As members and guests arrived for the August 3 meeting, it was apparent there were a few more young people in attendance than usual. John Pennypacker was able to get photos of the Rotary Youth exchange Students who were in attendance - one of whom was Sam Rosenberg who would be leaving the next day for her exchange in Denmark. Another outbound student who would soon be departing for Belgium was present with her mother, and an inbound student recently arrived from Denmark.
August is Membership and New Club Recognition Month
- Dick Myren offered the invocation.
- Warren Williamson led the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Ray Smith was thanked for serving as greeter
- Jack Rosenberg was filling in at the greeter table recording the attendance of members and guests as they arrived.
- Chuck Flint was thanked for selling raffle tickets prior to the meeting.
- Ed Koeneman was thanked for being the Chief of Technology
Introduction of Guests
- Allan Cady introduced Colin Cagel visiting from Auckland, New Zealand. Colin is the father of Polly's first Rotary Youth Exchange student. Allan also introduced Colin's granddaughter Ella Hechler from Brea, California.
- Don LaBarge introduced Ron Kotloff, a neighboring business owner as well as Lindsay, an associate from Ron's office.
- Pam Cohen introduced Harry Grossman, a visiting Rotarian from the Sedona Village Rotary Club.
- Frank Rosenberg introduced Sam and the other youth exchange guests at his table. He reminded members there would be a sendoff party at their home that evening.
- Colleen acknowledged Jim Erickson, Melodie Jackson and Jeanie Morgan who were attending via Zoom.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Because there were so many guests, Chuck explained the raffle. Tickets are sold prior to the meeting for $5 each. The money taken in is divided three ways. A third is deposited to the club's operating account. Another third goes to the holder of the raffle ticket drawn. That person would also win the right to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck which would make them the winner of the large pot. The final third is added to the accumulating large pot, which was up to $830. The inbound youth exchange student was asked to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Ed Koeneman. When Ed attempted to draw the Ace of Clubs, he drew the Three of Clubs instead.
Happy Bucks - Dick Myren
- Dick started the contributions with his traditional $2 for he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels being associated with the Ace of Clubs. He contributed an additional $6 because their grandson and his wife recently gave them their sixth great grandchild.
- Ed Koeneman contributed saying he has lots to be happy about. It has been eight years since the Mesa Baseline clubs merged into Mesa West Rotary. With that merger, we got some great members! Carlotta - the exchange student he and Deb are hosting arrived Saturday and they would be shipping off their son, James, to boot camp on Sunday. Ed said Carlotta has never seen any of the Star Wars Movies. Ed is committed to rectifying that.
- John Pennypacker said some of his misspent youth was spent as a helicopter test pilot where he became acutely aware of hearing, feeling, and sensing anything unusual going on with a motor. He had noted an unusual loud noise when he turned on the AC in his pickup that would stop immediately when he turned off the air conditioning. He left it at recommended auto repair shop. They texted him the photo of $$$ caught in the fan. After the foreign matter was removed, the loud noise disappeared and the air conditioner is working just fine. John said the repair shop is one which operates with honesty and integrity.
- Warren Williamson said that he feels bad since he has no children about not contributed anytime a child or grandchild does something special like most members do. He went through a litany of accomplishments of his nieces and nephews and contributed $100 to be contributed to Polio Plus to celebrate their various feats.
- Allan Cady contributed $4 celebration bucks. He said Ella had baked Red Lobster biscuits while visiting in their home. Allan was sad though because he said Colin and Ella ate the majority of them.
- Polly Cady contributed. She was glad they were going to be enjoying Colin and Ella's company through Sunday. She made a second contribution because she was happy the Youth Exchange students were at our meeting.
- Frank Rosenberg was happy to be seated with the Youth Exchange Students.
- Chuck Flint was sad that a dog-breeder friend had two of their dogs recently pass. On a happier note, he had flown from Falcon Field to Oshkosh Wisconsin and had a wonderful time for a week.
- Machel Considine was happy we let her come back after missing two meetings so soon after being inducted. She missed the meetings because she was helping a 90-year-old friend get to medical appointments. Machel was glad to be welcomed back.
- Deb Koeneman said that while she was recently in Michigan for a sibling reunion, the girls were going to get their nails done, go to a sushi restaurant and go see the new Barbie movie. It sounded like Ed somehow sabotaged her being able to participate in that, but it wasn't clear exactly how...
- Harry Grossman was happy that his grandson Felix arrived Monday with his host family in Sweden where he will enjoy a year of Rotary Youth Exchange. The area where he is staying is where winter sports athletes train, and his grandson is an avid cross-country skier.
- Pam Cohen contributed remarking that Jim Erickson's dog, who was also attending the meeting via zoom, was really cute. Pam had spent the weekend babysitting her grandson in Flagstaff. She was enjoying seeing all the young faces in the room.
- Ed Koeneman contributed some more money thankful to have the Youth Exchange students at the meeting. A phone had been left at a recent meeting. Ed looked through it to find out whose it was. It was Warren's. He noted a text exchange between Warren and Son Hee where she talked about a box of letters found in his car. She said she was never going to play Scrabble with Warren again.
- Don Boucher contributed. He reported on a recent visit with John Orr who was the emcee at the club's 50th anniversary celebration. John had nothing but praise for Mesa West - especially Pam. Don and Sharon call their grandson "Bash" (short for Sebastian). They are teaching him to be a Costco diner. Bash saw someone giving away food samples, but his grandma - who he calls "Mimi" was out of sight. After he called to her several times calling her Mimi with no response, he resorted to calling for her as "Honey!"
- Don LaBarge contributed. He was glad Major Mike was at the meeting. Don said there had been a complete turnover of staff at the local Salvation Army.
- Colleen Coons contributed a $5 fine for being out of uniform. Several members had asked her why she wasn't wearing a hat.
Announcements
- Create Hope In the World pins are available to anyone who does not yet have one at the greeter table.
- Hard copies of the Foundation Budget and the North Star presentation are also available at the greeter table.
- The new program Mesa West Rotary is developing with McKinney Vento needs its own unique name. Members will soon be asked to vote on a name for the program.
Recognition
- President Colleen recognized Polly Cady as Membership Chair since it is Membership Month.
- Past President Pam Cohen recognized a few others who were not present at the July 20 meeting
- She had chocolates for Ray Smith and Warren Williamson who are always at the meetings and always light hearted.
- She had another Three Musketeer gift for the third member of the crew - Steve Ross
- Pam apologized for failing to recognize Don LaBarge July 20. He had a stroke during her year as President, yet came back to continue serving as her Presidential Advisor. She knows Don likes to cook, so she gave him some culinary knives.
Paul Harris Fellow Recognition
Don LaBarge and John Pennypacker invited Ron Kotloff and his associate, Lindsay to come to the front of the room. Ron owns the business across the street from Don's shop. They know each other well. Last bell-ringing season, when Don was having a tough time filling shifts during the first couple of weeks of the season, Ron gave his employees the opportunity to leave work to go to Bass Pro to ring the bell without having to clock out. In addition, Ron personally donated $2,500 for our kettle. Miss Lindsey helped encourage employees sign up to ring the bell, and she also helped. They helped our Mesa West kettle be the highest producing station in the western region. Ron was honored with the highest honor Rotarians can give to a non-Rotarian. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow. Ron said a few words following the presentation. He said they don't make their employees go. He said it's been a rewarding experience for the company and the employees to help out with this.
Announcements
- Service project Tuesday, August 8 at Feed My Starving Children
- Mesa Rotary Club invited Mesa West Members to attend meeting where Representative Greg Stanton would be the speaker. The said that members who plan to attend should RSVP so the Mesa Club meeting facility could be prepared with sufficient meals to serve.
- Members were reminded that Frank Rosenberg is collecting items to be distributed for use by the homeless community in Flagstaff.
- Members were also reminded of the "See You in a Year" party for Sam Rosenberg.
Program - Susan Loper - A New LeafSusan was a librarian for 35 years and retired six years ago. She wanted to continue to serve her community in a capacity that she has always enjoyed - helping others. She loves to cultivate relationships with the community, faith-based, colleges, and other nonprofits. She is passionate about creating events, recruiting volunteers, individuals, and groups to help serve the needs of all the programs within A New Leaf.
Since 1971, A New Leaf has worked in service to their mission of "Helping Families...Changing Lives," making a positive impact in the lives of more than 32,000 people each year in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Services focus on health, housing, and community services, offering a continuum of support to move households from crisis to long-term health and stability. A New Leaf continues to grow to respond to needs in the community by developing comprehensive, relevant, and effective services for vulnerable and underserved families, children and adults.
A couple of short videos were shown at Susan's request. The links to the New Leaf website and those videos are:
https://www.turnanewleaf.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJhggBdlHQI&list=PLu16E3VaqMkcIte68-3qMTEthyWKhWUlj&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TP8p2sxD-4&list=PLu16E3VaqMkcIte68-3qMTEthyWKhWUlj&index=2
Susan shared that when she was first involved with A New Leaf, she spent a month working at each facility to give her time to understand. She said they can always use volunteers as well as donations of goods and food. She said the "sky is the limit." if anyone has anything they want to share.
She knows they are effective in helping to change one life at a time.