The Rotary Club of Carbondale comes up in conversation a lot when public service is afoot. From sending local students on their first international exchange to serving up potato pancakes at the annual Potato Day, this local chapter remains an active one.
In February of 1905, Chicago attorney Paul Harris created the Rotary Club of Chicago, the first of its kind, “so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships,” according to the organization’s umbrella website. Harris later said, “Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves.”
Eric Berry, the owner of RJ Paddywacks Pet Outfitters and someone who already gives a lot back to the community, joined as a Rotary member about a year ago. To join the club, one must have a sponsor already on the inside, fill out a basic application and join the meetings (held in-person at the Carbondale Fire Station, and virtually) on Wednesdays at 6:45am. Berry said for several years he was wooed by a couple of members to join, including fellow Montessori parent Alan Cole. Eventually, he was in front of Rotary presenting on behalf of KDNK Community Access Radio, along with Station Director Megan Passmore, for a grant that helped with the purchase of a new control board in the studio. “It opened the door for me,” Berry told The Sopris Sun.
“Carbondale Rotary funds scholarships for local students, provides funds for a lot of 501c3 organizations; in fact, we just gave $3,000 to Smiling Goat Ranch and another $2,000 to Raising a Reader,” said Berry. And grants aren’t it. For instance, members of Carbondale Rotary and the Rotary Club of Glenwood Springs will be traveling to the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Arizona to bring learning and reading materials there in June.
“Really, Rotary is about promoting relationships and peace,” Berry stated.
Highway cleanup
And why not keep things clean while at it? One of the diverse ways in which Carbondale Rotary gives back is by maintaining a section of Highway 82, between Aspen Glen right up to the entrance of Carbondale, through the state’s Adopt-a-Highway program. When an organization or individual adopts a section of highway, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) requests that the adopter clean the roadway four times a year. But, it’s been since COVID since a cleanup party at the Rotary section — largely because it takes a lot of hands, which requires a lot of volunteers. Volunteers are still needed for the upcoming project.
On Saturday, April 26, from 9:30am to 2pm, “We are going to pick up as much trash as we can along the highway going down toward Glenwood, and then come back the other direction and do the same,” explained Berry. CDOT provides bags, safety vests and will collect the bags once the cleanup is complete.
Chuck Marsh with CDOT explained that the roads it maintains are divided into maintenance sections called “patrols.” Typically, four CDOT maintenance team members are assigned to a section that spans 10 to 40 miles, depending on the location and complexity of the road.
“This includes snow plowing, crash support, pothole repairs, fixing guardrails, mending fences, mowing operations and basic cleanup of the area,” Marsh stated in an email to The Sun. “While these patrols do the best they can to keep up, it is almost impossible to remove all of the trash or debris that is either thrown, blown or crashed into their patrol areas. That is why the Adopt-a-Highway program is such a big help.”
Besides having a sign installed that recognizes the organization or individual committed to caring for a section of highway, “It’s just the good feeling of knowing that you’re taking care of your community,” said Berry. “After the snow melts here it looks pretty ugly down there on the sides of the highway — stuff does accumulate — and it’s really nice just to spruce it back up.”
When asked if he’d been part of a highway cleanup before, Berry replied, “I have not. I’ve always sort of watched the folks doing it out there, going, ‘Wow! That is such good work.’”
He added that a dream of his is to do the same thing along Highway 133 south of Carbondale, and that CDOT would be most grateful if Rotary or another organization took that on. “I see it as important to keep all of the roads to Carbondale beautiful,” Berry stated. He mentioned Catherine Store Road (County Road 100) as well, but that is not eligible for the Adopt-a-Highway program because it’s not a state roadway. “But I think we should do a town cleanup anyway,” he said.
“We truly appreciate the thousands of volunteers like those in the Carbondale Rotary Club who assist with this program each year and help us in keeping Colorado beautiful,” said Marsh on behalf of CDOT.
People who would like to volunteer can call Eric Berry at 970-948-1369, and are requested to do so by Wednesday, April 23. The Rotary Club will provide lunch, most likely Dos Gringos, to the volunteers. “The more the merrier,” concluded Berry. “Many hands make light work.”