A Fall District Conference Report, October 25, 2008

by Jerry Wheeler
On Saturday am, October 25th, District Governors Terry Boucher and Steve Dawson chaired the Combined Districts (Front Range and Central Colorado) Fall Conference.  The Governor's had an excellent agenda for the 55 to 60 Sertomans and guests in attendance.  The conference was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in the DTC.
 
The Littleton Sertoma Club was the host club.  Liz Ford did a great job of receiving the money for the conference and organizing the registration.  Krieg Failing and Jerry Wheeler assisted Liz in the registration process.  Other Littleton Club members in attendance were President Denny Fennel, Norm Black, Walt Wilson, Chuck Kemerling, Jack Goodman, Russ Fuiks, Merritt Sherer, Terry Boucher, and Doug Hodous.
 
After the preliminary ceremonies were completed, First Timers to a conference were recognized and Marty Morgan, the previous Governor from the Central Colorado District, was presented the well deserved Distinguished Governor Award.  Marty was a tireless worker for all the clubs and did a wonderful job.  Congratulations Marty!
 
The keynote speaker for the conference was Kim Rees Smith.  She is the daughter of the Arapahoe Sertoma Club President, Jim Rees.  Kim made a great presentation for the attendees on, "Communicating with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing". Kim is a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students in the Cherry Creek School District at Grandview High School.  Kim graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in the early 1990's.  She discussed the different types of sign language, word order and American Sign Language.  She involved all the attendees by teaching us the alphabet and how to sign a variety of greetings and responses.  Her presentation was terrific and all attendees thoroughly enjoyed it as well as we learned a lot about sign language and the deaf and hard of hearing students.  Thank you Kim for a such an inspiring presentation!
 
David Oppenheim gave an informative presentation about how the fund raising arm of Sertoma Inc. is now organized and what the funds go for.  Over 20 attendees gave checks to David to be Fellows in the fund raising effort. Bob Schlageter (Arapahoe Club) is the new FDR for the Front Range District and Ernie Reese (Greater Park Hill Club) is the FDR for the Central Colorado District.  They will be visiting all of the clubs to discuss raising money for the annual fund.
 
Next, Karen Marston and Russ Fuiks did a presentation on awards, the new awards and the ones that are coming up and due on Dec. 1st to the District Governors.  (Service to Mankind, Sertoman of the Year, and Distinguished Club Secretary).  Also if you do not have your GEM award yet, they have allowed for anyone to get that award during FY 2008-9.  Great job Karen and Russ.
 
Special recognition and awards were also given out to some outstanding Sertomans.  David Oppenheim, Russ Fuiks, Maggie Anderson, the Dry Creek Club (Club Achievement Award), and Helen and Merritt  Sherer.  I may have left someone out here.
 
 
Christi Colvin gave an update on the Mile High Soap Box Derby.  The Derby for 2009 will be May 30 and 31.  They plan to have 12 Super Kids in next rear's derby. ( these are kids who cannot drive by themselves because of a disability).  Donations in any amount will be accepted for the Derby next year.  Thank you Christi for all the work you do.
 
Doug Hodous, from the Littleton Club, gave a great presentation for "Science Saturday".  Doug kept everyone involved as you didn't know what he would come up with next. We had a lot of laughs and we also learned a lot about physics and chemistry.  Doug is a retired teacher from Heritage High School. 
 
Charlene Dame gave an informative update on Freedom Week.  Deadlines for many parts of the Freedom Week are coming up; getting and reviewing the essays, etc.  She thanked all those clubs who have stepped up and taken on more schools.  Call Charlene or Jeff Sahr for more info.
 
A big thank you to Terry and Steve for putting on a great conference!