Meeting minutes for July 2, 2024 Marana Rotary meeting
President Andrea De La Cruz welcomed members and visitors to her first meeting as President for the new Rotary year. John Dooling led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Andrea announced the club’s second visioning session will be virtual July 8 at 5 p.m. via either Zoom or Teams. Be sure to look for an invitation email from Andrea. We will continue work from the SWOT analysis that we finished in our first visioning session.
Andrea announced that we are turning July 16th meeting into a community service volunteer event with our good friends at the Marana Food Bank. Hours to volunteer are 8 a.m. to noon. Come for however long you can participate. The food bank is located at 11734 W. Grier Road, Marana.
Andrea introduced and thanked the incoming club board, which includes: President: Andrea De La Cruz; Past-president: Laura Clymer; Treasurer: Harold Burtzloff; Secretary: Andy Swarthout; and Directors: Bob Bishop and Don Jorgensen. We still need to a President-elect and President nominee.
John said he has discussed the President-elect position with his spouse Cindy Dooling. Cindy, who leads (and does an amazing job of it) District 5500’s Youth Exchange Program, which takes up 10-15 hours of her time each week. John nominated Cindy Dooling as President-elect, Dan Contorno seconded, and the members voted unanimously for Cindy. If she accepts the President-elect position, she’ll have the full support of the club.
Happy Bucks
- Visitor Harvey Smith (SaddleBrooke Rotary) — who is from eastern Canada originally and dual citizenship celebrated Canada Day on July 1 and Independence Day July 4.
- Visitor Dan Watson (SaddleBrooke Rotary) — just got back from 3-week driving vacation to Nashville to connect with family.
- Dan C — bought five fishing licenses in six days. He caught fish in each state from Idaho to Arizona while on vacation. He also transitioned to half-time work for the Marana school district after 32 years service. Congratulations Dan!
- John D — Happy for LED lights he installed in his current truck.
- Harold — Feeling better and in one more day, he’ll be out and about.
- Don and Cathy — Had dinner with Randy and Deb while in Seattle.
- Bob — Enjoying the lake and boat rides.
- Visitor John Oszust — who is the immediate past-President of SaddleBrooke joined us virtually from his summer vacation spot in Show Low. He, too, is a dual Canadian/American citizen!
- Beckie — Went to an estate sale and found a bunch of books for her grandchildren.
- Christine — Happy to report that her NW Fire District class recently certified another 17-18 teenagers, and her twins are turning 21.
- Andrea — so happy that folks are considering to step in and fill our leadership roles.
“Build a House in One Day” project
Our guests from our neighboring Rotary club in SaddleBrooke presented about their project “Build a House in One Day.” Joining us in person were international community service project chairman Harvey Smith and SaddleBrooke member Dan Watson, who led the “Build-a-House” project in Mexico. Dan joined Rotary in 2002. He served as president twice for clubs in Southern California. He moved to Arizona in 2019. He has a passion for international service.
The “Build a House in One Day” takes place in Tecate, Mexico. The village has no running water or electricity … (and also no building permits or inspectors!)
SaddleBrook Rotary will work with the non-profit Corazon, which coordinates the construction of the home. Corazon identifies a recipient family who makes lunch for the building crew on the day of construction. It costs $15,500 to build the house. SaddleBrooke is $1,500 short of its goal.
SaddleBrooke is looking for volunteers for what really is a three-day commitment. Corazon oversees the volunteers. All houses are built the same way and any level of skill needed. At the least, everyone can pick up a paint brush. This year’s project is will be October 25-27.
Watson explained how it works:
- Friday — drive to Chula Vista, south of San Diego. Check-in hotel.
- Saturday — meet at 6 a.m. in a parking lot, 2-3 miles away. Briefed by lead builders. Caravan across the border and go to build site. Radio in each car; go in a group. One hour to build site. Met by 16 x 24 slab of concrete and building materials. Briefing and go to work. People gravitate to work that suits them. Ask to bring nail pouch, hammer, and paint brush. Framing walls, sheet with plywood, windows. Another team builds the roof. By lunchtime, the walls are up and often to roof rafters up. Recipient family makes lunch for the crew. Volunteers should bring snacks, water, toilet paper. Not a strenuous day because of the number of volunteers. House has an interior loft with ladder and a tiled kitchen counter.
- Sunday — return home.
At the end of the day, Watson said, “We give the keys of the house to the family with a ceremony. It’s a true Rotary moment — when you go from being a member of Rotary to being a Rotarian.”
Watson said it is also an “opportunity to build bridges on the other side of the border and dispel stereotypes.”
The crew caravans back to the hotel for Saturday night for a celebratory dinner. Cost to participate — two nights in a hotel and travel to Chula Vista (six-hour drive).
Watson said they have 25 names so far of folks who are interested, but they need more volunteers. Watson’s presentation ended with the showing of his wife’s inspirational slide show of the last “Build a House in a Day” project that he co-organized.
Our club members were impressed with the presentation and seemed genuinely interested in helping out in some way.
Meeting adjourned with the “Four Way Test”.
Our next meeting will be virtual only on Tuesday, July 9, at 7 a.m.
— Submitted by Laura Clymer