Club Information

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Marana in Marana, AZ

Marana

Service Above Self

We meet Tuesdays at 7:00 AM
Nana's Kitchen
8225 N. Courtney Page Way
Marana, AZ  85741
United States
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Current Events
Rotary Meeting June 12,2018
Rotary Club of Marana
 
                                                                            
The Rotary Club of Marana is becoming a very "exclusive" group judging by attendance today. Ten members and two speakers heard President Holt call the meeting to order at precisely 8 am sharp! Lynne Himmer came to the meeting prepared with a thought taken from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Happiness is not required for a successful life, but useful, honor and compassion are required. Randy Brooks took exception to this and in his best Bob Newhart impersonation said "uh, and happiness?" Struck me funny. Moving on.
 
 President Holt congratulated new dad, Richie Benner. An "I love Rotary" outfit for Carl Benner and other gifts were given to Richie, Samantha and their son.
 
 
President Jo advised the group that The Budget for Tony Hunter's year as president starting July 1st has been passed by the Board. "May the reign of terror begin." is pretty much a direct quote from lame duck Holt.
 
The Food Bank Picture Rocks program is coming to an end as it has failed to grow as anticipated. Thank you to all who have participated over he past year or so.
 
HAPPY BUCKS!
John-Good to see Javier and Peter again.
Dan-Bah Humbug, his last dollar was given to Sgt At Arms Javier Teran so no reason to be happy
Peter-Stuck on a mountain in Chile with four gray walls to surround him. Down the road he looks and here comes Mary, hair of gold and lips like cherries and wild mules munching the green green grass over the septic. (Had to combine a few things due to space limitations)
Mary-Happy
Randy-Happy
Richie-Happy, duh.
Harold-Happy
Virtually everybody happy except for the afore mentioned, Dan Contorno.
 
One of the punniest jokes of all time was heard at our meeting this morning judging from the peal after peal of hysterical laughter and actual tears of joy coming from the joke teller herself, Lynne Himmer. "I crack myself up!" she was heard to  exclaim  as she made her way back to her table after finally getting through the "Sally sells c-cells at the sea shore" punchline. Four people in attendance clapped a total  of five times in appreciation of her poised delivery technique. Seriously, she enjoyed the joke so much herself we all could not help but to enjoy it with her. Thanks, Lynne. You are a, um, a, um, a  treasure! 
 
Peter won and lost and literally does not know a spade from a club.
 
Our speakers, Colleen Leon and Jerry Simmons, were from SAMSAR-Southern Arizona Mounted Search And Rescue. This all volunteer organization got its start after the tragedy in the Santa Rita Mountains in 1958. You can copy and paste the following URL for more information.
https://tucson.com/news/local/mt-baldy-surrenders-its-secret-at-last/article_66fef4e4-419c-5572-87e8-6c11c284729b.html
 
While SAMSAR helps to coordinate numerous rescue service providers they are uniquely qualified when mounted recovery efforts are required. I regret that these minutes do not do the organization credit, but there skills and accomplishments are far to varied to give them justice here. They did mention that cases of dehydration are almost as frequent in the winter months as they are in the summer. This is often due to visitors unfamiliar with the extreme rough terrain of the Catalina's and surrounding mountains and the low humidity that allows heatstroke to sneak up on you. Jerry recommends that you keep a slip of paper in your wallet listing any meds you are taking and always leave a slip of paper on your dash when hiking stating when you left, destination, number in your party and expected time of return. There have been 50 rescues already this year and many from the Sabino Canyon area.
Jerry and Colleen  accepted numerous question with the only caveat being they must be about SAMSAR. See below.
 
Saturday 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM Your exclusive home for Tucson's longest running, most respected car care program. Jerry Simmons has been answering your car care questions each and every Saturday for 19 years! Call in to the show - 751-1041 In business at the same location (3743 S. Country Club) since 1974, Simmons is a full service repair center, as well as specializing in 4x4, drive shaft and exhaust system repairs. ASE certified technicians are well-trained in computer diagnostics.
 
Hope to see a few more members returning from their summer travels next week. Don? Bob? 
 
Rotary Meeting June  5, 2018
Rotary Club of Marana
 
                                                                            
President Jo called the meeting to order, which was no easy feat as many were on a carb and sugar high from our Dunkin Donuts breakfast. As frequent readers may recall Nana's was closed Tuesday and arrangements were made to meet at Coyote Trail Elementary School. Thanks, Dan. Oh, and thanks Mary and Randy for the coffee, orange juice, bagels, cream cheese AND donuts. 
President Jo was a little run down from her Party's party the night before, I believe in Sedona. Never the less she called for Happy (no bucks) and many felt obliged to take advantage of this FREE  opportunity. Some of the happy comments came from:
Mary- Happy to have met Mirabel
Randy-Happy to have his diabetes under control (as he bit into the first of two iced donuts)
Dan-Wife is in Ethiopia and he cleaned the kitchen in her absence. I can understand the happiness in the first item, but the second?
Tony-Legally married to a prosthetist. Hey, I just report what's said.
David-Summer Vacation!
Maeve-Lyle is left handed? Had to be there.
Harold-Photos on website---with room for improvement
Richie-Baby watch continues. Baby room painting complete. Looks like Harvey is not in the cards.
Don-Shelter Box is in the running for Nobel Prize!
Jo-Partied with her party this time for three days in Window Rock. If you are going to Window Rock, might as well party for three days.
 
 Mirabel presented her Exchange Year.RYLA was GREAT. She was forced to work with others and develop skills of persuasion. She overcame fear of heights and made several friends with whom she remains in contact. 
She said she does not see the world as yes/no, up/down. black/white as much as when she arrived. She is more aware of the various shades and not so absolute. As all Exchange Students before her she commented on school in the US being less demanding than what she had experienced in her own country of Nigeria. Classes she took were Photography, Spanish, Choir and Biology. She indicated people in the USA smile and wave much more than in her home country, even if they do not know you! 
She traveled to Hollywood, CA, The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and even into Mexico. She is very grateful for the opportunity to experience our culture and to now have a white family. She said she will miss In and Out Burger, Dessert after meals and all the fatty, fatty food.
 
Randy summed up the club feelings when he stated we were grateful for the experience of  sponsoring her and the opportunity to learn from her about her country and culture. This exchange student program definitely provides for growth and learning to both parties. 
 
A big thank you to Randy, Deb, Mary, Nancy, Bouba, David and Mrs Hindman for stepping up as host parents. Our entire club benefits.
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oh What a Night!
Posted on May 29, 2018
With no apologies to The Four Seasons the Fifth Tuesday Social held at Mr. Ans was a smash hit. Two chefs were required to serve our group of nineteen and both were at the top of their game. Food was flung everywhere and occasionally caught. Three foot tall flames, twirling knives and even two volcanoes set the tone for the evening.
Prior to dinner being served Lynne Himmer shared a few words in praise of our president, Jo Holt, who's term ends 6/30/2018. No jokes from Lynne this time as she wanted to not distract from the praise lavished upon President Holt.
Next Randy Brooks spoke about our Nigerian Exchange Student and recent graduate of MUSD, Mirabel. At times the evenings festivities looked like a party to honor Mirabel who will be departing for home in a few days. She even received the "lit candle on scoop of ice cream" treatment. She will be missed, but I think we may see her again in the future.
Congratulations to Maeve Johnson for organizing the best 5th Tuesday Social our club has experienced in a long long time.
 
Members attending were:
The Benner's
Denise West
The Jorgensen's
The Burtloff's
The Zwick's
The Johnson's
The Brook's                                 
The Dooling's                              
Jo Holt                                           
Lynne Himmer                                            
Kathleen Neighbors                
and, of course, Mirabel!
         
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MCAT Graduation
Posted on May 22, 2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Rotary Club.of.Marana has been providing support and recognition for.these nontraditional students for.19 years.
 
 
Mirbel Exchange Student Graduaton
Our Rotary Club of Marana exchange student at graduation May 23rd .
Mirbel will be heading home to Nigeria in a few days and will be missed by us all.
Great Job,  great year Mirbel. Thanks to all host families and Club supporting her though out the year.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Road Runner Book Fair
Posted on May 22, 2018
Were you a good reader in first and second grade? Were you in the Redbird or the Bluebird group. Do you remember Dick, Jane and Spot or were David, Ann and Zip in your first grade reader? Did you go to college? Are you in a Book Club now? Do you like to curl up with a book or a Kindle and pass the hours reading fiction, history or my favorite historical fiction with an Ipad on my lap. 
 
It is a well proven fact that reading to preschool age children improves their vocabulary and their understanding of the reading process. Unfortunately, if a child is behind in their ability to read in the first few years of education there is a likelihood they will never catch up.  If they are adept at learning to read in those early years the chances of success in the classroom and in life grows exponentially as you begin to read to learn. With this in mind local, good hearted, community minded people called Rotarians got together, raised money and donated it for the following project.
 
The Rotary Club of Marana in conjunction with The Rotary Club of Dove Mountain and Rotary District 5500 raised almost $6,000 towards books for preschool children in the Marana area. Working through Scholastic Book Fairs, to make our dollars go further, we purchased roughly 1,700 books to be distributed free of charge to young mothers through MHC Healthcare's WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. The Fair, held at Roadrunner Elementary in Avra Valley, was this past Tuesday May 22nd. By holding the event at Roadrunner School they too benefited by receiving Scholastic Bucks to be used in book purchases for their school.
 
Will this project make a difference? Will the learning light shine into even one child's eyes as a direct result of this project? Could we hope for two or three? More? Like planting a seedling this project hopefully will sprout and maybe a future book club member or, dare we hope a Rotarian, may someday trace their thirst for knowledge back to this simple project. I know I remember the books I had available in my childhood home when I was young and I bet you do too.
 
Rotarians making a difference and seeking members in the Marana area. 
 
Rotary Meeting May 15, 2018
Rotary Club of Marana
 
                                                                            
President Jo welcomed a full house and then requested David Hindman to lead us in the Pledge. Maeve responded to the request for a thought for the day with something about a backbone, wishbone and a funny-bone are all that are needed in life. Many in attendance were left scratching their head bone.
 
 All members and quests in attendance raised their voices in a musical tribute to John Zwick and Harold Burtzloff for their combined 103 years of Service Above Self.
Lynne Himmer led us in "For They's a Jolly Good Fellows". It was more loud than good, but I do believe both John and Harold appreciated the recognition.
 
In attendance to lend their voices to the special recognition of John and Harold's acomplishmenst were: DG Joe Hentges, DGE Kirk Reed and DGD Diane Venture-Goodyear.
 
Other guests included Kimberly Welch-Vocational Fund Scholarship applicant, Jen-French exchange student from two/three years ago.
 
 MCAT honoree John Cain, his mother Elaine, two brothers Tim and Victor and a sister. John chose MCAT Secretary Tiffany Montes as someone to accompany him to the award ceremoney as she has been there for him since he started MCAT. John is 22 and running out of time to complete his high school education. He has dropped from MCAT twice but is determined to complete his studies this time. He wants to be a welder and has learned first hand of the doors that are shut to him without a HS diploma. John has a great support system as evidenced by his entourage and his biggest supporter appears to be his mom. His recognition by The Rotary Club of Marana was an emotional occurrence. 
 
 Next we presented John and Harold with token gifts of a Rotary pen and key chain for their support of Rotary over the years. Each has been a member of only one other club. Both were rather stoic in their comments regarding their accomplishments, but John did indicate that the Marana Club has a special feeling and that he has enjoyed our club to a greater degree over the first club he joined 2/13/1963. A rather large cake with special decorations celebrating John and Harold's longevity was sliced distributed to everyone in attendance. Special thanks I believe go to Randy Brooks for spearheading this richly deserved recognition meeting.
 
 Today was a special day also in that Richie Benner was welcomed into Paul Harris Fellowship by District Governor Hentges. Richie has excelled as an active member in his short time with The Rotary Club of Marana and this step is but one more to what we believe will be a long career with Rotary. Congratulations, Richie.
 
NEWS FLASH
NO MEETING NEXT WEEK. There will be a gathering at Roadrunner Elementary School for the Marana Rotary sponsored Scholastic Book Fair. The event runs from 7:30am to Noon. Location is 16651 W Calle Carmela.
 
MCAT Graduation to be held Tuesday May 22 at 7pm. Many Rotarians plan to meet at 5:30 at Nana's Kitchen to eat before heading over to 11745 W Gladden Farms Dr
 
NO MEETING 5/29/2018 as it is the 5th Tuesday of the month. Instead we will dine at Mr An's that evening.
 
 
Many happy bucks for John and Harold and for our guests. One of particular note was John Zwick's "stung by a scorpion" trip to the hospital happy buck.
 
Lynne shared a couple of teacher jokes that got a decent laugh and Maeve made amends for the dumb blonde detective wanna be  joke from a few weeks ago by insulting the intelligence of Irish men. Maeve may have wanted us to extrapolate this lack of intelligence to all men, you will have to ask her. In any case HALF the audience seemed to rather enjoy the humor.
 
Well that's it. Again, we will NOT be meeting for breakfast the next two Tuesdays. We will be DARK! See you for breakfast June 5th.     
 
Rotary Meeting May 8, 2018
Rotary Club of Marana
 
                                                                            
 Newly married President Elect, Tony Hunter, led the meeting today. President Jo turned the reigns over to Tony so he could gain some experience running the meeting before taking over officially 7/1/2018.
 
We did have a pledge, but no song, no prayer and literally not a single thought in the room. How can this be? You ask. All I can say is the reader will have to attend our next meeting and draw their own conclusions.
 
We did have a mighty fine joke however, from Lynne Himmer. "What did the 0 say to the 8? Your belt's too tight!" Now that's knee slapping humor if I ever heard it. I passed this joke on to an adult lady friend who did not get it. I am trying to recruit her as she would fit right in with our "no thoughts" crowd. But I digress.
 
Many guests including a former Exchange Student, Jen from Colmar,France and current Exchange Student from Nigeria, Mirabel. Two speakers addressed the club
 
 Beth Garrow of Zone 26 our Rotary Foundation Chair (our zone) and Pam Kerr former PDG in the Chicago area that encompasses Evanston, IL where RI is headquartered. Pam's husband, Andy was also in attendance primarily to make sure Pam did not leave something out of her talk.
 
Beth was very complimentary of our small club's record of giving. Unfortunately I missed much of the salient points in her talk due to impaired hearing.
 
Happy bucks galore, but again I regret to say I missed most of what was being said. I do know that Don, Jo, Richie Tony, Denise, Randy and many others are happy about something. That's good. Personally I did hear what I said so.....Had a great trip down the Rhine. Visited Jen's home village of Colmar in the Alsace region of France and became reacquainted with the WWII heroics of Audie Murphy. This genuine hero went on to additional fame as a movie/western cowboy actor in the 1950's. To me it seems very strange that the most decorated soldier in WWII and a man who made many movies, including To Hell And Back where he actually played himself  and was known to everyone in the USA is not recognized by many under the age of 60. Somebody once said "Sic transit gloria mundi." and you can look it up.
 
 Harold Burtzloff made a generous donation to our club's foundation in recognition of his 50 years in Rotary. Thank you Harold for all your service over the years. As many of you are aware Harold also is a recipient of the Wright Bros Master Pilot Award for being a licensed pilot for fifty years. It is an honor to be in the same club as you Mr. Burtzloff.
 
Lucky Mary won again(?) but did not draw the winning card.
 
 Pam Kerr made an excellent presentation regarding Rotary's work in Guatemala. Primarily she spoke of the goal of raising 2.5 million to purchase 29 x-ray units. Eleven have been funded and eight have been installed. Each unit can serve between 50,000 to 100,000 persons a year. This is a true Global Grant with Taiwan Rotary clubs sponsoring three of the units. The individual machine/operational cost is $73,000 to run for two years with individual clubs raising $23,000 with the balance from matching funds from District and RI. Cooperation among RI, the Guatemalan Minister of Health and other governmental entities has been wonderful. Pam provided two pages of documentation concerning this project.
 
By the way, Harold passed on a compliment to your's truly from Mindy Blake "Your writing is a perfect blend of humor, wit and facts." I thanked her for the comment and asked her to speak of my hidden talents to former members Jim DeGrood and Thomas Benavidez. Mindy, Jim and Thomas are all associated with PAG RTA. Mindy, if you are reading this we could offer a deal if all three of you wanted to become members.
 
Hope to do a better job next week if this head cold passes and I get back to my normal poor hearing.
            3rd Annual Tour de Cookie
             Rotary Club of Marana
 
 
 

 
3rd Annual Tour de Cookie
        On April 14th nearly 200 riders, ages seven to seventy, came out on a beautiful Saturday for the 3rd annual Rotary Club of Marana’s Tour de Cookie.   Smiles beamed on the faces of riders and cookie station hosts alike, as participants rode 28.6 miles from one cookie station to another along the paved Pima County Loop.
 
    Participants enjoyed community camaraderie and a wide variety of home-made cookies satisfying even the pickiest taste-buds.  Moreover, 100% of proceeds from the ride directly funded the Rotary Club of Marana’s many local and international service projects.  2016-2018 projects have included food distribution in Marana, home repair, water sanitation in Mexico, tree planting at the Arizona Veteran’s Cemetery and Memorial in Marana, development of a playground for special needs elementary children in MUSD, building a school in Zimbabwe, 0 to 5 early education book distribution in Marana, memory screening and Alzheimer education, amongst others. 
 
    Volunteer Cookie Station hosts were at the heart of the event.  Each were responsible for baking their own cookies, and word has it that competition was steep.  This year’s hosts were Chasse Building, Pathways Hospice, Tucson Roller-Derby, Top Golf, MHC Healthcare, Performance Bikes, Friese for House, The Optimist Club of Marana, Maeve Johnson-Edward Jones, John Dooling-All State Agent, Janice Meyer and Family, and the Tortolita Middle School Interact Club. 
 
    Next year’s Rotary Club of Marana’s Tour de Cookie promises to be bigger and better.  Stay tuned to experience what’s to come.
 
 
   
 
Site Pages
 
Club Executives & Directors
President
Jo Holt
President Elect
Tony Hunter
Treasurer
Lynne Himmer
Secretary
John Dooling
Immediate Past President
Mary Straus
Public Relations
Richie Benner
Member-at-Large
Richie Benner
Member-at-Large
Harold Burtzloff
Service Projects
Tony Hunter
Marana Rotary Foundation
Mary Straus
The Rotary Foundation
Randy Brooks
Sergeant at Arms
Javier Teran
Newsletter Editor
Harold Burtzloff
 

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MCAT Student Of The Month 

MCAT - Marana Career & Technical High School is an optional opportunity for Marana High School and Mountain View High School students to learn and earn academic credit in a non-traditional educational setting. 

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Audrey Rhodes      Nov
 
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