Rotary Club of Marana
President Holt had difficulty getting everyone's attention to start the meeting. We had numerous guests and over 90% member attendance. There was a great deal of conviviality going on. Finally she was able to get Mark Murray's attention to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and a fine job he did.
Next we sang Happy Birthday to Dan Contorno although this was against club rules. We later found out we owe Denise West a Happy Birthday serenade this month as well. We actually sounded pretty good maybe because of the following guest voices: Kirk Reed, DG Elect, Lyle Johnson, Mary Straus's little girl, Lilly, Denny Scanlon, Dove Mountain Rotary President Donna Hansen and Dove Mountain Rotary Secretary John Mead.
The older members of our club appreciated President Jo's quote from a name from the past Dr Albert Schweitzer, "The key to happiness is good health and a bad memory." Also, success does not proceed happiness, it is the other way around.
Jo and Harold B cleaned out our club closet and transferred lots of useful stuff to Jo's guest room closet at home. By the way, Jo is looking for volunteers to help clean out her guest room closet.
An update to Food Bank/Diaper Rack situation. The Food Bank has been notified the rack is theirs not ours and it can be used or disposed of at their determination. We are in touch with Make Way for Books regarding purchase of children's books and with the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program for possible distribution through the Marana Health Center, not through the Food Bank.
*******Please get your money in for the diamond pendant raffle by 2/13/2018 and the tree planting ceremony /24/2018******
This month President Jo is doing vocational mentoring at Lori Malagone's Open Doors School. Last month it was Randy Brooks. All members please consider taking a turn.Rotary Club of Dove Mountain announced their annual fund raiser will be a Flamenco theme with professional guitar player and dancer. Date to be announced. Entertainment and meal $65.
Denny Scanlon spoke of the lady who was severely injured while helping a stranded motorist. Many of us were familiar with her plight due to a three part front page story in the Star newspaper. Denny has asked our club to assist with installing a wheelchair ramp at her home as well as possible other aid.
Members and guests were very generous today. Javier kicked in $100 due to a minor scheduling problem last week at our 5th Tuesday social. Seems like he closes Nana's at 8pm which happened to be the start time of the UA basketball game. Not a problem, we just migrated west about 90 feet to the Native Wing place and enjoyed nthe UA blowout of Washington State. John Dooling donated a $100 also. Apparently Tuesday the 1st of February is considered the first Tuesday of the month and when the Club's board showed up at 6pm for the monthly meeting John's office had already been closed for an hour. Sorry.
Others donating were: Mark Murray-actually late, but due to the aforementioned conviviality beat the bell; Tony-Looking forward to "PETS" training where he will learn to sit, stay, roll over,etc.; Denny Scanlon-"Go Cats"; Don Jorgensen-was sitting about ten feet from the losing last second shot made by Washington U in Seattle last week (Why does that make him happy?); Richie B- happy for 108th Scouting in America anniversary and admission of the fairer sex (can I say that? I get so confused in the PC world) to Scouting; Bob Bishop-SOLD!, Jason watched the Super Bowl with friends visiting from Philly(Philly won for those of you who are Jeopardy types), Maeve, Phil and others were happy as well.
These notes are getting a little long in the tooth, so with no disrespect intended suffice to say our speaker Randy Brooks had a rough childhood and the words "scholar" and "Brooks" were not used in the same sentence during his teen years. However, the finished product that stood before us today was the result of the Marines, the GI Bill and vocational training. The Rotary Vocational Fund in AZ combines the north district with ours. Scholarships based on financial need goes to students for trade job training. There is a state tax credit of $400 per individual and $800 per couple. Donations for the 2017 tax year are still possible. Maximum grant per candidate is $3000. Last year 33 of 92 applicants received a grant. Aviation Tech, nursing, phlebotomy and solar certification were a few of the careers supported. Donations are encouraged and you can visit the website at WWW.TRVFA.ORG
Before going I think it would be appropriate to point out that we had four Eagle Scouts in attendance!
Great meeting. See you all next week.