Rotary Club of Marana
 
                                                                            
President Tony Hunter called upon our newest member, Beckie Penman, to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. A quick glance at the blank faces of our membership led Tony to skip the Thought of the Day portion of our meeting. Instead, he uncased his guitar, and at the request of Lynne Himmer, led us in singing that American staple "Old MacDonald Had A Farm". Of course, being the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the animal was a turkey. I was impressed that everybody knew the words and most sang in key. A good start to what proved to be a very good meeting with 90% attendance!
Guests included John (?) a Rotarian from upstate Washington  and our speaker from ADOT, Doug Nick.
 
 Many kudos to and by Maeve for a successful Tour de Tucson Aid Station. Eleven of our members plus support from Casas Adobes/Dove Mountain Rotary Clubs and our Totolita Interact Club worked the event. Special thanks to Denise West's sister, Edisa, who worked the full shift.
 
 
 (about this time  Rachel Cheeseman tried to slip in late, but since the back door was broken she had to make an entrance at the front of the meeting. Glad you could make it Rachel!)
One of our Interact students asked Maeve "What is polio?" That is progress my friends.
 
 Mary gave another short The Rotary Foundation (TRF) presentation hammering home the Three Legs of Rotary and the Six Areas of Focus. When quizzed membership struggled to recall what Mary had taught us over he last few weeks.(Aside to Mary, you might need a bigger hammer.) A slide presentation from our own project in Zimbabwe was presented. We partnered with a Yuma Club for this project. Randy recalled that the $14,000 which was raised for this project was stolen when wired to Africa. Randy stated this was a true "Rotary Moment" for him when Rotarians stepped up and within one week $18,000 was raised to replace the stolen money.
 
Happy Bucks
John-Tour de Tucson aid station workers. Special praise for Edisa, sister of Denise. A round of applause when John mentioned that Edisa would make a great member
Richie-BSA popcorn sales are over but club members still have time to order the wonderful tins of popcorn for Christmas! Also, the 50th Commemoration of the tragic deaths of the scouts lost in a freak winter storm in the Santa Rita Mountains. Good came from this as hundreds if not thousands have been rescued by The Southern AZ Mounted Search and Rescue SAMSAR that was organized following this tragedy.
John Z, Denise, Dan, Don, Mary, Randy, Tony-all happy for El Tour service project
Bob- Helicopter ride to bottom of double falls on Oahu.
 
Joke Off
Lynne- Lady looking over the frozen turkey bin asks the store clerk, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" "No, ma'am" he replied, They're all dead."
The attendees loved this one, as did I.
 
Maeve- A pumpkin pie sells for $2.25 in St Martin. The same pie sells for $2.75 in Antigua. In Aruba it is $3.00. These are the Caribbean Pie Rates.
I love a good pun and this qualifies as a very good one judging by the number and the decibel reading of the groans emitted.
 
Bonus Extra- Reluctantly the teacher called on little Johnny during the first grade spelling contest. "Johnny, spell the word 'farm.' the teacher requested. Little Johnny replies, "EIEIO".
 
John won and lost with the seven o hearts.
 
Douglas Nick of ADOT told us that 2/3 of what ADOT does can be done on a smart phone or ServiceAZ on the web without having to go in person. Things like Registration,Permits, Licenses, Title Transfers, Special Plates and Insurance Updates can all be done remotely. 
ADOT now has Kiosks that also perform these functions. Office hours have been expanded and Over Time hours cut by 80%. Now when you do go to an ADOT office you are greeted by a human being who directs you the correct station and waiting times have been reduced from 52 to 22 minutes over the last couple of years. Charities have taken in 10.6 million through the Specialty Plate program. Additional questions can be sent to dnick@azdot.gov.
 
Reminder, Johnny Cash show tomorrow at the Oro Valley Gaslight Theater. Tickets still available from District 5500 website. Money raised goes to TRF.
 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!