If you like window shaking raucous behavior, June heat and pizza you should have joined your fellow members at the home of Mary Strauss last night. Mary provided the pizza, AZ the heat,  while our new president's one year old son provided the excitement/noise. Yes, Charlie was quite animated in his approval of our choice of President for 2019/2020.

 

 To begin the meeting out going president Tony Hunter provided an over view of our Club's lengthy accomplishments of the past twelve months. Tony recognized many in attendance with a card of thanks and an aloe cactus plant. Specifically he noted membership growth, the significant increase in riders and revenue of our Tour de Cookie fundraiser and thanked Dan for his leadership in this regard, Denise was thanked for her dedication to our weekly speaker agenda, Harold for his institutional knowledge of the Rotary Club of Marana and his willingness to share the same, Bob Bishop for something important, John for the humorous minutes, Lynne for all things financial, Randy and Mary for District and Club Foundation reps, Mary again for Global grant work, Dan again for District Foundation Treasurer and others which I do not have listed as I was distracted watching and waving to Charlie as he beat on the glass and waived his arms from within the house. (This is probably why teachers always made me sit in the front row.)

 

Where was I? Oh, yes.....

 

Richie Benner was then brought forward and sworn in as our new President.(Squealing, window pounding and light applause from the crowd!)

 

GREAT NEWS!

With some arm twisting Laura Clymer agreed to be our new Club Secretary. Joining her, Board Members John Dooling, Harold Burtzloff and now Past President Tony Hunter were sworn in by President Benner.  

 

With Laura's acceptance of the Secretarial position we will need someone to step up and assist her with outreach to our Tortolita Middle School Rotaract Club. Someone? Someone?

 

 Richie's acceptance speech noted we are continually evolving and we must be ready to accept changes as they occur. He said some other profound stuff, but Dan took this moment to show me a picture of a Rooster fish that had to be at least 60 pounds. He did this to prove my wife wrong about the Rooster being an ugly fish and indeed they truly are a beautiful fish. In closing Richie basically said "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what we do here. It is up to us to dedicate ourselves to the unfinished work of those who have gone before." 

 

Thank you Laura for taking the photos and Mary for opening your home. (BTW, love your dog. Hope he likes pizza as much as he does swimming pool water.)

 

The following all received a Rotary Club of Marana Tour de Cookie pin from new President Benner as a reward for attending the installation:

Randy Brooks, Don Jorgensen, Laura Clymer, Mary Strauss, Dan Contorno, Harold Burtzloff, Denise West, Cindy Dooling, Mrs Benner and ...........Charlie!

 

(This is a benefit of having younger members and I for one would welcome more kids to liven up our get-togethers!)

 

 

Hamburg was an amazing opportunity. there were plenty of new experiences for me. I was able to travel to/through three different countries on my way to and from the Rotary International Convention. The first interesting thing I experienced is that all three were on different currencies. This made it interesting for currency exchanges while in these countries.

Europe is green both from a nature and a technological point of view. It was very different coming from the desert. I did appreciate that they had a very comprehensive public transit system. It made getting around town very easy. Most everything was in German as well as English.

The rotary convention was well put together. While it was very spread out compared to other conventions, there was plenty of signage and maps to get you to where you needed to go. The programs that were presented were great. The presenters were well prepared, and the topics helped attendees plan for their future in Rotary. Overall there was a lot to experience both from the conference and the city of Hamburg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

President Hunter began the meeting by leading the members in The Pledge. He greeted visitors Charlie Benner (who is now one year old) and Diane Snedden a guest of Beckie Penman (I do not know their ages). No song as no one responded to Tony's request for submissions.

Tony acknowledged the presence of Rotarian's Dooling and Benner who have returned from Rotary's International Conference and the absence of Brooks and Jorgensen who attended the conference and who are now somewhere on the Danube.

Tony discussed Rotary PR mailings to newcomers in the area and how the PR will help Rotary in general and perhaps our club with membership inquiries. Tony then asked for District Governor wannabes to step forward as nominations are now being accepted. Also mentioned was the Saddlebrook Rotary Club's memorial to veterans and first responders project and the possibility of our club participating. Board meeting tomorrow at John's office where this and other matters to be discussed. All welcomed to attend.

 

NEXT WEEK'S MEETING WILL BE TOUR OF DIAMOND/BANNER CHILDREN HOSPITAL. WE WILL NOT MEET AT NANA'S.

 

Installation of Richie Benner as President as well as other officers to be held at the home of Mary Straus on June 26th starting at 6 pm. 

 

John and Richie spoke of their conference experiences. There is no better way to meet people from all over the world and develop friendships. The camaraderie among members is instantaneous and genuine. Richie and John have already signed up for next years conference in Hawaii.

 

Happy Bucks

John-Happy

Dan-Happy and is a world class fishing guide (if not fisherman) Ask him about fly fishing for Rooster fish in Sea of Cortez

Jeff-Happy coaching youth basketball

Richie-Charlie is a year old! 

Bob-Will someday download his knowledge of water projects, but until August will be out of state.

Harold-Wife Ellen has been released from hospital. Daughter Sue will be providing the necessary follow up medical care at her home until Ellen can return to her own home.

Mary-Happy

Laura-Happy

Denise-Happy

Beckie-Happy the resident scribe (me) has returned and potential member, Diane Snedden has accompanied her to today's meeting

Peter-Happy? Ashamed is a better word as Beckie has brought a potential member and Peter, a twenty year club member, has yet to do so. (Peter, I am right there with you. My only recruit left after two years, although Hank Marshall did build our club's storage cabinet before leaving for CA.)

 

JOKE OFF

Lynne Wins! Lynne Wins! Lynne Wins!

Maeve not here.

When you stomp on a grape it lets out a little w(h)ine.

Dad buying a carton of milk and clerk asks if he wants it in a bag. Dad responds, "No, just leave it in the carton."

Should have been here Maeve. You might of had a chance. 

 

Speaker today is Fernando Molina of Tucson Water. He spoke of the four sources of water in Tucson #1 Groundwater, #2 Colorado River 3# Recycled #4 Rainwater.

Tucson was aware of the overdraft from groundwater in the 1940's. We have been using recycled water since 1964 for landscaping and golf courses.

We are currently using only half of our effluent water with the remainder discharged into the Santa Cruz. Plans are afoot to re-purpose this affluent as has Disneyland and the City of New Orleans for everyday use.

The Colorado River water is being used to recharge our existing aquifer and the water level is growing. The water from the Colorado is determined by the water level in Lake Mead. California, AZ and Nevada use Colorado River water with Nevada's share dependent upon Lake Powell's water level. 

If a cutback occurs agriculture will be the first to experience the pain.

If you have not visited the Sweetwater Wetlands you are encouraged o do so.  The amount of wildlife is exceptional.

 

The vision of Tucson Water is to use reclaimed water to revitalize the Santa Cruz. The project is economically feasible, the water will remain in Tucson, recharge credits will be earned, riparian habitat will return and potentially this will boost economic development downtown.

 

Remember-No meting at Nana's next week

Tour at Diamond Childrens Hospital

Board meeting tomorrow at 5:30 pm John Dooling's office

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

President Hunter requested Dan to lead the Pledge and he did! El Presidente then gave us a plausible excuse as to why he was not ready to lead us in My Old Kentucky Home.  BUT, he promises to be ready with Johnny Cash's version next week.

Ninety percent attendance today!

Denise Coronado explained why no MCAT SOM today. Living in a world where you cannot leave your abode because it is rural and there is no money for gas is a world most of us have never experienced. In any case, it sounds like Gissel Quesada was an excellent choice and perhaps we may meet her in the future. She will be graduating in a few days. We wish her the best.

 

Several members have or are planning to complete the training for writing grant proposals. Easy to sign up and course is about an hour or so. Go to MyRotary.Org and take the brief Introduction To Learning Center course then on to the Grant Writing course.

 

District Conference cruise will be great fun if anything like the Mexican Riviera Cruise/Conference held by PDG Tom Tilton when he was Governor, so says Randy Brooks. Sign up on District Website.

 

MCAT graduation 5/23/2019 at 7 pm. Some members plan to dine at Nana's before attending the grad night. Anticipated graduates for the year numbering about 60 with around 40 to 50 attending the ceremony.

Middle School graduation, which includes many of our Interact Students, is the 22nd at 8 am.

 

Joke Off

Maeve

 Her husbands pet duck was very ill. Vet said he was sorry but duck was dead. Maeve's husband asked asked for another opinion so Vet brought in his Labrador Retriever that sniffed shook his head and left the room. Vet says "I am sorry your pet is dead." Mr Maeve says "I want a third opinion." The Doc brings in his cat. It sniffs the duck, taps it with a paw a few times then leaves the room. Vet says "Your duck is dead, I'll get your bill." Bill is over a $1,000. Mr Maeve says why so much? Vet says  " My diagnosis, The Lab's work and the Cat's scan."  

This was well received by the elder members with memory difficulties and newer members under age forty who possibly had never heard it before. I must say there was was genuine laughter unlike the usual groans heard after Maeve's delivery.

 

Lynne

Contractor puts Russian in charge of cement, the German in charge of dirt and Korean in charge of supplies. Tells them I will be offsite today but will be back at 5 to check your work. At 5 he returns and compliments the Russian then compliments the German. He then looks around and says, " Where is the Korean?". At that moment the Korean jumps out startling all three and yells, "Supplies!"

Most all got a chuckle out of this and most all will be scheduled for PC training next week.

 

Happy Bucks

John-happy

Rich-happy but poor

Dan-just poor

David-Likes our sub 100 degree weather

Peter-Likes our guests

Harold-Wife slowly improving

John Z-happy

Denise-Speakers and indeed as promised last week, son has graduated from UA

Randy-Daughter-in-law and granddaughter graduated

Rachel-SOM and speakers. Plus she will soon have her appendix removed.(well that was what I heard. Richie and Dan explained she said "pins" removed from her wrist/hand.

 

MARY WON AND WON!!!!!SHE DONATED THE WINNINGS TO THE ANNUAL PROGRAM FUND!!!!!!!THANKS, MARY!!!

 

Speakers/representatives were from Banner Children's Diamond Children's Medical Center. TJ did most of the talking with Barbara as backup. Built with 100% philanthropy money with initial seed money of 15 million from recently deceased developer Don Diamond. Several stories and photos of children patients were presented. Some had happy endings, but not all. The Children Life Specialists, young recent college graduates, are an integral part of the care provided. They do pre and post surgery consultation with the children regarding topics like pain, medication and most any other topic the kids need to discuss. There is also a Princess Team that regularly visits the young girl patients. 

The vision of the Children's Hospital includes play space/stage/theater, a hospital school program so student can keep up with their studies, treatment space, Family support such as gas and food gift certificates for those on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale.

 

Banner University has 732 total beds with 83 for the children's program. Last year Banner, a Level 1 Trauma Center, did 164 organ transplants, 18,415 surgeries, took in 6,588 patients transferred from other hospitals and had 28,732 Acute Admissions. The value of 466 volunteers approached $1,000,000.

 

                                                                            

President Tony a little under the weather so no singing today. Ralph, one of three Dove Mountain Rotary member guests, led us in the pledge. He then presented our club with a check for $100 thanks to member Rachel Cheeseman volunteering time at the Dove Mountain Rotary run beer tent at the Cotton Festival. 

Speaking of Rachel, she was hit while riding her bike and while not seriously injured, did break a finger.

 

Bob Bishop says our May 29th speaker is well known in aeronautical circles as the man who recreated the first trans-Atlantic flight from one hundred years ago. Please go to our Rotary Club of Marana for more detail. While there please "Like" and "Share". By the way, Bob, several of us might have begun our travels to the International Conference around that time. At this time Richie, Randy, Don and myself are attending although I do not know everyone's travel plans.

 

Cameroon project has run into more red tape. International now wants a market study regarding the need for the products being produced by the grant. While disconcerting we have no doubt that Mary and her team will persevere. THANK YOU MARY!

 

Randy mentioned the Spring Training this Saturday for new to Rotary and incoming officers. Reference past newsletters or District 5500 website for details.

 

Happy Bucks

 

John-grandson not doing well in French at CDO High School. Dropped it and joined choir. A Month later he is in NYC performing in Carnegie Hall  

Harold-Wife Ellen underwent major surgery stemming from her scoliosis. Doing great, but may be hospitalized for another week

Beckie and Dave-DM guests

Laura-Our health professionals

Mary-???

Bob-Mary's tenacity and will be gone three weeks

Peter-???

Richie-Denver last week with BSA and renewed old friendships

Randy-Ellen's surgery went well

Tony-Taxes??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

Joke #1

Lynne- Little known fact. Captain Kirk had three ears. The normal left and right, plus a final front ear. Good one, Lynne.

Joke #2

Bob gave us a story of good fortune and bad fortune. The good fortune consisted of a plane ride, a parachute and a haystack. The bad fortune consisted of plane trouble, chute not opening, pitch fork in the haystack. In the good, but also bad category is the subjects chute maneuvering  skills.

 

John won the ticket portion again, but Mary failed to do her part when requested to draw the winning card.

 

 Member Dr Peter Mack spoke on Egypt, a country he has visited numerous times as part of his occupation and their National Observatory. As many of you know Dr Mack builds and services telescopes of the largest scale.

 

Egypt and Sudan were one country and split about 100 years ago. Following WWI and in the same year as Versailles Peace Accord of 1919 Egypt experienced a revolution led by women of the upper layer of society. A second revolution took place in 1952 when the Monarchy was replaced by a Republic. Presidents served varying amounts of time in office with Nassar, Sadat, Mubarak, Morsi and el-Sisi all having spent time in office. The last revolution occurred  as part of the Arab Spring When President Mubarek was forced out of office after a thirty year reign .and imprisoned. Last week, President el-Sisi, who was running for re-election, was proclaimed President for life in an election he won by over 90% of the vote, but with only 30% participation.

 

Major events of the 20th century included the aforementioned revolutions, the 1956 Suez crisis involving Russia, France, The UK and Israel, the Six Day war with Israel when Egypt loss 100% of its Air Force in minutes, The Yom Kippur war fought to regain part of Sinai lost in the Six Day War, the Egypt-Israel Peace treaty formed at Camp David and the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1989. 

 

Today the economy, normally buoyed  by tourism is not good. Oil prices have recently helped but terrorism has dramatically cut into the tourist dollar.  Monetarily they experienced 30% inflation a couple of years ago before allowing their Egyptian pound to float among the world's currencies.

 

Oil, agriculture, tourism and revenue from the Suez Canal users fees are their biggest sources of income. Ships passing through the canal shave 8,000 miles off the alternative of going around The Cape of Good Hope. 

 

Spectacular population growth, encouraged by the government as a way of combating what they see as the Israeli threat, has led to great poverty and an extremely large and poor lower class when compared to the small middle class and the elite class.  Gas is under twenty-five cents a gallon due to the western oil reserves/refineries and a minimum wage of about sixty-nine cents an hour. Housing has been built, but remains unoccupied as developers will not lower prices and poor cannot afford. Cairo and surrounding areas has a population of bout 45 million. 

 

Dr Mack's  work involves the relocation of the National Observatory which has been forced by the encroachment of civilization at the current site. The new site will be in Southern Sinai which is considered safer from terrorist threats than the northern portion of the peninsula. He finds the people to be friendly and the drivers to be aggressive!

 

REMINDER

BOARD MEETING JOHN DOOLNG'S OFFICE TOMORROW 5:30 PM.

 

 

 

                                                                            

Richie Benner took the reins this morning substituting for President Hunter who is celebrating marital bliss in Hawaii.

With no thoughts to be mined from this played out claim, Richie tried to bypass singing and go straight to club business. "Not so fast there!" shouted Lynn and Randy who individually entertained themselves with somewhat weak offerings. Hurry back, Tony.

 

The day of reckoning is fast approaching for Laura Clymer who is to be sworn in as our newest member next Tuesday.

 

HAPPY BUCKS

John-Grandson knows 24 quarters is not seven dollars

Dan, Mary, David, Harold, Beckie among others are happy

Richie-Ina Open!!!!!!!! However announcement on Facebook was premature

Denise -Happy about our speaker from ALS Association, Quinn Epstein-Tracy

 

Bob- Happy and a reminder that next week we will have the Commander of the Predator and Reaper program located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base as quest speaker PLEASE SHARE AND CONSIDER BRING A GUEST OR TWO.

 

JOKE OFF

Maeve- Due to time and space considerations I cannot do Maeve's offering justice even though it deserves a "little". I did smile. Sorry, no "Little Johnny" jokes for three more weeks.

 

Lynne-Motorist swerves to miss boxes of spilled tax on the roadway. (most know the punchline by now). Cop stops him and starts to write a ticket. Motorist says, "Hey, I had to drive erratically to avoid hitting the debris." Cop says, "This is for tax evasion."

Starting to see  a theme here, Lynne.

 

I have a great joke involving tax and prophylactics. Think I will give it to Maeve for when she gets off detention.

 

John won and lost with Ace of Spades.

 

Amyotrophic  Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig Disease was the topic of today's presentation.Quinn Epstein-Tracy is the Care Services Coordinator for the Southern AZ branch of the AZ Chapter of The ALS Association.

ALS has no cure and life expectancy following diagnosis is 2 to 5 years. ALS is hard to diagnose, there is no test and it is the fallback diagnosis once other neurological diseases have been ruled out. Approximately 400 individuals are diagnosed in AZ every year. Over 90% of those diagnosed are sporadic in nature with less than 10% having a known familial etiology. First symptoms are usually in the limbs with lessening strength and feeling in the hands and arms. Bulbar symptoms may also occur with difficulty in chewing, swallowing and speaking. Severe cognitive changes appear in about 20% of those diagnosed. 

The mission of the ALS Association AZ Chapter is to serve and empower people affected by ALS to live their lives to the fullest.

 

For more information contact Quin@alsaz.org or go to www.alsaz.org

 

Side note, I recommend viewing "Pride of the Yankees, The Lou Gehrig Story" filmed in 1942 and starring Gary Cooper.

Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey, Mark Koeing and Bill Stern all play themselves in this sad but feel good true story.

 

Bob- Happy and a reminder that next week we will have the Commander of the Predator and Reaper program located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base as quest speaker PLEASE SHARE AND CONSIDER BRING A GUEST OR TWO.

(worth repeating)

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

Seven AM again saw the Rotary Club of Marana get called to order by President Hunter. Without hesitation Dan Contorno responded to the request to lead in the Pledge of Allegiance. No song today. Is it this writers harsh reviews? Maybe we should all move to Rome where the city council recently voted to ban singing on city buses. While they also banned nudity and semi nudity the banning of song seems a bit extreme. But I digress.........

 

Laura Clymer joined us again and she paid her membership application fee, which is a bit odd since the Board voted to do away with the fee a month go. 

 

Coming soon: Rotary Day of Peace and AZ Kids (A donation to a kid's not for profit gets matched by an unknown donor. Last year there was $180,000 match!)

 

Saddlebrook Rotary is puttting out feelers to other Rotary Clubs to join them in the erecting of a monument to First Responders. More on this later as only 25% of the required funding has been raised and construction will not bein until 100% of the money is raised.

 

Some discussion on Cameroon project with all who spoke in favor of funding the project to the original amount planned, even if not a 100% RI match is to be had. Board will discuss at tomorrow's meeting. 

 

 

Happy Bucks

John-UA Women's Basketball

Richie-UA Softball swept ASU and he was there

Dan-At LA Fitness (did not say why) and patron wearing a Tour de Cookie Shirt

John & Harold-Great Weather

Beckie-Jackpot to hold grand opening of their equine hospital

Mary-Always Happy

Randy-Laura's pending membership and today's speaker

Denise-Weather and speaker

 

 Lynne-Dr. and atty. conversing at a cocktail party. Dr, "I always get approached at parties by multiple people describing their symptoms to me and asking for free medical advice. How do you handle the problem of free advice?" Atty, "I answer their question then send them a bill in the mail."

Dr  decides he will try it. He makes out the bills and takes to the PO. While their he gets his mail, which includes a bill from the atty. TADA!

This joke won by a landslide as there were no other entries.

 

Randy-WON AGAIN and LOST AGAIN this time with the nine of diamonds.

 

Our speaker today is the Chief Trial Counsel for the Pima County Attorney's office, Jonathan Mosher. His excellent presentation was based on the murder of Kay Reed, a Tucson citizen, from 2008. The forensic evidence gathered from the crime scene and CCTV from a bank and service station proved sufficient for a conviction even though a body was never recovered. We learned the value of even a partial finger print and the challenges that are part of DNA evidence. Using an Ipad attached with a finger ring to his hand as he gave his presentation, in the same way he presents to a jury,  it became evident of his ease when presenting his facts. Personable, bright and effective I believe we can all agree, Mr. Mosher is a great asset to our community at large and to the County Attorney's office specifically.

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

 In President Tony Hunter's absence, President Elect Richie Benner began the meeting with the pledge. Foregoing any thoughts or songs PE Benner plunged ahead with the meeting directing all to "sit". Quack, quack, quack. (Inside joke)

 

Members greeted Laura Clymer, a prospective member and friend of Mary Straus, visiting for the second time!

 

Our Tour de Cookie netted $7,900 and substitute Sgt of Arms Brooks may have squeezed another $90 out of those in attendance. John sold a $10 cookie.

 

Rotary Day of Peace scheduled for 4/6/2019. Rotary will partner with ten other organizations this date at 101 W 4th Street in Tucson. "Peace is more than the absence of conflict." will be the theme. For more information and to register go to www.rotary5500.org.

 

Davis Monthan Air Show this weekend.

 

Happy Bucks

Peter-deliriously happy and math. (that is what my notes say) Oh, and gone next three weeks.

John D and John Z-Happy

Harold-Happy and a 51 year Rotary Member

Denise-Happy

Mary-Broke

Maeve-Happy

Richie-Happy & Charlie is 9 months doing well & got first "manly" haircut

Lynne-Broke

 

PE Benner announced approval by members and Board of Jeffrey Pridgett's application for membership.

 

Joke Off

 Maeve-Two men walk into  bar and the third ducks. When the laughter quieted down Maeve tried to make up for this horrendous offering with: Fella awakens in the middle of the night a little hungry. Opens the fridge and the mayo shouts out, "Turn off the light, I'm dressing.".

Give me a few minutes while I wipe the tears from my eyes. Whew. Oh my, when have I laughed so hard? 

 

 Lynne-Two old ladies looking for excitement. One decides to streak the flower show. Stripping then "running" as  fast as her legs could go she entered the building. Screams and shouts were replaced by loud applause. When she exited she held a trophy. She exclaimed to her friend, "I won first place for "dried arrangement".

 

Bonus joke from JD. Maeve's first joke reminded me of this one. A termite walks into the tavern and asks, "Where is the bar tender?"

 

Randy won and lost with the 5 of diamonds. (Peter is calling for an investigation as his ticket gets called about once every twenty years)

 

Rotarian Daniel Stringham addressed our Club regarding Rotary Microcredit project in Sonora, MX. Currently $300,000 has been donated for this project and Daniel is seeking another $100,000. The Microloan project is seen as a "Legacy" project as it lasts as long as the loans are being repaid. Loans from as little as $100 are made with the target amount being $800 and increasing bto $1,500 plus. Loan repayment is touted to be in the 95th plus percentile. Loans are made to co-signing borrowing groups of from four to eight people. This "peer pressure" in this writers words, is seen as the driving force in loan repayment. Interest rate is 4.5% a month. Our speaker explained that this rate is not uncommon in Mexico. To us a 69% APR loan (assuming no principal repayment for 12 months) is unthinkable. These zero collateral micro loans are extremely difficult to obtain anywhere else due to the administrative fees on such small loans and lack of collateral.

 

FinReg, a specialized micro credit institution, has been operating in Sonora for 12 years. Rotary Clubs partner with FinReg by providing funds/capital to loan  and they in turn establish borrowing groups, dispense and collect funds and assist customers to succeed in their businesses. FinRegs operating costs and net profit come from the interest earned on the loans.

 

Requests for tax deductible donations to be used towards a Rotary Global Grant are requested to be sent to Tempe South Rotary Foundation. More detailed information provided in brochure passed out by Mr Stringham.   

  

 

 

                                                                            

I "think" president Hunter began the meeting by introducing Sergeant Jeff Pridgett of the Marana Police Department. After indulging in Dunkin Donut coffee and donuts during the Sergeant's introductory statement he led the attendees on a tour of the state of the art Marana Police Department Headquarters.

 

Your Club Secretary went to Nana's Kitchen first this morning to be sure no one else did (tongue in cheek) and arrived to a locked building. I then texted Randy for assistance to break into the locked jail. Notes from this point on are not based on my surmises, but my actual first hand experience.

 

The facility is truly amazing and built to meet the town's needs for at least 25 years. Meeting attendees saw the evidence warehouse room, the forensic science area, temporary lock ups including a padded room and officer work stations. We saw the body cameras and the vehicle cameras and were educated as how they record and upload all data on an easily retrievable basis.

 

The facility has a spacious workout room that is filled with new workout equipment of every kind imaginable. Also saw the room dedicated to car searches that is complete with a lift! 

 

There were a couple of walls with empty shelving for future trophies to be won and a pretty nice cafeteria sans chef.

 

All in all an impressive facility and an impressive job as tour guide by Sergeant Pridgett.

 

Upcoming events:

Tomorrow at Mary's home to string ceramic cookies 4:30PM

Tomorrow at 5:30 Board Meeting at John Dooling's office 

SATURDAY everyone needs to be involved for our biggest fund raiser of the year. 8 to noon.

 

 

 

                                                                            

Although I was out of state there was indeed a 2/19/2019 meeting. While I must use my imagination for some of this report much was taken from our Facebook Page. Thank you Richie Benner.

 

After President Hunter called the meeting to order and the pledge was recited a major club event took place: the awarding of Paul Harris Fellows to members Denise West and Tony Hunter. Thank you to both for your hard work and club support in all its endeavors. You are roll models for each of us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 Our speaker was Becky Noel of Therapeutic Riding of Tucson, TROT. Founded in 2006 TROT was originally established in cooperation of Southern AZ Veterans Admin Healthcare System for veterans of all ages to experience the physical and psychological benefits of riding. It has expanded so that today children and adults with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, Down;s Syndrome, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and other special needs can benefit. For additional information one can access Rotary Club of Marana Facebook Page or visit www.trotarizona.org.

 

According to my source the Joke Off was.....meh.

No one won the lottery/raffle.

 

Thank you to Harold Burtzloff for taking/reporting last weeks attendance.

 

 

 

                                                                            

President Hunter requested Richie to lead us in the pledge and a find job he did. Lynne requested "Hey Jude", a Beatles tune from fifty-one years ago, be sung. Tony helped us with his guitar and I must say we sounded good. Good compared to our attempt at "Yellow Submarine" a few months ago, not good compared to John Lennon. All things are relative.

 

Odds and Ends

Our Top Golf event from last Tuesday got a few good reviews from those who were able to attend. It was announced that Bob Bishop's twin grand kids have arrived and doing well. Randy asked for a few members to remain after the meeting to interview Alexis Elarosa for possible Rotary Vocational Fund scholarship to Respiratory Therapist School.

 

Board meeting at John's office tomorrow 2/6/2019 at 5:30 pm. 

 

Tour de Cookie rider prospecting done on Sundays at Farmers Market 9 am to noon. Help is appreciated and easy to do. Located near Rillito Park on First Street just south of River Rd. Beckie has several booth sign ups, but still looking for the $500 Sponsor. Dan requests any signs, tee shirts etc from last year please bring to next week meeting. Please share on Facebook and your email contacts. March 9th.

 

Poker Tournament a week from Friday. Please share information with your email contacts, golf club members, fire department employees, congregation members and anyone else you can think of. 

 

Rachel spoke of the United Way's program to assist the working poor with the income tax refund process. There are nine sites in Pima County and one being at the Marana senior Citizens Center. Mary, Randy and Deb from our club are assisting and more needed.  Hours of operation are Thursdays 4-7 and Saturday's 12:30 to 3:30. The UW is also partnering with PCC for basic tax accounting course.

 

Tony says we are looking for an April project. Send him your ideas.

 

Happy Bucks

John-Thanks Tony for Top Golf outing

David-Trial is over

Don-Glad David was acquitted?????

Harold-Enjoyed Top Golf

Richie-Enjoyed Rotary Leadership Institute and recommends for new and old Rotarians

Beckie-Happy to be here and hopes SLC home sells quickly

Rachel-Heck if I know. I think I was asking for additional salsa at the time.

Randy-Happy to have seen Richie on TV for a lengthy informative session on Scouting. Randy also claims to have hit a golf ball straight and far at Top Golf last Tuesday. He did not say if it was straight and far "in the direction he intended."

Mary-Heck if I know. For some reason I miss Mary's comments on a regular basis. I apologize and short of writing me a note every time I do not know what else to do. Maybe you can sit with me and Dan from now on?

 

Joke Off

Lynne won easily as Maeve chose not to attend this morning.

 

John-As usual won and lost the raffle this time with the 5 of hearts.

 

Jeff Pridgett, Marana Police Department Sergeant and Public Information Officer (PIO), was our speaker this morning. Counting Jeff, Richie and Dan we had three Marana Tigers at our meeting. Jeff spent twelve years in the MUSD school system. He has held numerous positions from "beat" cop to school resource officer to motorcycle cop to in house Sergeant in charge to his current position as PIO. The new station is a place of pride having evolved from a triple wide mobile to the state of the art facility they now are housed in. The tax levy that raised the money for the new building is gone as promised.  The headquarters is located across from Ora Mae Harn Park on Lon Adams Rd. A tour of the facility will be arranged.

 

The MPD respond to all traffic incidents unlike TPD and writes a report for each. The MPD detectives are broad in scope and investigate all from purse snatchings to murder. The MPD responds to all calls and in a timely fashion, again unlike TPD.   

 

 

                                                                            

Dr Mack again led us in the Pledge. Apparently he has to do this until we get it right!

President Hunter apologized for having neither a song nor his guitar then sought a thought for the day from our members. Beckie Penman had a good one I recall, but unfortunately that is all I recall. Peter suggested we be generous with the our weekly Food Bank donations as there may be an increase in need due to the Federal Government shutdown.

 

Flash: "Life is a journey not a destination." Thanks, Beckie.

 

No 7AM meeting next week. Members and their friends are encouraged to attend our 5th Tuesday social at Top Golf starting at 5:30 PM.

 

Dan will again send the 2/15/2019 Poker Tournament flyer to all members as apparently some did not receive his first email. Please talk this up among friends and family.

 

RLI this Saturday with Richie and Denise registered. Still time for more to register. Contact John or Randy for details.

 

Happy Bucks

John-Randy's birthday

Dan-  Randy's Birthday  

Harold-Weather here compared to rest of the country

Rachel-Weather

Beckie-Daughter engaged, home for sale in SLC, weather here compared to SLC with the cold and inversion problems

Mary-Preliminary grant approval for Cameroon!

Denise-Happy for today's speaker, Edna Rosas-Gutierrez.

David-Happy about something(good to see you David. Happy New Year)

 

Joke Off

 

 Maeve began with lawyer trying to take advantage of old person. (Maeve apologized to David then continued). Lawyer says "I 'll ask you a question and if you do not know answer you pay me $5. Then you ask me and if I do not know I will pay you $500." Old guy agrees. Lawyer, "How many miles between the earth and the moon?" Old guy forks over $5. Old guy, "What goes up the hill on three legs and down on four legs?" Lawyer scratches his head. He consults the Internet. Tweets his friends. Finally gives up and gives the old man $500. The lawyer then asks the old guy, "just what does go up the hill on three legs and down the hill on four?" Old guy gives the lawyer $5!

 

 Lynne countered with conversation between a "normal" person and a Psychiatrist. "Is there a simple test to determine if a person has mental illness?" "Yes, we tell the tested individual they have a bathtub full of water and a spoon and a bucket and ask how would thy empty the tub." "Ah, the normal person would use the bucket as it is larger/quicker than the spoon, right?"

"No, a normal person would pull the plug." "Would you prefer a padded room with a view or one closer to the cafeteria?" 

 

TIE!

 

Harold won with ticket 121 and lost with the 7 of hearts.

 

 Edna C Rosas-Gutierrez is the owner of Better Choices Counseling, LLC. Her practice specializes in treatment of child sexual predators. Roughly 75% of child sexual abuse cases are by family and 97% by males. Most cases are opportunistic in nature. These individuals can and do respond to counseling.d  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                            

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.