The Roswell Rotary Club will welcome Rotarians from throughout New Mexico and West Texas for the 2023 District 5520 Conference in mid-April.
The three-day conference will begin on Thursday, April 20, with a 6 p.m. reception at the International UFO Museum and Research Center, 114 N. Main St., in downtown Roswell.
The UFO Museum — the largest drawing museum in New Mexico — annually hosts more than 245,000 visitors worldwide. The UFO Museum chronicles the reported crash of a flying saucer near the city in 1947.
During the past two years, the museum has added more than $1 million worth of displays, including one which puts the visitor inside the flying saucer as it heads toward a crash on a ranch west of Roswell.
Formal sessions will begin at 9 a.m. Friday in the Information Technology Center, 52 University Blvd., at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell south of the city.
Coffee and pastries will be served before the business sessions and presentation of the Sonny Brown Award which will last until noon, when a catered lunch will be served.
After lunch, breakout sessions will begin at 1 p.m. and run until 2:30 p.m.
Rotarians and guests who do not attend the business sessions will be provided a list of suggestions for sightseeing in Roswell, said Carolyn Mitchell, conference co-chair.
On Friday evening, Roswell and Pecos Valley Rotary club members will host fellow Rotarians and guests at Home Hospitality events.
Workshops will resume on Saturday at 9 a.m., preceded by coffee and pastries.
From 1:30-2:30 p.m. Saturday, the Youth Exchange Student talent show will be presented at the ENMU-R Performing Arts Center.
“This is a must-see event that will feature Rotary exchange students performing their amazing talents,” said Bianca Cheney. Roswell Rotary Club president.
Later Saturday, the Roswell Rotary Club will host a 6 p.m. reception at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, 409 E. College Blvd.
Dinner will follow in the museum. The theme for the dinner will be Men in Black.
The museum was founded by the late Donald B. Anderson and his wife Sally to host art created at the Artist-in-Residence Program the Andersons have sponsored in Roswell since 1967.
Today, more than 500 diverse works of art enliven its 12 galleries and 22,000 square feet of exhibition space.
Rotary International officers attending the Roswell conference will include:
- Past District Governor Rod Thompson of British Columbia, will represent Jennifer Jones, president of Rotary International.
- Geoff Cochran, annual giving officer for The Rotary Foundation. Cochran lives in Evanston, Ill.
- Rotary International Director Vicki Puliz and her husband Tim of Reno, Nev.
The District Conference will formally end Saturday night after the banquet.
The Rotary Hospitality Room will be in the Clarion Inn and Suites, 2000 N. Main St. The Las Cruces Rio Grande Rotary Club will be the Hospitality Room host from 8-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and from 9-11 p.m. on Saturday.
The Roswell Rotary Club, as home club for District 5520 Governor John Drusedum, is hosting the conference.
Special club event
Rotarians and guests not attending business meetings on Saturday can join the Roswell Rotary Club’s Sporting Clays Fun Shoot at Creek Side Clays, 131 N. Firehouse Road in Cottonwood, south of Roswell in Eddy County.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. on April 22, with the fun shoot running from 9-11:30 a.m. Lunch and awards will be held from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Pre-registration is mandatory. To register, contact Rotarian Paul Long at James Polk Stone Community Bank, P.O. Box 1778, Roswell, NM 88202. Long also can be reached by telephone at (575) 622-7621 or by email at paul.long@jpstonecb.com
The cost is $150 per participant. Payment and registration with Long are due on or before April 11. The first session is limited to 100 shooters.
Money raised in the fun shoot goes to youth and veteran programs sponsored by the Roswell Rotary Club.
