Rotary Club Meeting 6/16/2015

Bound and determined to stay the course over the summer months, a dedicated group of Marana Rotarians met once again on June 16 at Nana’s Kitchen. Morning announcements were going smoothly until President Maeve Johnson mentioned the recent controversial comments by a Nobel Laureate scientist who complained that female scientists are just too much of a distraction in the laboratory, and often cry when criticized. Resident biochemist Jo Holt immediately left the room in tears.

 

In other news, two members did not have any Happy Bucks to share, but others gave their HB’s in their honor. One of the two scofflaws was Harold Burtzloff, and at least $6 of HB’s were donated on his behalf. The other member is new and so will not be embarrassed by being named here. But watch it, Tony, this won’t last.

Calendar Update:  Mary Straus, 2016-2017 President-Elect, reminded everyone that our annual Heritage Awards Dinner will be held in October. The Awards Dinner Committee is asking all members to think about donating items for the auction, and, in particular, is looking for one large donation or several smaller items that can be grouped together. And now is the time to consider nominations for Man and Woman of the Year!

Mary also reiterated her kind invitation to her home this coming Saturday, June 20, at 5pm to wish our inbound exchange student Jeanne Gachon bon voyage as she returns home to France. We will miss you, Jeanne!

 

Other announcements: Graciela Silva thanked Marana Rotary for our donation to the orphanage in Imuris, Sonora, from the Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament organized by Dan Contorno

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Guest Speaker:  We were honored to have as our speaker Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mark Murray with the Phoenix Field Division of the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms).   As part of his mission, ATF is committed to protecting our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombing.  The Phoenix Field Division is responsible for ATF criminal enforcement and regulatory mission in the States of Arizona and New Mexico. ATF is comprised of special agents, industry operations investigators, explosive enforcement officers, auditors, forensic laboratory technicians and support staff.

Mark is a transplant from the East Coast and now a resident of Marana. During his 26 years with ATF, he has been directly involved in many operations, including Waco in 1993. In his current post, he’s in charge of day-to-day enforcement operations in southern AZ and New Mexico, where the focus is on violent criminal activity associated with firearms.

Explosives and arson enforcement is an integral part of ATF’s overall violent crime reduction strategy. The ATF works together with our local fire investigators and local police bomb squads to investigate acts of arson and bombings.  Mark explained that the ATF prides itself on close communication with many other agencies, such as the Border Patrol, DPS (Dept. of Public Safety), HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), and DEA (Drug Enforcement Admin).

In addition to enforcement, ATF also has the duty of regulating the firearms and explosives industries. They work to ensure that all firearms and explosives are stored, handled and sold in a safe manner as mandated by federal law.

We very much appreciated Mark’s candid comments about Waco as well as Fast & Furious and more recent events. After revealing that he was in Rotary Interact as a high school student, the majority present felt that Mark would be most welcome as a member of Marana Rotary! Our thanks to Mark and his team for helping to keep us safe and secure over the years.