Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President Colleen Coons
President Colleen thanked
- Ray Smith for offering the invocation.
- Jack Rosenberg for leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Steve Ross for serving as Greeter.
- Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief Technology Officer.
- John Pennypacker for making sure all the club flags were on display.
- Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
Introduction of Guests
- John Pennypacker introduced PDG Jenny Coburn from Australia. Jenny shared her pleasure of spending three weeks with her son in Scottsdale. They had been apart for the past four and one-half years.
- Polly Cady introduced Olivia, our Rotary Youth Exchange student from Sweden. Polly reminded members to help Olivia check items off her bucket list of activities she hopes to participate in while she is on her exchange. President Colleen presented a permanent name badge to Olivia.
- Abby Lyon and Andy Price were briefly introduced as being with the Boy Scouts. Andy would be our speaker and introduced in more detail later in the program.
- Jack Rosenberg introduced Andy Bradford, his neighbor and friend who is in the real estate business.
- Bob Jensen and Melodie Jackson were attending via Zoom.
- Dil Brinton was visiting from Mesa Rotary Club. He was dressed in his Boy Scout leader regalia and attending to hear the program. Dil is likely the most well-versed in Mesa and Rotary in Mesa history. When asked,, he replied that his mother's people were among the early settlers of the east valley.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
After explaining that the small daily pot was $35 and the large pot was $71, Dick asked Olivia to pull the winning raffle ticket. The ticket she drew belonged to Jim Erickson. After receiving his $31 in winnings, Jim shuffled the newish deck of cards and drew a card. His attempt to draw the Ace of Clubs - which would have made him the winner of the large pot - was unsuccessful. The card he drew was the Jack of Diamonds, which was promptly destroyed.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Ron Thompson
- Allan Cady was happy to remember that he attended the Boy Scout World Jamboree when it was held in Colorado Springs when he was fifteen. Allan's mother was very involved with Girl Scouts. Allan helped her build fires, make smores, etc. He said he felt like he was a member of the Girl Scouts in those days.
- Polly Cady contributed said she did know about Allan's Girl Scout past, but married him anyway. She also put in another plug letting members know what fun it is to hang out with Olivia. Polly took Olivia, Carlotta, and Lotte to the Goldfield Ghost Town. One of the activities they did there was ride the Zip Line.
- Harry Grossman was wearing his red shoes and glad to contribute $6 - $1 for each of the Cardinals' wins this year.
- Pam Cohen provided an update on Chuck Flint. Chuck was still in the hospital. During his December 27 surgery, an artery burst. He lost nearly three pints of blood. They were unable to finish the first surgery. The second procedure that was planned will not be done for probably several months. Chuck has several blood clots in his leg that are being mitigated. Chuck is glad to receive texts, but would prefer not to have visitors at this time.
- John Pennypacker was happy to inform Olivia, he would soon be able to give her a ride in his cabriolet (Francesca - his Jaguar convertible). She is finally coming out of the shop January 9.
- Warren Williamson might need to be fined for the joke he shared. He told about someone being lost in the forest one overcast night. They were told that if they could fine one star in the sky, they would be able to tell which was was up.
- Ed Koeneman was happy to have enjoyed a couple of weeks with their son who is now off to Calvary training.
- Dick Myren was glad to be back. He made his traditional $2 donation thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs.
- Shelly Romine said her husband was a Boy Scout. She said he learned more in scouts than he did in school. She said they were hiking near Prescott and came across a woman who had fallen. He helped her, and the woman asked if he was a nurse or doctor and he replied, "No - just a Boy Scout."
- Jim Erickson said he was also at the Boy Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs in 1960. That was where he had his first exposure to the Air Force Academy.
- Brian Harvey pledged $50 for each of our Rotary members who talked about their scouting experience. They are each to choose the Rotary cause of their choice for their $50.
- Jim McGown has helped deliver some nice lockers to Westwood High School. The lockers are now installed. They were in great shape. Jim said C & C Metals are replacing their employee lockers and are giving away their old ones for free.
- Colleen Coons said she is always happy. She asked PE Logan Harper to stand saying he has a unique body type. She said her husband, Dan Coons, never wants to hire out anything. He has the ability to fix anything and everything. They had an overhead leak in their house. She said Logan came over - better response than "Same Day Plumbing" He was able to use the special tool which required significant strength to operate. She also expressed praise for Logan's attention to detail.
Presentation of Club Trading Banner
After holding up the new club trading banner which was designed by Pam Cohen, Colleen presented the banner to Jenny Coburn, our visitor from Australia.
Announcements
- President Colleen thanked Abby Lyon from the Mesa Rotary Club for their contribution to the holiday wish list bags for our McKinney Vento students.
- Shelly Romine said she is our club's representative on the Micro Credit Committee. PDG Abe Feder of Tempe South Rotary Club is the chair. A trip to Hermasillo to learn about the project is planned for January 26-28. There is room for ten people plus a leader to go. There will be two individuals in each hotel room. All costs for food, lodging and bus transportation are covered. Shelly is planning to go on the January trip. There is room for a couple of others from our club. They should let Shelly know if interested. Three additional trips are planned: Feb. 23-25 March 22-24, and Apr.26-28. For those that are unfamiliar with Microcredit, it is a system where small loans are made to entrepreneurs (mostly women). When the money is repaid, it is recycled into other loans. The loans are small - $972 is the average loan size. They are used to help the borrowers open things like a street tortilla or crafts vendor, Mary Kay cosmetic business setup, etc. The loans enable the borrowers to become self-sufficient and take better care of their families. Colleen said she went once and it changed her life.
- Pam Cohen reminded members to make their reservation for the Youth Exchange meal prep gathering being held at Pam's home January 6. Good food will be prepared by inbound Youth Exchange students from Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Pam believes the cost for each of the four individuals is about $3,800. She also encouraged members to attend the Post Holiday Party which will again be held at the home of Ron and Toni Thompson. The entree will be catered. Those who attend should bring a dessert or appetizer to share. We will have our traditional gift exchange. Those who want to participate should bring a wrapped gift valued at $20. There is a new twist this year. The person dressed in the most festive outfit will get to pick their number. When your number is drawn, you can open a new gift or steal a gift that has already been opened. Depending on how many participate, each gift can be stolen one or two times. Ugly sweaters might be considered festive and might just win, but Colleen "doesn't do ugly," so the competition is for "most festive."
- President Colleen announced that when MLK Day is celebrated in Mesa, Polly, Logan, and Taylor (Logan's fiance) will host a Mesa West Rotary membership table at the event. She said maybe next year Mesa West can walk in the parade.
Program - Andy Price - Scout Executive/CEO, Grand Canyon Council BSA
Abby Lyon from the Rotary Club of Mesa is with the Boy Scouts. She introduced Andy Price who is originally from Georgia. She said often when he is introduced like that, someone will yell "Go Dawgs!"
He said his ring tone on his phone is the Georgia fight song. He can always tell if its his phone that is ringing.
At a donor recognition event, someone said that when people learned that her boyfriend had been an Eagle Scout, the would say, "You'd better marry him!" She did marry him because he was different because he was a scout, and those qualities where those she valued most about him.
Andy has been CEO of Grand Canyon Council in Arizona now about five years. He has been in Rotary most of his adult life. He feels at home in Rotary.
CLICK HERE to view the slides Andy shared during his presentation.
Boy Scouts started in England and came to the United States.
Scout Oath
On my honor
I will do my best
to do my duty
to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
to help other people at all times;
to keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake,
and morally straight.
A Scout is:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent
The wording the the motto and value statements has not changed, but the look of scouting has changed. It is now co-ed. The United States was one of the last countries for girls to be allowed in BSA, which occured in 2019. They have also done some marketing studies to better enable outreach and communicate the benefits.
COVID has impacted the number participating in scouts. In the east valley scouting numbers significantly dropped when the LDS church changed their position on sponsorship of scout troops by the churches. Much re-growth is needed. The drop in number also created some serious budget issues. It was feared at one time that camp property might have to be sold. Maintenance was minimal during that period, but the camps are gradually improving and overcoming that down period. The camps are used by other organizations.
Harry Crossman wondered if the Order of Arrow was still around. He said it was like the National Honor Society of scouting. Many of the scouting values are deeply rooted in Native American tradition. Harry also shared some scouting trivia. The 1953 Jamboree was held in Irvine California. The main drag there is still named Jamboree Drive.
After his presentation, Andy was presented with our Rotary token.