2005-2006

President Edward Phillips

Ned Phillips, President 2005-2006 served as the 82nd President of the Las Vegas Rotary Club in the first year of the second century of Rotary.  During his term the Las Vegas Rotary Club exemplified the heart of Rotary, “Service Above Self“.

Club Service was led by Directors Brock Fraser-Membership, Jimmy Navarro-Communication, Janette Ford-Fundraising, C.T. McIntosh-Fundraising & Fellowship, Russ Swain-Fellowship and their Committee Chairs.  With the help of Past President Steve Casey, a new Executive Director, Lori LaBarbera was hired to replace Susan Ziobro.  In April, Shawn Noorda was hired when Lori married and moved. Four Orientation & Induction ceremonies brought in 24 new members, a net increase in membership from 164 to 172.  The club enjoyed numerous fellowship activities: Soft Ball Challenge, Alpine Picnic, Shakespeare Festival, End of Summer Party, UNLV Tailgate Party, Holiday Party, Hairspray the Musical, Putting Tournament, and Demotion Party.  The Rotary Wheel and Roster continued as first class publications.  Many enhancements were made to our website.  Presidents, Matt Nelson and Erik Patrick led the 25 Club members who excelled at weekly meetings, highway clean-ups, Super Bowl Board fundraiser, etc.  Shaken by the death of C.T. McIntosh in March and J.A Tiberti in May, the fourth annual Golf Tournament successfully fulfilled these departed members dreams by raising over $35,000 dollars. An annual $2,500 scholarship was initiated to a deserving student each year in honor of the person(s) recognized by the golf tournament.  Josh Miller was chosen to fill the vacancy on the Las Vegas Rotary Club Board.  Jim Taylor, Josh Miller and Mike Ballard handled outstanding weekly programs. Ed Lepere and staff provided superb meals at Lawry’s.  RI District 5300 chose President Ned and First Lady Marilyn as escorts and hosts to RI President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar’s Las Vegas visit on May 3rd.  The club hosted a Southern Nevada Interclub Dinner in his honor with over 200 excited Rotarians in attendance, including two GSE teams and members from our partner club in Mexico.

Community Service was led by Directors Janet Linder and Stephen Linder-Youth Projects, and Maj. William Raihl-Community Projects and their Committee Chairs.  Over 30 members put sweat equity into two Habitat for Humanity Houses in Henderson.  The club sponsored students and faculty advisors from Interact Clubs to the District 5300 Interact Symposium.  Several thousand cans for Salvation Army were donated and Kiwanis was beaten in our annual competition.  Three Junior High students were sent to Team Leadership Camp (TLC).  The Santa Clothes program clothed 268 needy children, fed them lunch and a day to remember at UNLV.  Las Vegas Rotary volunteers assisted at the Salvation Army holiday distribution center.  Members volunteered time at Opportunity Village for “Safe Street”, the club donated Halloween candy, and members donated time at the “Magical Forest” during the Holidays.  Each quarter we recognized 3 outstanding Air Force personnel at Nellis Air Force Base with a Lawry’s dinner, show tickets and/or a night at Coast hotels and a $50 gas gift card.  The adopted old railroad cottage (our Centennial project) was successfully moved to the Springs Preserve preserving an important part of Las Vegas history. A Proclamation from Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar Goodman, was received for our dedication to the community and the preservation of Nevada history.  The club adopted a Katrina Hurricane refugee family providing housing, furniture, household goods, a wheel chair for their crippled 4 year old, and more.   The club awarded our adopted school, Walter Bracken Elementary, with a grant for learning materials and donated books to their library.  We presented various community grants, to Opportunity Village, Happy Feet, Boys and Girls Club, Boys and Girls Town, Salvation Army, etc.  Our “Kids to Sports” Community Service continued to take needy children to UNLV sporting events.  We supported one Kideract Club, and three Interact Clubs, and helped a Middle School.  Our club sponsored 20 students to Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).

Vocational Service was led by Director Randy Boesch and his Committee Chairs.  The club helped sponsor the 4th Annual Safety Officers Recognition Event.  Our literacy project with the Las Vegas Freemont Rotary Club donated over 1000 books to Clark County Reads.  We held the Dan Stover Music Competition and awarded all six contestants with scholarship money.  The club held a successful 4-Way Speech Contest with all contestants receiving scholarship money and the winner placed 3rd at District Conference.  We hosted our annual Rotary Scholar Recognition luncheon and presented each attendee with a gift and certificate of recognition, and we presented the Nevada Centennial Medallion to the highest achieving scholar from UNLV.

International Service & Foundation was led by Director Karen Whisenhunt and her Committee Chairs. Members continued to support the Rotary International Foundation and received Paul Harris Fellowship recognition. The club raised over $68,000 ($2000 from Rotary Club of Calgary, $2000 from Walter Bracken Kideract Club) for Hurricane Katrina relief. We participated in “Vision Expo” to promote Rotary with RI Past President Frank Devlyn.  We held fellowship visits with our partner club the Rotary Club of Calgary, and helped with their Calgary Stampede. The club worked on a joint project with the Rotary Club of Calgary and Rotary Club of Bangkok in Thailand in a matching grant program to rebuild an entire village that was destroyed by the tsunami.  A record raffle amount over $25,000 was won, the full amount donated by its winners to local charities and the Las Vegas Rotary Foundation.  The Las Vegas Rotary Club sponsored an Ambassadorial Scholarship applicant who was selected for 2007-2008 Ambassadorial Scholarship to study in South America.  Our club hosted the incoming District 5300 Group Study Exchange (GSE) team and club members served has host families.  Several members joined President Elect, Brock Fraser, at RI Convention in Sweden/Denmark.  We committed to building four houses for needy families in Mexico.  And, we rekindled relations with our sister club in Tijuana. We participated with District 5300 in matching grants to Uganda.

RI District 5300 Recognition

The Las Vegas Rotary Club was recognized at District 5300 Conference in Palm Springs, thanks to the Past Presidents Representative on our Board, Caty Crockett, who spent hours reporting our accomplishments.  We took 2nd place in the district for the Most New Members. Our club received the District’s “Premier Club Award“, and Rotary International’s “Service Above Self” Presidential Citation.

Special Year-end Recognition Awards

Two “SERVICE Above Self” plaques and “Paul Harris Fellowships” were awarded, one to Craig Miller and the other to Connie Sanders who both championed our Golf Tournament fundraiser.  “Rotarian of the Year” award went to Cooley Butler, who worked tirelessly in our behalf every week.  “Making a World of Difference” awards were presented to, Jim Tucker-the Wheel, Roster, etc., Jim Jones-photographer, Jim Taylor-programs, Josh Miller-programs, Mike Ballard-programs, Ed Lepere-luncheons, Karen Whisenhunt-extra projects, Matt Nelson-25 Club President, Erik Patrick-25 Club President, and Richard Hanseen-Treasurer.  In addition, the Las Vegas Rotary Club Board members, Las Vegas Rotary Foundation Board members, and all Committee Chairs were recognized with a “Phillips Year” mouse pad.  The Las Vegas Rotary Club magnified their calling as Rotarians and each member received a “Thanks for a great year” magnifying letter opener.

The dedicated members of the Las Vegas Rotary Club in 2005-2006 achieved new records and added new projects that were of benefit to the City of Las Vegas, to Clark County, to the United States of America and to the World.  It was a successful year for all concerned!