26.01 No Speaker Today, Meeting For Lunch At Violas Instead

Greetings Rotarians and Friends,

We had a last-minute speaker cancellation so instead of meeting at the church today, let’s meet at Viola’s restaurant at noon.

The featured image is Trey Wernicke at the top of 12,000′ Hagerman Pass near Leadville, CO. We spent MLK weekend in 10th Mountain Division Skinner Hut skiing the backcountry with some friends. It’s been a low precipitation year, but we managed to find a few lines to ski down.

Trey will be spending next year abroad as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. He hopes to ski the Alps.

Club Needs 26-27 President-Elect

We’re still looking for somebody to step up to be president next year. For anyone that’s interested in the position, I’ll lend my full support to you. There are some upcoming leadership seminars to help as well: Pre-PELS Feb 21 & PELS Mar 13-14.

Looking for help organizing Crab Fest

As you may be aware, both the Columbian Hall and Cottonwood on the Greens are closed. That leaves us without a venue or a caterer. I’ve called a few places, but so far come up empty-handed, and I don’t have the time to organize it. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year so if anyone wants to step up to plan this event, it would be much appreciated.

A Bench For Caps

Bottle Caps

We have about 200 pounds of caps collected. That’s almost enough for some benches, but I’d like to get 1000 pounds to make the trip to Indiana more cost effective. I’m working to get some community environmental groups to help us spread the word and set up collection sites, but keep collecting those caps!

District Conference Needs Your Support

The District 5520 Conference is fast approaching April 9-12 in Santa Fe. It is looking to be a fun and interesting experience with fellowship from across the district and internationally recognized speakers. There are only 200 seats available so don’t wait too long to get your tickets.

To cover additional costs of this conference, each club is being asked to contribute funds in addition to their ticket price. Our club’s suggested contribution is $170. If you would like to help, please contact me ASAP.

Friendship Exchange from the Netherlands

In my last post, I mentioned receiving several boxes of flower bulbs. Well, I called the shipping company to find out the sender was a Rotarian from Holland who’s family runs an international flower business. It turns out Rotary Enkhuizen sent us the flowers as a gift in recognition of our exchange student Silas Iverson who is staying with them.

I’m trying to arrange a Zoom meeting with their club so stay tuned for that!

RYLA 2026 Seeks Participation

The Rotary Youth Leadership Academy is seeking students and mentors. It is July 12-18 for boys and July 18-24 for girls in the Manzano Mountains. If you are able to participate, please contact me ASAP.

New Zealand Friendship Exchange April 14

Some Rotarians from New Zealand will be visiting Los Alamos on April 14. This coincides with our club meeting that month so don’t miss this opportunity for fellowship. We may relocate to a place that serves lunch so stay tuned for details.

Have a great week and see you at Viola’s for lunch today.

James Wernicke

Rotary Club of Los Alamos President


Discover more from Rotary Club of Los Alamos

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply