District 5300 Announces 2008 GSE TEAM LEADER

It is with great pleasure that District Governor Charles Barr (Upland) and District GSE Chair Pamela Hayes (Covina) announce the selection of LARRY SKAGGS of the Green Valley/Henderson Nevada) Rotary Club as the GSE Team Leader for the 2008 exchange with District 9790 in southern Australia.

Larry has been a Rotarian since 1998, initially with the Rotary Club of Aurora Sunrise in Illinois.  He joined the Green Valley/Henderson club shortly after leaving the cold and snowy weather of the Midwest for the sunny skies of Las Vegas. He held various positions on the Board of Directors, and served as Club President in 2001-02.  After transferring his membership to Green Valley, Larry remained actively involved in all facets of his new club, where he is currently the club Vice-President, Editor of the newsletter, and Webmaster. 

Larry and his wife Vicki moved to the Las Vegas area shortly after his retirement from the Aurora Illinois Police Department.  During his law enforcement career which began in 1975, Larry worked in nearly every division of the police department, including Patrol, Vice & Narcotics, and Administration.  He held supervisory and leadership positions in the Gang Unit, the Training Section, and the Investigations Division.  Larry was actively involved with the Citizen Police Academy, the Aurora Area Crime Stoppers, the Honor Guard and the Field Training Officer (FTO) program.  He was a Lieutenant at the time of his retirement, completing 28 years of exemplary service.

Larry was also an instructor for North East Multi-Regional Training and a seminar presenter for numerous police and leadership training programs.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal/Social Justice from Lewis University (Romeoville, IL), and his Master of Science degree in Public Service Administration from DePaul University in Chicago.  He has continued to be associated with the law enforcement profession, by working as an adjunct instructor for several college criminal justice programs.

In his free time, Larry enjoys reading, and watching football (GO BEARS!).  He spends a lot of time “on the computer,” where he has learned just enough to “get into trouble,” and he loves to play golf with several close Rotary friends, although he considers the game to be more of a penance than a passion.

Larry is honored to have been selected from among so many worthy candidates to represent District 5300 as GSE team leader to Australia.  He knows he could not have achieved this success without the help and support of his family, friends, and fellow Green Valley club members.

The GSE Committee would like to extend our sincere thanks to all who applied for this position. The field consisted of a diverse and highly qualified pool of candidates, all of whom we are proud to call our “fellow Rotarians”.  Special thanks to the committee members as well, who were extremely challenged to select just one leader from this group of very competent individuals.