Las Vegas Central Rotary Club

Whether you’re curious about Rotary International, are interested in our roster of informative and fascinating speakers, want to sample the great food, are looking for ways to make the world a better place, or would like to make some new friends and engage in good discussion, we are the club you are looking for!

Our club meets every Wednesday at 12:15 at the Las Vegas Country Club (on Joe W Brown Drive just south of Karen Ave, right behind the Las Vegas Hilton). We’d love to see you!

Cindy Doumanie

LV Central member Don Kemp recently was awarded his ninth Paul Harris award, and he bestowed the award and pin to Cindy Doumanie.

A resident of LV since 1961, she has been active with many charities. Her passion is the prevention of cruelty to animals. She is also involved with Opportunity Village, the American Heart Association and many more including education of the arts and humanitarian objectives. Cindy thanked us for how kind Rotarians are and how sensitive we are to what we do in the world. She said she was honored to receive the award.

Alan Monroe, Shelterbox

Alan, who works for a non-profit called Shelterbox, truly embodies the RI mantra of Service Above Self.

He was first introduced to RI via the RYLA program, and became a lifelong believer in the RI causes, and, when he was old enough, a member. He was introduced to Shelterbox as a Rotary project, and later became an employee.

Shelterbox provides a survival kit–housing, sanitation, etc–in a self-contained box small enough to be carried by a person. They operate primarily in disaster areas across the world, and their recent projects were helping 2,000 families in the Turkey earthquake zone, and 2500 in the aftermath of the Bangkok floods.

Thalia Dondero, County Commission (retired)

Ms Dondero has had a long and distinguished career in Las Vegas, serving 20 years on the Clark County Commission during the years of massive growth in the valley, and 12 years on the Board of Regents for the NV State Higher Education Board. She has rubbed elbows with some of the biggest names to pass through our dusty valley, and was a part of many key projects over the years, including McCarran Airport, the expansion of the Memorial Hospital, the MGM fire and subsequent fire code regulations, and the Yucca Mountain project.

FYI…due to the CES convention, our 1/11 meeting will be held at Maggiono’s Italian in the Fashion Show Mall…hope to see you all there!

DGE Randy Brooks

District Governor-Elect Randy Brooks took the podium to discuss his travels and life-impacting experiences in Africa.

His speech was timely, as it was LV Central’s Foundation Day. Seven member received Paul Harris fellowships:

Jeremy Brooks

Gordon Culp (+1)

Carol Jule

Bob Hellriegel (+7)

Bruce Hendricks (+6)

Lia Roberts (+1)

Freda Brazier (+4)

Bob Self-Pins his PH+7 Pin

Freda Brazier Receives her PH+4

Gordon Culp gets his PH+1

Jeremy Brooks is surprised by a PH

Freda Brazier surprises Carol Jule with a PH pin

We have photographic proof…Jason crossed the finish line!

To support Rotary’s goals and projects in 2012, Jason ran the 2011 Zappo’s Marathon to raise money for the club. Here he is at the pre-race expo:

Jason at the Pre-Race Expo

…and then after the grueling 26 mile adventure in the cold, dark, and rain:

Jason Post-Race

A little worse for the wear, but happy that the race was over, and optimistic that his pain and suffering will lead to big things for Rotary!

Although the race is over, tickets for the raffle are still available, but going fast! We will hold the drawing once 200 tickets are sold. Prizes and details can be found here…get yours now!

Derral Austin, NV Energy

This week we had a speaker from NV Energy’s customer service team, Derral Austin. Derral had some very timely information on NV Energy’s current campaign to switch all Nevada power users from analog and three-stage meters to the new all-digital system.

Despite the skepticism in the press and with much of the public, Derral submitted, the new meters, coupled with the fine-grained reporting system on the NV Energy website, should allow consumers to keep a closer eye on their electricity budgets and save money. Also, per NV Energy’s tentative plan, it may allow NV Energy to reduce usage rates in the future. The crowd continued to be skeptical and asked many tough-but-fair questions of our brave guest.

Many thanks to Derral for his time, the useful information, and for helping address specific issues and problems some of our members raised during the session.

Club President Jason Brown and Senator Richard Bryan

We were very fortunate to have as our guest this week Senator Richard Bryan. Senator Bryan served as Nevada State Senator, Nevada Attorney General, two terms as Governor, and as our US Senator for twelve years before retiring in 2001.

The Senator had great insights and stories around Nevada’s historic and current economic engines and the history thereof, particularly around Clark County. Our economy, he posited, has long been tethered to event or industry-specific changes, and the current boom-and-bust period is no different; and, as such, will recover in due time. He stressed the importance of diversifying our economy through more than just tax breaks, challenging Nevadans and our lawmakers to think big for solutions in the ways our economic leaders have over the past century.

Senator Bryan is very optimistic about Nevada’s future, and gave due recognition to Governor Sandoval for his efforts in driving our state forward out of the morass.

Travis Nelson, Nevada Title Company

Mr. Nelson, Vice President of Commercial Marketing with Nevada Title Company, gave a very informative and interactive talk on the state of the Las Vegas housing resale markets, both from commercial and residential perspectives. He had great insights into the economic drivers of real estate, as well as the state of the resale markets as more properties flip out of default.

As Billy Copper will tell you, the bi-annual Mount Charleston roadside cleanup effort is the Rotary event of the year…and what a day it was. We had a great turnout, enjoyed the fresh mountain air, had donuts and lemon cake, and made our little stretch of highway 157 look good as new. President Jason brought his kids along for the fun.