October 28, 2024

 

       

Announcements: Mark Richard reminded everyone of the mariachi concert this Saturday at Light Hall at 7:30 pm. He has flyers and tickets. Linda Telaak reminded everyone of the fundraiser for the Hospital on Friday night.
Peter Falley announced the Thursday community concert event, Good Shot Judy and A Century of Swing, and that he had tickets to give away. He also encouraged everyone to support the
polio event and to contribute to Polio Plus. October 24th is World Polio Day.

 

Art announced that in connection with the polio event Mayor Ladner is going to proclaim World Polio Day tonight at the city council meeting. Art said he would be there to accept the proclamation and hoped that someone else could join him. Also Peter and Art are going to be on the radio tomorrow (10/23) to promote the Mariachi Polio Concert.

 

 

Art then introduced Bill and Dalue Mize and presented them with a $2,000 check for Indian Springs Ranch and Retreat. Maggie Callaway announced Rotary was going to have a bake sale
again next year to help support them in their efforts to help traumatized military, fire fighters, and police officers. Bill said the money raised this year would go towards food for camp attendees and for paying a welder who built a catch pen for their horses

 

Art introduced Mayor Ken Ladner, who in turn introduced Lee Gruber to talk about one of her special projects, “The Rock House.” He praised the large number of volunteers in our
community and said that without them a lot of special projects would not be possible. At the waterworks site also known as “The Rock House” adult volunteer hours have totaled more than 1,000 to date, while crew members have logged more than 3,000 hours and private donations amount to more than $15,000. Lee said the waterworks is part of the 5 Points Initiative. She stated they have brought
in over 2.5 million dollars in grants. She said they now have the Old
Royal Scepter property as well. The goal is to make the Rock House a cultural center and a place to learn
about our county - ranching, mining, agriculture, etc. She invited all to stop by and see the restoration that is being done. Lee described the outside and inside of the house and the tunnels
under it through which water was conveyed from Silver Creek in order to be pumped to the city. A question-and-answer period followed.
Mayor Ladner stated that another thing the city is doing will help CDT hikers and bikers along Little Walnut Road. Currently it is pretty dangerous to go there on foot or by bicycle, so the city has been working to make Little Walnut Road safer by adding sidewalks, gutters and biking/hiking lanes. He said that have partnered with the county on this ongoing project.

He next introduced Allyson Siwik (at right in the picture below), Executive Director of Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP) and also director of the Conservation Coalition. She has been one of the main leaders in the anti-litter program "Pick it up, Toss no Mas." She recently carried out and organized The Gila River Fest. Allyson thanked the Mayor for being the champion of Toss no Mas. This was a project that started in 2021 and relies on volunteers and organizations to keep Silver City beautiful. It is funded by the city and the State NM Clean and Beautiful program. Alesia Hallmark (at left in the picture below) has just joined GRIP as the Pick it up, Toss no Mas coordinator and the Silver City Watershed Keepers coordinator. Alesia mentioned some of the volunteer teams that pick up trash, such as Fight Like a Girl Bridge to Ridge, the DAR, SPIN, etc. As of last Saturday they had to date over 845 volunteers come to
their monthly events and had picked up over 25,000 pounds of trash. They meet on the third
Saturday of every month from 9 until noon. Some of the areas they clean up are Big Ditch Park, San Vicente Creek, along the major highways and more. Also businesses can take a pledge to keep litter from in front of their store. She invited Rotary members to come to the monthly
clean-ups. The next will be on November 16 from 9 until noon meeting in the parking lot next to Gough Park. She also suggested that as an organization, we could adopt a roadway and
commit to cleaning that up regularly or to host a cleanup ourselves. The State is also promoting a “Breaking Bad Habits” campaign about litter cleanup. After a question and answer
period, Mayor Ladner thanked the presenters for their presentations and thanked Rotary for having them. The Mayor left us with pictures of the new recreational center and said it will be a
great thing for our community.

Art mentioned that we do sponsor a cleanup of a median in front of Western Bank on Highway 180. He then adjourned the meeting.