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Opening and Welcome to Meeting - Past President Colleen Coons Past President Colleen introduced herself. She wasn't sure anyone would recognize her since she wasn't wearing a hat. She was filling in for President Jay Paulus who will be travelling for the first few weeks of his term. She mentioned that the 2024-25 theme for Rotary is "The Magic of Rotary." She recited the Rotary Vision Statement, and shared the Mesa West Rotary Club guiding principals - Transforming Communities, Creating Opportunities, Impacting Youth. She thanked - Dick Myren for offering the invocation
- Mike Lutcher for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
- Steve Ross for serving as greeter
- Chuck Flint for handling the raffle
- John Pennypacker for handling room setup
- Jeanie Morgan and Dick Myren for handling check-in
- Andy Bradford for serving as Sgt at Arms
- Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief Technology Officer
Introduction of Guests - Tim Keller, Sr. Vice President of the nonprofit, Center for the Rights of Abused Children, was introduced. He said it was an honor to be invited back to Mesa West Rotary.
- Mark Newell introduced himself as a member-in-waiting, saying he "comes for the food." He does have a pending membership application, describing himself as a retiree who believews in "Service above Self."
- Jim Schmidt was introduced for the first time officially at our meeting as "District Governor Elect."
- Shelly Romine was attending via Zoom, and said she thought they had taken the Arizona climate with them to Idaho where it was 103° July 10. Deb Koeneman and Machel Considine were also attending via Zoom.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint After a brief explanation where he announced the small pot would be $25 and the large, accumulating pot was up to $711, Chuck asked Andy Bradford to draw the winning ticket. Pam Cohen was the lucky winner of the small pot, but the card she drew after shuffling the cards remaining in the deck was the Five of Diamonds. Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Andy Bradford  - Pam Cohen contributed $20. She was happy to have travelled to Omaha with Ron and Toni Thompson to celebrate the 4th of July with Past President Chris and Mike Krueger. While there, though, Pam lost a crown resulting in some misery. Not willing to wait to visit Dr. Ron's office when they returned to Arizona, Ron eventually used Mike's Dremel and an appropriate nib to get Pam some relief.
- Ron Thompson contributed. He was happy Andy Bradford had accepted the Sgt at Arms responsibility, telling Andy "You only have three years to go."
- Chuck Flint celebrated the fact that he had decided to have the battery checked in his 2018 Ford Fusion. He learned the battery was defective and there were (only) four days left on the warranty.
- Connie Bunyard celebrated a recent trip she had made to Florida to fly back to Arizona with one of their grandbabies.
- Harry Grossman contributed celebrating the anniversary of the day his son advised him he should move from Sedona to Scottsdale, which created the need in Harry's life for his introduction to Mesa West Rotary Club.
- Steve Ross pledged $43 to celebrate his and Luin's 43rd anniversary on July 4.
- Don LaBarge contributed saying he'd been a Hot Shot with the Boy Scouts for 37 years. He was recently invited to Camp Geronimo for a big meeting and free lunch where they discussed the future of scouting in our areal. In the past, there would be as many as 1,000 at the week-long camps at Camp Geronimo. This year, there were only 200. Don's takeaway assignment was raising funds. Andy said that his oldest brother met his wife at Camp Geronimo.
- Dick Myren contributed. He had recently returned from a trip to Iowa. The purpose of the trip was to attend his brother's celebration of life. While there, Dick had the opportunity to visit with four of those who he graduated with 70 years ago. He enjoyed a wonderful reunion with many family members. One of those he was reunited with was a grandnephew who he last saw at the younger man's wedding. That was long enough about that two of his children have graduated college and a third is a senior. Dick was able to enjoy the wonderful time with friends and family because he was confident his grandson would be with and take good care of Sandra while Dick was away.
- John Pennypacker contributed celebrating the gun he'd had playing golf with his grandson. He said the sound of a solidly hit drive was very impressive. Ty hit six 300-yard drives. John was happy to say that John birdied the last hole, and Ty three-jacked it.
- Ed Koeneman was happy to have recently spent some time with Don teaching him how to use his own lathe to make a bowl. He also celebrated that later that day, they would be picking up Olivia and Carlotta who would be returning from their Rotary Youth Exchange train trip across the US. Friday, they would both be heading back to their home countries. Ed said it would only be two weeks until he gets his new knee.
- Warren Williamson shared a story about Little Johnny. In a science class at school, Johnny's teacher dropped an earthworm into a glass of water where the earthworm wriggled and swam and survived very well. The teacher then dropped an earthworm into a glass of alcohol where that earthworm shriveled up and died. The teacher then asked what the students could conclude from the experiment. Little Johnny readily responded, "If you drink alcohol, you won't have worms."
- Colleen Coons celebrated receiving an award at the June 29 celebration and DG installation event. Mesa West Rotary was the only club in the District to meet the requirements for the Certificate of Excellence award. Mesa West also was one of a few clubs who achieved the "Five Avenues of Service" award. Colleen echoed Pam's comments about the pain-free dentistry of Dr. Ron Thompson and thanked him for her own new crown.
Auction - Items Donated by Jim Schmidt On a recent trip to North Carolina, Jim Schmidt picked up some edible treats - all of which were local. There were no chain restaurants in the area he visited. After a competitive exchange of bids under the direction of Auctioneer Ed, Colleen Coons made the top bid of $35 and announced the goodies in the bag would be her present to Dan Coons for their recent wedding anniversary. Check Presentation Tim Keller was invited to come forward as was Immediate Past President of the Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Jim Schmidt. The Center for the Rights of Abused Children was the charity of choice to receive the third quarterly donation of $750.00. Tim said he was humbled and grateful for the donation. It would be used to help with a fund they are working on to help with those who are aging out of foster care. As one might imagine, there are many bad outcomes. It is patterned after a Permanency Project initiated by Wendy's Foundation. In Georgia, there was a 30% reduction in measurable bad outcomes. Tim said that with the program they are working on, they are targeting a 50% reduction in the first three years. Announcements Dick Myren will be handling many of Jeanie Morgan's duties while she is in Michigan for the next three months. He would very much appreciate it if members would use the Happy Bucks forms that are on the table. - If the amount contributed is cash, and you are okay with your contribution being used, as budgeted, in our operating account, it is not necessary to complete a form.
- If you are pledging an amount and wish to be billed, put the amount in the "bill me" blank.
- If you want your contribution to be used for one or more of the charitable purposes at the bottom, please make sure to complete that section and note the request that it should be for $10 or more to make it worth the extra time and effort it will take to manage getting the donation(s) made in your name so you get appropriate tax deduction benefits.
- We want to honor your intentions, but that is difficult to do if your intentions are not made clear.
Colleen reminded members that their help is needed to help English language learners practice their conversational English skills. Our own Polo Santiago is very involved with this program and appreciates the support of his fellow members. Program - Classification Talks from new members Connie Bunyard and Andy Bradford Connie Bunyard - Valley Remodeling Connie and her husband John started their business fourteen years ago. Their family is their "why." CLICK HERE to view the slides Connie shared during her presentation. She and John have been married 43 years. They are very active in the community. Thjey moved from Queen Creek to Mesa five years ago. Connie got involved in Mesa Leadership and is on the curriculum team. One organization they are involved with is Hunkapi in Scottsdale. They provide therapy for vets and disabled. They are also involved with House of Refuge and recently participated in their Roaring 20's fundraising/outreach event. They won an award for a bathroom remodel and one of the slides is a testimonial from the owner of the property. They pride themselves on their "peace of mind" process. Once an agreement is reached, there is no change unless the owner initiates it. The Bunyards will only make a change if they "find Jimmy Hoffa in a wall." Andy Bradford Andy said he was born and grew up in Mesa near Gilbert and Brown. There were citrus trees on their lot and neighboring lots. Every summer they would sift the rocks in their yard out of the soft soil under them getting the landscaping rocks back to the top. He met his wife when they were in 9th grade. They married shortly after graduation. His eyes were opened to the opportunities of entrepreneurship. He worked a few years at Lens Crafters. He went on to a better (for him) opportunity at Vision Works where he learned about running a company. He began working Real Estate part time while with Vision Works. Five years ago he started doing Real Estate full time. He is glad he found Rotary as we have the same core values that he has. In these past five years, although - for many - the real estate market has gone sideways, his "Be The Good" group has grown through putting "service above self." He has three team members. They help people make their lives better. He said Connie's company helped him with a property (putting lipstick on a pig). Andy shared that there are changes coming in the industry. Because of lawsuits in the industry, new and improved standard documents will begin being used mid August. Some things will be more transparent. Agents need to be able to explain clearly. His goal for his team is to have everyone on his team be people who care. He ventured a prediction about interest rates, saying curringls the FHA rate is in the low 6's, and Conventional 6.99. He believes that within 18 months we may again see rates in the 5's. Speaker Gifts - Colleen said that Connie and Andy would be the first to receive the special speaker gifts that Jay Paulus wants given out during his year as President - hand-made pens crafted by one of our members - Ed Koeneman at Keeper's Workshop. |
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RLI SESSION 1 ONLY 
Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
As most of you know, Arizona has a very unique state tax credit program. If you pay taxes to the state of Arizona, you can specify where your tax dollars go (state taxes only). These instructions are for your reference only. Please consult a tax prep professional with any specific questions about state tax credits.
