Jane Helten (2011-12)

                                  
Jane was born in Garden Plain, Kansas on a farm outside of Wichita. She grew up in a rural farming community, where extended family was a blessing. After graduation, she moved to Portales, New Mexico where her husband attended college and played football for Eastern New Mexico University.

They moved to Iowa where they settled and established a meat processing business, bred and trained show horses and raised three children. While in Iowa she attended Iowa Central Community College, with a background in design. She studied with the Sheffield School of Interior Design in New York. 

Jane’s daughter, Jill, and her husband Robert live in Webster City Iowa with their four children. Her son Jamie, an attorney, and his wife Sara live in Adel, Iowa with their three children and her youngest son, Jerry, his wife Renee and two children live in Winfield, Kansas where he operates a refrigeration business. 

In 1994, Jane moved to Santa Monica California where she attended the Gemological Institute of America and received her Graduate Gemology Degree. Upon graduation, she accepted a job with Ben Bridge in Bellevue WA. She worked in the retail jewelry industry in sales and traveled extensively working estate jewelry trunk shows. She currently maintains her GG status. 

From 1998 to 2000, she lived in Beijing China where she developed her jewelry business doing appraisals for ex-pats and creating her own company to buy and sell in the gem market. 

Living in China gave her ample opportunity to travel in the Mid-East, from the far reaches of China to Indonesia, Thailand, the islands of Langkawi, Bali, Tahiti, and other remote areas. 

In 2000, she returned to the Pacific Northwest and moved to Whidbey Island where she joined the Rotary Club of South Whidbey Island and served as President in 2005-2006. She has served as Club Service Chair, International Chair, Fund Raising, and Membership Chairs. She is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society, The Bequest Society as well as a Benefactor. 

At District level, she served as Assistant Governor 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 for Area G, and a member of the Visioning and the RLI (Rotary Leadership Institute) teams. 

Jane is presently self-employed, providing window coverings and paint consulting as president of Creative Window Concepts Inc. 

Recreational interests include anything outdoors and travel.  She has traveled to Mexico, a favorite, Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, Alaska, many parts of the US and Canada, along with England, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the Mid East.