Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President-Elect Colleen Coons
- Welcoming Remarks - Colleen reminded everyone that the Rotary International Theme this years is "Imagine Rotary." She then recited the Vision Statement of Rotary International:
Together we see a world where people UNITE and TAKE ACTION to
CREATE LASTING CHANGE across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.
- The Invocation was offered by Dick Myren.
- The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Polo Santiago
- A Rotary Minute was shared by Colleen Coons about RYLA. Colleen had recently attended RYLA at Camp Pinerock. On the final morning, when many in attendance were crying, realizing they were going to have to say goodbye to there newly formed deep friendships, some of those in attendance shared what they would be taking away from the weekend. One young participant shared that before RYLA she spent a lot of time crying. There were rumors about her being shared at her school. From what she experienced at RYLA, she said, "I want to stay in this world . . ." Colleen is proud that Mesa West Rotary supports Youth Services through RYLA, Rotaract, and Interact. These programs do effect positive change!
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck asked Bert Millett to draw the winning raffle ticket, which was held by Erwin Reimann making him the automatic winner of the small $45 pot. Erwin shuffled the cards, but when he attempted to draw the Ace of Clubs, he instead drew the Three of Clubs, so the large, accumulating, pot will continue to grow.
Happy Bucks - Ron Thompson
- Allan Cady was happy to have attended and made a TRVFA presentation at the Mesa Rotary Club meeting January 25 at Benedictine University on Main in Mesa. While there, he was presented with a nice-sized check from their charitable foundation in the amount of $5,000.
- Polly Cady thanked the Dan Lamborn family for hosting our inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student - Fanny Leinard. Fanny is now with her third host family - Frank and Amanda Rosenberg are her new host parents. Later this spring, Fanny will move to a fourth host family. Darl Andersen's son and daughter-in-law will then be her host parents.
- Erwin Reimann donated his winnings. He was happy he won, but sad he hadn't drawn the Ace of Clubs. He was happy to have taken Joan's sister to the airport after a stay with them. Erwin apparently had no regrets about the sister he chose for his life partner - Joan! He was happy and sad that they would be leaving for South Dakota on Sunday to take a look at their new summer living option. He wanted his winnings to be donated to Polio Plus.
- Dick Myren donated his traditional $2 - happy that he and honorary member Rod Daniels are associated with Mesa West - the Ace of Clubs. He donated an additional $5 in appreciation of Ron and Toni Thompson opening their home for the post-holiday celebration.
- Gina Schroeder contributed, saying it was her first experience at our post holiday gathering. She was glad she was still welcome at the meeting after having had to be tracked down when she disappeared with the set of Legos she had opened and someone else wanted to steal. Gina added that she was from Stevens Point Wisconsin. Her best friend's father was a Rotarian. Gina contributed $50 to honor Jack Pastor's 50-year membership in the Stevens Point club.
- John Pennypacker was very happy. In a recent golf game, on the 12th hole (which was a par 3), he made 2.
- Ed Koeneman was happy that eleven from Westwood High School Interact would be attending the Interact District Conference in February. Four of the members would be working at the conference as District Council members.
- Colleen Coons was $58 worth of happy to have recently celebrated a birthday. She was also happy to have travelled to Hermosillo Mexico to visit the Microcredit program with a group which was organized by Abe Feder. She and Dan were supposed to be fasting, but the food there was amazing.
- Shelly Romine thanked Ron and Toni. She also thanked Lola McClane for all the amazing photos she captured at the post-holiday celebration, and Jeanie for posting a video to display the photos.
- Jim Schmidt complimented the great party. He also praised Polly Cady for the great job she does managing Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI).
- Don LaBarge again remarked about how many friends he finds out he has when he has Barrett Jackson tickets available. A Vice President of a company he deals with in South Dakota even came to see him.
- Penny May was happy to be enjoying a visit with her sister, Mary Anne. Penny's grandson Peter was here in January for a socker tournament. He'll be back in February for a hockey tournament. In March, she will travel with them to Italy where Peter will participate in an international soccer tournament.
- Bob Zarling said he was happy to contribute to the Ron Thompson fund. He let Gina know he was familiar with Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
- Chuck Flint said he was recently in Costco. He noticed a nice looking man with white hair putting stuff on his hot dog. He also noticed the man had on a Major Donor pin from The Rotary Foundation. Chuck introduced himself and enjoyed a pleasant conversation with a Rotarian from Sioux City Iowa. His point - wear your Rotary pins - get recognized!
- Pam Coons was attending via Zoom. She pledged $50 to thank Ron and Toni for the wonderful party. She said the she and Shelly arrived two hours early to get everything that had been delivered all set up. The work was already done she and Shelly arrived.
The Rotary Foundation - John Pennypacker
- Bert Millett was called forward to be recognized for his first Paul Harris Fellow. His accumulated donations reached $1,000 plus in December, 2022. John presented Bert with his Certificate and pin.
- John pointed out the papers he had placed on the tables. Out of our 65 members 29 have signed up for Rotary Direct. The papers are for those who have not yet made that commitment, to make it easy to do so. The stated goal - internationally - is for every Rotarian to give at least $100 every year to The Rotary Foundation. Setting up Rotary Direct makes it easy to make that commitment without having to think about it. You can set up monthly, quarterly or annual repeating donations using a debit or credit card. It's safe and efficient - saving time and effort at each end of the transactions.
Announcements
- Dave Brauchler
- The February service project will take place on February 11. Seven volunteers will be needed at the emergency shelter for Child Crisis Arizona. The volunteers will be working with the kids that are there to help them with a Valentines craft project. We have no way of knowing in advance how many children will be there. The shelter age range is 2-10, but the most common ages are 3-7. There may be as many as fifteen kids there, but we are limited to seven volunteers.
- We will have an off-site lunch on May 11. We will have lunch and a tour of the Ross Farnsworth YMCA. Our member, Greg Bouslog responded positively to a request coordinate by President Pam to host a blood drive at the center that day. Members may want to arrive early or stay late to donate blood as well as enjoy lunch and the tour.
- Dave is working with Sunshine Acres to see if a service project can be coordinated at their facility.
- Shelly Romine asked members to keep June 29 open on their calendars to celebrate Mesa West Rotary's 50th anniversary. She also asked that if asked to do something to help with the event the appropriate answer is an enthusiastic "Yes!" She also apologized for the error on the first "save-the-date" email she sent. The first to note that the email said the event would be on Saturday, June 29 was a CPA. The correct date is Thursday, June 29.
- Colleen Coons wanted to point out she had kept up with Pam celebrating whatever national day it is on the day of our Mesa West meetings. Thursday, January 26, is National Spouse's Day.
Program - Joanna Alhands - Does Arizona Have Enough Water?
Jay Stuckey introduced our speaker. Joanna Allhands is the Digital Opinions Editor for the Arizona Republic. If it's on-line and opinion-related, she likely oversees it. She is an Arizona Native who has been with the Arizona Republic since 2004.
Starting off with the disclaimer that she is a journalist, not an expert, she said she would be discussing the question, "Does Arizona Have Enough Water?" It is a subject she has spent a lot of time researching and learning about.
She shared some interesting facts. We have three main sources of water - surface water, groundwater, and reclaimed water. In west Mesa, Salt River Project Water is the supply. In the east side of Mesa, Central Arizona Project is supplying Colorado River water. A fascinating fact shared was that we consume about the same amount of water now as we did in 1950.When the Ground Water Management Act was passed in 1980, rural areas were not included.
She said there are issues. The Bureau of Reclamation has stated there is a need to cut 2-4 million acre-feet of additional use by this year. States have not figured out how to do this. States are meeting. There has been some progress. 592,000 acre feet of usage was cut this year. FYI - an acre-foot is about 325 thousand gallons.
Tucson is the closest to getting where they need to be.
CAP is next in line for cuts. Arizona is a junior user - the last state to sign on. Water supply regulations only apply to subdivisions. Most cities in the valley are up for usage review in the next few years. Agricultural usage was 72% of the total water consumption in 2019Ted Williams asked about an alfalfa operation operated by a Saudi Arabian entity. No one seems to understand how they got the deal they got when the current lease was negotiated. Apparently that lease is up for renewal in the relative near future. Our speaker did say that that particular operation operates with better water efficiency than the majority of rural agriculture operations. She also indicated that pressure needs to be put on legislators and officials to be assured the state's best interests are look out for when that lease expires.
A slide was shared showing very concerning projections of pool elevations in Lake Mead. With regard to groundwater for urban use, "none of the five active management areas are in "safe yield." It is anticipated a lot more "straws are about to go in the ground, thanks to the Colorado." There are essentially no rules. "Reasonable and beneficial use" is subject to interpretation. Some wells are running dry. Aquifers are permanently shrinking.
Climate change is the X-factor. We could get hotter and drier. Or - we could experience feast or famine - extremely wet vs. extremely dry.
The largest amount of water is used outside. That is where we can make the most difference. Inside - if you have an old toilet in your home, consider replacing it with a newer more water-efficient one. Look for leaks - fix them quickly. Monitor your usage on your water bill - it can be a clue that helps discover unseen leaks.
Things we can do.
- Be advocates
- Talk to friends and neighbors
- Write elected leaders
