Rotarian of the Week 04-20-11

Our Rotarian of the Week grew up in Loveland, Colorado, attending Loveland High School, home of the Indians.  Her first job was working at the Loveland Dairy Queen getting paid $2.25 an hour and as many hot fudge sundaes as she wanted, as a sophomore in high school.  After high school, she attended Western Wyoming Community College where she played basketball.  Subsequently, she earned a B.S. in Finance from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from Regis University.  Today, Lori Schoene is the Vice-President for First National Bank with more than 23 years in the banking industry.  Lori and her husband Gary have been married 16 years and have two kids, ages 12 and 10.  Lori enjoys spending time with her kids, reading and Broadway shows.  Her favorite meal is anything Italian.  She enjoys Rotary for all the great things it does locally and internationally.  Lori greatly appreciates being a small part of something that is greater than all of us.  Her most memorable Rotary experience occurred during an interview of a RYLA candidate a few years back.  The RYLA committee asked the candidate why she wanted to go to RYLA.  The young lady responded that her brother went to RYLA and came back a different person.  She found the young lady’s description of her brother and the significant impact of RYLA very touching.   Other than family, Lori’s proudest accomplishment occurred when she managed a branch for Community First National Bank.  The Bank retained the Gallup organization to conduct a survey on employee engagement.  The branch Lori managed was found to have the highest level of engagement of the 140 banks in the company. Lori has been a member of our Club since 1998 and currently serves on our Board of Directors.  Lori oversees our Club’s Teacher of the Month, Teacher of the Year, Student of the Month, Meals on Wheels, Read to Me and National Honor Society committees.  In recognition of her service to our Club, the Sergeant at Arms presented Lori with a gift certificate and a special lapel pin.