Rotary Club of Marana Meeting; March 16, 2021
Today was a special day. John had the honor of performing “the greatest pleasure of a presidency,” installing Sulee Edwards into the family of the Rotary Club of Marana. We all are so pleased Sulee has rejoined us, as we know her to be an outstanding Rotarian and humanitarian. Sulee was appointed to serve on the Service Committee and to the Foundation Board.
Today was also a special day because tomorrow is President John’s birthday. A pitiful but heartfelt song was sung, and best wishes from all of us are with him.
Club Business:
- Lynne has sent our donation to the Rotary Club of Nogales. Our donation will be combined with their District Grant and a donation from a Rotary Club in Canada to purchase oxygen tanks and equipment. All will be donated to a hospital in Sonora that doesn’t have enough supplies to serve their Covid patients.
- All oars in the water and moving toward our Shredding Fundraiser, which we be held April 17th from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Harkins Theater. Thank you to Sulee for designing a flier for the event. Thanks to John who signed final contracts with Harkins. Gratitude to RI for their timely support regarding insurance. Much gratitude to Don for spearheading and coordinating the event.
- March 22nd is World Water Day. Rotary has spent over 51 million on water projects. Our Club’s Global Grant projects in Cameroon have a water accessibility component to it. A well and solar powered pump is allowing for irrigation and farming that wasn’t possible before.
- Virtual tours of Rotary International in Evanston, Ill are available on RI.org.
- Lynne reminds us to pay dues. Almost uniformly our attention to these details have wavered in the pandemic fog.
Happy Bucks
- Harold is happy for the rain.
- Bob is pleased to be in Tucson for 2 weeks before he heads back East to Virginia.
- Richie closed on his new house yesterday. Congratulations! He’s relieved life will take more orderly shape again.
- Joyce was confused about where she was; the weather in Canada was 61 degrees in the last couple days, while it was only 59 here.
- Randy won’t be with us next week. He will be in Hawaii!
- Don is enjoying weather. He had great hike in Saguaro West.
- Mary is happy about Sulee’s membership.
- Beckie is grateful for the rain and the restoration of desert.
- Denise is happy Sulee has joined us. She also thanked our speaker for joining us.
- Sulee is pleased to rejoin our club. Also, she, like Don, went on a lovely hike this weekend that was restorative.
- Andy is enjoying being back in the west and is patiently waiting for sun.
- John basked in the glow of his birthday song. He is also grateful Sulee has become a member.
- Lynne somehow angered a driver. When the driver drove alongside her and promised to make her life miserable, she thanked him but let him know she wasn’t interested in a relationship.
Program
Today we welcomed Karen Rorke from Watermark Retirement Communities, who spoke with us about aging and elder care. Karen became an employee with Watermark after experiencing her mother’s aging with Alzheimer’s. Her mother’s fear, anger, and anxiety were often not listened to or given proper attention. Because of these experiences, Karen was inspired to become involved with elder care.
20 years ago, elder care was revolutionized away from skilled nursing facilities toward a continuum of community care. Watermark is exemplary of another shift that is occurring in community-based elder care. What can typically occur is a placement when an individual isn’t able to meet their needs independently. The placement is, generally, a reaction to the client’s dysfunction. The care is focused on management of the clients symptoms. The emerging perspective in care is proactive, anticipatory and collaborative with the individual. In this perspective, choices regarding living are centered around the resident’s and family’s interests, needs, and choices. It supports the resident to “thrive, not just survive.”
Ideally, there is a continuum of living options in one community. For example, Watermark offers short-term care living, independent living, enhanced assisted living, and memory care all in one campus. In such a community, residents can access more support as the need arises, disrupting their quality of life as little as possible. Communities that offer adjunct activities and create community with the residents also support the vitality in the individual.
We thank Karen for inspiring us to be proactive advocates in our own aging and in the aging of our family members.
Submitted by Mary Straus,