Our Rotarian of the Week grew up in the motor city attending the same all girls Catholic school that Madonna did in Detroit. She actually graduated from the American School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her dad worked for Ford Motor Company on a one-year contract. Her first job was working at the Dairy Queen and she ate so much ice cream she didn’t touch it for another ten years. After graduating from high school, she came back to attend college at Michigan State University where she majored in Latin American Studies and Political Science. Today, Connie Filipovitch Sarmiento is owner/operator of Dirty Duds with her husband Tomas. Connie and Tomas, who she met in Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer, have been married for 30 years. They have one daughter. Connie’s most memorable Rotary experience was attending District Conference in Steamboat Springs when Hal Miller was District Governor. She took her daughter and her daughter’s friend to the banquet. Their daughter Stephanie danced with Fred Baggs and her friend Maggie danced with Dave Foreman. Both girls felt like princesses at the ball and still talk about that evening. Other than family, Connie’s proudest accomplishment is writing the labor annex to the Panama Canal Treaty when she worked for the U.S. State Department right out of college and the challenge of explaining the treaty details to Americans who lived there most of their lives. She is also proud of starting a low income housing project in Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer, opening the Rock Springs Blood Center, and building the Cheyenne Blood Center while working for United Blood Services. She is also a proud Board Member of the South Cheyenne Community Development Authority and is proud of the great work being done for her community. In her free time, Connie enjoys being a member of the same diverse book club for almost 30 years, along with Club member Mary Guthrie. Her favorite meal is chili rellenos smothered in green chili at The Tortilla Factory. Connie likes Rotary because of the youth programs. She has served on the Student of the Month Committee, the Club and District Ambassadorial Scholarship and World Peace Fellowship giving people like recent Ambassadorial Scholar Gabriel Floud an opportunity to work and study abroad. Connie has been a member of our Club since 1990 when she was sponsored by John Masters. In recognition of her service to our Club, Rotary, and the World, the Sergeant at Arms presented Connie with a gift certificate so she can enjoy chili rellenos at the Tortilla Factory and a special lapel pin.
