Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President Colleen Coons
President Colleen thanked:
- Steve Ross for serving as greeter.
- Dick Myren for offering the invocation
- Jack Rosenberg for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
- Jeanie Morgan for handling check-in
- John Pennypacker for handling room setup and filling in as Sgt at Arms
- Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief of Technology
Introduction of Guests
- Bert Millett introduced Carlotta, an inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student from Spain. Bert has been her host dad in recent months. Prior to that, she stayed with Ed and Deb Koeneman. Members were reminded that they were invited to a farewell gathering to say goodbye to the youth exchange students before they depart on their YE Train Tour of the USA.
- Bob Purinton from Four Peaks Rotary Club in the Fountain Hills area was introduced. He invited Mesa West members, friends and family to participate in the Octoberfest their club will be hosting. It will be held at the Pavilion of the Convention Center in Fountain Hills September 22-23. He said there would be lots of great German food including brats, apple strudel and Black Forest cake. He also brought greetings from incoming District Governor Michelle Holcomb and our new AG, Bob Harris.
- Harry Short was introduced as a seasonal visitor to our club. He will be heading back to Seattle soon.
- Julio Espinoza, with the Grand Canyon Council, Boy Scouts of America was introduced as someone who would like to join Mesa West Rotary.
- President-Elect Nominee Kayla Mudge was applauded. She will be leading an Interact Ambassador team on the Crutches for Africa mission. In order for the team to go, they needed to raise $65,000 in less than six months. Kayla was congratulated by President Colleen for making that happen.
- Attending via Zoom were Deb Koeneman, Bob Jensen, Shane White and Marilyn Klingler.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
Dick explained that the proceeds of raffle ticket sales are divided three ways. A third goes to the club operating account. Another third goes to the weekly winner, and the final third is added to the accumulating "big pot". He said the weekly winner would win $25, and if they were lucky enough to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards left in the deck, they would win the big pot which was up to $626. He asked Amy Sailors with Mesa Police Department to pick the winning ticket which was held by Brian Harvey. Brian elected to have Carlotta be the weekly winner as well as try to draw the Ace of Clubs. Sadly - for Carlotta - the card she drew was the King of Clubs.
Happy Bucks - John Pennypacker - Sgt at Arms For the Day
John announced that the funds raised during Happy Bucks would be divided between the Youth Exchange students our club has "adopted" this year who are going on the train trip.
- Ted Williams contributed. He was happy one of his granddaughters was returning from Barcelona. Another granddaughter was leaving for Greece.
- Visitor Bob Purinton contributed. He said John Pennypacker had recently driven Olivia to visit his club - which meets very early in the morning in Fountain Hills. With John interviewing her, Olivia shared information about her year as a Youth Exchange student. Bob said they were a tremendous hit.
- Jay Paulus contributed - bragging about Liz Paulus being honored by ABC TV and Sanderson Ford. CLICK HERE to see the video they ran about Liz.
- John contributed mentioning how inspired he was by the Aspire Academy.
- Wayne General contributed sharing some police humor.
- Frank Rosenberg contributed. He was very happy that Sam Rosenberg would be returning from her outbound Youth Exchange trip to Denmark - arriving around midnight.
- Kayla contributed. She thanked the members who had supported her fundraising effort.
- Harry Grossman contributed. He announced he was starting a new tradition. Each week he would be wearing a different hat - each featuring a local business. This week, the business is Chompie's
- Warren Williamson contributed. He told about little Johnie who had learned about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and told his mother that was were we all came from. When he told his father the same lesson learned, his father said that people actually came from ape-like creatures. Johnie asked his mother which was right. His mother explained that Johnie's father was talking about his side of the family.
- Dick Myren made his traditional contribution - thankful that he and honorary member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs.
- Ed Koeneman was happy to see Carlotta. She had spent the fall in their home. He congratulated Kayla on raising the funds necessary to fund the trip to Africa. He was also very happy that Deb would be returning. Apparently, their dishwasher doesn't work when Deb is out of town.
- Deb Koeneman was very happy to be in Georgia welcoming their son back from Poland. She said "It's been wonderful - James' smile is real!"
- Don Boucher contributed sad bucks. A couple who are very dear friends had travelled to Prescott where they were hit by a cement truck. She did not survive.
- John Pennypacker contributed. He was happy his grandson, Ty enjoyed the opportunity to have dinner with Allan and Polly Cady, Olivia and Braly while he was in the San Diego area recently.
- Colleen contributed. She was very thankful for Ranger Ben who came to their rescue when a hiking trip at Picacho Peak with the exchange student from the Ukraine. Dan got lost. The youth exchange student ran out of water. She was very thankful for cell service and the help of Ranger Ben.
Sponsor Program Update - Steve RossSteve said we are now a little over $52,000 and reminded members that "many of us have way to many ties." He suggested members ask their kids to donate to the sponsor program rather than purchase a Father's Day gift for them.
We just have a few weeks left before this year's campaign ends. Let's try to reach our amended goal of $60,000.
Auction Item - Wayne General
Wayne had a bag of items purchased during the trip he and Lucinda made to Curacao, an island in the Caribbean, in April. He said the bag contained ten items, nine of which were edible, and the tenth was alcohol. He said the proceeds of the auction would go to the sponsor program to benefit the Ed Koeneman team. After several bids, the final, top bid, was from Bob Purinton, our visitor from Four Peaks Rotary Club.
Announcements - Jay Paulus encouraged members to attend the Chamber's Mesa Has Heart event Friday evening June 14. He said Dan and Colleen would be there.
- Members were urged to sign up to participate in the conversational English practice sessions for ESL students which Polo Santiago has opened up for us on June 26 and July 11.
Program - Efran Cammona and Amy Sailors - Mesa PD Fiesta Division Events
Efran and Amy have been working together for the last year. She has been with the department for fourteen years. She is single with no children and loves the Cardinals.
Colleen mentioned that she met Efren at Mesa Leadership and sees him as an humble soft-spoken leader. He and his wife, Joy have three children. Two of them are adopted - one from China and one from Ethiopia. He is peace-focussed both personally and professionally.
He described Colleen as bossy, but backtracked saying persistent was probably a better word. In the nine months they went through Mesa Leadership together, she was persistent in telling him about Rotary. He noted he gets paid. She volunteers. She was looking for ways our club could partner with the Fiesta Division.
One tangible thing that a few Mesa West Rotary volunteers did do was cook breakfast for the cadets at the Aspire Academy his past spring. Aspire is a four-day immersive academy for girls to learn about positions in the fire and police departments - many of which have been traditionally filled by men. The cadets stay overnight, shower and engage in activities. They forfeit their cell phones when they arrive so they are fully engaged. They learn about and practice some activities. He mentioned repelling, search and seizure, speakers, sex trafficking, and teen violence. They learn life skills and how to stay safe. The goal is to recruit for the future. The academy is for girls in the 9th-12th grades. It is held during spring or fall break. Other local metro communities are offering comparable academies. Mesa PD plans to host one every other year. It is fully funded by donations. The meals are prepared for 100 people - 50 participants and 50 workers. The meals were covered at no cost. They appreciated the donation from our club.
The academy is located in the DT Room. The girls slept on training mats.
CLICK HERE to see the Aspire video. CLICK HERE to see the slides Amy used during her part of the presentation. There are a number of volunteer opportunities available for community partnership.
Both Efren and Amy were given Four-Way-Test tokens at the end of their presentation.