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President Kayla Mudge welcomed everyone at noon, Harry Grossman led the Pledge of Allegiance, and John Pennypacker gave the thought of the day. He attended the third anniversary of Mesa as the 352nd City of Peace. He learned International Sign Language and demonstrated to the club: “We need peace in this world, we need peace in our cities, we need peace in our hearts”.
There were many guests today, including:
- Honorary Club Member and Past President of Mesa Baseline Rotary Club, Wendell Jones, whose 79th birthday was today!
- Gwen Sheldon, from the Sheraton at the Cubs Stadium
- Assistant Governor, Jackie Wasik,
- Rotary Youth Exchange student Augustine Tessier and her host sister, Claire Ramos.
- Erica McBeth, our newest member, and her friend Geof Feingold
- And from Rotary Builds Bridges/McKinney Vento. Lisa Grant, Beatriz Lopez, McKay Smith, Kurt, and Emma Nielson
Next, Kayla presented a Special Award to the “Sunshine Squad” – the gentlemen who sit at the front table every week and regularly participate and volunteer! The monthly Partner in Crime award went to Colleen Coons.
New club member Angelia Mudge-Long was formally inducted and received her Rotary pin. Angelia is the mother of Kayla, has already participated in club events, and has donated Walmart cards for the Rotary Builds Bridges welcome bags.
Then Colleen Coons and John Pennypacker asked the Rotary Builds Bridges group to come up and presented Emma Neilson with her medal, money, a handcrafted bag from Son Hee Williamson, and Dr. Seuss, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go book.
District Governor Jim Schmidt presented Paul Harris Fellow awards to Lisa Grant and Beatriz Lopez (via anonymous donors), and presented Angelia Mudge-Long a Paul Harris Fellow award (donated by Allan and Polly Cady).
Chuck Flint did the raffle, and the winning ticket was held by Augustine Tessier. However, she did not draw the Ace of Clubs. Happy Bucks were skipped this week to provide time for the District Governor to speak.
Warren Williamson graciously introduced Jim Schmidt, he met Jim through the Mesa Baseline club. Jim is a former club President of Mesa Baseline and also a past President of Mesa West during the COVID-19 Zoom times.
Jim started with a fantastic accounting joke and then dived right into his talk. He told us that for him, Rotary is very personal. He loves it because Rotary makes a difference, and he loves Rotary’s vision statement. Rotary sees a world where borders aren’t barriers and every voice matters. The District 5495 vision this year is Together We Thrive. The Rotary International theme for this year is Unite for Good.
Jim told the club about his visits to other Arizona Rotary clubs and the story of how Rotary changed the life of current RI President Francesco Arezzo, who was deathly afraid of public speaking when he first joined Rotary, but rose to many leadership positions due to the support of Rotarians around him. We are all stronger due to those alongside us. Jim asked each of us to consider how we could step up to leadership, fellowship, or service opportunities. He then shared a poem which he wrote for 2025 Southwest PETS (this was shared in our August 6th Messenger;, if you would like to re-read it, please click this link: https://mesawestrotary.org/Stories/together-we-lead-together-we-thrive.
In conclusion, President Kayla presented Jim with a handmade Saguaro cactus pen (made by Ed Koeneman).