and for the past 28 years in Las Cruces. He also taught architecture to interior design students at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) for seven years.
He currently is president of Desert Peak Architects in Las Cruces.
In 2007, Richard received the New Mexico Architect’s Medal.
Richard was president of the American Institute of Architects New Mexico Chapter in 2001, 2006, and 2019.
He and his wife Susan have been married for 43 years.
 |
Roswell Rotarian Maurice Geldert discusses the Wreaths Across America program he is spearheading in the community. On Dec. 16, wreaths will be laid at the graves of military veterans throughout the United States. Geldert, a combat helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, spoke to the club on Nov. 16 about the program. |
 Pamela Hartley, RN, trauma director at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, spoke at the Nov. 16 Roswell Rotary Club meeting about dealing with medical trauma. |
 Luis Ortiz and Eden Chavira, Roswell Rotary Club Students of the Month, were honored during the Nov. 16 club meeting. Standing between the students is club President Marcos Nava. |
Members of the Roswell Rotary Club turned out for the annual New Mexico Military Institute Veterans Day Breakfast on Nov. 10.
Maj. Gen. Jerry Grizzle, NMMI president and superintendent, described to veterans how his National Guard and U.S. military service prepared him for his position leading the Institute.
Roswell Rotarians attending the breakfast were Grizzle, Steve Henderson, Marlin Wells, Shawn Powell, and Jack Swickard.
 Rotarian Carolyn Mitchell (left) awarded immediate past club president Bianca Cheney her third Paul Harris Fellow sapphire pin at the Roswell Rotary Club’s Nov. 9 meeting. |
 City Councilor Cristina A. Arnold and Mike Espiritu, president and CEO of the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corp., visit with Rotarian Steve Smith after speaking to Roswell Rotary Club members on Nov. 2. They reported the Reno Air Races selection committee will be here Nov. 27 and 28 to check out the community. |
Randy Phelps, general manager of AerSale Aircraft MRO in Roswell, will speak at the Nov. 9 Roswell Rotary Club meeting.
 Dr. Anoop Kumar, hospitalist medical director at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, spoke to the Roswell Rotary Club on Oct. 26. His talk included discussing hospitalist medicine, tips for an inpatient stay, and end-of-life decisions. |
A presentation on medical services offered at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center will be given Thursday by Rotarian Warren Yehl and a medical provider.
Brian Wood, director of the International Law Enforcement Academy-Roswell, will speak to the Roswell Rotary Club on Oct. 19.
He currently is a supervisory special agent in the Diplomatic Security Service, joining the Department of State in 2002.
He was named director of ILEA-Roswell on May 1, 2021.
Wood formerly served as the senior regional security officer (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, as well as chief of the Protective Operations Division for the RSO in Baghdad; RSO in Maputo, Mozambique; team leader in the Office of Mobile Security Deployments; RSO in Conakry, Guinea; and ARSO in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Islamabad, Pakistan.
Domestically he served as a team leader with Diplomatic Security’s Mobile Security Deployment Teams and as the DSS Liaison to U.S. Special Operations Command before joining ILEA-Roswell.
A New Jersey native, Wood holds degrees from the University of Texas, Alderson-Broaddus College, and the U.S. Naval War College, where he attended as an Inter-Agency Representative.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service and continuing through January 2021, Wood served in the U.S. Army, the Army National Guard, and the U.S. Army Reserve for 37 years as an NCO and commissioned officer before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
 |
| Brian Wood |
 |
| Participants at trash pickup on Saturday. |
Gordon Patton, Roswell Rotary Club Adopt-A-Highway chair, reported an excellent turnout for trash pickup on Saturday, Oct. 14.
“We gathered 29 bags of trash from 13 participants,” Gordon said. “The effort went very smoothly and we were through by 9:30.” Trash pickup volunteers met at 8 a.m. on U.S. Highway 285 north of Roswell. Participating were Denise Trowbridge, Jon Hitchcock, JP Cheney, Bianca Cheney, Frank Sturges, Steve Smith, Steve Henderson, Marcos Nava, Mark Reischman, Juan Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez Jr., Robert Norris and Patton. |
City Councilor Robert “Bob” Corn will discuss the Roswell city budget at the Oct. 12 Rotary Club meeting.
 |
| Corn |
He was elected to the City Council in March 2022.
Bob has an extensive career in public office, serving on the County Commission from 2012 through 2020, including terms as commission chairman in 2017-19.
In November 1994 he was elected Chaves County magistrate judge, retiring in December 2009.
Bob was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 1980 and was re-elected in 1982, 1984, and 1986. He served as House Republican Caucus chair in 1983-84.
His private business experience includes commercial aviation, fixed-base operations, new business development, and extensive farming and ranching operations.
The Roswell Rotary Club has scheduled cleaning up its mile along U.S. 285, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14.
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.
Gloves, trash bags, and safety vests will be provided.
 |
| Roswell Schools Superintendent Brian Luck will discuss school bonds on Thursday at the Roswell Rotary Club meeting. |
 Marcos Nava, Roswell Rotary Club president, on Thursday honored the club’s Students of the Month — Saleen Montoya of Goddard High School and Cadet Luciana Estrella Inda of New Mexico Military Institute. |
Matthew Chappell, air traffic manager at the Roswell International Air Center, will speak at this week’s Roswell Rotary Club meeting.
Chappell previously served 9.5 years in the Navy and 3 years at the Department of Defense.
Rotarian Jerry Grizzle, president/superintendent of New Mexico Military Institute since 2009, will address the Roswell Rotary Club on Thursday.
Grizzle, a retired Army major general, has a wealth of military, government, and business experience.
Before arriving at NMMI, he was president/CEO of Orbit Finer Foods, Skolniks, CD Warehouse, and AMS Health Sciences. Prior to his tenure with CD Warehouse, he was vice president/treasurer of Sonic Industries.
Grizzle has command experience with the Oklahoma Army National Guard, as well as the U.S. Army.
Immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Grizzle entered active federal service and took command of the Department of Defense Joint Task Force — Civil Support, the only unit in the Department of Defense responsible for the planning and execution a response to any weapons of mass destruction attack within the United States.
Rotarian Pancho Maples will be the guest speaker at this week’s Roswell Rotary Club meeting on Thursday (Aug. 31).
 Sterling and Anna Farmer join Steve Smith, Roswell Rotary Club Ramp Project chair, after club volunteers built a ramp for the couple’s mobile home on Brasher Road this past Saturday, Aug. 26. |
Kimberly Rutley, prevention coordinator at La Casa Community Behavioral Health, will speak at this week’s Roswell Rotary Club meeting.
Kimberly has a Bachelor of Community Health from New Mexico State University.
She has 23 years of experience in public health policy, media relations, prevention curriculum facilitation, and coalition-building, including 11 years overseeing programs at the state level.
Roswell Rotary Ramp Project volunteers should plan to meet from 8-11 a.m. on Aug. 25 (Friday) at Mayes Lumber, 115 S. Virginia Ave., project chair Steve Smith said.
The Ramp Project is seeking 4 volunteers for preliminary work on Friday, plus 6-8 volunteers on Aug. 26 (Saturday) to install the ramp at 500 W. Brasher Road, Space 17.
Installation work on Saturday will run from 8-11:30 a.m., Steve said.
Steve can be contacted at (575) 420-2100.
 |
| Bianca Cheney, immediate past Roswell Rotary Club president, holds a 2022-23 Rotary Citation honoring the club for “Helping imagine Rotary in the lives of people all over the world.” The award was presented by past District Governor John Drusedum. |
