Marana Rotary Club Meeting Sept 8, 2015

It was a dark and gloomy morning. Threatening clouds were forming to the south. But Marana Rotarians are not easily discouraged, dissuaded, or deterred. We gathered as is our custom at Nana’s Restaurant where owner Javier Teran welcomed us. Our President Elect, Mary Straus, stood in for President Alice Rigney, who is not feeling her usual perky self. We were very pleased that two wonderful young people joined us – Mary’s daughter Lilly and our exchange student Matus. And how nice that Sulee Edwards is back from her well-deserved time off!

 

A special Board meeting with District Governor Frank Presson and Assistant District Governor Jim Lamb in the evening at Jo Holt’s home in Oro Valley. All committee chairs will be reporting to the DG.

 

Our regular Club meeting is honored to host District Governor Frank Presson, and all members are encouraged to attend.

 

The Community Food Bank Hunger Walk will take place at Tucson’s Kino Sports Complex (www.HungerWalkArizona.org). Marana Rotary is sponsoring a bus to take Marana participants to the walk.

 

The annual District 5500 Conference will be held at the Hilton El Conquistador in Oro Valley. Our Club, in conjunction with the Dove Mountain and Oro Valley Clubs, will be hosting an ice cream social on Friday Sept 25. To register for the Conference, go to the District website, www.RotaryD5500.org, where you’ll be directed to the District Conference 2015 Site Page.

 

The Service Above Self Awards Dinner at Dove Mountain Highlands Clubhouse.

 

In 2016, Mary Straus’ installation as Club President. Somewhere close by.

 

John Dooling gave a report on the newly-reconstituted Interact Club at Tortolita Middle School. John, along with Alice and George Rigney and Jo Holt, inducted 10 new members last week. Our Rotarians were there to “assist” teacher Kathleen Neighbors, who is an honorary member of our Rotary club herself. What a great group of students she has attracted! You’ll be hearing more about them in the weeks to come… Regular readers may recall that PDG Randy Brooks won the 50/50 pot several weeks ago, and Treasurer Lynne Himmer announced that Randy is donating all $226 to Polio Plus. You’re a tough act to follow, Randy. And speaking of acts….did you know that he sings and plays guitar and tells interesting stories as well? In his next guest appearance at Nana’s, Randy will be joined by good friend Bert Beatty from Las Vegas. You won’t want to miss it on Sept. 18 from 6-8pm! Randy and friends always play for a good cause.

 

 

Our outbound exchange student from last year, Tori Johnson, gave us a fascinating look at life in Latvia today. Tori was accompanied by her grandmother Alice, who is clearly thrilled to have her granddaughter back home, at least until she graduates from Marana High next year and starts at NAU.

 

Did you know that Latvia is one of the Baltic States located just south of Sweden? There are only 2 million residents of the country, half of whom live in the capital Riga. Tori went to school in Saldus where she was hosted by three families and the Saldus Rotary Club. Her school covered grades four through twelve and still had only 300 students. Tori’s favorite class was geography, whereas she found Russian, culture, and physics harder to understand. Most teachers in Latvia do not speak English, and the Latvian language is not an easy one to learn. Although, Tori spoke a little Latvian for us and that was very impressive!

 

Last winter, when she first learned about rolling in the snow after getting all nice and warm in the spa, Tori was sure that was one of the definitions of insanity. But she did it and now she’s all for it!

 

Tori’s great Latvian adventure ended with an amazing tour of Europe for Rotarian exchange students. Thank you, Tori, for sharing your experiences and your great pictures with us! We’re proud of how you represented Marana in a very different part of the world.