Plan on shaking off the mid-Winter blues, and take your honey to the "day before Valentine's" party of the season – MARDI GRAS!  

      Bishop Sunrise Rotary's Fundraiser of the Year is coming up on Saturday, February 13th at 6:00 p.m. at the Tri-County Fair Home Economics Building!  Come support scholarships for young people throughout the Owens Valley and the many other worthy projects of Bishop Sunrise Rotary, including a new shelterbox for Haiti.  Tickets are only $40.00, and are available at the Bishop Chamber and Inyo Council for the Arts.  You will be greeted at the door with a free mask and beads, door prizes, and silent auction options. Bring your own mask, if you have one, as there will be a mask contest. Whiskey Creek will be catering the affair, so we're sure to have a great Cajun/Mardi Gras dinner for all, and great dancing music from the Eastside Four.
 
      It seems like every few weeks you open your Inyo Register and see some kind of an announcement from one of Bishop’s two Rotary Clubs, including this one—but many of you probably wonder just what a Rotary Club is and why it exists. 

      Rotary has been around for a long time—it was formed by four business associates in Chicago in 1905, and then rapidly spread to the West Coast of the U.S., and then around the world.  The second and third Clubs were founded in San Francisco and Oakland in 1908, and the original Rotary Club of Bishop was chartered in 1928.  Bishop Sunrise came along a little bit later, in 1998.  Now, there are over 32,000 Rotary Clubs in over 200 countries and geographical regions around the world, and more than 1.2 million Rotarians.

      What is a Rotary Club?  It is an organization of your local business, community, and professional leaders united under the motto of “Service Above Self.”  Rotarians are committed to serving their communities, to promoting high ethical standards in the performance of their vocations, and to promoting world peace and understanding.  Rotarians have contributed millions of dollars to eradicating polio, providing clean water and sanitation, promoting literacy, and completing countless other service projects around the world and in our own communities. 

      This year, the Bishop Sunrise Rotary graciously welcomed 4 new female members to the club including Karen Schwartz of Sage to Summit, Julie Faber of Telluride Websmith, Victoria Campbell, Attorney at Law and the newest member Bernadette Lovato, the new Field Manager of the Bureau of Land Management's Bishop Field Office in addition to the new token male members, John Helm, Director of Eastern Sierra Transit and Daniel Steinhagen, Executive Director of IMACA.  Rotary is open to any community, business or professional leader who is committed to the ideals of Rotary. Karen Schwartz said, “I am eager to be a part of an organization that supports so many others in Bishop”.

      Bishop Sunrise Rotary has opened the floor to many local services and business speakers. Don Mathewson said, “We’re a unique Rotary club – the women outnumber the men and the young balance out the senior members. We’re active in every sense of the word. Many come to ask for support, others come to educate or talk about their occupation, policy or procedure. We’d like to thank the following guest speakers that have visited our club this year; Tawni Thompson, Loretta Howard, Janet Howell-Maillet, Doris Santiago, Vicki Taton, Bill Lutze, Karen Ferrell-Ingram, Marvin Moscovitz, George Milovich, Sandra Fernandez, Nils Davis, Milne Molkenna, Lisa Reel, Katie Quinlan, Leigh Parmenter, Virginia Bird, Maria Kemp, Karen Little, and Lori Ciccarelli.”

      For more information on any of the events or to be invited to speak at Bishop Sunrise Rotary, please call Club President Don Matthewson at 760.873.8300.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 21
Time: 6 pm - Whenever
Where: Tri-County Fairgrounds, Home Economics Building

Party like Lent is coming! Cajun food! Live music! dancing! costume contest! Silent Auction! More fun than is legal in most states! Support all the great work of Rotary, and have a blast!

Tickets are available at the following locations:

• Mountain Apparel
• Anne Marie's Kitchen Boutique
• Alta One Credit Union
• Coons Gallery
• Hardy & Place
• IMAH's Sierra Thrift mall
• Northern Inyo Hospital Administration Office
• Bishop Sunrise Rotary Members

Questions: Contact Bishop Sunrise Rotary
Click here for the Official website