New Members, Finances and "Know Yer Ro"

New members (from left)  Larry Kuehn, Al Rathman (sponsored by
Ray Robinson and Michael Westfall (sponsored by Jim Coleman)

Today in Rotary three new members were inducted.  Left to right new members are Paul Toone with a classification of Mountain Bell Executive (Retd.), Al Rathman sponsored by Ray Robison with a classification of Retired and Michael Westfall sponsored by Jim Coleman and whose classification is District Court Judge.  With these three new faces our membership now totals 73.

Club Treasurer Richard Isom presented the financial report for 2014-15 to the club along with the 2015-16 club budgets. He highlighted how the St. George Rotary Club Foundation, Inc. operates as the project funding and fundraising entity for the club's service activities to provide charitable giving tax benefits to donors and the opportunity to attract donations from outside sources—something that we have been receiving. He gave an overview of the club's financial controls noting that the board approves the annual budget and also approves any expenditure that is not previously approved in the budget; the board reviews detailed financial statements each quarter; and finally, the board conducts a self-audit each year to verify the expenditures are as stated in the financials. He highlighted that the club has healthy financials with good reserves and that the board has been prudent in their financial planning.

Alan Paige shared his life and times in a "Know Yer Ro" presentation, noting he saw a lot of the world before settling on St. George as a place to retire with his wife Sandy.  USAF Col. (Ret.)  Paige ended a 29-year military career in 1998 then taught mathematics at an alternative high school in Peoria IL.  In 2000 he was hired as an exercise planner at Ramstein Air Base in Germany helping to plan military exercises between USAF and NATO personnel in Europe. In 2007 he and Sandra moved to Yorktown VA working for the USAF at Langley AFB before moving back to Ramstein AB for 4 more years prior to retiring again in February, 2013. His military service included tours of duty at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, New Mexico; George AFB in Victorville, California; Kunsan AB in Korea;  Spandgalhem AB, Germany; Takli AB, Thailand; and ANG assignments in Springfield and Peoria IL.

It was in Peoria, Illinois, where Alan was first introduced to Rotary.  The graduate of Hastings College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in math and physics was a member of the Peoria Rotary Club from 1994 to 2000.  After moving to Yorktown, VA and now fully immersed in the concept of “service above self” he couldn’t find a Rotary club to fit his schedule so joined Kiwanis where he served for two years.  

Alan and Sandy’s three children are scattered around the globe.  Their daughter – a CPA – lives in Chicago.  The couple’s two sons are a Marine stationed near Charleston, South Carolina and an engineer living and working in London.

When it came time to retire, Alan and Sandy whittled their choices down to three locations:  Tennessee, Nebraska or St. George.  Alan now plays lots of golf and looks for opportunities to teach or tutor so he can put his mathematical expertise to good use.