The Rotary Club of Denver Stapleton

Archive for the ‘Stapleton Rotary Speakers’ Category

Our world traveler and hiking expert Ed Cole yesterday showed us a slide presentation of his recent trip to Bhutan.

Bhutan is a small mountainous country on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, bordered on three sides by India and by China to the north. Bhutan is a primarily Buddhist country, called “Druk” by its residents.There is just one airport in the country – in order to land at the airport, the pilot has to fly a curving flight path thru valleys in order to reach the airport.

Ed and Kay were with a group of nine tourists, visiting Bhutan during a three-day festival where the residents wore colorful costumes and performed many ritual type dances. The highest point in Bhutan is Gangkhar Puensum at 24,840 ft, which is also the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The highest point Ed and Kay hiked was 13,000 feet.

One striking featuer as Ed and Kay traveled the country were the prayer flags. It is believed by many Bhutanese Buddhists that the ideal number of prayer flags for deceased people is 108, preferably made from freshly cut trees.

The farms are very small plots. Oxen or very small tillers work best on the small plots. Farm houses in Bhutan are built with three levels. The bottom level housed the animals. The second level is where the family lived. The third level was for storing the crops. There was usually a small temple inside each house.

The Denver Stapleton Rotary Club welcomed Kathy Underhill as its guest speaker on November 8.  Kathy is the Executive Director of Hunger Free Colorado, the state’s leading anti-hunger organization dedicated to ensuring that all Coloradans have sustainable access to nutritious, affordable food.

She told us that children ages 0-5 years are the most likely to suffer to from hunger and that 23% of Colorado residents have a food hardship.  The incidence rate is  increasing; the severity is increasing.  Hunger is a solvable problem.  The School Lunch Program offers free and low cost lunches and many offer breakfast programs, but the programs are not well utilized.

In  Colorado we have an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system as a successor to the old “food stamps.” This program provides a card that can only be used to purchase food (not household goods or incidentals), and it actually serves as an economic stimulus program since the purchases help support markets, food service workers, farms, etc. Colorado is ahead of only Guam in participation. HFC is trying to raise awareness of the problem, and they are getting more sites approved to distribute food.  With help from HFC, the number of sites in Colorado has increased by 90% in two years.

HFC also has a Hunger Free Hotline at 720-382-2920 or toll free at 855-855-4626.  People can call to see what programs are available to them, with information customized to their individual needs, and receive help in applying for food assistance programs. Information is available in both English and Spanish.

For more inormation about Hunger Free Colorado, please visit their website at www.HungerFreeColorado.org

Amy Schilling, Health Coach

Amy Schilling is a health coach.  The good news is that Colorado is the most fit state in the Union.  Amy is passionate about health.  About 10 years ago she was overweight.  She used a personal trainer.  She lost weight but was not healthy.  She then went to a health institute in New York City.  She learned that eating, exercise, spirituality, relationships, and career all play a part in being healthy.

She owned a gym in for about three years and lost all her money.  She then decided to concentrate on nutrition.  We need to achieve a natural balance.  She offers a six-month and a four-month program.  We have bio-individuality.  We have different needs.  Generally we all need more greens and grains.  She can teach people how to eat, cook, shop, etc.  She tries to set goals that are attainable for each individual.  She sets goals to attain before the next session.  She has two sessions per month.  Her philosophy is not to deprive but rather to add.   By adding nutritional foods our taste buds will change.  We will have less desire for foods that are low in nutrition.  Some foods make us feel good.  An example is blueberries.  They make us feel happy and improve brain functions.  Some foods calm us down and increase spirituality.  Nutritional foods boost our immune system.  She does not eat red meat but she does eat fish and chicken.

For more information, she can be reached at Natural Balance Integrative Health, 3055 Roslyn St, Suite 120, Denver, CO 80238.  303-355-0363.

Aurora Fox Theater

Bob McConnell introduced Charles Packard, the executive producer of the Aurora Fox Theatre. Charles gave us the history of the facility: Built after WWII by the U.S. Army and Fox Films for soldiers in the area, the Fox served as a movie theatre for many years. It was the center for Aurora entertainment until the 70’s when the neighborhood declined and the theatre fell into disrepair. The Fox barely survived a fire in the eighties, sat empty for years until a group of concerned citizens raised money for restoration. With the help of the City of Aurora, which now owns the theatre, it stands today as it did after the war.

Originally it was restored to be a community theatre, which it was for many years, but today it is the home to professional productions and equity actors. Also, a 72 seat studio theatre has been added to rent space for small productions and train students in the craft.

Charles explains that the Fox produces their own presentations with a fo- cus on American plays and playwrights; tending toward off broadway scripts. He describes types of people who have an interest in the Fox: theatre goers, professional artists, and citizens in the neighborhood who appreciate the improvement that the Fox brings to downtown Aurora. “It is the good news story in Aurora.”

There are 15 shows upcoming in the next 12 months including Roshomon. You won’t spend a lot to see the shows, either — the top ticket for shows is currently $24.

Go to www.aurorafox.org for information on Roshomon and the other upcoming productions.

Denver's Blue Horse - Is it Art?

Today’s speaker was Bob’s son, Matthew. Matthew has a Master of Fine Arts Degree from CU Boulder. He has been studying the past two years at a ceramics institute in Helena, MT. Matthew has accepted a position of Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas. Matthew played an audio/video presentation of Milton Glesser, a well known graphic designer. He explained what is art and what is not art.

Even primitive cultures had art. Art was a powerful instrument for survival. Art is a means for culture to survive. If something moves you to attentiveness, it is art. If it does not move you to attentiveness, it is not art. The term fine art comes from metallurgy. Heat is applied to metal to remove impurities. Impurities in art are anything that do not move you to attentiveness.

We should allow ourselves to be open to experience the work. Art is visual but it is also listening. The blue horse at DIA is art. We engage in discourse about it. Craft and beauty do not really have anything to do with art. An artist tries to send a message. Art is outside of linear thinking. Per Matthew, Cristo putting fabric over the Arkansas River is art. Cristo does it in an environmentally responsible way.