Board cancels Rotary meeting

The Roswell Rotary Club board has voted to cancel today’s meeting because of snowy, icy weather and road conditions.

Rotary to meet at Country Club

The Roswell Rotary Club has found a new home!

“We will be meeting at the Roswell Country Club starting tomorrow,” said Bianca Cheney, club president-elect.

The Country Club’s address is: 2601 Urton Road, Roswell, NM

Since reinstituting in-person meetings in the latter stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the club has moved its weekly lunch meetings to various locations. Members were asked to vote on a permanent meeting site last week.

Club featured in ESRAG article

The Roswell Rotary Club’s program to collect plastic bottle caps for conversion into park benches has received special mention in a Rotary International online publication.

Last summer a writer for the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) interviewed club president-elect Bianca Cheney for the article.

To read the article, click on this link: https://www.esragplastics.org/a-bench-grows-in-new-mexico/

Cheneys attend SCRYE conference

By BIANCA CHENEY

JP and I recently attended the winter South Central Rotary Youth Exchange conference in Tulsa.

The SCRYE is our multi-district organization for the youth exchange program.

Some 100 people attended the conference from 34 districts. The Board meeting was on Friday afternoon and many wonderful breakout sessions were held on Saturday, covering all topics relating to the program.

JP was prepared to make one breakout presentation and, after we arrived found out another presenter was not able to attend, JP happily agreed to lead a second presentation. He does a great job and always receives good feedback from attendees.

I am on the Management Committee and a member of the Training Committee, responsible for selecting topics for each conference, as well as confirming speakers.

SCRYE conferences are held twice a year — winter in Tulsa and the summer conference at various locations throughout the SCRYE member districts. The July conference will be in Albuquerque. You are welcome to join us to learn more about this fabulous program.

District 5520 had seven representatives at the SCRYE Conference in Tulsa.

Attending conference are (from left) Richard Haas, Las Cruces; Melissa Metcalf, Los Alamos; Rob Metcalf, Los Alamos; Laura Gonzales, Los Alamos; Cassidy Gardner, past exchange student to the Netherlands from Los Alamos; Bianca Cheney, Roswell; and  JP Cheney, Roswell.

Historian Dale Ek to speak at Rotary

Historian Dale Ek will speak on “If they could only talk — some can!” at this week’s Rotary Club meeting at the Roswell Civic Center.

He said his presentation “will feature selected items from my collection that enlighten the beholder of its place in history.”

Ek, who was raised in Orchard Park, graduated from Dexter High School. He is a Marine Corps veteran and is a graduate of Texas Christian University and the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.

History — specifically military and New Mexico history — has been Ek’s lifelong interest and for more than 45 years he has collected historical items. He is a member of the Historical Society of New Mexico, the Albuquerque Historical Society, and the Historical Society for Southeast New Mexico.

Rotarian Steve Henderson (left) and Dale Ek attend earlier dedication of historic sign marking the World War II “Roswell Prisoner of War Camp” at Orchard Park near Roswell.

Espiritu to address club

Mike Espiritu, president of the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corp., will be featured speaker at this week’s Rotary Club meeting. The meeting begins at noon at the Roswell Civic Center.

Espiritu

Espiritu, who has been president of the corporation since October 2019, said: “I am fueled by the passion for creating better economic and community development opportunities for people, businesses, and communities, which provides stronger educational and training programs for a superior workforce, enhance local governmental programs, and create the environment for a better quality of life for all citizens.”

Before moving to Roswell, Espiritu served as F-16 assistant site manager and safety, health and environmental manager at AECOM, Holloman Air Force Base. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of the Otero County Economic Development Council and the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce

He served in the Air Force for more than 27 years, retiring in 2001 as command chief master sergeant of the 49th Fighter Wing.

Espiritu serves on the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center Board of Directors, as vice-chair of the Roswell City Airport Advisory Commission, and on the Eastern Area Workforce Development Board of Directors.

Thursday's Rotary meeting

Kurt Taufa’asau, New Mexico Military Institute head football coach, addresses the Roswell Rotary Club on Thursday. He and athletic director Jose Barron (right) gave an overview of NMMI athletics during the meeting at the Roswell Civic Center.

First reading

• The first reading was held for Elizabeth Michael, proposed for membership in the Roswell Rotary Club by John Drusedum.