- Steve Ross for serving as Greeter.
- Mike Lutcher for offering the invocation
- Warren Williamson for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
- Dick Myren for handling the raffle
- Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
- Jeanie Morgan for handling check-in
- Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief Technology Officer
- John Pennypacker for handling room setup
- Gerry Paulus was introduced and it was noted that he would be officially inducted into the club later in the meeting.
- Erwin and Joan Reimann were welcomed. They are members, but spend the warm months in South Dakota. Colleen wants them to feel welcome when they are in Arizona.
- Lizzy Barron was introduced as another to be formally inducted later in the meeting.
- Tom Yuzer, a regular visiting Rotarian from Minnesota was welcomed. He said the snow is gone in his home state.
- Wayne General, a member who is seldom available to attend our lunch meetings was welcomed.
- Jim Dowler, the guest speaker, was welcomed from Phoenix Rotary 100.
- Eric Silverberg contributed. He was happy to have travelled with Jim Schmidt to Hermasillo Mexico to learn about the Microcredit Mesa West Rotary is involved with there.
- Dick Myren was happy to report he had healed quickly from his collision with the floor. He was also happy that the University of Iowa Women's Basketball Team had beat the men's basketball attendance records. Dick was sad to have lost his 83-year-old brother who was a minister on Saturday, April 6.
- Mike Lutcher was happy they would be leaving on a three-week road-trip vacation in Virginia, New York and Kentucky visiting children and grandchildren.
- Shelly Romine announced she would be absent the following week. Her son would be celebrating his 29th birthday. And they would be enjoying a family reunion with her husband's family from St. Louis in San Diego. She said a small crew was needed Friday to do prep work for the Rotary Week of Service Project at the YMCA which was scheduled for Saturday, April 13.
- Wayne General contributed $15. He said he and Lucinda were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary. He was happy that Lu still finds him sexy. He knows she does, because every time he walks past her, he hears her say, "What an ass!"
- Frank Rosenberg was happy to be in his final week of his Master's program. He will soon be able to practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
- Don Boucher contributed celebrating ten years as a member of Mesa West Rotary and twelve years as a Rotarian. He said he enjoys all the good people, but being a member comes with a sense of guilt - he never feels he is doing enough.
- Lizzy Barron said it has taken five years to find the right Rotary Club in Arizona. She made a pledge to our club's foundation in appreciation of finding the right fit in Mesa West Rotary.
- Chuck Flint was happy that Pam Cohen was his communicator taking care of everything during his recent health challenges. He was also thankful for his niece who has had both of his dogs since December 26. He said he spent 70 days in the hospital. His co-pay was $1500. So far, it appears the total cost of his stay is over $212,000.
- Harry Grossman announced he was at the meeting without his hearing aids adding "I can't hear a damned thing!"
- Polly Cady was glad the club is two members stronger. She was happy to see Joe and Linda Sweeney on Zoom, and happy for the good time she and Allan enjoyed with Olivia and Valeria in San Diego.
- Pam Cohen was happy to remember being at Lu and Wayne's wedding fifteen years ago. She pledged $400 for John Pennypacker's sponsor program team thankful for her grandson Wilder's 4th birthday!
- Jim Schmidt was happy to celebrate 40 years in Rotary, and was also happy about the good time he enjoyed in Mexico. He also announced their youngest daughter just had a baby - his 36th grandchild.
- Gerry Paulus celebrated the many years he's been a Rotarian. He will be sending private DNA into deep space. The Rotary 4-Way Test will also be sent. He hopes to send a laser etched disc with Rotarian names on it.
- Ted Williams was happy he had his hearing aids.
- Warren Williamson said little Johnie got in trouble for asking his mom how old she was. She explained that you should never ask a woman that question. He then got in trouble for asking how much she weighed, and was told both questions were off limits and should not be asked. He then got in trouble for asking he why she and his dad were divorced. Johnie was complaining to a friend about getting into trouble for asking something he though it was reasonable for him to know. When his friend heard what the questions were, he told Johnie to find his mom's driver's license in her purse explaining it was like an adult report card. Johnie followed that advice. In a subsequent conversation with his mom, he said "I know you are 35-years old and weigh 129 pounds. I also know why you and dad divorced. His mom asked how he discovered that information and he confessed to sneaking a peak at her license. She said, "I can see how you now know my age and weight but what did you find on my license that answered the question about my being divorced?" Johnie answered, "I could see you got an 'F' in sex."
- John Pennypacker celebrated his recent birthday commenting about seven being an odd number of decades.
- Ed Koeneman said he is getting acquainted with a new toy in our club's array of technical equipment. He said his son is still in Poland, still sleeping in the closet.
- Colleen Coons said she and Dan went to celebrate her uncle's 100th birthday and seems to be in good health. He was sitting next to Colleen's aunt who was thirteen years younger. They had thirteen children. The aunt has dementia, but is happy. Because Colleen is thirteen years younger than Dan, she told him, "We're looking at our future, here." Colleen shared some McKinney Vento success stories, and it is clear our program is changing lives.
- Harry Grossman said he had been in Sedona last Saturday for the Sedona Village Rotary Club's annual Grocery Grab fundraiser. The club pays wholesale cost of as many groceries that the winner of a drawing can fill their cart with in five minutes. The club made $19,000 on the event.
- Ron Thompson for offering the invocation
- Gerry Paulus for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
- Steve Ross for serving as greeter
- Jeanie Morgan for handling check-in
- Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
- John Pennypacker for handling room setup
- Ed Koeneman for serving as chief technology officer
- President Colleen introduced Erica Ballesteros with The Change Project and Todd Harris, a visiting Rotarian from the Four Peaks Rotary Club.
- Diane Woods-Fowler was again welcomed as a guest
- Members who don't get to attend often were welcomed - Kayla Mudge and Frank Rosenberg. Kayle is our President-Elect Nominee and is very involved with the Interact Crutches 4 Africa project. She will be working to make sure the two teams get to Mexico and back and Kenya and back safely.
- Margaux, a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Belgium introduced herself and reminded members that the Youth Exchange students are collecting gently used children's clothing to take to the District Conference in Mexico to be delivered to the needy in that community.
- Members who have missed meetings recently because of health-related challenges were welcomed back - Chuck Flint, Lola McClane, and Jack Rosenberg.
- President Colleen welcomed those who were attending via Zoom - Pai Bethea, Allan Cady and Tom Yuzer.
- John Pennypacker contributed for all the family birthdays being celebrated: Son, grandson, his grandson's dad, someone who remained nameless, and his daughter's birthday the end of April. He also had some good things to say about a wonderful celebration meal he had enjoyed at Portillo's where one offering he really enjoyed was a chocolate-cake milkshake.
- Chuck Flint pointed out that the person John didn't name was John himself who has a birthday coming up on April 10.
- Jack Rosenberg contributed to celebrate his and Cindy's 16th wedding anniversary.
- Melodie Jackson thanked her Rotary family for the many ways they showed they cared when she recently lost Randy. She pledged $500 to the sponsor campaign for her team.
- Todd Harris contributed remembering the Portillo's hot dog stand in Chicago.
- Allan Cady pledged $100 to Polly's team to celebrate her birthday
- Deb Koeneman pledged $100 to Ron Thompson's sponsorship team to celebrate her and Ed's 27th anniversary.
- Ed Koeneman contributed saying their son is still in Poland sleeping in the utility closet. He taught Margaux how to make sawdust and she still has all fingers with no visible injuries. He contributed happy bucks because the club is now using Randy Jackson's laptop for the club computer. He pledged $100 for his team to match Deb's anniversary celebration.
- Warren Williamson shared a story about three old geezers who were playing cards One of them mentioned that his 50th wedding anniversary was coming up. One of the others asked him what he was going to get his wife. He answered, "Well, on our 25th anniversary, I took her to Tucson. On our 50th, I'm gonna drive down and pick her up and bring her back."
- President Colleen was thankful that Bryan Goetzenberger had met with her and some of the McKinney Vento students at Westwood High School. One of them plans to join the Army. That reminded Colleen of when she joined the Army so she cold ski in Germany and use the Army's college fund to get her education. Bryan was there to talk about possibilities of what the vocational education grants available from TRVFA. One of the students who wants to be a cosmetologist and another wants to be a welder. They could use TRVFA grants to help pay for their education. Another of the students plans to go to MCC and wants to volunteer at RYLA next year.
- The first item auctioned was an autographed baseball from the Cubs Game. It was not autographed by one of the baseball players. It was autographed by Jim McMahon, former NFL player and BYU Quarterback. Logan Harper's bid of $60 made him the proud owner of the ball and some tasty candy treats that Masa (the Youth Exchange student from Japan had enjoyed at the game).
- The next item auctioned was a purple bag donated by Beth Hoban a Rotarian from Oahu who visited our club several weeks ago. Melodie Jackson's bid of $70 made her the lucky winner.
- The final item auctioned was a hand-crocheted red and black blanket created by Son Hee Williamson. Ted Williams top bid of $325 made him the lucky winner. His competitive bidding was fueled by the fact that his wife's favorite color is red.
- Saturday, April 13, the Rotary Week of Service project will be at the Ross Farnsworth YMCA - cleaning and repainting their pool deck.
- April 17, those who want to understand Rotary's grant management process can sign up for a virtual class being offered on line.
- Colleen said that the Meta Grant will purchase equipment for Mesa Libraries and hopes that we can tour the Red Mountain library and see the equipment after it is purchased and in use.
- Gently used clothing is needed by the Youth Exchange students. They are collecting gently used children's clothing to take to the District Conference in Mexico to be delivered to those in need in that community.
- Mesa Rotary Club is 102 years old. Someone in their club started the Mesa United Way. Consequently, as a tradition, their club has always been represented on the Mesa United Way Board.
There are many different nonprofit organizations that AZ recognizes as authorized recipients of these tax funds. Mesa West sponsors the Interact Club at Westwood High School, and they are a qualified recipient of these tax credit funds in the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) category. Here's how you can donate up to $200 as an individual or $400 as a couple filing jointly and deduct that amount from your state tax burden.
Go to https://westwood.mpsaz.org/pag
If you have children currently enrolled in Mesa Public Schools, you can use your existing login information. Otherwise, it's easy to setup a guest account.
Once you are logged in, select 'Items At All Schools' under the 'Shop/Donate' list on the Home page.
On the next page select 'High Schools', then select 'Westwood High'
Select the link for 'ECA Tax Credit', and then 'Programs G-K' on the following page.
Interact - ECA is under code 8646. Enter a dollar amount in the box, and click the Add button. That dollar amount should then appear in your cart (highlighted in green at the top of the page).
You can then proceed to the Checkout process and pay with a credit card. You will receive a receipt that you can print out and save for when you do your taxes.
Thank you for supporting Westwood Interact and all of our youth programs.
- The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Annual Fund - The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world." Giving a small amount each month adds up. CLICK HERE to download a form you can use to sign up for Rotary Direct, electing "Annual Fund - Share" for your recurring donation.
- The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Polio Plus - Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio is so well known and respected that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matches donations $2 for $1. To take advantage of this opportunity to multiply the effect of your giving, CLICK HERE and download a second Rotary Direct form, this time electing electing "Polio Eradication" for your recurring donations. Those who donate $100 or more annually to Polio Plus qualify in District 5495 as Polio Plus Society Members. If you would like to make that commitment, CLICK HERE to download the commitment form.
- The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA) provides vocational education grants to Arizona Residents who meet specific low-income guidelines. The grants enable the recipients to lift themselves out of poverty, benefitting themselves, their families and the economy of our state. TRVFA is a 501(c)(3) charity. They also are a Qualifying Charitable Organization for Arizona Tax Credit Donations. Their QCO Code is 20698. Many Arizona Rotarians say giving to TRVFA is a "no brainer." If you can help someone lift themselves out of poverty and it won't end up costing you anything why would you not do it? Mesa West Rotary has the highest number of members who have signed up for automated monthly recurring donations by electing that option on the "Donate Now" button on the TRVFA website. Click the image to learn more or CLICK HERE to DONATE NOW.
- Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
- Community Service
- International Service
- Vocational Service
- Youth Service
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Frank is done with his Master's - Celebration
8314 S Jentilly LaneMay 17, 2024
6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. -
Mesa West Rotary Board Meeting
Via ZoomMay 21, 2024 5:30 p.m.
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Mesa West Rotary Board Meeting
Via ZoomJun. 18, 2024 5:30 p.m.
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Transforming Communities, Creating Opportunities, Impacting Youth
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210
United States of America