Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President Colleen Coons
Because this was a very special meeting - the official visit of District Governor Kevin Pitts, Colleen wanted to share a Rotary Minute where she recognized the Past District Governors in attendance. For each of these individuals, there has been a huge investment of time and talent to serve their community and the world through Rotary. Each of them had served in their own local club and at the district level for several years before considering becoming a District Governor. Once named District Governor Nominee Designate, they invested three years of preparation and training for their year of service as District Governor. Following their year of service, they continue to serve their club and district. Rotary is a way of life for them. She thanked Kevin for his investment of time and effort.
Steve Ross led the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Colleen voiced appreciation for
- Pam Cohen who served as greeter
- Chuck Flint for handling the raffle
- Diane Ware for handling check-in
- Steve Ross for leading the Pledge
- Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
- Ed Koeneman for being our Chief Technology Officer
Introduction of Guests
- Polly Cady Introduced Carla Rowe Malcolm from Gilbert Rotary Club who will be Olivia's next host mom.
- Don LaBarge introduced Mike Lutcher and Mike's guest, David Sauer a Marine who is employed at the Mesa post of Salvation Army and handles many responsibilities there.
- Colleen welcomed Bob Jensen, Melodie Jackson and Pai Bethea who were attending via Zoom.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
The large pot was $1,335. The small weekly pot was $50. Chuck asked Warren Williamson to pull the winning ticket which was held by Lucinda General. Lu explained she had purchased two raffle tickets - one for herself and one for Wayne who was not in attendance. She said it was Wayne's ticket which won. She shuffled the cards remaining in the deck before attempting to draw the Ace of Clubs. Unfortunately, for Wayne, the card Lu drew was the Eight of Spades.
Happy Dollars - Ron Thompson - Sgt at Arms
- Ron complimented Colleen on her great outfit. She was appreciative of the compliment, but fined herself $20 for failing to recognize the Assistant Governor and District Governor when introducing guests. She said Ray Smith loaned her $5 with no interest because of the chocolates he did not touch that were meant for the Guaymas Hearing Clinic patients. She was glad Harry Grossman would be donating $4 this week. She was wearing the Cardinals hat, but it was painful because it didn't match her outfit. She was sad to report that the 35-year-old son of our recent visitor Connie Bunyard had died from a gunshot wound on Saturday. Colleen had also recently learned that Dave Brauchler's sister had recently passed.
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 - thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs. He also contributed an additional $4 happy along with Harry Grossman that the Cardinals had finally won another game this season.
- Ed Koeneman was sad to report that the studio has announced that the target date for the release of the next Star Wars movie has been pushed out to May 22, 2026 - 915 days away.
- John Pennypacker was happy to have spent the prior Friday with an Army buddy. They met with his friend's mother who will celebrate her 102nd birthday December 5. Saturday, John's grandson got to ride in a Huey Helicopter.
- Warren Williamson said that Colleen had responded to an ad for getting a psychic reading over the phone, When Colleen asked, "Briana, what can you tell me about me??" Briana replied, "You are either very calm and serene or you're dreaming."
- Ray Smith was happy to have bunked with Frank Rosenberg on the Guaymas trip. After two night, he was ready to give Frank back to Amanda. He said the trip was a success. They had a great time and did great service. A more detailed report will be provided to the club at a future meeting.
- Dan Coons was happy to be at Mesa West and said the President would pay his fine.
- Allan Cady said Judge Tommy Webb has recently lost his 47-year-old son. Tom stopped to see Allan and Polly on his way to Yuma. Allan said Tommy's abiding faith is helping through this recent loss.
- Polly Cady was happy the DG was at the meeting. She was also happy that Ray Smith brough back a gift from a friend she met on an earlier Guaymas trip. It contained cookies and a Senora magnet. Ray added that Polly had sent a bag for Polly's friend and her daughter with him and he delivered that gift as well.
- Chuck Flint had a gift for Ray who is known as the Guaymas mission cheerleader urging everyone to work hard so they can play hard. Ray has never had the think that all cheerleaders need - a set of pompoms. Chuck had a blue bag containing some pompoms which he delivered to Ray.
- Harry Grossman was happy to be wearing his red Cardinals shoes celebrating their recent win. He gladly contributed $4 and predicted that now that Murray is back in the Quarterback position, they would win the rest of the season. Harry had a Cardinals souvenir to give to Olivia.
- Lu General donated $5 to honor a special afternoon spent with Olivia. Lu was also thankful that Elizabeth Mahoney, Bret McKeand, Larry Horton, Michelle Holman and Jim Schmidt were all at Zone fully participating. She is proud to see such strong participation from our district.
- Pam Cohen contricuted covering Harry's happy dollars. She was happy to see Carla at our meeting. She thanked Kevin for his service as DG. Pam said she hd recently spoke with Dan Lamborn and learned he has accepted a position in Boise and hopes to join the Boise Southwest Rotary Club there.
- Don LaBarge was happy after having no volunteers committed to help with the Veterans Day parade at the November 9 meeting about 40 volunteers out of Westwood High School showed up to help. He went on to lament three recent incidents at his business:
- They had a water leak in their warehouse that took four days to track down and fix.
- They loaded a 110 Gallon container of caustic chemical in the back of his new 350 pickup. They did not tie it down adequately. It spilled and filled the bed with chemicals which leaked out and destroyed the wiring under the truck bed.
- When running a credit card for one of their customers, it accidentally was processed for $10,055 instead of $1,055.
\Announcements
- Westwood High School Interact Club will soon celebrate its 60th anniversary. As plans are finalized, Colleen and/or Ed will keep members informed.
- Members of the club have now met all ten McKinney Vento students.
- Colleen urged members who have not already done so to become part of Trustarian - a network of Rotarians where when one needs help in a specific area, they can find a Rotarian to fill that need.. Mike Whalen can help anyone who might ask figure out how to log in and sign up
Program - District Governor Official Visit
President Colleen said the man who introduced her to Rotary would be introducing our speaker. She also bragged that she is the only President our Assistant Governor Dan Coons calls "dear.."
Dan said that as Assistant Governor, it was his honor to introduce our District Governor Kevin Pitts who has been a member of the Rotary Club of Prescott since 2004. Kevin lived in Mexico City for twelve years. He has served as Co-Chair of the Mexico USA Friendship Conference and Grants Exchange Workshop. He has actively participated in international projects in Mexico and Kenya. He served for several years as Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) Coordinator. In 2017, he led the Crutches 4 Africa team to Kenya. He is married to PDG Elizabeth Mahoney. He enjoys hunting and fishing with his three sons.
DG Kevin said he was very pleased to be here. He began by saying "We get to..." We get to do amazing things in Rotary. It's a choice. We don't "Have to." He encouraged everyone to really think about what it is about being a Rotarian that makes us feel the most pride.
He stressed that is truly is an honor and a privilege to be in Rotary . Kevin was invited into Rotary by Bob Mason, who was Kevin's grandfather's best friend. He said at the time the Prescott club was big. All the movers and shakers were in that club. Time and circumstances took ts toll and they got down as low as 8 members about ten years ago. October 1, 2021, they celebrated their 100 year anniversary..
Kevin had a very well put together presentation.. The pictures tell his story better than a narrative article can do. CLICK HERE to see his presentation slides.
Kevin has accumulated friends from every continent. He met the love of his life through Rotary even though they had worked for the same firm for years.
At the USA Mexico Friendship Conference held this year in Prescott, 15 projects were presented totaling $1.4 Million. By the end of the conference, $250,000 were fully funded. They anticipate the balance of the projects will be fully funded. The conference alternates which country will host. Next year it will be in Xalapa, Veracruz October 31-November 4.
Kevin's charity of choice is The Rotary Foundation. It is highly respected and rated. The first motor of Rotary is its members. TRF extends the motor.. Every act of service is an act of peace.
Rotary is very close to our goal of eradicating polio. Members are urged to support this effort. Members who've not yet tried it might want to get some Iron Lung Lager specially brewed to help District 5495 raise money for this cause. The Mudshark Brewery in Lake Havasu city crafted the lager for our District. They would like to continue the partnership.
This year's RI President's initiative is Mental Health. His own brother committed suicide leaving a wife and two children behind. Clubs are being urged to have informative speakers and collaborate on project to help in this area.
Induction of New Member Mike Lutcher
Major Mike Lutcher with the Salvation Army was welcomed as the newest member of Mesa West Rotary Club. District Governor Kevn pinned him reminding him it is an honor and privilege to be in Rotary, and that he has joined an awesome club.
Honoring an old member
Ted Williams will celebrate his 50th anniversary as a Rotarian December 13. Ted says every time he says something, it touches hearts. He is a few months shy of being a charter member of Mesa West, and is the longest-term member still in the club. He served as District Governor in 1989-90. He said when he was a senior at Mesa High School, the Mesa Rotary Club named a junior Rotarian of the Month. When he saw the leaders and heard about the project he knew he wanted to be a Rotarian. When he was a new CPA, he was invited to join and was surprised and honored to be invited. It's been a great experience. He has friends all over the world. This past summer they went on a trip in Canada with a former Youth Exchange student.
Honoring our District Governor
President Colleen invited Allan Cady and Jeanie Morgan to come forward to receive a $5,000 donation for The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona honoring District Governor Kevin. She also presented Kevin with a pen crafted for our DG by our own Ed Koeneman in Keeper's Workshop