Rotarians!  There are many ways you can contribute in our community in the next couple of months.

TOMORROW.  Parker Task Force Food Drive, Stroh Ranch King Soopers.  Saturday, November 14, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please click here to sign up for a 2-hour shift.  Friends and family are welcome to join in the fun!

NEXT WEEK.  Affinity Ranch Construction Help. Tuesday, November 17, 9:00 - ?  

Tim Mackin is looking for volunteers help relocate the electric line on the fence at the Affinity Ranch garden.  According to Tim, “We will start at 9 a.m. November 17, hopefully finish that day, but blocking the 18th also as backup.  The work will involve trenching (with a trencher), laying conduit, pulling wire and backfilling.  Tools would include shovels, steel rakes, good work shoes, work gloves, and clothing to match the weather.  I will bring water and lunch.”
If you can help either or both those days please email me at Tim.J.Mackin@gmail.com.  Questions please call at 303 981 8520.

Project CURE.  Monday, November 23, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

We volunteer the fourth Monday of the month to sort medical supplies.  No prior experience needed!  For more information and to sign up for November, click here.  

Affinity Ranch Holiday with Horses.  Saturday, December 5, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

You can be a Trail Guide at this annual event, guiding families to the activities.  Click here for more information and to sign up.

Santas, Mrs. Claus and Elves Needed.  3 locations, 3 dates in December

The noon club invites us to join them for holiday visits to two senior living centers and SkyRidge Hospital patients.  Here are the dates/locations:

• Victorian House, Monday, December 7, 4:45-6:00 p.m.
• MorningStar Assisted Living and Memory Care, Tuesday, December 15, 4:45-6:00 p.m.
• SkyRidge Hospital, Monday, December 21, 11:15-1:00 p.m.

If you would like more information on the specific visits or to sign up, please contact Bill Boyer at 303-548-2257

Breakfast with Santa, Parker Senior Center.  Saturday, December 19, two morning shifts.

Kam Breitenbach (aka Mrs. Claus) invites us to help spread some joy by volunteering to support Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Parker Senior Center.  There are two shifts:

• 8:15 - 9:30 a.m.

• 10:15 - 11:30 a.m.

Click here to sign up for a shift.  Questions?  Contact Kam at kamiebreitenbach@gmail.com

Put these two dates on your social calendars:

• District Governor Visit: On Thursday, November 19 we will not have a morning meeting. Instead, we will welcome our Rotary District Governor Cindy Chase to a social event that evening at Takoda Tavern. These annual District Governor visits are an inspiring way to learn about exciting initiatives going on around our District. Click here for more details and to RSVP.  The club will provide appetizers.

   

• Holiday Party: On Friday, December 4 we will celebrate our Holiday Party at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker.  Click here for more details and to RSVP

Let's celebrate the fellowship that Rotary offers!

We had a presentation in May from Covered Colorado, a local organization that “provides adult survivors of sex trafficking with housing, trauma-informed care, education, employment support, and community as they rebuild their lives and move toward independence.”  We have the privilege of touring their facilities for our meeting on Thursday, December 3.  We will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Stone Conference Room of the Solomon Foundation (16995 Pine Lane, Parker, CO 80134), then walk across the parking lot to Covered Colorado  (16965 Pine Lane  #202,  Parker, CO 80134).

We are organizing to once again take part in the Shark Pond program.  If you are interested in serving as a judge, please contact Ryan Arthur. 

What is Shark Pond?  Shark Pond is the inspiration of Ben Davidson of the Pocatello (ID) Rotary Club. Davidson, who made an online presesntation to our club last year, has a heart to connect entrepreneurs in Africa with training in how to create and run a business.  He then had the insight to connect those entrepreneurs with Rotary clubs to fund the microloans that encourage these businesses.  Each Shark Pond event includes two African entrepreneurs making a live online pitch to a Rotary club. For more information on the Shark Pond program, check out their website at https://entrapov.com/.  Ben Davidson received the Rotary Foundation's Meritorious Service Award in 2025.

Our club participated in a Shark Pond event earlier this year with two entrepreneurs from Malawi.  For many of us, it was heart-warming to take part in an international project where we got to meet the people who are impacted.

The photo below shows the judges for our first participation in Shark Pond.

Rotary's District Conferences are an inspiring gathering of people who want to serve others and make a difference in the world.  The District 5450 Conference is Saturday, December 5 at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.  This year's theme is Starship 5450: Reach for the Stars.  For more information and to register, click here.  The club has funding to help support the registration costs.

I'll bet there are pickleball players out there who could do our club proud…

We had a very special Fifth Thursday celebration in October in the form of a chili cook-off, with special guests from the noon club (aka the Cherry Creek Valley Rotary Club of Parker). 

Thank you to all who provided chili!  Here are the entrants and their spectacular creations:

• Kevin Anderson/Travel Vegetarian Chili
• Jodie Berdiales/Aunt Ida Mae’s Special Recipe
• Jim Chincholl/Grateful Red
• Tracy Christopher/The Whole Enchilada
• Bob Forbes/The People’s Chili
• Jeri Lockwood/Santa’s Chili
• Jack Kear/Duke City Chili
• Ron Saatjian/Meatless Wonder
• Chris Shriver/Turkey Chili
• Ron Sorlien/Nostalgic
• Ced Woodard/Pork and Pumpkin Chili
• Rick York/Renegade Red
• Rick York/Parker’s Smokin’ Outlaw

And congratulations to our winners!

1^st Place: Tracy Christopher/The Whole Enchilada

2^nd Place: Jim Chincholl/Grateful Red

3^rd Place: Jack Kear/Duke City Chili

In addition to enjoying some fabulous chili during the Fifth Thursday social event, we also celebrated heroes from our club who donated blood recently or are signed up to donate blood: 

• Ryan Arthur
• Scott Dishong
• Mike Droll
• John Huffaker
• Jack Kear
• Karen Keuninng
• Tim Mackin
• Jim Muir
• Ron Saatjan
• Shanna Schmidt
• Michelle Schultz
• Ced Woodard
• Connie Woodard

The special reward for these heroes?  A “vampire blood bag” filled either with Bloody Mary mix or with red wine.

One of the community  organizations with which the Rotary Club of Parker has the longest relationship is the Parker Task Force.  We participate regularly in their food drives, typically stationed at the Stroh Ranch King Soopers.  From there we constantly see the generosity of the Parker community.  Here are the results from our station at the most recent food drive on October 10: 

• 70 boxes of items
• $530 in cash/gift cards

The star donation item in October was 72 packages of chicken!

Pat Greaser, the head of the Task Force, also thanked the club for stepping up to fill in at an additional location when a group had to drop out at the last minute.

When everyone pitches in our community is a beautiful place.