Arriving exactly at 7:00 AM both I and Maeve missed the pledge, guest introductions and any new year thoughts our membership may have offered up. As they say, "The early bird catches the worm." In this case our infamous cuckoo clock dictated the start of the meeting, not my cell phone.

 

 Randy took the lead on our Club's family adoption for Christmas. Several hundred dollars donated by our club was spent in order for the family to have a merrier Christmas than what otherwise would have been possible. The family consists of a mother and four daughters, two of whom attend MCAT. Thanks, Randy.

 

President Hunter announced a full court press in our member recruiting process with numerous members assisting.

 

Happy Bucks

John-HNY

Dan-HNY

Randy-a good buck and a bad buck (maybe two good bucks. He was sick for his own NY's party.

Ritchie-Rain is always welcome in our arid state.

Rachel-HNY and family time

Beckie-Better weather here than SLC

Don-Family time in Seattle and nicer weather too

Denise-Sick???????

Peter-Daughter married Saturday and a shout out to Randy for Family sponsorship at Christmas

Bob-Friends in town. Oh, and Linda here with him this morning as well as guest speaker.AND IDENTICAL TWIN GRANDKIDS born over the weekend

 

Joke Off

Lynne- I think it goes like this: Preacher and Cab driver arrive at the pearly gates at the same time and the cab driver gets a bigger halo. The preacher naturally challenges this and when questioned admitted that sometimes his sermons were boring and put people to sleep. St Peter explained that nobody ever slept in the aggressive taxi cab owners vehicle and many were driven to praying for their lives. 

 

Maeve

How can I clean this up? This is beginning to be weekly problem with Maeve as she dives into ever sinking depths of lurid humor to get a laugh and beat out Lynne for the Joke of the Day crown.

Okay, here goes: If you are taking a dump at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve is it the SOS different year?

 

Maeve wins! Must admit she knows her audience.

 

John won and lost the raffle with a 6 of diamonds.

 

 Our guest speaker, invited to our club by Bob Bishop, was retired aerospace legend Burt Rutan. Burt was "twice" awarded the Collier Trophy presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics in America..........."

Throughout his career he has worked on 46 manned research airplanes.Born into a family of Seventh Day Adventists sports were not allowed. At a very young age he was amazed to witness a low flying fleet of B36's and became enamored with building model planes. His first business after graduating from Cal Poly was started in 1973. It was the manufacturing of home built airplane kits. One of his companies founded in 1986 now has 600 employees. He is justifyingly proud of the "real" jobs and the tax revenue they create as opposed to government jobs that are 100% tax supported and created.

 

Much of Mr Rutan's talk dealt with the significant demise of NASA and space exploration. The 1965 NASA budget was 5.3% of the total US budget. Today's budgeted dollars are less than one tenth of that 1965 number. He mentioned his disappointment after the meeting with the fact that China appears to want to take the lead in space exploration and the recent deployment of a rocket and lander/rover to the far side of the moon and the simultaneous launching of the communication satellite since there is no direct line of sight to the far side of the moon. To drive home this disturbing trend he noted no one born after 1935 has walked on the moon. 

 

Mr Rutan was proud of the fact that a piece of the carbon filter from one of his early creations is on the Horizon Spacecraft that has passed Pluto and recently returned photos of Ultima Thule, 4 billion miles from earth. His belief is if you are doing things that are doable you are in Product Development. If you are working on things that are questionably even possible you are doing Research.

 

His most recent project, funded to the tune of 23 million by recently deceased Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is the Stratolaunch. its purpose to heave a half-million-pound rocket ship to cruising altitude and then drop it, whereupon the rocket would ignite its engines for a fiery ascent into space. Allen’s hope was that this extraordinary bird would be able to do quick laps between the ground and the stratosphere, making access to space no more exotic than a New York–to–Boston commuter flight. Launch is expected to be the fall of 2019.

 

One could not help but be reminded of The Spruce Goose masterminded by Howard Hughes and its one solo flight. With Elon Musk's SpaceX reusable rockets driving the costs down and reliability up does the Stratolaunch face the same fate? Only time will tell.

 

Today was a special day for our club. Seldom do we have the opportunity for such a distinguished person in their field speak to us. A winner of the prestigious Wernher Von Braun Memorial Award, named for the famous German rocket scientist who came to the USA after WWII, Mr Rutan provided us with a meeting to remember. As stated above he is truly a legend in the field of aerospace.

 

Board meeting John's office at 5:30PM Wednesday 1/9/2019.

 

 

 

  

 

                                                                            

Due to our Club's powerful connections we were greeted by none other than Ms Santa Claus as members and guests entered Nana's this morning. She even led us in the Pledge. President Hunter then led us in the singing of Frosty The Snowman with lyrics provided by Lynne. Those in attendance who had a more of a deprived/Dicksonian childhood could be spotted as they frequently referred to the printed lyrics, being unfamiliar with this festive Christmas  carol.

 

Today's guests included a friend of Bob Bishop's, Steve Prust.

 

 MCAT Student of the Month Ashlynn Clevland, her mother Roxann, Grandmother Bruna, boyfriend, brother, Staff Rep Dani Anich and MCAT Principal Denise Coronado.

 

 

 

Our Club will sponsor a family again this Christmas in the amount of $400. The committee consists of Richie, Tony, Randy and Rachel.

 

Randy advises the Rotary Vocational Fund topped out its donations for the year. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

 

Happy Bucks

Bob Bishop did a fine job as Sgt At Arms.

Harold-Paid his IOU from last meeting and a few extra!

John-Student of the Month (SOM)

Mary- Grateful for Global Grant donations to Cameroon Project and they are where they need to be to continue with the project.

Denise, Steve, Beckie, Don Bob-All pleased for our SOM

Randy-Happy we had Ms Claus visit us.

Rachel-United Way

Richie-Charlie is 6 months old

 

Joke Off

Ms Claus stood in for Maeve Johnson who could not make today's meeting. Given Ms Claus' background and her omniscient knowledge of good and bad children, her "joke" concerned the very bad behavior of  one, Little Sammy, who decided the best way to get a new bike for Christmas was via kidnapping and extortion. Ms Claus did not say whether Little Sammy was successful or not.

 

Lynne took her front stage opportunity to regale us with humor at the expense of those labeled with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Mental Disorders from Manuals 1,2,3,4 and 5. Randy, Mary and Don (and possibly others with a mental health background) are aware a reference to all five DSM publications was required as psychiatric disorders change with the times. What once was crazy ain't necessarily so in today's world. Any who, humor at the expense of those less fortunate is always welcomed at this club. As a hard of hearing person I should know. God help us if we ever get so PC that we cannot enjoy good natured ribbing. Excuse me while I get off my soapbox and let Lynne know I especially enjoyed the Manic and the Paranoid versions of Christmas.

 

The Club by acclimation  approved the following officers for fiscal 2018/2019:

President-Richie Benner

President Elect-John Dooling

President Nominee-TBD

Treasurer-Lynne Himmer

Secretary-John Dooling

Member at Large-Harold Burtzloff

Member at Large-Bob Bishop

Immediate Past President-Tony Hunter

 

Somewhere along this time during our meeting Tony ducked out leaving President Elect Richie Benner in charge. We did not miss a beat. Our President Elect has a command presence and will do quite well come July 1. 

 

Former member and current Principal of MCAT Denise Coronado introduced SOM Ashlynn. Ashlynn will graduate in a few days. Her educational efforts, and I use that term advisedly, began in Benson, AZ . Eventually she found herself at Tortolita Middle School then Mountain View. She attributes her poor scholastic record to basic laziness. However, she runs Ms Cornado's front office and has significant accomplishments in the culinary field having won thousands of dollars in competition statewide and even finishing in the top 40 twice in national competition. Her favorite creation is Key Lime Pie. She cites a friend she no longer has with the motivation to complete her high school education.

 

Ms Coronado, commenting on the closing of neighborhood Thornydale Grade School advised MCAT will be moving to that larger venue for school year 2019/2020. Also MCAT will be offering three courses in conjunction with JTED. JTED is funded by property taxes at the rate of .05 per $100 of assessed valuation.

 

Don won the raffle AGAIN but lost. It bears repeating that Don donated his winnings from two weeks ago to our Marana Rotary Foundation.

 

CORRECTION

Last week's speaker was Brigadier General Andrew J MacDonald, Commander of the AZ Air National Guard.

 

Next Tuesday's meeting will be held at Jackpot Veterinary Center located at 6745 N La Canada Dr.

 

See you there!

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

President Hunter began the meeting with The Pledge followed by the welcoming of our guest Tom Mangold. Tom is a former member of our club and the Rotary  E-club. With 95% attendance it is "too bad we did not sing".

*An aside to Tony, I much prefer writing "We did not sing too bad."

 

Hey, Holt! If you are reading this the election is over. Peter Mack, would be good to see your mug this month too.

 

Dan advises we have our first registrant for Tour de Cookie!

Rachel commented on a 250K grant that United Way and the Tucson Rotary Club are considering. Also, Rachel is in favor of Freedom to travel and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution.

Richie reminds us all that today is giving Tuesday and that for many organizations such as BSA and United Way, this is their biggest fund raising day of the year.

 

President Tony reminded all that 12/11 meeting will be a wild and crazy affair so be forewarned. Also, be aware that if you do not show up you may be voted into office for the coming year. On 12/18 we will be taking a field trip to Beckie's daughter's business.

 

Happy Bucks

John D- Deer Hunting in IL next five days and married 47 years as of today. Not necessarily listed in descending order of happiness.

David, Dan, John Z -All happy

Randy, Don, Harold, Richie-All happy

My mind wandered and I'll be damned if I know what the above seven are happy about, just trust me they were all just tickled pink.

Bob- News Flash! Hawaii might be a nice place to visit if you like to see one of the most beautiful areas on earth.

Beckie-I know she lost her cell phone and found it. There may be more to this story, but you will have to ask Bob as she faced him during the entire tale. Oh, left off last week, Beckie is glad she is in Tucson as SLC was mid twenties last week. Beckie tells me it is even colder today.

Rachel, Lynne and Maeve-Happy. You'll have to ask them why next time you see them. My mind apparently was out for a walk again.

Mary-Happy or maybe proud that her profession blends so perfectly with the ideals of Rotary. Hugs are good.

 

Joke Off

Maeve's entry was a real knee slapper. "You cannot trust atom's. They make up everything." (my favorite for the day. Dan liked Lynne's best, even after I explained Maeve's joke to him.)

 

Lynne's entry was pretty good too. Seems as though a princess trapped in the body of a frog hollered out to a passing male, who as fate would have it was an engineer. "Kiss me release me from this spell. I am a beautiful princess." The engineer picks up the frog and places it in his pocket. The princess hollers, "Hey, didn't you hear? Kiss me and I will turn into a beautiful princess." The engineer replies, "Yes, I heard you. But I am an engineer and I think having a talking frog is pretty cool."

 

Lady Luck was in the room today and sitting at Don Jorgensen's table. Don won and WON $304. In the giving mood, considering it is Giving Tuesday, Don donated the entire amount to our club's foundation. This was at least partially due to our recent sponsorship of a Shelter Box and Don's involvement with that organization. Thank's Don.

 

 Mary was our speaker and her able assistant was Randy. Members were divided into groups of four and we proceeded to play "What's My Rotary." We got off to a rough start with many members shouting out answers, ringing their bells too soon, not playing by the rules in general, dancing on the tables and obviously imbibing in too much coffee. Randy would not stand for this chicanery and quickly brought order to the room. Once order was established the team of Johnson, Contorno, West, Hindman and Dooling proved their mettle and dominated the exercise with an awesome display of Rotary knowledge. Perhaps the fact that our team of four had five members is the reason all teams received chocolate as a reward for participation rather than all the bags going to the aforementioned team? 

 

See you on the 4th of December, hopefully with deer pictures and I don't mean Rudolph.

         

 

 

 

                                                                            

President Hunter led us in the Pledge on this cold (by AZ standards) and windy morning. No singing or thoughts, but a full house. Guests included Beckie Penman (to be sworn in as our newest member today), her husband Carl, daughter Carla and granddaughter June. Also, last weeks speaker, Janet pipes, is back and this time is interested in membership!

Tony announced Club and Foundation decisions to fund a Shelterbox for $1,000 and the Cameroon Project for $5,000. Tony offered his appreciation to John Dooling, Mary Strauss and Lynne Himmer respectively for their home, food prep and wine knowledge they all shared at last Friday's member recruitment social. Also, thanks to Tony and Randy for their musical contribution.

 

Maeve reminded us that Tour de Tucson workers are meeting for breakfast at 8am at Micky D's on Tangerine this Saturday then on to Moore and Camino de Oeste for Aid Station setup.

 

 Mary spoke on The Rotary foundation. Reminded us of the three legs of Rotary 1.The Clubs, 2. Rotary International and 3. The Rotary foundation. TRF has six avenues of service 1. Peace and Conflict Resolution, 2. Maternal and Child Health, 3. Disease Prevention, 4. Water and sanitation, 5. Basic Education and Literacy, 6. Economic and Community Development.

 

Foundation Fund Raiser at Oro Valley Gaslight Theater on 11/21/2018. Johnny Cash tribute. Order tickets at District 5500 website.

 

Rachel Cheeseman installed as new member of our club last Friday. Welcome Rachel. Rachel mentioned IRS publication #5307 that explains new tax filing information. Rachel had the distinction of being our newest member for a grand total of 3 and 1/2 days.

 

Tony brought Beckie to the podium where he shared some of her history. Denise West was the Club member that first discussed joining Rotary. Thanks, Denise. Beckie and husband Carl, married for 48 years, relocated to Tucson from Salt Lake City to be near their daughter and new granddaughter. Beckie has jumped right in and has volunteered for several projects even before today's meeting. She has a background in business services, specifically credit and debit processing and Lynne has already benefited from her expertise. Tony then inducted Beckie as our newest member and appointed her to the fundraiser committee. It was great to have her family here for the induction.

 

Happy Bucks

John D-He and Mary went all in against four seven's at the Old Pueblo Rotary's poker fundraiser Saturday night. They were both out before the break and Randy was able to see them get eliminated as he had been eliminated fifteen minutes earlier.

Randy, Rachel, Denise, Mary, David, Richie and others happy for our new members and for John's 70th.

Don- Shelterbox donation and new members

John Zwick-70 years of marriage to same woman, Sylvia

 

Joke Off

 

Maeve-New teacher was trying out her recently gained knowledge of child psychology. She asked the class to stand up if they think they are stupid. Finally after a long pause little Johnny stood. The teacher then asked Johnny, "Do you really feel you are stupid?" Little Johnny replied, "No. but I did not want you to be the only one standing."

 

Lynne-Priest, doctor and engineer playing golf. Group ahead were playing very slowly. The Ranger comes up and explains that the slow group were all blind firefighters who were injured saving the clubhouse last year when it caught fire. The priest says he will say a mass for their recovery, the doctor says he will consult with his good friend from medical school who was a top rated ophthalmologist and the engineer says, "Why don't they play at night?"

 

Both rated a strong seven on the laugh-o-meter. We may have to go to a show of hands next time to determine the winner.

 

Mary won and lost with the 8 of clubs.

 

Denise, our speaker scheduler, introduced Jeanmarie Schiller-McGinnis. Jeanmarie is President of Hearts That Purr Feline Guardians. This organization provides shelter and loving care for felines made homeless due to the terminal illness, incapacitation or death of their owners. Many of these pets are hard to find new homes for they are often older and may have other characteristics  consider not desireable.

Hearts That Purr has a website at WWW.HEARTSTHATPURR.ORG and they can be reached by phone at 520-297-3780 and by email at heartsthatpurr@outlook.com.

 

Hope to see many of you Saturday at the Aid Station and 11/21/2018 at the Gaslight Theater show and fund raiser.