Opening and Welcome - President Jay Paulus
Al Nunez led the Pledge of Allegiance. Dick Myren offered the invocation.
Harry Grossman enthusiastically led everyone in reciting The Four-Way Test.
Introduction of Guests
Melody Jackson introduced her sister-in-law, Carrie Wilkerson. Several members who were attending via Zoom were acknowledged: Lizzy Barron, Pai Bethea, Shawn Buntin, Shelly Romine and Gary Whitehill.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck asked Kayla Mudge to draw the winning raffle ticket, which was held by Eric Silverberg. After delivering the $35 weekly pot to Eric, he let Eric shuffle the cards face down. Eric then attempted to draw the Ace of Clubs, which would have made him the winner of the large, accumulating pot of $855. Sadly (for Eric) the card he drew was the Jack of Spades, which was destroyed. Each week the odds get better the the accumulating pot gets larger. After the accumulating pot is over $500, the raffle is not available to guests. It's not unusual for member attendance to improve when the pot reaches this level.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms - Andy Bradford
- Chad Reid announced that he has been nominated in Toastmasters for their #3 position in Arizona. He said he is the only candidate, which improves his odds of being elected.
- Penny May, our favorite visiting Rotarian from Alaska, contributed saying she was happy for support received when she recently posted about the 3rd anniversary of the loss of her husband, Charlie. She was very happy to be at the meeting.
- Eric Silverberg donated his raffle winnings to the Sponsor Campaign. He was happy Jim Schmidt and the others from Mesa West who were there enjoyed a great President Elect Training Seminar (PETS). He was also happy for the guests at his table who would be speaking later.
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 - happy that he and honorary member Rod Daniels were associated with the Ace of Clubs. He added some additional $$ confessing he'd left his Rotary badge in his car. His great grandson in Washington Iowa was in 3rd place in state competition on an archery team that was also in 3rd place in the state. He was soon going to be headed to national competition in Kentucky. The school system was paying his parent's expenses to travel with the team to the competition. Dick asked to be billed $20 for the sponsor program to celebrate his second granddaughter to get married. The wedding was in Willard, Missouri (near Springfield) and her husband prepared all the food.
- Allan Cady was happy they had company from Charlotte. Polly was absent because she was with them. Allan made a pledge of $100 to the Sponsor Program for Polly's team.
- Pam Cohen contributed for her recent missed meetings and also pledged $100 to the Sponsor Campaign. She went on to mention information on the table about the sponsor campaign, saying it was time "to get this party started." The campaign will be in sprint mode between now and the end of the Rotary fiscal year - June 30. She said that, so far, $16,000 has been donated to Mesa West Rotary Foundation this year. Pam said she would use matching points from her Paul Harris recognition account to match donations made between now and the end of March. The five team leaders are: Ed Koeneman, John Pennypacker, Kayla Mudge, Ray Smith, and Chuck Flint.
- Kayla Mudge enjoyed PES. She tended bar at the hospitality suite hosted by District 5495. She confessed the drinks might have been a little heavy.
- Warren Williamson said even though he is an electrical engineer, he is not in love with technology - especially not in love with cyber security and the necessity of creating and recreating passwords. We're advised not to use pet names as they are too easy to hack. In an attempt to make life easier for himself, he named his Chihuahua 43L92&g, but the dog won't come when he calls her.
Auction - Chuck Flint Auctioneer, Melodie Jackson Donor
A bag of items purchased by Melodie Jackson on her recent European vacation was auctioned. Jim Schmidt began the bidding at $25 and the bidding was pretty lively and competitive until Connie Bunyard verified that she could designate her bid to go to her team in the Sponsor Campaign and bid $75. There were a variety of items in the bag, including a beach towel, wooden spoon, sea salt, Cypress Delights, lemon rice, an orange/honey mixture and more.
Announcements
- Jay Paulus announced that those who have signed up to attend Rotary Day at the Park March 21 will be able to pick up their ticket at the will call window on the south side of Sloan Park. He also encouraged those who plan to attend to carpool. There will be no regular meeting March 20.
- March 27 we will have a regular meeting at noon. That evening will be the Ignite Innovation competition. It will be free for those who attend. Members were encouraged to arrive at the Studios at Mesa City Center at 4:30. Because it is an ASU facility, alcohol will not be available.
- Jay announced that several possibilities are being considered for our Rotary Week of Service Project the week of April 14-19. Possibilities are House of Refuge or Midwest Food Bank. More to come in the near future on this subject.
- John Pennypacker announced that he had been looking into an alternative solution to adding a new banner for each new district governor in our club, now that we are up to seven PDG's and two DG's to be. He showed a sample of what it would look like to list several listed on the same pull-up banner. He learned he can purchase two pull-up banners for the cost of one felt banner as we have been displaying. It will make getting the room ready for each meeting much easier, and allow more space to enjoy socializing with one another.
- Members were encouraged to register for the District Conference which will be held May 2-3. Thursday evening May 1, there will be a steamboat cruise on Saguaro Lake to raise funds for The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona.
- Members were reminded of the Blood Drive to take place at the YMCA on April 2.
- Ed reminded members to put the April 5 Spring Olympics on their calendar at the Koeneman hacienda. There might be a new event - the Great Chicken Chase!
- President Jay was happy to have completed what was needed for the etched disk that will be launched to the moon in September: it will include our club photo, our roster of club members, the Rotary Four Way test and a letter from our President to the future - for whoever might one day find the disk as part of a Time Capsule on the moon. Exciting Project...
Program - Be Kind Organization
Andy Bradford introduced the newly inducted treasurer of the Be Kind Organization, Elena De Luz and her entourage of Vianey Yorkovich and Irma Penon-Tanner. They were very appreciative of the warm welcome they received at the meeting and said that they could see their organization and Rotary were very closely aligned in our visions and values. The Be Kind Organization has been around since 2018 and includes members of the Real Estate, Mortgage Loan and Title Company industries in the valley. They were organized to help combat homelessness, provide education and services working with and through local charities by offering support and resources.
They meet monthly and host a variety of events like an annual Easter Egg Hunt. The participating youngsters are pretty savvy. They know that the contents of the plastic eggs are more valuable than the dyed eggs. They will be holding a golf tournament May 31. Their next annual gala will be in October. They work with a variety of local non profits. They have put together back packs for kids. They have worked with at risk youth through Young Life. When they needed servers for their gala, the kids helped and did an excellent job.
Proceeds of their golf tournament will to to the American Legion and children's charities. Foursomes are needed for the May 31 tournament:
