Enjoy the Ride!

Phyllis Payne, formerly of The Ambassador Hotel, shared a little piece of her history with us, including the time her Rotarian father, Hank, spent as a hotelier at The Americana in Warsaw, Poland before immigrating to the US via Germany thanks to the sponsorship of a Methodist Bishop. Phyllis grew up in the hotel business and moved to Amarillo from Seattle in 1994 to be closer to her aging parents who lived in Arkansas. She managed The Ambassador Hotel until her retirement in 2010. Now Phyllis spends much of her time on Los Cedros ranch sharing the western culture with visitors to our area. Her new business, "Cowgirls and Cowboys in the West" brings visitors to our area upclose and personal to horseback riding and a cowboy breakfast or dinner fresh from the vintage 1880's restored chuckwagon. If you are looking for a great way to share the Texas Panhandle with guests to Amarillo, check out cowgirlsandcowboysinthewest.com Thanks to Julie Ontiveros for a great program!

Hold-Up Report: Wes Knapp and his mother Irma hosted John and Sue Maggio from Champaign, Illinois. The couple was held up while traveling through Amarillo on their way home from a VFW conference in Nevada. John, a veteran and retiree from Proctor and Gamble, and his wife thoroughly enjoyed Feldman's Diner and the drama Texas! Thanks for hosting our guests this week, Wes!!

Rotary International Foundation raffle tickets were distributed today to members. Checks should be made payable to Rotary Club of Amarillo. All funds and ticket stubs should be returned to Gina by November 1. The winner will receive a $1,000 gift card, the Rotarian that sells the most will receive $500 and the person who sells the winning ticket will receive $500. Proceeds will go to a local charity to be decided.

Next week, we will be passing the backpack for Snack Pak 4 Kids, a local program that sends the likes of Pop Tarts and peanut butter home with hungry children for the weekend. If you find yourself in the grocery store between now and then, pick up a box of Pop Tarts or a 16 oz. jar of peanut butter to bring with you next week!

Reminder that Cal Harriman would like to invite all Rotarians to attend a production of Texas! for free (yes, FREE) on the evening of August 16^th. This represents an extraordinary opportunity and is made possible by our friends at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch. Please RSVP to Gina Rodriguez. All guests will sit in a special section with staff and residents of the ranch.

Many thanks to the following for their service this week:
Renee Wilson for presiding.
Doyle Moore for leading us in song.
Melvin Edes for providing the invocation, jerky and XIT tickets for the Foundation drawing.
Dale Bippus and Jeff Neeley for greeting us.
Mark Haworth for introducing guests and visiting Rotarians.
Julie Ontiveros for serving as August program chair.
Greg Green for selling Rotary Foundation drawing tickets and Rocky Gafford for providing pizza for our Foundation drawing!