Marana Rotary Club Meeting Aug. 25, 2015

Marana Rotarians were warmly greeted by Harold Burtzloff this morning, and we were very pleased and honored to have former Assistant Governor Jim Nook visiting us at Nana’s Kitchen.

 

After the opening ceremony was led by President Alice Rigney, song leader John Dooling thanked PDG Randy Brooks for his musical performance at Nana’s last Friday night in which several hundred dollars was raised for Alzheimer’s research on behalf of a very good friend of Rotary here in Marana. In addition to back-up singer Deb Hume and exchange student Matus, President-Elect Mary Straus and Lily were there, as were John and Cindy Dooling, Jane Howell, Jo Holt, and a guest appearance by Cheryl Cage. In his next gig at Nana’s, Randy will be joined by good friend Bert Beatty from Las Vegas on Sept. 18 from 6-8pm.

 

And Randy Brooks gave his Happy Bucks today since someone was able to beat him at Scrabble. Although it was a teenager from Slovakia. This, of course, would be our own Matus, exchange student extraordinaire at Marana High! And, as if that wasn't sufficient, Randy then won the 50/50 pot by pulling the Joker! 

 

A special Board meeting with District Governor Frank Presson and Assistant District Governor Jim Lamb in the evening at Jo Holt’s home in Oro Valley. All committee chairs will be reporting to the DG.

 

Our regular Club meeting will host District Governor Frank Presson, and all members are encouraged to attend.

 

The Community Food Bank Hunger Walk will take place at Tucson’s Kino Sports Complex (www.HungerWalkArizona.org). Marana Rotary is sponsoring a bus to take Marana participants to the walk.

 

The annual District 5500 Conference will be held at the Hilton El Conquistador in Oro Valley. Our Club, in conjunction with the Dove Mountain and Oro Valley Clubs, will be hosting an ice cream social on Friday Sept 25. To register for the Conference, go to the District website, www.RotaryD5500.org, where you’ll be directed to the District Conference 2015 Site Page.

 

The Service Above Self Awards Dinner at Dove Mountain Highlands Clubhouse.

 

In 2016, Mary Straus’ installation as Club President. Yes, that’s only 269 days, 6458 hours from the time of this report!

 

 

George Rigney explained that we will have the opportunity to purchase RYLA coffee mugs at $10 each. The exact time and place will have to go unreported as the Secretary was too busy thinking about RYLA coffee mugs to write that info down, but she thinks it may have something to do with the upcoming District conference. So, ahem, stay tuned!

 

Next week we have the honor of inducting a new member, Veronica Harper, who is with Raytheon. And, one of our newest members and crowd favorite Tony Hunter will be revealing all the secrets of his life. Yes, Tony, that’s how we do things here.

 

We were fortunate to have John Kmiec, the Director of Marana Water, and Asia Philbin, Resource Coordinator for Marana Water, as our guest speakers today on one of the most important topics in the desert southwest:  WATER. John came to Marana water from Tucson water in 2012, and Asia made the same journey about a year and a half ago. John started us off with a great picture of a young man selling water from sacks strapped to a donkey many, many years ago. The water came from the Santa Cruz, which flowed regularly at the time, and was sold for one penny a gallon.

 

Things have changed a little since then. The Santa Cruz is typically dry now because of a much lower water table due to pumping for the one million people that live in the area. But, Arizona is in fact forward-thinking in its water-management, and passed the groundwater management act in 1980 with codes that greatly reduced problems like subsidence, and required the use of renewable sources of water.

 

John also showed a good picture of the recharge basins in Avra Valley. When water from the Colorado River was first delivered to Tucson in the early 1990’s (via the Central AZ Project), it was so salt-heavy that it ruined pipes and other infrastructure. It was then that the decision was made to use recharge basins to filter the water.

 

At this point in John and Asia’s presentation, we Rotarians began to ask quite a few highly-intelligent questions. George Rigney wanted to know how long until the ground below the recharge basins will be “clogged” with salts? The answer: a real long time, don’t worry. Lynne Himmer asked about the toxic spill from a mine in Colorado. The answer: contaminant levels too small to measure. Alan Chestnut asked why he, as a resident of Dove Mountain, gets a bill from Tucson Water. The answer: Dove Mtn. and Continental Ranch were Tucson water customers before Marana water was founded.

 

The future of water in the Tucson area is all about wastewater reclamation, conservation and habitat restoration, and continued use of surface water through the CAP. Marana is now involved in all of these efforts, preparing for the future. Thank you to John and Asia for a fascinating look into Marana Water!