Speaker for  Rotary Thursday Meeting

Hello DHS Rotarians-

Mr. Curtis L. Sauer, Superintendent (Chief Honcho) of Jushua Tree National Park, will be our speaker this Thursday.  A few of us heard him at a fundraiser recently and found him to be an excellent speaker.  I guarantee that you will come away with some "gee whizz" information and be glad you attended.

Curt is a professional by education and by experience.  He has worked in many of the national parks over his long career, pioneered innovative programs, and very knowledgeable about the National Park system.  Look forward to an outstanding presentation.

-Court

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Developer Walter Luce at DHS Club

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Wild Truck to Mexicali  by Courtney Moe

March 2006

The Desert Hot Springs Rotary Club is sending a truck to Mexicali with a wild paint job and lots of good wishes.   This is part of DHS Rotary’s on going project of helping with a EcoTourism project on the Rio Hardy, just south of Mexicali.  The goal of this project is to provide environmentally sound employment for the local people while also having a place where Mexicali school children can learn about nature in a park with native vegetation, canoe tours, and bird watching trails.

The truck was donated with the combined efforts of Rotarians Karl Baker of  Manduca Group Real Estate and Patrick Galespie of Care Care,  along with project supporter Laurence Rosenberg.  The wild decorations are being provided by Ms. Amanda Troolines’ Desert Hot Springs High School art class.  The goal of these decorations is to both carry the best wishes from all those helped and to provoke a smile or even a laugh when people in Mexico see the truck.  The truck will be on display in front of Allstate Insurance, (south side of K-Mart parking) on Thursday, 3/30/06, and delivered on Friday.

Students working on the project from Art 3/4/AP and 3d 2 students fourth period: Stephanie Barnes, Corey Keffer, Andro Pelen, Eli Sosa, Elizabeth Allen, Brian Gonzalez, Aries Jaramillo, Omar Trejo, Karissa Millspaugh, Luis Bonilla, Herika Hernandez, Jaime Madrigal, Maria Salome Preciado, Evelyn Romero, Crystal Thorne, Margarito Carvajal, Felipe Oros, and Roger Porter.

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ROTARY CLUB OF DESERT HOT SPRINGS WORKS IN MEXICALI          By Audrey Moe

Volunteers from DHS Rotary traveled to Campo AEURHyC south of Mexicali on Saturday, January 22, 2006, to work on a Hardy River project to benefit local people. Eight members of the Mexicali Lions Club joined with DHS Rotary to build work tables, cover a greenhouse roof and sides, plant native seeds for propagation of landscaping plants and take specific measurements to be used for a creation of a park.
This project is under the auspices of AEURHYC, Asociacion Ecologica de Usarios del Rio Hardy y Colorado, and seeks to benefit school children on day trips, and provide a place for families to picnic and camp. Currently there are no such facilities.                          
The property is located along the Hardy River and will include boating, fishing, canoing and other water sports.
All Rotary clubs seek to adopt an international project where they can provide service to others. DHS Rotary is not only volunteering manual labor, but is also raising money to help hire a professional manager for this Eco-Tourism project. The business plan was formulated with the help of UC Berkeley Business School and is supported by the Sonoran Institute, and has all necessary permits granted by the Mexican government.
Along with recreational benefits for local people including the native Cucapa' people, the project will provide employment, management of wildlife, ecological study, rebuilding of habitat, as well as serve as a model for other seriously degraded sites in Mexico.
Saturday's service group included, Court Moe, Guy Hann, John Furbee, Jai Bakshi, Manny Aragon, Gil Sherk, Holly Moe and Audrey Moe. After the work party, dinner at the Lucerna Hotel included 4 members of the Sonoran Institute, several Mexicali Lions Club members and one from the AEURHYC staff.
More trips to Mexicali are planned that will include other Rotary members during the extent of the project which is expected to be completed over the next 5 years.

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Rotary Holds Fundraiser for MexiCali Trip      By Courtney Moe
 

     DHS Rotary held a fun fundraiser Saturday night at the Elk’s Lodge. About $8000 was raised to help fund the Hardy River Project just south of Mexicali, Mexico. There was great food, good fellowship, entertaining musicians, an exciting live auction, and lots of bargains.
The Hardy River Project is under the auspices of AEURHyC (Asociacion Ecologica de Usarios del Rio Hardy y Colorado), and seeks to benefit school children on day trips, and provide a place for families to picnic and camp. Currently there are no such facilities. The property is located along the Hardy River and will include boating, fishing, canoeing and nature paths.
The big entertainment at the Big Bad Mexican Fiesta was the live auction, conducted by Bob Lockhart, a professional auctioneer, and a winter member of DHS Rotary. The auction was made possible by more than 50 items donated by local (and a few non-local) businesses and by members of DHS Rotary.
The outstanding Mexican dinner was prepared by Carol and Dan Gibbons, who were also the event Co-Chairs. It was all donated by local businesses or Rotarians. Incidental expenses and music were paid for by three sponsors: Chicago Title, Home Savings, and Financial Title.
This meant that all ticket proceeds went directly to the project.
The auction proceeds were boosted by a group of Rotarians, the Rio Hardy Benefactors,(Angelo Avramidis, Jai Bakshi, John Furbee, Dan Gibbons, Andy Dean, Court Moe, and Jack Webb) who providing matching funds.
And the very lively, singing, guitar players were Los Trovadores.
Some of the major donated items sold at the auction included: several resort packages by Miracle Springs Spa, a pool side room and combo spa treatment at the Springs, an antique sterling silver bracelet from Sandy’s Estate Jewelry & Antiques, and a beautiful suede cape from Glossy. Other valuable items were donated by Car Care, Swiss Health Resort, and La Toscana. The winning bidders purchased quite a few excellent certificates from South of the Boarder, PS I love Your Hair, Desert Strands, and Casa Blanca and treatments or consultations from Dr Ross, and Dr Liza Lawrence. Other great items were donated by The Boys & Girls Club, First Western Properties, Walter Luce Company, The Dean Team, The Agave Lady, and Walk Publishing. And in addition, DHS Rotary members donated many valuable items.
 

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