Highlights of December 12 Meeting

 

 

President Jay welcomed District Governor Michelle Holcomb to the meeting.  He asked Eric Silverberg to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and Ray Smith to offer the invocation.  He then asked Ray to lead those in attendance in singing Jongle Bells.  Before doing so, Ray reminded everyone of the story that everytime you hear a bell ring, an angel gets their wings.

 

Jay reminded eveyone that the 2024-25 Rotary International theme is "The Magic of Rotary."  Our District Governor has her own theme:  "Rotary Means Business."

 

 

 

Chuck explained that the small pot of $45 would go to the person whose ticket was drawn.  That person would also win the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck.  Should they be so lucky, they would win the larger, accumulating pot which was up to $480.  The other way they might possibly win would be to draw the joker in which case they would win an additional $20.

 

Chuck intended to have our newest member, Gary Whitehill draw the winning ticket, but our District Governor took the hat and started throwing tickets on the floor until she finally handed one to Chuck saying it was the winning ticket.  It belonged to Nick Cady.  After Chuck presented the $45 winnings, Nick shuffled the cards face down, then drew a card.  The card he drew was the Four of Clubs.  Chuck said the $45 winnings might cover the cleaning fee for the tickets strewn about the floor of the meeting room.

 

 

 

Lu General explained that she thought she heard her credit card going "ding, ding, ding" every time they made a purchase as the conversion took place from dollars to pounds or Euros.  She said the assortment of items in the bag did not have a theme, and that the bag did not contain any alcoholic beverages.  The bidding began at $50, but quickly ended after Chris Cady bid $100, saying to put it on his dad's account.  Chris let his wife, Shannon, go through the interesting array of items in the bag which included a book about the Eifel Tower, some coasters from Paris, and some political pins from the House of Lords.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay wanted to formally recognize the effort that John makes every week putting up the banners and getting the meeting room ready.  He presented a Certificate of Appreciation to John for his Foundation fundraising efforts, for being a mentor to Jay, for exemplifying the true spirit of Rotary.  Jay was deeply grateful for John's service.

 

 

 

Michelle presented an award to Jay for the club having exceeded the average of $25/member in giving to Polio Plus in the 2023-24 Rotary year.  She urged the club to "keep up the good work."

She said Mesa West was amazing, and are a tough act to follow.  The whole club sets the bar high.  She said she would be back in the spring for an "each one reach one" activity and urged members to start thinking about who they might invite.

 

 

 

Colleen introduced Sage Pena Roman who was one of our McKinney Vento students last year. She attended one of our meetings with Braly last spring, but did not graduate.  Colleen asked Sage to share a bit of her story.

 

Sage said she was kicked out of her parents home.  She was living with her older sister and reminded pretty much every day that she was a burden.  She was attending Dobson High School.  She was not eating much.  She would go to school and had a bunch of friends.  One of her friends introduced her to Lisa Grant.  After that, she never felt alone.  She felt she had an emotional support line.  Colleen working with Lisa by providing the stipends helped her eat.  As a kid, she was taught to "stand and be quiet."  Her nature is to be social.  Sage fought being tearful during her brief presentation, but she wasn't the only one with tears in her eyes.  Our program gave her a lot at Christmas last year.  She has now graduated.  

 

Colleen presented a graduation gift bag to Sage, as well as present her with the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh The Places You'll Go."  She told Sage Mesa West would be her home and assured her we would always care.

 

 

 

Colleen Coons invited the visiting Cady family to come forward.  She welcomed them and their shared values:

Colleen said that their contribution to our Mesa West Rotary Foundation allowed Mesa West Rotary to develop our Rotary Builds Bridges program which enables McKinney Vento students to realize their potential.  It is difficult to express what a significant impact their generosity has had on our club and our community.  Last year, eight out of nine of our students graduated.  We are mentoring twelve students this year.  

 

We are glad that Allan and Polly's cherished values were passed on in a way that made you want to honor them with a charitable legacy.

 

Some additional individuals were brought to the front of the room:  John Pennypacker, Jay Paulus, Michelle Holcomb, Dan Coons and Jim Erickson.

 

Jim was asked to help with this special day when the entire family would be celebrated.  First, Nicolas and Caroline were each presented with Paul Harris Society recognition certificates and pins.  Four Way Test coins were also given to both Nick and Caroline.  Their mother, Shannon Cady was then presented with her Paul Harris Fellow pin and certificate.  Chris Cady was not only presented with his Paul Harris Fellow pin and certificate, he also received a pin for Paul Harris Plus 8 recognition.

 

With all four members of the family together, because of their generous gifts to The Rotary Foundation, they were presented with a beautiful crystal.

 

Chris Cady asked for the microphone.  He thanked the club for being a meaningful part of his dad's life.  When Allan retired at 71 from a high-demand job in the automobile business, the family wondered what he would do with his time, passion, and energy.  Soon after retiring, Allan found another pursuit - Mesa West Rotary.  It has been a center point of their existence allowing his dad to use his drive to accomplish good work.

 

 

 

The regular meeting was adjourned.  Those who were guests who needed to leave were advised they could do so.