The Wheel for December 14, 2017

by Dec 14, 2017The Wheel0 comments

The Wheel


Bob Brown – CEO, Opportunity Village

Robert M. (Bob) Brown is the President and CEO of Opportunity Village, Nevada’s largest habilitation organization providing a variety of services to people with intellectual and related disabilities. Bob is a graduate of the University Of California, Berkeley. He and his bride of 30 years Melinda have four children, one of whom has an intellectual disability. Bob is the former Publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and has served as the Board Chairman for the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce. He was appointed to the National Council on Disability by Congress. He is also on the boards of directors of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, Together for Choice, and was appointed by Governor Sandoval to serve on the State of Nevada 150th anniversary committee.

Message From The President

Dear Rotarians,

Every December, Rotary International encourages clubs to celebrate the last month of the calendar year as “Family Month”. As members, we all realize the importance of the “home team” in fulfilling our responsibilities as business professionals and Rotarians. Without the support of our beloved family members, we won’t be able to succeed in the marketplace or in Rotary.

In our club, we don’t just celebrate the importance of family once a year. Under the leadership of PP Karen Whisenhunt and Jaime Goldsmith, the Family of Rotary has a quarterly luncheon open to the spouses of all members. This group collects toiletries for the USO as well as organizing and participating in many of our club socials.

We have often heard from members that our club is like family to them since many of their most treasured friendships were made around these weekly gatherings. Through our socials, we get to know the spouses, parents, children, and grandchildren of our members. Many of these kids follow in their father’s footsteps and join our club i.e. Anna Karabachev, Ryan Hamilton & Matt Phillips. This year our club also welcomed grandchildren (Tom Thomas & Mary Ann Avnet) and will add another three babies in 2018 (Tom Axtell, Janelle Lozano & Amanda Gordon).

But, I don’t believe our club has ever experienced an engagement proposal at one of our club’s social events as we saw at our club’s annual Christmas party last Thursday. Our club extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to “Captain” Kirk Holmes and his wonderful fiancée Becca for a lifetime of happiness!

Michael Gordon
95th President
Rotary Club of Las Vegas

Member Highlights

Scribe – August 25, 2016

  • President Michael Gordon called the meeting to order.
  • Deb Granda gave the invocation. Jackie Thornhill led the club in the National Anthem, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The Sergeant at Arms was Doug Grant. President Michael shared the exciting news that a VIP on behalf of Rotary International will be visiting our Club on December 7th to see just what makes our club ‘the best Rotary club in the world’ and will write an article about our club for the monthly Rotarian magazine.
  • There were (2) International Rotarians, (2) visiting Rotarians and (4) Guests of Rotarians introduced.
  • The drawing began at $1,456 plus this week’s donations. The ticket winner was Mike Cudiamat who won $10 and the Lawry’s Bucks winner was PP Russ Swain.
  • President Michael announced the results of electronic voting for our 2018-2019 Board of Directors: Erik Astramecki, Kirk Holmes, Bill Houghton, Melanie Muldowney and Dave Lester.
  • President Michael awarded a Four-Way Test Coin to Erik Astramecki for service above self.
  • Erik Astramecki announced that Las Vegas Rotary Club was victorious over the Kiwanis in the Canned Food Drive, raising about $7,800 for approximately 90,000 cans to the Salvation Army’s food bank; Erik also announced that Janice Lencke has new sponsorship packages for the Annual Car Show and the next Highway Clean Up is December 16th at 8 am.
  • Marie Walsh announced the next Breakfast With Books is December 12th and encouraged members to sign up and participate in the event; Jackie Thornhill reminded members of the 4th Quarter Wetzel Awards November 30th with new times and location.
  • Michael Williams announced volunteers are needed/encouraged to sign up for the Magical Forest project at Opportunity Village on Thursday evening December 14th from 5-9pm.
  • PP Jim Hunt announced the Englestad Foundation provided a check to the Santa Clothes Project in the sum of $19,000, an amount in excess of the increased amount Jim originally requested (which was an increase from last year). Jim and PP Tom Krob presented a ‘down payment’ check to JC Penney’s for the Santa Clothes Project of $53,800 and announced the cumulative total raised is now more than $1 million!
  • Bob Fisher updated the status of the Salvation Army Toy Drive, inviting members to participate in the toy distribution coming up from December 13-16.
  • Kirk Alexander together with PP Dave Thorson introduced our speaker program, the Dan Stover Music Competition. The club and guests were treated to extraordinary music, from classical to rock, by four talented young musicians, playing violin, electric guitar, cello and piano, all competing for educational awards that enable them to further their studies at an accredited college, university, or music conservatory upon high school graduation. The First Place Award of $250 went to violinist Wesley Chen.


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