December 2025
Excited about water!
Last year a speaker shared with us the work of the Marion Medical Mission. This week we received a thank-you card and this photo. Our financial contribution helped provide safe drinking water for the village of Tamwelatu, Malawi. The well will serve 120 people. So definitely worth some raised hands in celebration.
We socialize well
Picture this (because we forgot to take a photo!): It's the private dining room at Penn St. Kitchen in Englewood. There are 25 good friends enjoying holiday camaraderie and a fabulous buffet dinner. It's the Englewood Rotary Holiday Party! We were merry! And thank you, President Elizabeth, for those home-baked goodies we took home.
Coats and more for preschoolers in need
In the realm of service, member Josh coordinated our annual project to outfit preschoolers with winter clothes -- coats, hats, gloves and more. We've lost count, but we're fairly sure we've been doing this for at least 25 years. It started with a Head Start program affiliated with IFCS (back then known as Inter-Faith Task Force) and the leadership of member Dr. Frank Sargent. The school moved to Littleton, and we kept our connection and support.
This year we supplied winter clothing for 27 kids. We have a long connection (10+ years) with an Englewood Walmart coordinator, Kristine Wallen. The school gives us the names and sizes, and she pulls the clothing. It's quite a pile! Thank you, Kristine! Again!
The Englewood High School Girls Basketball team also has worked with us many years. The girls sorted the clothing and placed it in tagged gift bags. We expressed our appreciation with a $300 donation. They plan to buy game balls, which sounds like we met a very real need.
Playing Santa(s)
We made a new connection with another group doing good deeds in Englewood -- the Arapahoe Santa Claus Shop. We helped in three ways. Above, our members filled bags with sweets and novelties for Santa to put in the stockings of local kids. The Santa Claus Shop invites parents from Englewood Schools, and some others, to shop -- at no cost -- for toys and books for their children. We helped fund that with a $500 contribution. The third way we helped was by our President Elizabeth, who volunteered in the "Doll Room," assisting parents with their selections.
Go team! (the Englewood football team)
For several years we have been a partner on a project led by the Denver South Metro Rotary Club. Originally, they identified a need from the Englewood High School football team. The team and school couldn't afford an end-of-season celebration. So the annual EHS Football Banquet was born. This year we contributed $1,000, and we boosted that with a $500 grant from our Rotary District. Our member volunteers at the actual event were Elizabeth, Bruce, Josh and Patty. The event was held in the cafeteria area of the high school with teen-friendly food from Qdoba. Red and green tablecloths and flowers on the tables created a festive look for the 120 players, their families and coaches. Go Pirates!
Speakers:
Gina Fontaine, Cereset of Cherry Creek
November 2025
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 | October 2025 Our District Governor Cindy Rold presided over a fabulous district conference with 50 of 56 clubs in the district represented. Elizabeth, Patty, Bob B., and Chis attended. The opening keynote was by Deborah Fine, the author of "The Fine Art of Small Talk." She's a 30-year member of the Rotary Club of Denver Southeast, and a professional speaker around the world. Her message: Approach people, ask them open-ended questions, get to know them -- and invite them to Rotary! A key message from Cindy was the practice of CIA for all of us in Rotary. C is for Connect. Our club president Elizabeth likes to call it CHECK IN -- check in with each other so we know what's happening in our friends' lives. I is for INVITE -- invite someone to do something with you, or to join Rotary! A is for Acknowlege or APPRECIATE -- let someone know you appreciate the effort they are making. President Elizabeth is living CIA, so you can expect to hear from her soon!
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We've got plans! Members Larry Matten and Mohammad Matin presented a plan for using a district grant to buy a medical scanning device for the hospital in Bangladesh that we helped build. They hope to get other clubs to participate, as well, getting us to the approximate $10,000 needed. The club has approved a $3,000 commitment, which includes contributions from Larry and Matin.
Speakers in October:
BrianYantorno, Win, Win,Win
District Governor Cindy Rold
Stacey Hicks, Team Hoyt Denver
September 2025
Remember the TV program “Friday Night Lights”? Englewood Schools grabbed that title and invited its community partners to the first Englewood High Football Game of the year. (We won, 63-6!) A few of us were there to be greeted by Englewood Schools Superintendent Joanna Polzin, who is a club member! and other school leaders, including the high school principal, Nate Smith. We recognized many other community partners in our section of the bleachers, including Chamber members and nonprofit leaders.
That's Superintendent/Rotarian Joanna Polzin at right. Plus cute cheerleaders.
Each year the Englewood Club conducts an awards competition for the best literacy projects in the district. This year we awarded two trophies because we had two phenomenal projects submitted. One went to Summit County Rotary, which ran a community creative writing contest in both English and Spanish. Boulder Rotary won the other prize for a project in which 34 Rotarians paired with 34 third-graders for a full school year of trading weekly journal entries. The process encouraged thoughtful writing and skills. These “Literacy Champions” will be recognized at the upcoming district conference.
Speakers in September:
Joyce Neufeld from Community Ministry of Southwest Denver
We collected these bags of food, and more, plus cash for Community Ministry. There was a second
round of donations, with a trunk full of food plus $250 for Community Ministry.
We're so impressed with this organization.
Marie Thompson with CASA (advocates for children)
August 2025
Busy, busy, busy! We sold a lot of peaches and on Aug.10? we set up our distribution table in the circle at Englewood Civic Center. People drove up, and our members loaded boxes of delicious Palisade peaches into their cars. Our member Josh Staller was Peach Sale Leader, doing everything from email outreach to spreadsheets to lifting a lotta boxes. Thank you, Josh, and the many other volunteers. Paula Shafer was our main contact with the orchard. Susan VanDyke, an honorary member, sold the most peaches. We netted $4,000!! A record in recent years.
Our president Elizabeth and member Jeff McRae with a favorite peach purchaser.
The club had a booth at the Englewood Block Party, which was a huge event sponsored by the City of Englewood. We handed out bubblegum! And cute stickers for kids to put on their water bottles – it’s a thing, a trend with kids. We also made a lot of friends, showing them all about out club on a display board made by Elizabeth.
Speakers in August:
Kathi Williams on “When Colorado Went Major League,” origins of the Rockies
Reina Bach on Panic to Pivot – How to Lead to a Better Future
July 2025
The Rotary Year starts on July 1, and we started with new leadership – Elizabeth Wilhelm as our president, and Chris Forrest as vice president. They’re a great team with new ideas for our club in service and fellowship.
Our club likes a party, so we had one to celebrate the start of the new Rotary year, but also to express appreciation to Steve Ohlfest, who served as president last Rotary year. Elizabeth presented him a restaurant gift certificate in lieu of the more traditional plaque. Steve lives in a tiny house, with no room for such hardware. Thanks to Shawn Lewis for hosting the party in his Englewood home.
Elizabeth’s career was in child care for the Air Force – at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and at Buckley in Aurora. Honoring her devotion to the little kids, the club donated $300 for backpacks and school supplies for kindergarteners and first graders. Integrated Family Community Services provided 305 kids backpacks filled with grade-specific required supplies.
July was also when we went into full swing selling our Palisade peaches. It’s our main fund-raiser to support any good deed that is not a scholarship. Scholarship funding comes from our Englewood Rotary Foundation.