President Allan Cady, looking refreshed and enthusiastic following his recent trip to New Zealand, opened the meeting by asking Ray Smith to lead everyone in song. Ray chose two verses of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Geoff White offered the invocation and Bob Zarling led the Pledge of Allegiance. Bob Jensen was the official greeter.
Several guests were present. Frank Rosenberg introduced his wife, Amanda. Erwin and Joan Wyman were visiting from Rapid City, South Dakota. Carolyn Jones was introduced by Wendell. Ted Williams introduced two guests seated at his table: Cindy Koen, a realtor and Don Eckstrom, a visiting Rotarian.
After badge numbers 68, 14, and 30 were drawn with none of the badge owners present to win, the growing pot for the attendance drawing will again move forward to April 19, when the potential winnings will be $20.
Chuck Flint announced that the weekly raffle winner would receive $52, and if the ace of clubs were to be drawn the winner would receive an additional $1,192.00. Bob Zarling's ticket was drawn, but after being allowed to see that the ace of clubs was actually in the deck, and doing his own shuffling, he drew the four of hearts. Bob was disappointed, but everyone else seemed pretty happy that the potential winnings next week would be even more.
Sgt. at Arms, Greg Okonowski, collected happy bucks. Steve Ross was happy the Spring Olympics were coming up. He urged everyone to start getting in shape, stating that Luin is already working out and planning to retain her title. Dr. Ron Thompson was simply happy to be present at the meeting. Chris Krueger was happy that Allan and Polly were back from their trip. John Eagleston was just happy. Pam Cohen had some Arizona gifts for Takuma (our exchange student from Japan), Polly Cady was glad to be home from their wonderful trip. Don LaBarge saw Jim Crutcher since our last meeting. It will be some time before life settles down at the Berge Ford dealership, but Jim will be back as soon as he is able. He assured Don he would not resign and he will be back. Bob Zarling paid $2 because Greg told him he had to since he won the weekly raffle, but he paid more because he was happy to be at the meeting. Penny May paid happy dollars because she was in Arizona long enough this spring to learn that 100° "isn't so bad after all."
Polly Cady had an auction item from their trip to New Zealand. The bidding was pretty intense until Bob Jensen jumped his bid to $100 and became the lucky winner.
Announcements:
Don LaBarge reminded members of the tree planting project at the Save the Family building at 121 W University on the 13th and 14th. Prep work was scheduled for 9:00 AM Friday. Expert instruction for the volunteers should prevent damage to the trees from improper preparation and planting. The actual planting work was planned for Saturday, again at 9:00 AM.
Allan reminded members that the Sponsor Appreciation Reception will be held 5:30 - 8:00 Wednesday, April 25 at the Arizona Museum of Natural History. A list of donors was on the tables for members to take review for accuracy in the way donor names were displayed and to remind members to contact the donors they solicited by phone to personally invite them to the reception.
Dan Coons introduced Takuma Fujiya who, even though sponsored by our club, has been hosted by a family living in the Arcadia High School District in Scottsdale.
Takuma began by answering the question he is most frequently asked. His favorite foods are pizza, hamburgers, and every Japanese food. He said the population of Japan is approximately 127 million in an area slightly bigger than Germany. He is not from a large city. His home is in the Japanese countryside.
When he left to come to the United States, Takuma was touched that several of his friends saw him off at the airport. Immediately on his arrival in the U.S., he was struck by the frustration that the English language skills he thought he had were almost useless. He has decided that the English teachers in the Japanese schools are the "worst in the world." Particularly frustrating was the fact that there are no similar sounds to "L" or "R" in the Japanese language, so hearing them accurately and trying to pronounce words correctly was nearly impossible.
When he was first here, he found everything - even the most basic things - very confusing, and he admitted some homesickness early in his exchange. After having time to adapt to his new surroundings and culture, he has fun and is enjoying his experience. He still struggles with English. The other students at his school speak very fast. He has enjoyed meeting other exchange students, and the trips he has enjoyed with them - Slide Rock near Sedona, the Grand Canyon and a Diamondbacks game. It was the first baseball game he had ever seen in his entire life. Takuma had a slide of flags on display on September 11. Until he saw a flag for each person that lost their life on that date in 2001, he had not grasped the enormity of that horrific event. He spoke of the exchange student Havasupai hike. He somehow enjoyed what he saw there even though his legs felt like they were broken from the gruelling 24-mile hike.
Takuma attended the Mesa West Christmas Party where they had a White Elephant game. He thought it was horrible that people were stealing each other's presents. He also participated in a Christmas service project. His host family took him to California for a family wedding. He is unsure who actually got married. While there he saw the beach at Santa Monica, and visited Hollywood, where he took photos of stars on the sidewalk and was photographed with (a cut out of ) Brad Pitt.
He has enjoyed several trips to Sedona as his host father has a son who has a home there. While in Sedona, he had the opportunity to go into the famous church there that many of us have seen only from the outside. He particularly enjoyed a trip to Las Vegas (which was on his bucket list), but wants to go back after 20 (we all thought he meant 21). His biggest surprise in Las Vegas was the hotel that has a roller coaster inside.
The Coons family took Takuma to the Science Center in Phoenix. Takuma's best weekend here was his weekend at RYLA. He thanked members of Mesa West Rotary for sponsoring his exchange. When asked about customs he has missed, he was quick to respond that he misses the Japanese custom of shoe removal when entering a home. He still feels like people are unnecessarily stomping around inside dwellings. Still on his bucket list is a visit to Chicago, but Pam Cohen was pretty sure he would get to see Chicago on his train trip with other exchange students. When asked about his future plans, he indicated his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and work in advertising. Takuma has different ideas, but one short term goal he would like to accomplish, now that his English is much improved, is to be a translator during the Olympics, so he told Rotarians to watch for him on TV.
Bob Jensen was born in Hampton, Iowa, where he lived until his family moved to Illinois when he was twelve years old. He is the youngest of two children. He is six years younger than his sister.
Bob has traveled to many countries, mainly in Asia, Europe and South America. Even though he has studied Latin, German, and Danish, he is not fluent in any language other than English.
Growing up, Bob wanted to be a psychiatrist or neurosurgeon. Instead, he became an audiologist and is now retired after forty years in private practice. He still owns a medical service company, Arizona HearCare Network.
Bob has been married to Nancy Linville Jensen for thirty-seven years. Nancy is also a retired audiologist. They met when they both worked at the old Arizona Crippled Children's Hospital in Tempe in 1977.
Bob and Nancy have two children. Kyle is 34 and a radiologist and Assistant Professor at OHSU in Portland, Oregon. He is married to Karen Saks Jensen who is a gastroenterologist in private practice. Kim is 31 and is a nurse practitioner specializing in cardiology in Tucson. She is married to Stewart Lewis who is also a nurse practitioner in private practice. They have a daughter, Emily, who is sixteen months old and is Bob's only grandchild.
To date, Bob's most interesting vacation memory is of an August trip to China and Tibet. He is interested in finding fellow travelers who would like to take the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Beijing to Moscow next year.
Bob's most rewarding volunteer experience has been the Ayudame a Escuchar mission to Guaymas. It has allowed him to stay in tune with audiology and meet many audiologists, many of whom still remain in contact though they live all over America. Through the program, he feels honored to have received national recognition by receiving awards from the William Demant Foundation, a Danish institution, the 2011 Honors of the Association from the Arizona Speech, Language and Hearing Association, the Crystal Award in Audiology from AT Still University and the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Academy of Audiology. Without the support of our Rotary Club, Bob knows he would not have received these honors and he is thankful to the club for making it possible for him to serve the people of Guaymas.
About a month ago, Polly Cady contacted Save the Family to inquire if they were in need of trees on any of their properties. She explained the international project with a goal of each Rotarian planting a tree by April 21, 2018. She received an immediate response from Steve Langstaff, Chief Property Development Officer, of Save the Family. Don LaBarge and Polly met with Steve to assess the need and then went to TreeLand Nurseries where they were given a good deal on 15 trees and needed supplies.
Friday, April 13, a few Mesa West Rotarians met at Save the Family on University Drive in Mesa to remove stumps and start the holes for planting the trees to be planted on Saturday. Don LaBarge, along with Steve Langstaff, guided and helped Warren Haussler, Bob Zarling, Allan and Polly Cady in removal of stumps from the dead trees that were to be replaced. Due to improper planting, there were many dead trees on the Save the Family property. It was hard work, and the volunteer Rotarians wished the Interact Club could have been there to help. Even though it was very hard work, Polly said "We had good fellowship!"
CLICK HERE to see all the photos taken on Friday, April 13, 2018 - the day of preparation.
Saturday, April 14, Mesa West Rotary and family of Rotary volunteers along with volunteers from the Westwood High School Interact Club arrived at Save the Family and waited for Todd Hansen from Top Leaf to arrive to give them expert advice and demonstrate how to properly plant trees. Todd donated his time and expertise, and stayed a while to watch and guide the work as it was being done.
Mesa West volunteers who participated in the planting were Chris Krueger, with her husband, Mike; John Hunt, Bob Zarling, Robert LaBarge, Don LaBarge, Allan and Polly Cady. Steve Langstaff of Save the Family also pitched in and was a big help. John Hunt seemed to be really into the project. Chris Krueger helped cut the plastic bucket off the tree to get it ready for planting!
Mesa West Rotary's outbound youth exchange student, Yordi, stood proudly alongside an Interactor as well as Don LaBarge, Chris Krueger and John Hunt with their first successfully planted tree.
Todd Hansen from Top Leaf arrived and donated some of his morning to show the volunteers how to plant a tree properly. He stayed a while to watch and guide the work as it was being done.
Mike Krueger is shown in a couple of photos with Interact kids. All were digging. In another photo a couple of Interact students were taking turns digging in one of the hardest holes.
Tree expert, Todd, helped out by softening soil for digging. It took several volunteers working tenaciously to finally get a tree in that harder hole. There was cause for celebration when they finally got that tree planted!
Two of the Interact girls who worked together were amazing. They seemed to know a lot about what they were doing, and did not mind getting their hands dirty. Mike Krueger was a good instructor! A photo captured a moment when John Hunt was taking a well-deserved break.
After the planting was completed, all the volunteers gathered for a group shots, glad to be finished with the project yet feeling very proud! A couple of Interact students were jumping for joy at the good job they did!
Special thanks to Don LaBarge for the use of his shovels, tools, organization guidance and referring Todd Hansen to help. Also, a thank you goes to Steve Langstaff from Save the Family for his "digging" in there with the Rotarians, their family members, and Westwood High School Interact students. Polly said "It was a very fun day and with all the help we had, we got the trees planted by a little after 11:00 a.m. The students were very good workers."
Steve Langstaff was given advice from Todd Hansen of Top Leaf as to watering and maintenance of the new trees. This project will be a sustainable one and something Mesa West Rotarians can take a look at and be proud of. The trees will be here longer than most of the volunteers involved. We can thank RI President Ian Risely for inspiring the planting of trees around the world!
CLICK HERE to see all the photos taken on Saturday, April 14, 2018 - the day of planting.
Mesa West Rotary is sponsoring an inbound Youth Exchange student from Ecuador for the 2018-19 school year.
Carlos will arrive in Phoenix in late July, 2018. He will be a Junior at Campo Verde High School in Gilbert. His interests include: band, soccer, and American football.
We need at least one additional host family. The goal is the have each inbound student have the opportunity to reside in three different households during their stay to optimize their ability to see how different families function. The Frank Rosenberg and Dan Coons families have already agreed to host Carlos, and we are looking for a third host in or near the Campo Verde campus.
If you are interested in becoming a host family, it will be a three-month commitment. The responsibilities include providing room and board, sharing your culture and home, and treating Carlos as if he were part of your family. CLICK HERE for more information about hosting. You could also contact the inbound coordinator, Kaley Gilmore, at 480 993 4628 or via e-mail at 5495inbounds@gmail.com.
Rotary supports activities and training to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality for children under five.
Area of Focus Statement of Purpose: TRF enables Rotarians to improve the health of mothers and their children by
Reducing the mortality and morbidity rate for children under the age of five;
Reducing the maternal mortality and morbidity rate;
Improving access to essential medical services, trained community health leaders and health care providers for mothers and their children;
Supporting studies for career-minded professionals related to maternal and child health.
The Rotary Foundation reaches mothers and children in need by giving communities the help and training they need to take control of their own maternal and infant health care.
Business networking is something President Allan Cady is passionate about. He has asked Jeanie Morgan to work on putting together a business directory of our members. We will be able to have the directory available as a download on our website, but since we will be adding new members regularly, it will be maintained electronically so it will be current at all times. The photo shown is a reduced size sample of what each person's listing might look like. To do this so it is a quality product, Jeanie will need digital images of your business card as well as a close-up, current photo. CLICK HERE to send yours to her.
Many members have commented on how much they have enjoyed this series. We have now finished publishing profiles of all the leadership team. It is time to move on to the general membership. To keep the profiles somewhat consistent, we have had everyone respond to the same questions. If you would be willing to let your fellow members know a little more about you, please CLICK HERE to download the list of questions.
You can send your answers to JEANIE MORGAN along with a head and shoulders photo of yourself. Selfies from smart phones work and can be texted to 928 486 4328. Please provide your name when texting so she can add you to her contact list.
If she receives multiple profiles, she will publish them in the order received. If she receives these at the same meeting, she will publish them in the order of time in Rotary - longest to shortest.
This article will reappear in the Messenger anytime there is not a waiting list of profiles to be published.
President Allan Cady, looking refreshed and enthusiastic following his recent trip to New Zealand, opened the meeting by asking Ray Smith to lead everyone in song. Ray chose two verses of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Geoff White offered the invocation and Bob Zarling led the Pledge of Allegiance. Bob Jensen was the official greeter.
Bob Jensen was born in Hampton, Iowa, where he lived until his family moved to Illinois when he was twelve years old. He is the youngest of two children. He is six years younger than his sister.
About a month ago, Polly Cady contacted Save the Family to inquire if they were in need of trees on any of their properties. She explained the international project with a goal of each Rotarian planting a tree by 
Saturday, April 14, Mesa West Rotary and family of Rotary volunteers along with volunteers from the Westwood High School Interact Club arrived at Save the Family and waited for Todd Hansen from Top Leaf to arrive to give them expert advice and demonstrate how to properly plant trees. Todd donated his time and expertise, and stayed a while to watch and guide the work as it was being done.
Mesa West Rotary is sponsoring an inbound Youth Exchange student from Ecuador for the 2018-19 school year. 
Rotary supports activities and training to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality for children under five.
Business networking is something President Allan Cady is passionate about. He has asked Jeanie Morgan to work on putting together a business directory of our members. We will be able to have the directory available as a download on our website, but since we will be adding new members regularly, it will be maintained electronically so it will be current at all times. The photo shown is a reduced size sample of what each person's listing might look like. To do this so it is a quality product, Jeanie will need digital images of your business card as well as a close-up, current photo. 
Many members have commented on how much they have enjoyed this series. We have now finished publishing profiles of all the leadership team. It is time to move on to the general membership. To keep the profiles somewhat consistent, we have had everyone respond to the same questions. If you would be willing to let your fellow members know a little more about you, please 
