Opening of Meeting and Welcome - President Pam Cohen
- Dick Myren offered the invocation.
- Debbie Koeneman led the Pledge of Allegiance
Introduction of Guests
- Member Donna Goetzenberger who is rarely able to attend meetings was welcomed as though she were a guest.
- Grant Venable who would be presenting the program later in the meeting was briefly introduced.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
After a brief explanation of the Ace of Clubs Raffle, Chuck asked Donna Goetzenberger to draw the winning ticket. Ray Smith expressed considerable surprise when he realized it was his ticket which had been drawn, making him the winner of $30 plus a "Be the Change Volunteer" water bottle as well as the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck. Had he been so lucky, he would have won an additional $630, but the card he drew was the Eight of Clubs. Ray tried to feign that he had only erred in selecting that card saying he understood chuck to say "eight" when he had actually said "Ace."
Happy Bucks - Ron Thompson
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 happy that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels were associated with the Ace of Clubs. He made an additional donation saying how much he had enjoyed working with Jeanie during his two year term as Club Treasurer, which would end June 30.
- Jack Rosenberg contributed. He had recently attended a celebration at his Temple. Pam Cohen had attended the same event. Afterward, they learned that several individuals in attendance had come down with COVID. He was thankful that he nor Pam were in that number.
- Don LaBarge explained that he had not been in a skirmish. He had cut his lip with a razor. He let the members know that Rod Daniels recently had surgery.
- Ray Smith contributed his raffle winnings to the Sponsor Program. He was excited that his wife was out of her three stages of casts on her broken ankle. She is now in a boot and can resume some light household duties. During her recovery, Ray has become adept at some chores that he never aspired to be good at. He announced he would be travelling to Duncan, Arizona, where they would be having a 135-year all class reunion. They would also go to Alpine to spend time with 150 of Vickie's closest relatives. When Ray lived in Duncan, he was the captain of the Basketball team. When his family moved to Mesa and he transferred high schools, his new school had 800 students and Ray was shorter than the water boy.
- Shelly Romine was happy to be back. She had enjoyed a girl weekend in San Diego with friends and another good weekend with Scott in Prescott.
- Allan Cady was pleased that Pam Cohen was auctioning a dinner for six which she would prepare to raise funds for the Sponsor Program. The "Gourmet Group" is the current high bidder with their bid of $450. If anyone wants to top that bid, they need to contact Jeanie Morgan before noon Friday, June 30.
- Donna Goetzenberger contributed $20. She was happy to announce the District Youth Exchange program is really strong. One outbound student from this year has already returned home. Three outbounds are still out. Our inbound students are currently on their cross-country train trip. Next year, the district will have fifteen inbound students and ten outbound plus one short term student. Mesa West Rotary has several host families.
- Chuck Flint contributed saying he would be flying to Mexico City to pick up a "well documented" chocolate lab for a friend.
- Debbie Koeneman contributed saying she had a friend who had died from COVID. Debbie contacted COVID in Australia, and after recovering from that contacted the current variant in the US after they returned from the convention. She took over-the-counter meds and has recovered with no residual effects.
- Ted Williams contributed saying that Ray is only the second person from Duncan that he has ever met .This summer, they plan to travel from Vancouver to Calgary. They will see their very first youth exchange who was a young blond from Australia. Sadly, her husband has cancer.
- Ed Koeneman was happy to announce that the Interact Ambassador C4A team to Mexico was in flight on their way to their adventure.
- Pam Cohen pledged $15. She apologized for failing to welcome Bob Jensen who was attending via Zoom. She was happy it was her last official regular meeting as President. Colleen Coons' term will begin July 1, but her installation won't be held until July 20. Pam may have to help of fill in until that happens. She was also happy she would be heading to Omaha to celebrate the 4th of July and the opening of Chris Krueger's new Pilates Studio.
- Bob Jensen said they have two new grandchildren. The one in Portland is three months old, and the one in Oro Valley is five weeks old. He will be travelling to a family reunion in Portland - the first time in five years the family will have been together. He hopes to be able to join our 50th Anniversary Celebration via Zoom.
Announcements
- Shelly Romine announced that over 100 have registered for the 50th Anniversary Gala to be held June 29. The dress is business casual or "little black dress."
Program - Grant Venable - Be The Change Volunteers
Shelly Romine introduced GrantVenable. Grant is the Director of Change at Be The Change Volunteers (BTCV). He leads teams and provides project support globally to partners in Asia, Africa, South America, North America and the Pacific Islands. He works with NGO's mission organizations, and community activists to identify, evaluate, and complete education-focused projects. This includes identifying the underlying problems specifically related to infrastructure, equipping, training, and cultural differences at schools in underdeveloped countries. He manages the relationships between the local community leadership and the BCTV US-based leadership team. Together they determine how to appropriately address these challenges and collaborate for a successful deployment of resources. He is experienced in the business sector, construction, international project management, and emergency medical rescue. Grant lives in Arizona with his wife Rachel and their two daughters. The family loves warm weather, serving at church, hiking, biking and all things outdoors!
Grant's program was very fast-moving. The slides he used during his presentation can be seen by CLICKING HERE.
Volunteers for their programs need to be background-checked. They pay their own travel expenses. BTCV knows that many people want to travel abroad, but rather than have the typical tourist experience, would prefer to help make the world a better place by participating with and getting to know the people who will benefit from the projects they get involved with. They don't get complaints about the value received.
To learn more about Be The Change Volunteers, visit their website: BTCV.us
Learn more about the BTCV leadership team by CLICKING HERE.