1. Thanks to Ron Lotz for tonight 2. Ad Hoc committee for efforts back in summer
Fellowship and Service In a moment I’ll hand the microphone off to Browny for some reflections and remembrances of the 49 years we spent as Sertoma; but I wanted to start my talk with a joke he told once … that goes. How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?
ANYONE
Answer is: “change???” Change is difficult. No different for this last years transition to the DownTown Club of Fort Collins. Change brings openness to a new possibility, but also confusion. Change bring stress over logos, names, mission statements … what’s in what’s out. What’s new what traditions carry over. Chartering a new thing is exciting but also maddening. I want to say Thank You to each of you for being patient with me and this process the last 14 months or so. I have never felt division or politics through this effort. Some sadness/mourning for leaving Sertoma but never bitterness or defiance. Thank you. Give yourselves a hand for being flexable and creative about this effort. One Example to highlight: As I contemplated leading this effort, I met with Owen one afternoon to at least pick a possible new name as a place to start. We reserved and paid for the name “Fort Collins Service Club”. Have to start with something right? As we moved forward, Browny sent a mass email saying … we have an opportunity to really do something with the new name. He didn’t like the name I found ‘Fort
Collins Service Club.’ I felt convicted by that suggestion that yes … I didn’t like the name either, is says nothing, no panache. So THAT process of kicking around names, started one of the many steps to reconceive the club. Of course Abrahamson’s ‘Fort Collins Gentlemen’s Club’ was a close second …. We crafted the Down Town Club of Fort Collins. I love it. A bit mysterious, not self descriptive, open to future interpretation. From That Lotzy brought out the idea, Hey we have an entirely blank page here. Let’s really think about re-conceiving this thing from scratch. So an ad hoc committee was created for input, brain storming, logos, mission statements, etc. etc. Thanks to all for the input on this road. I hope you don’t feel I was leading the witness or trying to drive my agenda. My approach was its your club, not Greg’s club. If I don’t have the answers to the dozens of questions along the way … that’s not my failing, it just means we haven’t baked this cake yet. Change is difficult but another lens to view change is … growth. Growth, change. Reminds me of a lesson I got once at a seminar on living with a passion. Having passion for your career or endeavors. The Greek word for passion is only one letter off of the Greek word for pain. Having a passion is just a version of having a pain for something. Passion / pain. Change / growth.
Tag Line: Fellowship & Service The tag line that ad hoc committee settled on was ‘Fellowship & Service’. I like it! AND In that order. Fellowship first. If we lead with
‘service’ volunteer hours, money raised and given etc.
we will get lots of proverbial thumbs up … but not I’m suspecting a lot of new members joining. Let’s be honest. Service is not the honey that attracts the fly. Fellowship! I describe the club is my tree house. My little place that’s small, well known, well worn, and just a welcome event on a Friday noon. Here’s for fellowship! For Tuesday coffee and Thursday afternoon beer!
To bad jokes, To naughty jokes, To shameless brags about kids and grand kids micro accomplishments, To programs that make me feel a little smarter and more informed on some topic. To selling beer at a 10 p.m. kickoff at the CSU stadium one November at (it must have been) 10 degrees. To fellowship. Work it. Use it. Protect it. Encourage it. I came up with an equation that made sense to me on this topic of FELLOWSHIP. Think back to when you first joined the club and be honest – what was the prime motivation for joining? Really. Wasn’t it some version of ‘I want to win’ in this transaction of joining this club. I want to gain networking, I want connections, I want new clients? If we are honest I bet that is true for most. Then as you put up some flags and help the golf tournament and get assignments in the club … well that starts to morph from I win to Win Win. I am winning connections, contacts but you are winning too. Then as you put up more flags, participate in the grunt work of an ad hoc committee, show up at 6:30 a.m. at the golf course to start parking cars … this morphs again From win / win. To We Win. Not just win win. But deeper, we are winning. I am winning when I see Eric get a new client. I win a little bit when Owen has a good week. I win if Barry is filling his team captains slots for the golf event. Fellowship, if done RIGHT leads to pretty magical thing … ‘we win.’
That’s the world I want to be part of.
Service And to service. Why service? Is service fun … only sometimes. (fix and flip Greeley house) Is service going to get me a new client for my business … nope. Is service time consuming, yes a bit. Is it in the way of my weekend, my agenda, my hobby? Yes likely. So why service? Have you ever really thought about it? Why be in the mission of service?
I had to think about this. And the answer I came up with was, you commit yourself to an arena of service … to keep from becoming an ass hole. That’s why service. Service is like going to the gym. It’s a discipline. I hate the gym, but I, today at noon was once again the only male in my Tuesday Thursday lift class. Nothing about the gym or that class is fun for me. It takes time, it interrupts, it costs money. But I know that I must be disciplined to go to gym, so I can have a chance to swing a golf club reasonably well. Service is a discipline. You commit to it because you know frankly you need it. When Butler hands out a coat at Putnam Elementary, I feel a bit warmer too. When a 14 year old girl is at group counseling at Child Safe working through some unspeakable inter-family assault … well I am blessed a little bit too. (our club funds for those who weren’t clear all the group counseling at Child Safe for these survivors)
When a kid who’s been permanently removed from his family in Larimer county, and gets to go to a summer camp and leaves with his own personalized photo – memory book of that week of safety, fun and being a kid again …. I’m going to have a little better June too. My daughter Amber is mid way through her Special Needs Education degree at UNC. Her weekly volunteer effort is to be one the horse helpers at F.R.E.E. the group Jan Goldstein works with on our golf tournaments. FREE if you don’t know is an equestrian group for autistic kids where they get to experience holding their balance in saddles, smelling the new smells of horses & hay, new touches of the big warm horses. And for some of the more able kids to steer the horses around in the arena autonomous. Kids like that don’t get to do too many things autonomous and uncontrolled. Amber’s main kid is Ooj. Middle eastern name. Here’s the thing - when Ooj rides that horse (Elmer I think) … Ooj literally screams with joy. Its not a real organized scream – it sound more like a squeaky door on the videos she shows me but that’s Ooj busting with joy. Before tonight, you had never heard of a name spelled “Ooj” or how to pronounce it if you saw it. But when Lee Cord called and needs a flag captain - just say yes. Don’t say I need to check with the wife or your schedule or whatever. Just say yes. In fact, I happen to know Lee is in need of one flag rout captain right now … go volunteer tonight to do that job. When Barry saunters up at the next meeting and say he needs a slot filled for the golf tournament … think of Ooj squealing on Elmer and raise your damn hand. Fellowship is great … but service is what you (and I) really need to commit to. To keep from becoming that inner Ass hole.
To the DownTown Club of Fort Collins, a men’s club of Fellowship and Service!
Bill Brown