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From the desk of President Fred Heismeyer ....It is said you cannot say “THANK YOU” enough to your team. I cannot agree more. So, a big THANK YOU goes to the Fundraising team for a fabulous job on conceptualizing, organizing, creating and executing our Kentucky Derby event. From the wonderful venue, classy decorations, great food/drinks, fun themed games, excellent items for the auctions/drawings and, of course, the live streaming of the 2017 "Run for the Roses," the team of East Wichita Rotarians gave our Club the opportunity to raise $10,500 to be equally divided by Starkey, EmberHope and Heartspring. Each of these organizations works with children/youth to improve their living conditions. We congratulate the entire team for its collective effort and success, as well as each Rotarian for their individual role on the Fundraising committee: Kim Goodnight (Chair), Susan Addington, Brian Blackerby, Mick Cayless, Ryan Henry, Kim Hurtig, Tammie Rhea, and Isaac Ulbrich. We also thank Anne Schneider and Ric Wolford for taking pictures, and Eileen Kludt and Burke Jones for their special assistance. Thanks, too, to the staffs of the LUX Building, Larkspur Restaurant and Flying Monkey Photo Booth for their roles in making this event fun and a success. We should also give a big shout-out and thank you to our corporate sponsors of Westar Energy, Intrust Bank and ITC Great Plains. Of course, many individuals and organizations donated items for the auction/raffle and we want to thank each for their part in helping us raise money for our three recipient organizations.
Finally, thanks to everyone who attended. We expanded our audience to include East Wichita Rotarians and many guests,thus widening the Rotary story to our community.