Welcome to Mesa West Rotary - President Pam Cohen
Pam welcomed everyone to the meeting. She explained her black eye. She had a basil cell carcinoma removed from her lower eyelid. She wanted to make sure everyone knew she had not had an altercation with Don LaBarge.
The Invocation was led by Dick Myren and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jack Rosenberg. President Pam thanked Shelly Romine for serving as greeter welcoming everyone to the meeting.
Rotary Minute - Lu GeneralOn the screen, Lu shared the Rotarian Code of Conduct:
As a Rotarian, I will:
- Act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life.
- Deal fairly with others and treat them and their occupations with respect.
- Use my professional skills through Rotary to mentor young people, help those with special needs, and improve people's quality of life in my community and in the world.
- Avoid behavior that reflects adversely on Rotary or other Rotarians.
- Help maintain a harassment-free environment in Rotary meetings, events, and activities, report any suspected harassment, and help ensure non-retaliation to those individuals that report harassment.
This is the essence of what we as collective Rotarians say and believe we should be doing.
The world lost a very impressive leader - Queen Elizabeth. At a formal ceremony on April 21, 1947, when she was 21 years old. She said, "I declare before you that my whole life - whether it be long or short - shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. That was a 21-year-old woman speaking, and she adhered to that value her entire life. Lu then shared an ancillary Rotary moment. In 1959, Queen Elizabeth's daughter Victoria was making a trip to Australia. The Rotary District which was geographically where Princess Victoria was visiting was where the first RYLA was invented, and the Princess was a RYLA attendee. You can see that the ethics of the monarchy and the ethics of Rotarians have had a very nice overlap for a long time.
Mesa West Rotary has come to an awakening that planning internally is not the most sustainable way to move into the future. We are now in a process of visioning where we need to form a plan that is a product and reflection of our community. This is the thing Lucinda said everybody in the room should try to answer in their head: Can you name a person who you see as living their life in coordination of their beliefs. Lucinda suggested PDG Chuck Fitzgerald who believes in the cause of Peace and works to host a Peace Forum every year would qualify. Our own Ed Koeneman has picked up on the mentoring theme and is working to make that happen George Wheeler never stopped serving. Buey with Aqua Africa is living his convictions. Every person needs to own the Visioning Process. It is not a one and done process. It will be ongoing. We will need to use electronic polling and other means of communicating. We all need to respond and offer suggestions, and challenges. Lucinda implored everyone to take a commitment to fully participate.
John added another quote attributed to the Queen: "The world is not the most pleasant place. Eventually your parents leave you and nobody is going to go out of their way to protect you unconditionally. You need to learn to stand up for what you believe and sometimes, pardon my language, kick some ass."
Introduction of Guests
- Jim and Beth Hoban - visiting from Honolulu Sunset Rotary Club.
- Salina Graves is with the East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is also a member of Chandler Rotary Club.
- Diane Ware introduced her good friend, Mary Costello, was was visiting from Sacramento, California.
- Esteban Holman was introduced by Kayla Mudge who said Esteban is exploring Rotary hoping to find a Rotary home.
- Attending via Zoom were Lola McClane, Melodie Jackson and Lu General.
- Pai Bethea as attending in person rather than on Zoom
- Dick Myren and Jack Rosenberg wanted to welcome Jeanie Morgan back.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Steve Ross
Steve announced the big pot was up to $162. The holder of the winning ticket would automatically win $35 and the chance to try to win the big pot by drawing the Ace of Clubs from the deck. He asked Selina Graves to draw the winning ticket which was held by Jim Erickson. Jim drew the 5 of Diamonds.
Happy Bucks - Sean Green
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 for he and Rod Daniels having the privilege of being part of Mesa West Rotary, and he gave another $1 to thank Ron Thompson for keeping up the tradition on September 8 when Dick had to be absent from the meeting.
- Don LaBarge said the Salvation Army board took July and August off, but at their meeting in September, they learned their turkey order had been cancelled - apparently turkeys will be scarce this year because of the bird flu, so it might be wise to pick one up when you find one in the grocery to keep in your freezer for the holidays.
- Kayla Mudge was happy to be at the meeting in person. She was also happy to have enjoyed her family's annual Labor Day fishing trip.
- Pai Bethea asked to be billed $100 for a donation to the club's foundation. Half to thank Pam for the great job she is doing leading the club and the other half for keeping the Zoom option available so he can attend our meetings when he is away from home.
- Warren Williamson was thankful the club has now survived two catastrophes - first, the pandemic and - second, Jeanie Morgan being gone more than a month.
- Jim Hoban's "Aloha" preceding his sharing that King Charles is a Rotarian.
- Shelly Romine donated to confess that September 22 was not on her volunteer signup sheet so volunteers were needed to fill the duty roster for the next meeting.
- Jay Stuckey was glad he and Melissa were back after missing the last couple of meetings. They were on the east coast and had a wonderful time.
- Jeanie Morgan confessed she did not keep up the tradition of bringing back something to auction. She didn't do that kind of shopping while in Michigan. She did learn how to make homemade bread and butter pickles that "are to die for." She said she caught her son-in-law drinking the brine more than once. She said she would bring some to the Chile Cook-Off, and would take orders.
- Pam Cohen recognized the September 15 is National Nurse's Day. She wanted to recognize Frank and Amanda Rosenberg who are both nurses. Their dedication to service of human kind is over the top and she thanked them very much. September 15 is also National Linquini Day. She had some linguini and pesto for her favorite Mesa West Italian Rotarian - Lu General. Pam only recently learned that Lucinda had nominated Pam in 20008 and 2009 for a prestigious award in the City of Mesa which Pam did not receive. Lucinda had kept the nomination documentation, and had forgotten about it until she ran across it recently and and gave it to Pam. Pam said she was sitting in bed reading it and could not stop crying. She will never forget Lu's kind words.
- Ed Koeneman attended the Interact meeting where they made more dog toys and they met the lady from Mesa Public Schools who coordinates all the service animals that are allowed to brought by faculty and staff to Mesa Public Schools. She brought her dog, Nellie, and will be a featured speaker at one of our meetings in the future.
- Don Boucher said that on Tuesday he and Sharon had attended the new Queen Creek Rotary Club and Sharon is thinking of joining..
- John Pennypacker was happy that our exchange student, Fanny, would be celebrating her 17th birthday on September 19. He said that on the tables was some information about Polio from John Germ. We are only hitting about 92% immunization rate in the USA. We need to do better. John asked to be billed $100 for a donation to the club foundation to support the Guaymas hearing project. He expressed his disappointment that he would be unable to participate in the Guaymas mission because it is timed when John is already committed to attend the Rotary Zone Institute in Salt Lake City.
Announcements
- Ray Smith announced the mission will take place November 9-12. The ninth will be a travel day. They will work the 10th and 11th and travel home on the 12th. Instead of taking a large bus, they will be traveling in vans. It will be a smaller operation with fewer medical professionals. Rotarian volunteers are encouraged to help with logistical support for the medical professionals. There will be no participation fee charged this year due to the savings by not going two years in a row and continued generosity designated for the mission during those years. Housing and meals will be covered for all participants. Anyone interested in participating should contact Ray. Volunteers do need to have a passport. A visa is not required.
- In Dave Brauchler's absence, Pam announced
- Rock moving project from 8-10 AM on September 24 at the Y. About 14 Interact members have volunteered to help but will need transportation. Also, wheelbarrows, rakes, and shovels will be needed to move the decorative rock from the parking lot to the designated areas in the Y's landscaping.
- We will continue to collect non-perishable food items for Midwest Food Bank at our meetings through October. Each week a different item will be requested. This week was canned tuna, chicken, or pasta. Next week will be canned fruits and vegetables.
- Help the Chef at Salvation Army on Wednesday mornings from 8-10 is also an ongoing project through October. Diane Ware has been having fun doing this.
- Shelly Romine reminded members of the Chili Cookoff on September 29th. In addition to the competition, we will hear a "soft rollout" of the visioning project.
Program - Bonnie Lewis - 55+ TLC Interior Design
Jay Stuckey introduced Bonnie Lewis as a friend of his and Melissa's. She is the owner of Bonnie J. Lewis Design. She does both residential and commercial interior design focused on well-aging with a goal of boosting longevity and independent living. Designing to enable safety and qualify of life so that individuals can stay in their own homes or reside in a community where they feel safe and independent has become her passion.
To reduce risk, many move into senior living communities, but most people would prefer to age at home. She helped her own father. When assisted living became his best choice, she designed his studio apartment. When the staff at the facility he moved into were showing potential residents around they would ask for permission to show her father's bright, cheerful unit.
Even though most would prefer to age in place, 99% have not prepared their homes to make that a practical possibility.
Planning ahead can help avoid a crisis.
Many incorrectly believe Social Security or Medicare will cover the cost of long-term care. Long-term care insurance is something that is more cost-effective the earlier in life the decision is made to opt for that kind of protection. Retirement plans to not include coverage for long-term care. In fact, Medicaid will only pay for care after assets are exhausted and the available options are not desirable places.
The cost of remodeling a home so it is safe, wheel-chair accessible, and appealing is about the same amount one would have to spend on one year of long-term care, and will allow that dream of aging in place a more real possibility.
In many cases, medical social workers cannot allow release from a hospital for a patient to go home if the home is not properly equipped for their care.
Falls are the second leading cause of adults needing long-term care. Dementia is the leading cause. Causes of falls include home hazards, poor lower extremity strength, or balance, low blood pressure, and medication side effects. Bathrooms are the most dangerous place in the home.
Understanding the fact that a moment can change one's ability to age at home, should influence financial and residential planning decisions throughout one's life. Waiting until the need arises limits the available options and quality of life.
CLICK HERE to view the slide presentation shared at the meeting.