Welcome and Opening of Meeting - President Pam Cohen
- Dick Myren offered the invocation.
- Gina Schroeder led the Pledge of Allegiance
- Diane Ware was thanked for serving as greeter, making members and guests feel welcome as they arrived and for recruiting individuals to fill openings in the duty roster for the coming weeks.
- Ed Koeneman was thanked for returning from the Rotary International Convention and being available to handle the technical aspects of the meeting.
Introduction of Guests
- Colleen Coons introduced Machel Considine, a 15-year Rotarian visiting from Kyrene Rotary Club. Machel works with Donna Goetzenberger on the District Youth Exchange committee. She is the Inbound Coordinator for our District's YE program.
- Chuck Flint introduced our Assistant Governor, Dan Coons. Dan is a Past President of Mesa West and is currently in the Queen Creek Satellite Club, which will hold their Charter Night June 22.
- Harry Grossman was again visiting from the Sedona Village Rotary Club. He introduced himself and conveyed their greetings!
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck explained that the holder of the stub of the ticket drawn would automatically win $20 and the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck. Should they be so lucky, they would also win $590. Check asked Machel Considine to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Warren Williamson, who had an innovative idea (which didn't pass muster) of how to follow Chuck's instruction to shuffle the cards face-down. The card Warren drew was the Three of Spades, so the large pot will continue to grow.
Happy Bucks - Lucinda General
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 - happy that he and honorary member Rod Daniels have the good fortune to be part of the Ace of Clubs.
- Jack Rosenberg was happy to be at the meeting.
- Colleen Coons was happy for all the fun and laughter she and Dan enjoyed while spending time with Ed and Debbie Koeneman at the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne Australia. Apparently Ed was their personal guide and master snorkeler when they explored the Great Barrier Reef.
- Ray Smith was glad to be back in A1 shape after spending time at a Boy Scout camp. At 76, Ray was the oldest guy in camp. This prompted Lucinda to do an informal poll of the members to see how many present had been Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. She hoped to give credibility to her theory that a heart for service often starts in those organizations.
- Dan Coons also contributed for the time he enjoyed with Ed and Debbie at the RI Convention. He said he also enjoyed spending time with Colleen while there, as well. He said that when they celebrate their wedding anniversary on July 5, Colleen will be here and he will be in Kenya with the Interact Crutches 4 Africa Ambassadors.
- Jim Erickson was happy to be sporting a shirt that asked, "When is 'old enough to know better' supposed to kick in?"
- Pam Cohen accepted the Polio Plus traveling trophy when it was presented to Mesa West for being the top-giving club at the District Conference. The trophy was very heavy and she didn't take it back to her table after receiving it, and failed to pick it up to bring back to our club. At Jim Erickson's urging she has located it and will be picking it up from DG Larry Horton.
- Melissa Stuckey was happy for the salad.
- Harry Grossman was happy his grandson will be a Rotary Youth Exchange student next year, travelling to Ostersund Sweden, a city of about 40,000 near the Norwegian border. It is the winter sports capital of Sweden and his grandson is an avid cross-country skier, so it should be a great fit!
- Jeanie Morgan is house-sitting at John Pennypacker's home while he is travelling the globe. While he was still in Australia, he grew in his technological expertise. He figured out how to get Alexa to "play country music everywhere" in his home remotely from Australia. When Jeanie returned to his home after Rotary July 1, she was welcomed by a country music seranade.
- Chuck Flint was happy Machel was at our meeting.
- Polly Cady, who was attending via Zoom, pledged $10 to Team Thompson - $ because she was happy that Machel was visiting Mesa West and $5 because Don LaBarge has a special pin he hopes to give to Fanny (our inbound Youth Exchange student) before she heads back to France.
- Ed Koeneman was happy to have been able to spend time with 30,000 of his closest friends at the RI Convention in Melbourne. Although sad that our speaker did not show up for the meetings, he was happy to have the opportunity to share some of his photos and takeaways from the convention later in the meeting.
- Warren Williamson contributed some of his winnings and shared the fact that he is an aficionado of humorous music. One of his favorite composers is Shel Silverstein who wrote Three Legged Man. Warren then did a fine performance when he sang the song without accompaniment. Unfortunately, Warren's rendition was not recorded. If you click on the name of the song or on the Happy Bucks photo collage above), you can see a YouTube video of Tom Dundee singing it... President Pam was so awed by Warren's performance that she pledged $100 to Team Kayla for the sponsor program. Allan Cady who was attending via Zoom also pledged $100 to the Sponsor Program.
Auction Items - Colleen Coons assisted by Ed Koeneman
Colleen had two bags to auction - one from their vacation to the big island in Hawaii. It contains sweet and savory edibles as well as memorable and wearable items. The second bag was from their travel to Melbourne. It contains cultural, sweet, "made in Australia" items and a plush mascot dedicated to creating Hope in the World. Melissa Stuckey was the successful bidder with her pledge of $50 for the Australian bag. Lucinda General's $50 cash bid was the high bid for the Hawaiian bag.
Announcements - President Pam showed a large badge she was wearing on a lanyard. She explained that after she learned that her daughter was taking Pam's little grandson on a river trip, she learned what she could about water safety and learned it is possible to be certified as a "water watcher"
- Lucinda General is helping President Pam prepare for the 50th Anniversary Celebration Dinner. They are preparing some displays so those in attendance can experience sone "hands on" memorabilia. To be successful in that endeavor - they need stuff - Rotary stuff from over the years that members have stashed away in their homes. She asked everyone to dig through their stuff and get it to she or Pam in the VERY near future!
Rotary International Convention Highlights - Ed Koeneman
Ed said it was fun for he and Debbie to spend time with 30,000 of their closest friends in the world. If you want to get excited about Rotary, attend an International Convention. He said the quality of the speakers was awesome. Upon arrival in Melbourne, there had been a problem with their luggage. They met a couple from Antigua who had the same luggage problem. One of them was a District Governor, who had three countries and nine islands in the Bahamas in their district.
They were very impressed with Jennifer Jones, the first woman to serve as Rotary International President. She had a spectacular year. Her keynote presentation is available to view on the Rotary.org website, as are many of the other convention presentations.
Ed attended an Interact session where he heard about an Interact Leadership in San Francisco where 4,000 Interact members were in attendance.
Visit the Mesa West Rotary Facebook page to see many more photos posted by Ed. The Peace Bells found in Rotary Park in Melbourne have four inscriptions which are described in the Facebook posting - those in the park are encouraged to ring each bell and contemplate on the bell's inscription.
At the conventions, there are "home hosting" opportunities. They visited the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. It dates back to 1837. After twenty years, someone can be accepted as a "provisional member." To be a "full member" takes fifty years.
Ed noted that John Pennypacker makes friends where ever he goes.
Jim Schmidt is shown with an entertainer - an opera singer - who is also a Rotary District Governor.
The fellowship opportunities are everywhere. At their hotel they learned that wines from Tasmania are a thing. They found a speakeasy with an unmarked door where unique drinks are served.
In the House of Friendship, you can learn about the amazing work being done by Rotary Action Groups.
One of the Rotary fellowships - of which Ed is a member is BREWS - Beers Rotarians Enjoy Worldwide.
Incoming Rotary International President Gordon McInally will have a theme of Create Hope in the World. He wants to focus on mental health awareness. His brother took his own life, so the subject is very near and dear to him. Ed said the "passing of the torch" was very elegant and well done.