Stuart was born in Tucson, Arizona and earned a BS in Management from the University of Arizona. He recently served as a parish administrator at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church in Jackson, Wyoming, following a lengthy career as Co-Director of Teton Valley Ranch Camp, a summer camp for youth in Jackson Hole where he met his wife of 27 years (Susie Armstrong Palmer of Wichita, KS). Stuart has been a member of the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole for over 20 years, serving as a board member for seven years and he chaired each of the Avenues of Service prior to becoming president in 1993.

He is the recipient of the club's Rotarian of the Year award in 1989 and was District 5440 Rotarian of the Year in 1999.

Stuart has served District 5440 in various capacities as a member of the year-round youth exchange committee, counselor at RYLA camp and GSE committee member after being team leader to Brazil in 1998. He has also been the chairman of District World Community Service, International Service, Summer Youth Exchange and was an Assistant Governor as well as District Conference Chairman (2003).

Besides Rotary, Stuart served in various community organizations, most notably as Chairman of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. He also serves his church on state-wide committees for the Diocese of Cheyenne and Knights of Columbus.

Stuart and Susie are major donors, Paul Harris Society members, benefactors and charter members of the Bequest Society of the Rotary Foundation. They have three daughters in college (Sarah, Annie and Emily) who are Paul Harris Fellows.

There is a reception for Stuart in the Canyon West Room of the Lincoln Center at 11:00 am preceeding our meeting on July 16th. All members are invited.

Lets keep the web site information accurate!! Our next directory could possibly come from the member information on the web.

Jim started his presentation by telling us what FRCC is. FRCC is an open-access institution, they serve anyone sixteen years of age or older who can benefit from college preparatory or college-level instruction. They provide education and training in general education and career/technical programs. Certificate programs are offered in many career and technical areas. They offer the following degrees: Associate of Science, Associate of Arts, Associate of General Studies, Associate of Applied Science and courses guaranteed to transfer to in-state, public institutions are also offered.

He then told us a little of FRCC’s History. In 1967, the Colorado State Legislature established our State System of Community Colleges. Front Range Community College, affectionately, known as (FRCC) began as the North Campus of the Community College of Denver (CCD) in 1968 in temporary quarters at East 62nd Avenue and Downing Street in Denver with an enrollment of 1,861 students. From that initial beginning over 39 years ago, the college has evolved to a three-campus/one-center system with a service area spanning six counties. The college now serves over 23,000 students annually.

The Larimer Campus opened as the Larimer County Vocational Technical Center in 1972. Comprised of four buildings, totaling 104,000 square feet on 47 acres, the Vocational Technical Center was owned and operated by the three Larimer County School Districts—Poudre R1 (Fort Collins), Thompson R2J (Loveland/Berthoud), and Park (Estes Park).

In 1988 the Vocational Technical Center became a part of Front Range Community College through an agreement whereby the Larimer County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), comprised of these 3 school districts, leased the campus to the State of Colorado for $1.00 per year for 25 years.

In 1995 a new agreement made the State of Colorado 50% owner of the entire campus, with an increasing ownership share for every new dollar of state capital investment. We estimate now that our ownership of this property and buildings exceeds 85%.

In fall 2005 the Thompson R2J School District invited the Larimer Campus to be a co-participant in a new community-learning center in Loveland, a city 10 miles from the campus. Space was reserved for the HVAC program in a building formerly owned by Agilent Technologies. Currently, the campus leases 5,960 square feet that house the Med Prep, HVAC, Holistic Health, and Certified Nursing Assistant programs.

In addition, the campus leases space for astronomy classes via an agreement with a residential home developer who built an astronomy lab/observatory. Classes are also currently held at Regis University in Fort Collins, and at Fossil Ridge High School.

John Hill

Jim also talked about what is in store for the future of FRCC, funding issues and some interesting statistics about the students that they serve. In the statistics area, student population is 45% full time, 93% resident, 51% female, 12.5% minority and 68% are 25 or younger. From his presentation, you could see why Phyllis said in her introduction that Jim's passion is FRCC. He closed his presentation by indicating which buildings are open for tours and who was the tour leader.

Members were invited to attend the performances of "The Wizard of OZ", both before and after the meeting, performed by FRCC staff and students and directed by John Hill. Faculity and staff dressed as Wizard characther were present at the meeting and helped guide the tours.

Faculty and Staff dressed as "Wizard" characters acted as tour guides

Warren and Genny Garst Wildlife Collection at CSU Click here or on the "tiger."

Rotary District 5440 Home Page - We recommend browsing this page particularly the links to other Clubs in District 5440 as your time permits.

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Copyright © by Lannie Boyd and Alan Ashbaugh for the Rotary Club of Fort Collins, Colorado, July 16, 2008