Horizon Sunrise Rotary Club

It was a packed house today as we welcomed both our new RYE student, Jerry, and our District Governor, Whitney Smythe-Smith!
President Jim received some great gifts for the President and even one all the way from Thailand! We also got all the exciting details on the upcoming Rotary District Conference that will be taking place right here in Grand Junction!
Sue also pulled the Ace and won the big pot! What a great way for the Hemphills to celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary!

New photos from the last few meetings. Jay won the raffle. Martha with Marillac clinic has recruited us to help with a project. Dr. Barbara Zind gave us a heartbreaking program on the Gaza Strip and the daily experiences of its residents. Chris won last weeks raffle.

Gifts for the president is such a fun tradition. When Rotarians go on vacation they bring back a small gift for the president. Can’t wait to see what’s at this weeks meeting because a lot of Rotarians were gone last week.

Welcome to our newest Rotary Exchange student - Jerry from Thailand!

We are now receiving grant applications!

Jim's first official meeting as President meant a lot of Gift for the President! But it also meant it's time to switch to a new Rotary Year and a new Rotary Flag. This year we managed to get a big one...bye, bye mini-flag!

Join us next week as we welcome our guest presenters from CASA of Mesa County !

Charter night was so much fun. We celebrated our 25th Anniversary as a club. President Ken was roasted AND he was awarded our clubs Rotarian of the year. We’re all ready for a great year with incoming president Jim Kaiser.

Well Gilbert the Gavel didn’t waste anytime getting back on the road. He was home for our charter night party to wish Past President Ken the best, then he took off with new President Jim for a weekend camping and hiking.

Last week we learned about Community Health and the amazing work that Victoria does through Intermountain Health .. President Ken is still getting awesome Gifts for the President, with only one week left to go before the big transition. Deb won the small pot, but there's plenty left for anyone who wants to join the fun Thursday morning!

Thank you Mesa County Library. We love working with you to get library cards into the hands of First graders.

Club Day! We had gifts for the President from Sue and Boyd. A shiny new white badge was presented to Christian and Glenn did his best to pick the ace but wasn’t successful. It was a fun meeting with lots of laughs.

Gilbert picked up a shift as softball scorekeeper tonight to help pay for all his travels.

Gilbert the gavel took in a hockey game tonight.

Hunting for treasure was the theme today. Corrie brought some “treasure” in a gift for the President. We presented 3 new members with their official white badge. Hans shared his treasures from diving adventures to old shipwrecks from the 1700’s and we said goodbye to our exchange student Tamas who sadly goes home next week. Tamas even won the raffle!!

Gilbert is enjoying a night at the ballpark cheering on our JUCO team the Blinn Buccaneers.

Gilbert enjoying the Bishop, CA Mule Days.

Gilbert checking out mule days.

Our meetings are so much fun! Here’s two weeks worth of club shenanigans. We’ve had big trophies in the house, fresh eggs, and fun gifts for the president. Carmen won the entire raffle last week and she was gone this week. 🧐 We had a presentation from the Colorado Land trust which was very informative. Have a safe holiday weekend.

Gilbert the gavel road trip to Bishop, CA. Mule Days. More pictures to follow over the next few days.

It’s Foundation month at Rotary so today we had Three foundation reports. On was our club, then Kristen from Western Colorado Community foundation updated us on our clubs endowment. Robin Brown filled us in on what’s happening with the CMU foundation and our very own president Ken won the raffle.

It was a hands on meeting this week. We stuffed almost 1400 tote bags for our library card project. Each first grader will get a bag for their books, a reading timer and info on summer reading plus a library card. We also had gifts for the president and our weekly raffle.

Service Above Self!
Yesterday Horizon Sunrise Rotarians spent our meeting stuffing bags for our 1st grade library program. These bags will be delivered to every first grader in the School District along with their very own library card! This is part of our Club's focus on supporting children's literacy in Mesa County.

We had a lot of fun last week delivering books to first graders at Appleton, Tope and Pomona elementary schools. The kids loved it when we read a book to them.

Looking for an opportunity to make a difference?

Foster Alumni Mentors is hosting its inaugural Starfish Gala on May 11th. Tickets are still available to attend and make an impact in our community and be inspired by stories of those who overcame challenges after foster care.

Local Rotary Clubs Celebrate Ribbon-Cutting for Clifton Library Outdoor Space

Grand Junction Horizon Sunrise was one of four Mesa County Rotary Clubs that came together to donate $13,200 for the purchase of shelving and furnishings for the outdoor children's area of the new Clifton Library. A portion of the contributions was also matched by Rotary District #5470!

"We are very excited to have partnered with our fellow Rotary Clubs in supporting this important project," explains Horizon Sunrise president, Ken Watkins. "One of our Club's primary areas of support is children's literacy. Supporting the Clifton Library, especially a children's area, aligns perfectly with our goals to increase early literacy skills in Mesa County's youth."

It was a busy but productive meeting this morning! We inducted a new member (Welcome Alex!), had gifts for the President, learned about pur Club's AMAZING endowment, and got a great update on the GJ Rec Center Project. We ended the meeting with Nicole winning the raffle!

Today we had gifts for members and past president Sara. Amber Henning updated us on what’s happening with Homeward Bound and the new resource center. Biff won the raffle on this beautiful Spring morning. Rumor has it that Gilbert the gavel may be on a new vacation to somewhere tropical. Stay tuned…