For our member spotlight, Marana Rotarian Denise West shared her passion for gems and her work as a certified gemologist for Ben Bridge Jewelers.
Rotary Meeting July 12, 2022
Meeting called to order at 7:06 a.m. by Laura, who mentioned the online folks are missing a very nice social time. Harold led us in the "Pledge of Allegiance".
Laura thanked and expressed her appreciation to John Dooling and Randy Brooks for leading the meetings the last two weeks while she was away on vacation. Laura warned fellow members not to fly through London Heathrow anytime soon because it took 3 ½ hours to go through bag check and security.
Announcements
Laura said that Mary sends her regrets that she can’t attend online, and asked us to keep Mary in our thoughts. Lynne asked is there anything we can do to help her, maybe order some flowers. Lynne said she will order flowers. Don had that follow up surgery, and he is doing OK. Sulee announced that she's taking her husband Jimmy to California to be with their children. Laura reminded members that the planning retreat will be on July 23 in the afternoon. Harold noted that with our hybrid meeting, attendance is 73% of our members.
Happy Bucks:
- Bob is Oklahoma City and his stepsons are visiting in Oklahoma, and he is happy for that.
- Cathy reported that Felicia's Farm received a grant to help with location expansion.
- Andy is thrilled with the James Webb Space Telescope images coming out. However, he got a rebound case of COVID.
- Peter reported that he has COVID, which has impacted his work while on the Canary Islands.
- Lynne has been sidelined from work because of compute and tech issues.
- Denise was able to spend some quality time with her cousin, who is recovering from life-threatening injuries sustained several months ago from a motor vehicle accident.
- Harold is happy he started physical therapy on his knee last week.
- Adam said the financial markets have quieted down a bit, which is good.
- Cindy reported that the District's inbound Youth Exchange students are scheduled to arrive soon.
- John also marveled at the images from the Webb Space Telescope.
- Carol is enjoying the start of her retirement.
- Becky is thankful for air conditioning. (Aren't we all?).
- Laura had a wonderful, two-week vacation in Scotland, Wales, and in London.
Member Spotlight: Denise West
Certified gemologist and Marana Rotary member Denise West shared with the club her passion for gems and the unique mission of Ben Bridge Jewelers. According to Denise, Ben Bridge Jewelers opened 110 years with a single mission to help customers celebrate special moments. Their service is focused on finding the customer beautiful, high-quality jewelry that fits the special occasion. To accomplish this, Ben Bridge pays attention to every small detail, combined with the highest quality stones and gems. The company's quality control system is legendary and noted for their commitment to finding the best possible pieces that will last customers throughout their lives. The company also leads the way in ethical sourcing and fair practices.Denise is a member of the American Gem Society, which was founded in 1934 with the purpose of setting, promoting, and maintaining standards of ethical conduct and professional behavior through education, accreditation, and gemological standards. The non-profit trade association was founded to protect consumers.
Denise shared video which showed the kaleidoscope of gem colors. She also brought in some unique samples for members to look at, touch, and feel.
Laura asked Denise how she got interested gems and jewelry. Denise recalled that when she was a child growing up in Tucson she was always selling something -- a stack of stones. She started working in a Native American Jewelry store and learned many parts of the trade. Denise, however, was determined to go to school in Santa Monica to get her education, training, and certification as a Gemologist.
Harold will be a speaker next week regarding Club Runner.
We closed by meeting with the "Four Way Test", led by Denise.