Marana Rotary Club Meeting Feb 23 2016

 

Today’s meeting started off pretty tame. President Mary Straus led the pledge, Tony Hunter gave a heartfelt thought for the day, and then something very different happened. Maeve Johnson played a video for our song: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars. Some Rotarians got into it, but others were completely baffled. John Dooling (aka Davey Crockett) recognized Mr. Mars as “that guy on the Superbowl.” Well done! All in all, an interesting cross-cultural experiment. Kudos, Maeve!

 

 

 

Dan Contorno reported on preparations underway for the Tour de Cookie, and Jo Holt reported on the hosts for the cookie booths. The website for the event, courtesy of Tony Hunter, is worth taking a gander at: www.rotarytourdecookie.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presidents Elect Training Seminar (PETS) 2016. Mary and Jo are attending!

 

Founder’s Day Parade in Marana with the Rotary float.

 

5pm at the Ballroom at Dove Mtn Highlands Clubhouse. Aleta Weiner, President Elect of the Dove Mountain Rotary Club, invites members of the Marana Rotary Club to hear Dr. Nooshie Motaref, who will be speaking about her book ”Tapestries of the Heart”.

 

It’s getting closer! Get your cookie on!

 

 

Randy Brooks won the raffle ticket pot today by holding the winning ticket and then drawing the Joker! He promised to buy all of us new cars. Really.

And visiting Rotarian Joyce Zwick joined us again today!

 

John Dooling’s Happy Buck was actually a Sad Buck today, since there is only one more episode of Downton Abbey. The Club Secretary heartily agrees! And Clint Kuntz gave his HB in honor of ground-breaking for the new MHC health center at Dove Mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

We were very pleased to have the Town Manager, Mr. Gilbert Davidson, visit us today. Some of us didn’t know that he’s from Wilcox! Gilbert outlined the Town of Marana’s strategic plan, which is built on five fundamental focus areas: (1) commerce, (2) communities, (3) innovation, (4) heritage, and (5) recreation. He also brought us up-to-date on preparations for the new budget. Did you know that the Town has three main revenue sources? They are sales tax (67% of all revenue), state-shared revenue (about 25%) and fees, fines, and permits. Town expenditures are primarily in salaries and infrastructure. Gilbert also talked about the new Ina interchange with I-10 and about the upcoming upgrade to Tangerine Road. Yes, it will be painful, but the results will be well worth it! We know our Town Manager is a big part of Marana’s success, and so glad he shared some of his insights with us today.