Our meeting was brought to order by President Jo Holt. After Denise West led us in the Pledge President Holt gave us something to think about by quoting Martin Luther King, jr regarding being all you can be is only possible by letting others be all they can be. WE are all connected.
The song Stand By Me was played by Maeve Johnson with her smart phone. This song and Tony Hunter came to us from 1961, or maybe not. Speaking of Maeve, one loud groan and one low mournful whimper were heard after she entertained us (?)  with two jokes this morning.
 
Be sure to get your Burma Shave/Tour de Tucson entries to Maeve. There will be a reading and a vote to select the best.
 
We welcomed Jason Halper, who submitted his membership application this morning, Mirabel (YES THAT IS THE CORRECT SPELLING and NO, IT IS NOT PRONOUNCED MARYBELL), our new Exchange Student from Nigeria and Diane Ventura Goodyear, our speaker.
 
President Holt made a commitment that we all will learn the correct pronunciation of Mirabel's first and last name sometime before she returns to Nigeria next June.
 
 Mary Straus, newly appointed President of our very own Marana Rotary Foundation advised us of her board consisting of Lynne Himmer, Eric Miller, Randy Brooks and Lori Malangone. Mary also mentioned a District Membership Assembly scheduled for Saturday August 26th Cost of $30 covers a continental breakfast and lunch. The program runs from 9 am to 1 pm with location undetermined at this time. Many of us attended the membership assembly last year and found it to be very informative.
 
SECRET GREETER- Starting next week we will have a secret greeter. Any member may be selected as the secret greeter. President Holt will announce the name of secret greeter just before Javier comes for our money. If any member did not shake the secret greeter's hand a fine will be meted out by Javier. This  hopefully will encourage interaction with all members prior to the start of our meetings (and maybe lead to a decrease in late arrivals). The program will require a fair memory and the honor system. For these reasons the Secret Greeter program will be on a trial basis as those two attributes are in rare supply among our membership.
 
The Loop the Loop bike ride, precursor to the Tour de Tucson, is September the 16th. Mary Straus may have a team and our club will assist with an aid station. In regards to Tour de Tucson donations to eradicate polio, The Secretary of Rotary International Foundation already has $100,000 in pledges. By the way our connection with the Bill gates Foundation came via a Rotarian who sits on the board of the Gates Foundation.
 
There is a mixer TONIGHT of Rotarians at the Viscount Hotel on Broadway East of Swan. Starts at 5:30pm. You are all welcomed.
 
Lots of happy bucks/members: John-grand kid swimming success in the Pima Co Swim Program (cost is only $20 per kid per season); David Hindman- Seven year old son broke arm while family vacationed in Idaho (I think he is happy because of the cool camoflage cast, but I could be wrong about that); Denise recited the connection between thoughts, words and actions in a way far superior to what I just wrote; many who donated were grateful for our soon to be new member Jason and Exchange Student Mirabel's presence.
 
Randy was the lucky winner in the raffle and while I did not see his card the sound of many "Oh, too bad." comments leads me to believe the joker is still in the pack!
 
Diane Ventura Goodyear (DVT), an Assistant District Governor for District 5500, spoke of her involvement with the Vocational Training Team and its travel to Uganda. This partnership lead by Phil Silvers of Green Valley Club, was began five years ago. A big part of the project deals with empowerment for women via education. Smart phones and computers were provided by Rotary. Internet was slow, but cell phone coverage was good. Areas of education are not only technical and vocational but also deal with Domestic Violence, women health issues, family planning etc. Three districts involved are Ghana, Uganda and District 5500. The film shown to us of the project was produced by DVG.  
 
John Dooling, Secretary