Changing of the guard at the mountain Rotary Clubs

The three mountain Rotary Clubs held their demotion dinners at the end of June where the presidents who had served during the 2023-2024 year were thanked for their service and the incoming presidents were launched on their journeys.

Each club captured the essence of these three women in the themes they set for the dinners.

Because of her love of travel for business and pleasure, the demotion dinner for Mary Ann Dickinson, who served as president of the Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club for the 2023-2024 Rotary year, had an airplane theme.

The dinner committee dressed as flight attendants and gave their “passengers” explicit instructions on how to behave on their flight to Venice on Rotary Agua Airlines. Agua was in deference to Dickinson’s expertise in the field of water conservation.

The flight attendants – Elizabeth O’Neil, Jenny Hueter, Michelle French and Laura Dyberg – delivered snacks to the passengers and then rolled out the beverage cart. While still on the ground – actually the plane experienced engine trouble so the passengers never made it to Venice – dinner was served: salad, lasagna, shrimp and vegetables catered by RB’s Steakhouse.

Dickinson thanked her board and committee chairs and then introduced the 2024-2025 board, which was installed by District Governor Jamie Zinn, who is a member of the Mountain Sunrise club.

The Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club meets on Wednesdays at 7 a.m. at the Twin Peaks Community Center.

Mary-Justine Lanyon, who has served as president of the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club for the past two years, had expressed a desire to hold a meeting in the new seating area at Goodwin’s Market. That wish was fulfilled with her demotion dinner, which had a newspaper theme.

Vice President Brent Leistra created a special edition of “The Alphorn,” the club’s newsletter, for the event. A tongue-in-cheek article about Lanyon’s gavel drew chuckles from her and her fellow Rotarians (should a president put her gavel down, it mysteriously disappears and she must pay to get it back).

The club presented Lanyon with a fedora as the chief reporter and all her guests sported press passes. The dinner, provided by Goodwin’s, included salad, stuffed chicken breasts, tri-tip, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Dinner was topped off by a cake made by the bakers at Goodwin’s.

Lanyon thanked her small band of Rotarians for all stepping up and turning a challenging year into a successful one.

The Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club meets Thursdays at noon at the Top Town Café.

Quilter Teri Ostlie served as president of the Lake Arrowhead Rotary Club this past year. Her demotion dinner was held at SkyPark at Santa’s Village, where Ostlie presented each of her board members with a quilt she had made to thank them for their support while she had her house rebuilt following Snowmageddon.

At the beginning of the Rotary year last July, Ostlie had given each board member a folder and asked them to write down their job description. They presented those folders to Ostlie at her demotion dinner.

She and her guests enjoyed a dinner of salad, brisket, chicken roasted vegetables and exotic fruits, after which Past District Governor Joe Ramos installed the 2024-2025 board.

The Lake Arrowhead Rotary Club meets on Tuesdays at noon at the Twin Peaks Community Center.