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Highlights of May 5 Meeting
Opening of Meeting - President Dan Coons
 
President Dan opened the meeting by thanking John Benedict and Steve Ross for serving as greeter.  He thanked the members for the gift of being able to serve as Club President  He then reminded Rotarians and guests of the Rotary International 2021-22 theme - Serve to Change Lives - after which he recited the Rotary Vision Statement:
 
Together we see a world where people unite and 
take action to create lasting change - 
across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.
 
 
Invocation and Pledge
 
 
Rotary Minute - President Dan Coons
 
Dan talked about the opportunities he has enjoyed because of his involvement with Rotary.  His newest opportunity is one he will get to share with Colleen.  Crutches for Africa is an organization that supplies mobility devices to people in need in Africa.  Gently used devices are collected, stored, and eventually loaded into shipping containers then shipped to Rotary Clubs in Africa where they are distributed.  Our local Interact District is in charge of a program where six Interact Ambassadors are accompanied by adult sponsors and advisors.  This year two Rotarians (Dan and Colleen) will be going with two teachers.  When presented with the opportunity during which they will be home-hosted by local Rotarians, and participate in Rotary projects while in Africa, they said, "Yes!"  
 
Introduction of Guest
 
 
Don LaBarge introduced his sister Karen Brooks.  After visiting and helping Don for nearly a month, Karen was going to be leaving May 6 to visit their brother.
 
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
 
 
Chuck explained that the holder of the winning ticket would automatically win $55 plus the opportunity to try to win an additional $395 by drawing the Ace of Clubs (which we believe we are) from the deck.  He asked Karen Brooks to draw the winning ticket.  Darl Andersen was once again the holder of the ticket drawn.  The odds were in his favor since he had told Chuck to keep his winnings the prior week and use that money to purchase 10 tickets at the May 5 meeting.  After shuffling the cards himself, he asked Chuck to draw for him.  The card Chuck drew was the 2 of Diamonds.
 
Happy Bucks - Greg Okonowski
 
  • Pam Cohen contributed because her daughter had a case of extreme vertigo, causing Pam to drive to Flagstaff to take care of her grandson, Wilder, which always makes her happy.
  • Warren Williamson lost his wallet the prior Saturday causing him to make several phone calls and on-line reports of missing identification and credit and debit cards.  On Sunday, he found his wallet.  This reminded him of a story about a man whose wallet had been stolen, but he had not reported the missing credit cards because the thief was spending less money than his wife.
  • Dick Myren contributed his usual $2 - $1 each for he and honorary member Rod Daniels for the privilege of being associated with Mesa West Rotary.
  • Jim McGown contributed for the privilege of educating members about a way to have shorter waits at flashing yellow left turn signals in Mesa.  The arrow will turn green if the sensor believes there are three cars in line.  If only one car ahead of you, don't pull up to it - leave a car-length between your car and theirs.
  • Frank Rosenberg was happy to report that their daughter Sammy now has her drivers license and to date has not been involved in an accident.
  • Dave Brauchler contributed.  He was happy they were able to celebrate their granddaughter Abigail's 2nd birthday with her.  Their gift to her was an American Girl doll.  The thing he was obviously very proud of was that Lynn had used her skills as a seamstress to make matching dresses for Abigail and her new doll.
  • Colleen Coons said to bill Dan $5.  At a recent Crutches for Africa orientation meeting she learned that the ambassadors would be sleeping in tents on their trip to the wildlife refuge where lions roam about freely.  There would be watchmen staying awake and keeping the camp safe.  She wasn't sure she felt like that was an opportunity but felt better when she learned the adults would not be sleeping in tents.
  • Chuck Flint contributed because he had enjoyed the green bean casserole in the lunch buffet.  He had not been introduced to that delicious dish until Thanksgiving a few years ago, and it immediately became a favorite.
  • Darl Andersen contributed $50 of his raffle winnings to his sponsor campaign team's effort, and left $5 so he could have a raffle ticket on May 12.
Auction - Colleen Coons
 
 
Colleen had two bags containing articles purchased on her recent trip to Illinois.  The bidding was pretty competitive, but several noticed it would have been more-so if Chris Krueger hadn't moved to Nebraska.  Ron Thompson's bid of $45 made him the proud new owner of two very nice drink containers.
 
Announcements
 
 
  • President Dan reminded members that it wasn't too late to register for the District Conference.
  • Ed Koeneman announced that the Zoom mentoring event for Interact members would be scheduled for 5:30 PM Tuesday, May  10.  He thanked the members who had volunteered to participate.
  • Dan announced that in the 2022-23 school year, our club would be hosting a Rotary Youth Exchange Student from France.  The student will be attending Campo Verde High School in Gilbert. Collen and Dan will be the first host family.  Ideally, there should be three different host families, so a couple more families who are willing to be hosts are needed.
 
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Highlights of April 28 Meeting
Opening of Meeting - President Dan Coons
 
President Dan opened the meeting by thanking Don LaBarge for serving as greeter.  He thanked the members for the gift of being able to serve as Club President  He then reminded Rotarians and guests of the Rotary International 2021-22 theme - Serve to Change Lives - after which he recited the Rotary Vision Statement:
 
Together we see a world where people unite and 
take action to create lasting change - 
across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.
 
 
Invocation and Pledge
 
 
Greg Okonowski offered the invocation.  The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jim Erickson.
 
Introduction of Guests
 
  • Don LaBarge introduced his guest - his sister, Karen Brooks.
  • Ron Thompson introduced his guest - his office manager, Kym Roberts.
Recognition
 
 
Chuck Flint invited Bob Jensen to the front of the room to recognize his giving to support the work of The Rotary Foundation.  Bob was given his Paul Harris Fellow Plus One recognition pin.  Bob took time to say how happy he was to see his Mesa West Rotary friends in person.  Now that he resides in Tucson, he frequently sees everyone on his computer screen while attending via Zoom.
 
Ace of Clubs Raffle
 
 
Chuck Flint explained that the person holding the ticket number drawn would automatically win $50.  They would also win the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the remaining cards in the deck.  Should they be so lucky as to draw the Ace of Clubs, they would win an additional $335.
Chuck asked the speaker's guest, Ximena, to draw the winning ticket which was held by Darl Andersen.  After receiving his $50, he had Chuck try to draw the Ace of Clubs for him.  Instead, the card drawn was the King of Diamonds.  Darl gave all $50 back to Chuck requesting it be used to purchase ten tickets for Darl for the May 5 Ace of Clubs Raffle.
 
Announcements
 
 
  • Shelly Romine reported on Mesa West Rotary Club's Rotary Week of Service project - fifty bedding packs were prepared Saturday, April 23 for Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SIHP).  After preparing the bedding packages each of which which included a stuffed animal, encouraging note, pillow, comforter, pillow case and sheets, the packages were delivered to the church storage facility where they will be kept until delivered to homes by SIHP.  Also delivered to the storage facility were about ten extra pillows donated by Mesa West Rotary Club members.  Shelly also announced two additional Sleep in Heavenly Peace opportunities.  The first was for a three or four individuals to participate in bunk bed delivery and setup trips Saturday, April 30.  The second opportunity was to sign up to participate in a bed build to take place in Scottsdale Saturday, May 21 from 7:00 to 11:30 AM.  If interested, email Shelly.
  • President Dan made a few quick announcements:
    • The meeting was taking place in the middle of Polio Immunization Week April 24-30.
    • He voiced appreciation for the very nice reception Allan and Polly Cady hosted April 21 for Judge Tommy and Judy Webb.
    • He reminded members that the District Conference would be held at the Prescott Resort April 13-14, with two pre-conference events scheduled in Prescott on April 12.  A Peace Symposium scheduled during the day at the conference site and a dinner benefitting The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona being held at the Phippen Museum in Prescott that evening. 
  • Ed Koeneman announced that the evening of May 10, he would be scheduling a career mentoring event to provide information to Westwood High School Interact Club members.  The event will be held via Zoom with breakout rooms.
Happy Bucks - Greg Okonowski
 
 
  • Mike Whalen was happy to report the focus group he has been working with - working with the Phoenix West Rotary Club - is wrapping up its work developing an international search engine.  Working with the Rotary International pubic image team, it looks like the app will be rebranded before it is launched.  It is hoped it will be ready to launch by the District Conference.
  • Darl Andersen was happy to have won the Ace of Clubs Raffle and hopes to win again next week with one of his ten tickets purchased in advance.
  • Tom Yuzer announced he would not be at our next meeting.  They are headed back to Minnesota.  He'll see us in person again in six months.
  • Bob Jensen contributed - happy to be attending the meeting in person.
  • Ed Koeneman announced Westwood High School Interact Club had held their election of officers for the 2022-23 school term.  Three of their new officers attended Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) with scholarships from Mesa West Rotary Club.
  • John Pennypacker contributed - thankful for work Sean Green had done to help with preparations to honor young ladies who had been influential at the state legislature's hearing impacting youth exchange programs.  They will be honored at the District Conference.  Another individual who was very helpful in getting documentation John needed was a Rotary Support Center adviser who can be seen on page 8 of the most recent Rotary Magazine.  His name is Simo Ezoubeiri.  He is from Marrakech, Morocco.
  • Shelly Romine asked to be billed $200 for the sponsor campaign.  She will be absent for the May 5 meeting.  Their son will be in town and they will be spending as much time as possible enjoying some springtime Arizona fun times with him.
  • Did Myren contributed for himself and Honorary Member Rod Daniels - happy to be part of the best Rotary Club on the planet.
  • Don LaBarge was happy to report that April 28 was Rod Daniels' first day back at work following his heart attack in February.
  • Ron Thompson contributed because he was happy to have Kym Roberts - the best office manager in the world - attending as his guest.  He's really happy she works for him.
  • Warren Williamson contributed so he could tell a "dad joke" meaning it would be normal to groan when the joke was finished.  It seems like an elderly gentlemen went to see his doctor because he had a leg that was making strange noises.  The doctor had him sit on the exam table.  He put his stethoscope on his thigh and heard a weak voice say, "I am really hard up - could you loan me $20?"  The doctor moved the stethoscope to the patient's knee.  There he heard, "I am really having a tough time.  Could you at least loan me $10?"  The doctor then moved the stethoscope to the patient's shin where he heard, "C'mon - can't you at least give me $5?"  The doctor looked at the patient and said, "I've never seen anything like it.  You got here on your own power, but your leg is broke in three places."
  • Pam Cohen contributed.  She was happy Bob Jensen was at the meeting in person.  He was happy to hear about Mike Whalen's launch of product.  She was sad that Chris Krueger could not attend the meeting.  She will soon be leaving for Nebraska.  She was appreciative of work Sean Green did recording a visioning exercise the prior weekend, which he did on very short notice.
  • Robin Harris contributed for the best dad joke he'd heard in ten years!
  • Dan Coons contributed $5.  With his wife out of town, he was probably still $10 ahead.
  • Jim Erickson contributed sad bucks.  After fifteen months with no new cases of Polio in Pakistan, a new case had been diagnosed.  Those monitoring the situation knew the risk was high because evidence of the live wild polio virus is still being found in environmental samples.
  • Jeanie Morgan announced that anyone who pledges to the sponsor campaign during happy bucks this quarter will be billed for their pledge through the club foundation within a week of making that pledge.  Anyone who would like to can email Jeanie if they want to be invoiced for a pledge, know whose team they are on, or have other questions about the sponsorship drive.  If she doesn't know the answer, she will refer it to someone who does - likely Allan Cady.
 
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Mesa West Rotary Week of Service Project
 
Saturday, April 23, several members of Mesa West Rotary and their extended family met to assemble bedding kits to be given to Sleep in Heavenly Peace - an organization committed to their slogan "No kid sleeps on the floor in my town."  Heart-warming cards to be delivered with each bundle of bedding were prepared earlier by the members of the Westwood High School Interact Club.  After the work was completed, Mesa West Member Andrea Murphy, who serves on the board of Sleep in Heavenly Peace shared some information about their organization, how the beds are built, delivered, and assembled.  She also expressed the need for more chapters in order to meet unfilled needs in our state. Members who were not present to hear Andrea's brief presentation will have the opportunity to learn more on May 19 when Joe Genovese, from Sleep in Heavenly Peace, will present a program at our regular hybrid club meeting. 
 
More pictures are available on our Rotary Club of Mesa West Facebook page.
Ayudame a Escuchar MIssion to Guaymas, Mexico
This has been a challenging year for all humanitarian hearing missions throughout the world.  Like many other programs, our club decided that it would be too risky for our volunteers, patients and others in Guaymas if we conducted what would have been our 28th Annual program.
 
After consulting with health professionals and officials here and in Guaymas, it was decided that we would wait and see what would develop in terms of access to patients, availability of a proven vaccine, and feasibility of conducting a reduced program sometime in 2021.  In talking to other audiologists who conduct programs in Nicaragua and Belize, this seemed to be the common opinion.
 
In the meantime, I continue to have dialogues with our friends in Guaymas and Alamos regarding the prevalence of COVID-19 cases in their areas and what they see as a plan of action for the future.  Rudolfo Fernandez, our audiology technician in Alamos, is in constant contact with the school in Guaymas where we conduct the clinic and doctors in Guaymas to see what he can do to start up a testing and training program which will be fundamental to achieving a sustainable on-going program in Guaymas.  This would allow patients to be seen on a quarterly basis, reduce the number of patients seen during our two-day clinic and, consequently, reduce the need for a very large team to travel once a year to Guaymas.  It might take some monetary support from our club but would lower the overall cost of the mission if we support him in his efforts.  The cost savings to our club could be as much as $10,000 to $15,000 a year.
 
We know that the need for our services is great in Guaymas but we must approach the solution to the need in a safe and prudent manner.  I will keep the club updated and hope to meet with the Mission Committee in the early part of 2021 to form a plan of action to help our friends in Guaymas.
 
Thanks to the club members for your continued support of the mission
 
Bob Jensen
The Big Four - Ways to Support Rotary in Mesa West
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.
  1. 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.  
  2. 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.
  3. 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.  
  4. 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:
    1. Community Service
    2. International Service 
    3. Vocational Service
    4. 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.
 
Club Information
Welcome to our Rotary Club of Mesa West!
Mesa West

THE ACE OF CLUBS

We meet In Person & Online
Thursdays at 12:00 PM
Via Zoom or in-person
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3748672091
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.
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Club Executives & Directors
President
Dan Coons
President Elect
Pam Cohen
Secretary
Lola McClane
Treasurer
Dick Myren
Membership Dir "23
Polly Cady
Community Service Dir. '22
Shelly Romine
Vocational Dir '22
Don Boucher
Foundation Dir. '23
Greg Okonowski
Public Image Dir. '23
Tim Troy
Fundraising Chair
Allan Cady
Sergeant-at-Arms
Bert Millett
Co Sergeant. At Arms
Ron Thompson
TRF Chair
Chuck Flint
Vocational Service Chair
Bryan Goetzenberger
Youth Services Co-Chair
Chuck Flint
Youth Services Co-Chair
Ed Koeneman
Executive Secretary
Jeanie Morgan
Speakers
Joe Genovese
May 19, 2022
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Mike Tanner
May 26, 2022
Hire a Rotarian
Sean Green
Jun 02, 2022
New Member Talk
Nancy Salmon
Jun 09, 2022
East Valley Institute of Technology
Dr. Mark Leonard
Jun 16, 2022
The Happiness Breakthrough
Jodi Corrales
Jun 23, 2022
GCU Rotaract Club
View entire list...
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