Sun Valley (without the sun), Idaho - May 14 - 16, 2015

I have always had great pride in the fact that my father has been a member of the Rotary Club for about sixty years.  He has always felt his family, his church, and his Rotary Club have been the three most important facets of his life.  After attending the Rotary Convention in Sun Valley with him this year, I can see why he takes such pride in being a member of such a fantastic organization which has the sole purpose of service in the community, state, nation, and even the world!

We started going to the Sun Valley Conventions with my dad and mother when we were very young.  We had so many fun times there together as a family.
 
Jerry, Beverly, Joyce, me, and Blair.  Look how nice our mother had us dressed.  That was always very important to her that we didn't go out in grubby clothes and that we always had our hair done.  She was always the same way about her appearance.

 We loved going to the bike rental.  I only remember having one bike at home that we shared, so it was a real thrill for each of us to have our own bike (even if it was only rented) and to ride together and on a paved road instead of gravel.

 The line-up.  Blair, me, Beverly, Joyce, and Jerry

I remember one year when my dad and mother went over early to Sun Valley and they bought me a ticket to ride the train over.  I think I was in about the ninth or tenth grade.  I had never ridden a train before and thought that was the greatest thing ever.  

Through the years, my dad and mother have always gone to the Rotary Convention and invited the family as there became more and more of us.  However, we were unable to attend very often once I started teaching and once we moved to Florida.  It has probably been over twenty years that I last went, and George has never been to Sun Valley.

 With George and I being retired this year and living closer to Idaho, we could take the time to drive to the convention.  We drove the five hours to Boise on Wednesday where we stopped for the night to stay with Larry and Beverly who so kindly let us stay there in their beautiful home.  My dad was already there in Boise staying with them.

 My mother truly had a green thumb.  She could make any plant look fantastic!  I think all four of my sisters inherited that from her.  Me, not so much!  Beverly's flowers were absolutely beautiful!

 That night, Larry, George, and my dad enjoyed an evening together as well as had visits from some of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren living in the area.  Beverly and I went to her Reading Club where they had a light dinner, plus we watched a film about the Vanderbilts which was absolutely fascinating.  They had been studying the time period in the U.S. with the aristocracy like the Downton Abbey people in England.  I learned so much!

 The next morning, we snapped a couple of pictures with my dad, then we were off to Sun Valley.

In Sun Valley, Larry had arranged for us to stay in this gigantic house which had at least seven bedrooms and seven baths that he traded for our four-bedroom cottage we had reserved.   Since the Rigby family has rented in Sun Valley every year for fifty years,  they allowed us to trade for this huge house for the same price!  It was a phenomenal place!

 

 

After getting settled in our place, we went over to get signed up for our activities.

Dad always loves seeing old friends at the convention.

While Beverly stayed with Dad at some of the opening meetings, George, Larry, and I went exploring in the area, especially since this was the first time George had ever been to Sun Valley!  

 Unfortunately, the clouds were low-hanging and we encountered rain on and off the entire three days we were there.  But, it was never so bad that we couldn't handle it with an umbrella in hand.
 

I love this shot Melissa, Larry and Beverly's daughter, got of those low clouds I was talking about.  This is the difference between an amateur photographer like me and a professional one like her!

 Low rain clouds on what they call "Old Baldy" can be seen right behind us.

There was still snow on the ski run! 

 

With all the rain, everything was so green.  Such a beautiful golf course!

One of the special events we had while we were there was celebrate my dad's 92nd birthday.  Although it was actually about a month ago, none of us here had been able to celebrate with him, so we had a little belated surprise birthday party for him.

We made him a cake with nine candles--one for each ten years--plus two more!

The kids had such a great time decorating the room, fixing the table, and then waiting for Grandpa Rigby to come in.

We all sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

Beverly was pointing out all the birthday wishes to Dad.

We live about a block from a candy factory in Prosser called, "Cukar Cherries."  They use home-grown fruit and these are absolutely divine!  They aren't like the old cherry chocolates with all the runny stuff inside.  Anyway, that's what we gave Dad.  Larry and Beverly gave him a couple of new shirts--one of which he is wearing and looks so nice in.

Such a fun little party!  I think Dad was pleased!

And then everyone dove into the ice cream and cake!

This is Beverly's grand daughter, Livia.  She and George took quite a liking to each other.  They were always teasing each other!

Livia loved to try to hit George's hand in a game he loves to play with our grand kids.

Her "steely-eyed stare" was so intense!  She was bound and determined to get him!

We all got a big kick out of it.  Even in his "old" age, however, George is still pretty fast, and Livia rarely even got a small edge of George's hands.  Hah!

One man described getting to meet my dad was like meeting George Washington.  He said, "Ray Rigby is the George Washington of Rotary."  Everyone has usually heard about him, and at 92, he is the oldest living Past District Governor of Rotary.  They honored him by having him give the invocation at the first evening's banquet/meeting.

One of the primary goals of Rotary International is to eradicate polio from the world.  "Over the past two decades, tremendous progress has been made.  In 1988, when the World Health Assembly established the goal of eradicating the disease, wild poliovirus was endemic in 125 countries and about 350,000 people, primarily young children, were paralyzed by polio annually. Since then, immunization efforts have reduced the number of polio cases globally by more than 99 percent, saving more than 10 million children from paralysis. Polio remains endemic in just three countries—Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan—and fewer than 250 cases were reported in 2012, compared to 650 cases in 2011."  

The Bill Gates Foundation and Rotarians continue to give their time and money in bringing an end to this terrible disease.  One polio survivor talked first-hand about this.  Not only did he live through the disease, he has gone to India seven times to help there and continues to praise the Rotary Clubs who work so hard in this area.  He, himself, is a Rotarian. 

Another of the programs that I have always loved about Rotary is their Youth Exchange Program.  (This was at an 80s night, so that's why you see some of the people dressed quite differently.)  Anyway, this program has changed the lives of young people throughout the world as youth from other countries stay in the homes of Rotarians in the U.S., while U.S. students stay in Rotarian homes in other countries.

During one meeting, we were able to hear their stories and it was fascinating to hear of all they had learned.

This little gal was from Italy and told how she made the cheer leading squad at her school here in Idaho.  She broke down in tears telling about how she was so loved and accepted by her fellow cheerleaders and schoolmates, and how much it all meant to her.

Another meeting, the keynote speaker was a very famous woman by the name of Sylvia Whitlock, the first female Rotary Club President in 1987 after an 11-year-old-legal battle from her California Rotary Club in Duarte to admit women into an all-male organization.

The case of changing the charter requirements of Rotary to allow women members ended up in the Supreme Court, and in 1987, it supported the California Court of Appeal which stated that clubs are business establishments and as such cannot discriminate based on race, gender, religion, or ethnic origin.  This opened the door to women in all other men's clubs where they are considered business establishments.

She was absolutely fascinating.  The interesting thing about the year of 1987 is that this was during my father's tenure as District Governor, so as he was touring the entire Rotary District he was in charge of (43 clubs in Idaho and a little part of Utah), he had the job of helping the clubs get the new law into place of allowing women into Rotary.

At the last evening's banquet, the outgoing District Governor had his four grand children sing, "Let There Be Peace on Earth."  There wasn't a dry eye in the place!  Such a beautiful sentiment after such a beautiful convention.

The next morning, we packed up and had to say "good-bye" to everyone.  We had such a wonderful time and hated to leave.

My dad, George, and Larry (brother-in-law)

Larry, my dad, David and Brian (two of Beverly's sons) George and either Boston or Dublin in front.  Since they are identical twins and only one got in the picture, I never got either of their names right the entire time I was there.

George and Larry teasing each other before we left.

Out Sun Valley Blvd., and we were on our way!  

In addition to the fantastic convention we were part of, I have so many other fantastic memories of the weekend . . .

The ice skating rink has been a part of Sun Valley probably since it opened.  Beverly and some of her enjoyed some time there.  

On another day, Beverly challenged me to a game of Twister. 

Yes, I was the first one down because I couldn't do a back flip to get my hand on the other side of my back.  Hah!  The kids got a big kick out of that!

Another great picture of Melissa's!  She's so creative!  Even with it raining, they keep the pool so nice and warm, so it didn't bother the kids at all!

But mostly I was so happy that George and I could spend this time with my dad and realize even more why he loves Rotary so much and why he loves going to the convention like he does.  I'm proud of him for the many years of service and time he has given this organization.  It makes me want to do more for my community and country when I see this.  Thanks, Dad, for allowing us this opportunity to be a part of this, and to Beverly and Larry for their great hospitality in their home and with their family.