https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85900479873
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210 United States of America
Our hybrid meetings are held weekly on the 1st thru 4th Thursdays of each month. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to include all, whether attending virtually or in person.
Ron and Toni Thompson will again graciously open their beautiful home for the Mesa West Rotary Club's Post-Holiday Celebration to be held Saturday, January 20 from 4-8:30 p.m.
If you have not yet made your reservation using the link that was emailed directly to you, you can CLICK HEREto RSVP stating the names of all who will be in your party.
It has become a tradition in Mesa West to not compete with celebrations of work, family, friends and other close associations during the holiday season so more of us can celebrate together after the holidays are over.
Those who wish to participate in the "Gift Exchange" should bring a wrapped gift valued at $25. The first-place winner of the Most Festive Outfit will get to select their number for the Gift Exchange. (This last statement is a license to wear an ugly sweater if it is believed to be "most festive".
Those who attend are encouraged to bring appetizers or desserts to share.
CLICK HERE or on the photo to see all the photos taken at the event
Olivia, Carlotta, Thilde and Lotte were well prepared and hosted a delightful evening at the home of Pam Cohen. They had prepared the food in the kitchen of Bert and Kelli Millett's home. They each provided descriptive information about the food they had prepared for all to enjoy. PDG's Don LaBarge and Jim Erickson presented the girls with some unique Rotary pins to add to their Youth Exchange jackets. After all the pledges we are currently aware of are paid, it looks like this girls will have raised over $2,500 to help support their Youth Exchange train tour of the USA.
Olivia and Thilde are both being sponsored by Mesa West Rotary Club. Carlotta is sponsored by Tempe South Rotary Club, and Lotte is sponsored by the Kyrene Rotary Club.
Everyone in attendance enjoyed a delightful, memorable evening.
Hi, I’m Thilde, I’m an Inbound student from Denmark and I live in Mesa and I’m with the Mesa West Rotary club.
I’m going to tell you all a little about how my exchange is going so far and what I do in my free time and in school.
I go to school everyday at Arete Preparatory Academy and play soccer on their JV soccer team. Through soccer I have made a lot of new friends and created stronger bonds with other friends. It is really nice to be doing a sport that can also bring people all throughout different grades in high school together. We play a few games every week or so and so far our Varsity girls soccer team has been undefeated, meaning that we have not lost a single game this season yet. Our coach says it is because we haven’t played the difficult schools yet, but we are playing them this week, so I’m excited to see how that is going to go.
Next weekend is RYLA and all of us are really excited for it, meeting all the people from interact clubs in high schools all around Arizona and just meeting new people. I find that meeting new people is one of the most fun things because you get to expand your knowledge from other cultures or just small things that you might not have known about.
This weekend me and 3 other exchange students from Sweden, Germany and Spain made dishes from our home countries and sold them as a fundraising event for the train tour at the end of the year. It was very successful and we all had a lot of fun preparing the food, serving it and meeting all the people as well as getting plenty of feedback on how the food was. We are all very happy with how it turned out and we raised a lot of money that will help us pay for the train tour. So we are very grateful for everything.
For Thanksgiving, my Host Mom and her boyfriend took me to visit her family in Chicago. She has a big family and we all went. We had a lot of fun with Ice Skating and all the food we had was delicious, we all contributed in helping and the days leading up to Thanksgiving were filled with cooking and joyous conversations with each other. On Thanksgiving day we got up early and went for a turkey-pie trot. It was interesting since after you finished the “race” you would go and receive your prize which was a pizza “pie” or a smaller sized pie. It was a fun tradition to experience.
For Christmas, since it isn’t really a huge thing here in America, I spent most of my day at home working on jigsaw puzzles. I had a call with my parents and was joined in on their Christmas eve since it is the big night where we have a lot of traditions. It was hard to watch and not be a part of but that’s okay, that makes next year so much more special. We went to church later on in the evening and later went to get Chinese food after the service was over. They were playing some wonderful music and made it so interesting. Christmas morning was relaxing, we all woke up and sat down around the tree, I had my parents on call with us so they could be a part of it too and my Host Mom called her daughter briefly to wish her a merry Christmas. I got presents from my host family about things related to Arizona and I really enjoyed it, I of course got them gifts as well and they liked those too.
On January 20th 2024 the Rotary club of Mesa West is hosting a post-holiday Christmas party that I have been invited to along with some of my other exchange friends. We are really excited for it and have planned on getting ready together at a Rotarian couple’s house. We are excited to experience a Rotary Christmas party since this is the first one, we are going to support and show that we care about Rotary and we appreciate them and all they have done for us. My friend and I are going to make a presentation about the organization and how it is being an exchange student along with how to apply at my school during the month of January. We are hoping this will promote Rotary and have more people interested in exchange and more applicants for the following years. I am looking forward to spending more time with my Rotary club and getting to know them all a little better and also attending more meetings to hear more about Rotary.
Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President Colleen Coons
President Colleen thanked
Ray Smith for offering the invocation.
Jack Rosenberg for leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
Steve Ross for serving as Greeter.
Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief Technology Officer.
John Pennypacker for making sure all the club flags were on display.
Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
Introduction of Guests
John Pennypacker introduced PDG Jenny Coburn from Australia. Jenny shared her pleasure of spending three weeks with her son in Scottsdale. They had been apart for the past four and one-half years.
Polly Cady introduced Olivia, our Rotary Youth Exchange student from Sweden. Polly reminded members to help Olivia check items off her bucket list of activities she hopes to participate in while she is on her exchange. President Colleen presented a permanent name badge to Olivia.
Abby Lyon and Andy Price were briefly introduced as being with the Boy Scouts. Andy would be our speaker and introduced in more detail later in the program.
Jack Rosenberg introduced Andy Bradford, his neighbor and friend who is in the real estate business.
Bob Jensen and Melodie Jackson were attending via Zoom.
Dil Brinton was visiting from Mesa Rotary Club. He was dressed in his Boy Scout leader regalia and attending to hear the program. Dil is likely the most well-versed in Mesa and Rotary in Mesa history. When asked,, he replied that his mother's people were among the early settlers of the east valley.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
After explaining that the small daily pot was $35 and the large pot was $71, Dick asked Olivia to pull the winning raffle ticket. The ticket she drew belonged to Jim Erickson. After receiving his $31 in winnings, Jim shuffled the newish deck of cards and drew a card. His attempt to draw the Ace of Clubs - which would have made him the winner of the large pot - was unsuccessful. The card he drew was the Jack of Diamonds, which was promptly destroyed.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Ron Thompson
Allan Cady was happy to remember that he attended the Boy Scout World Jamboree when it was held in Colorado Springs when he was fifteen. Allan's mother was very involved with Girl Scouts. Allan helped her build fires, make smores, etc. He said he felt like he was a member of the Girl Scouts in those days.
Polly Cady contributed said she did know about Allan's Girl Scout past, but married him anyway. She also put in another plug letting members know what fun it is to hang out with Olivia. Polly took Olivia, Carlotta, and Lotte to the Goldfield Ghost Town. One of the activities they did there was ride the Zip Line.
Harry Grossman was wearing his red shoes and glad to contribute $6 - $1 for each of the Cardinals' wins this year.
Pam Cohen provided an update on Chuck Flint. Chuck was still in the hospital. During his December 27 surgery, an artery burst. He lost nearly three pints of blood. They were unable to finish the first surgery. The second procedure that was planned will not be done for probably several months. Chuck has several blood clots in his leg that are being mitigated. Chuck is glad to receive texts, but would prefer not to have visitors at this time.
John Pennypacker was happy to inform Olivia, he would soon be able to give her a ride in his cabriolet (Francesca - his Jaguar convertible). She is finally coming out of the shop January 9.
Warren Williamson might need to be fined for the joke he shared. He told about someone being lost in the forest one overcast night. They were told that if they could fine one star in the sky, they would be able to tell which was was up.
Ed Koeneman was happy to have enjoyed a couple of weeks with their son who is now off to Calvary training.
Dick Myren was glad to be back. He made his traditional $2 donation thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs.
Shelly Romine said her husband was a Boy Scout. She said he learned more in scouts than he did in school. She said they were hiking near Prescott and came across a woman who had fallen. He helped her, and the woman asked if he was a nurse or doctor and he replied, "No - just a Boy Scout."
Jim Erickson said he was also at the Boy Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs in 1960. That was where he had his first exposure to the Air Force Academy.
Brian Harvey pledged $50 for each of our Rotary members who talked about their scouting experience. They are each to choose the Rotary cause of their choice for their $50.
Jim McGown has helped deliver some nice lockers to Westwood High School. The lockers are now installed. They were in great shape. Jim said C & C Metals are replacing their employee lockers and are giving away their old ones for free.
Colleen Coons said she is always happy. She asked PE Logan Harper to stand saying he has a unique body type. She said her husband, Dan Coons, never wants to hire out anything. He has the ability to fix anything and everything. They had an overhead leak in their house. She said Logan came over - better response than "Same Day Plumbing" He was able to use the special tool which required significant strength to operate. She also expressed praise for Logan's attention to detail.
Presentation of Club Trading Banner
After holding up the new club trading banner which was designed by Pam Cohen, Colleen presented the banner to Jenny Coburn, our visitor from Australia.
Announcements
President Colleen thanked Abby Lyon from the Mesa Rotary Club for their contribution to the holiday wish list bags for our McKinney Vento students.
Shelly Romine said she is our club's representative on the Micro Credit Committee. PDG Abe Feder of Tempe South Rotary Club is the chair. A trip to Hermasillo to learn about the project is planned for January 26-28. There is room for ten people plus a leader to go. There will be two individuals in each hotel room. All costs for food, lodging and bus transportation are covered. Shelly is planning to go on the January trip. There is room for a couple of others from our club. They should let Shelly know if interested. Three additional trips are planned: Feb. 23-25 March 22-24, and Apr.26-28. For those that are unfamiliar with Microcredit, it is a system where small loans are made to entrepreneurs (mostly women). When the money is repaid, it is recycled into other loans. The loans are small - $972 is the average loan size. They are used to help the borrowers open things like a street tortilla or crafts vendor, Mary Kay cosmetic business setup, etc. The loans enable the borrowers to become self-sufficient and take better care of their families. Colleen said she went once and it changed her life.
Pam Cohen reminded members to make their reservation for the Youth Exchange meal prep gathering being held at Pam's home January 6. Good food will be prepared by inbound Youth Exchange students from Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Pam believes the cost for each of the four individuals is about $3,800. She also encouraged members to attend the Post Holiday Party which will again be held at the home of Ron and Toni Thompson. The entree will be catered. Those who attend should bring a dessert or appetizer to share. We will have our traditional gift exchange. Those who want to participate should bring a wrapped gift valued at $20. There is a new twist this year. The person dressed in the most festive outfit will get to pick their number. When your number is drawn, you can open a new gift or steal a gift that has already been opened. Depending on how many participate, each gift can be stolen one or two times. Ugly sweaters might be considered festive and might just win, but Colleen "doesn't do ugly," so the competition is for "most festive."
President Colleen announced that when MLK Day is celebrated in Mesa, Polly, Logan, and Taylor (Logan's fiance) will host a Mesa West Rotary membership table at the event. She said maybe next year Mesa West can walk in the parade.
Program - Andy Price - Scout Executive/CEO, Grand Canyon Council BSA
Abby Lyon from the Rotary Club of Mesa is with the Boy Scouts. She introduced Andy Price who is originally from Georgia. She said often when he is introduced like that, someone will yell "Go Dawgs!"
He said his ring tone on his phone is the Georgia fight song. He can always tell if its his phone that is ringing.
At a donor recognition event, someone said that when people learned that her boyfriend had been an Eagle Scout, the would say, "You'd better marry him!" She did marry him because he was different because he was a scout, and those qualities where those she valued most about him.
Andy has been CEO of Grand Canyon Council in Arizona now about five years. He has been in Rotary most of his adult life. He feels at home in Rotary.
CLICK HERE to view the slides Andy shared during his presentation.
Boy Scouts started in England and came to the United States.
Scout Oath
On my honor
I will do my best
to do my duty
to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
to help other people at all times;
to keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake,
and morally straight.
A Scout is:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent
The wording the the motto and value statements has not changed, but the look of scouting has changed. It is now co-ed. The United States was one of the last countries for girls to be allowed in BSA, which occured in 2019. They have also done some marketing studies to better enable outreach and communicate the benefits.
COVID has impacted the number participating in scouts. In the east valley scouting numbers significantly dropped when the LDS church changed their position on sponsorship of scout troops by the churches. Much re-growth is needed. The drop in number also created some serious budget issues. It was feared at one time that camp property might have to be sold. Maintenance was minimal during that period, but the camps are gradually improving and overcoming that down period. The camps are used by other organizations.
Harry Crossman wondered if the Order of Arrow was still around. He said it was like the National Honor Society of scouting. Many of the scouting values are deeply rooted in Native American tradition. Harry also shared some scouting trivia. The 1953 Jamboree was held in Irvine California. The main drag there is still named Jamboree Drive.
After his presentation, Andy was presented with our Rotary token.
As Rotarians, we are regularly exposed to opportunities to support various causes with our time, talent and treasure. Sometimes it is hard to sift through all the information and decide where we are going to use our available financial resources.
It would be wonderful if every Arizona Rotarian would make the following BIG FOUR their Rotary charities of choice and support every one of them every year, we could make a bigger difference than we are making today.
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
The process isn't quite automated at this point in time, but we hope it soon will be. For now, you can email our executive secretary who can help you work out a recurring donation plan should you wish to make that arrangement to support our own club's charitable activity.
Ron and Toni Thompson will again graciously open their beautiful home for the Mesa West Rotary Club's Post-Holiday Celebration to be held Saturday, January 20 from 4-8:30 p.m.
Hi, I’m Thilde, I’m an Inbound student from Denmark and I live in Mesa and I’m with the Mesa West Rotary club. 
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:.png)
