 President Dan Coons opened the Zoom meeting platform at 11:15 so members who wanted to engage in informal conversation could do so. Since Allan and Polly Cady had recently returned from a fishing trip to Minnesota, there were a few fish stories to be shared. Warren Williamson had a new twist on an old saw, "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish you can get him out of your hair for weeks at a time." Wendell Jones had a story to share about two brothers who went ice fishing. There were two holes to fish through in their hut. The first brother was pulling in one fish after another but brother #2 was having no luck at all. Finally, frustrated, the luckless brother dropped his line through first brother's hole, but still had no luck while first brother continued to be lucky. Out of frustration brother #2 asked brother #1 what he was doing wrong. He got a mumbled response and asked again. Brother #1 spit something from his mouth into his hand, and with much more clarity responded, "You have to warm your worms." Wendell said they had taken their youngsters fishing many times over the years, but his best fishing trip was when he went to Alaska where they caught more and much larger fish. They caught one halibut which weighed over 200#. That's when he learned his mistake had been that he'd been fishing for the helluvit instead of for halibut. On a more somber note, Wendell asked for members to pray for his wife Carolyn who is also a member. Since our last meeting she suffered a stroke and is now completely bedridden and cannot speak. Dan thanked the members who had already logged into the meeting for making his experience as club president year-to-date a lot of fun. At Noon, President Dan called the meeting to order. He introduced himself and recited the Rotary Vision Statement. Thought for the Day - Jeanie Morgan PEACE Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset Saint Francis de Sales The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence. Norman Vincent Peale Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. Dalai Lama Nobody can bring you peace but yourself. Ralph Waldo Emerson If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. Lao Tzu When things change inside you, things change around you. Unknown Peace can become a lens through which you see the world. Be it. Live it. Radiate it out. Peace is an inside job. Wayne Dyer If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he's just like you. He has the same dreams the same hopes and fears. It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors. Frank Sinatra Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. Albert Einstein Past District Governor Chuck Fitzgerald had a takeaway from a message at church a few years ago. He had to ask himself, "Am I a peace lover, or a peace-maker?" Let There be Peace on Earth and Let It Begin With Me familiar song by Sy Miller & Jill Jackson and performed by many Rotary Minute - Dan Coons Following the theme of peace, President Dan encouraged members to attend the Persuing Peace Conference being hosted by our Rotary District 5495 on Thursday, September 18 at Rio Vista in Peoria, Arizona from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The conference will also be Livestreamed. The conference will feature six keynote speakers, and will have a focus of "Is Your Organization a Platform for Peace?" CLICK HERE to reach the registration/information site. Another district event is being held virtually - at no cost to attendees - Saturday, September 19 from 9:00 AM to Noon. Club Leadership Academy Part 2 will feature breakout sessions to appeal to all Rotarians. Don't let the name deter you from attending it is for all Rotarians - not just club leaders! CLICK HERE to reach the registration/information site. Happy Bucks - Allan Cady - Pledged $5. $1 for the fist he caught on his recent fishing trip to Minnesota and $4 sad bucks for those fish that got away.
- Polly Cady - $5 - they know a young couple from Peoria Illinois who want to join Rotary. Polly is helping them get connected.
- Allan Cady - Pledged $75 to The Rotary Foundation to celebrate his 75th birthday and his 10th anniversary as a Rotarian.
- Wayne General - Celebrated completion of their gazebo by pledging $20.
- Greg Bouslog - Pledged $5 because he is happy that football is back and fun will come along with it.
- Warren Williamson - $5 pledged because phone service has been out in his office since September 2, but cell phones took the place of the phone system very well.
- Pam Cohen - Pledged $5 because although she was happy to see Wayne General attending, she was sad that Lucinda was absent. Wayne explained that Lucinda was in another room working with an IT person to fix a problem.
- Bob Zarling - Pledged $5 he showed a background screen from the TSA area in the Milwaukee airport which was a large image of two people toasting each other with large mugs of beer.
- Don Boucher - Pledged $5 because he was in attendance and eating oatmeal.
- Jack Rosenberg - Pledged $10 noting that before Allan Cady became a member, he was already a Paul Harris fellow.
- Colleen Coons - Announced that she would be donating to the Mesa West Rotary foundation the proceeds of seven shares of stock.
- Dan Coons - Pledged $5 for forgetting Terry Cowan's name. He's known Terry a long time, saying he remembered them both being at the Rotary International convention in Los Angeles.
- Bob Jensen - Pledged $100 for the Guaymas mission. September is a big birthday month in his family. They will be headed to Tucson to celebrate. His grandson's birthday is the 12th, their son-in-law's is the 15th, and Bob's is the 19th. He will be 71. Bob also announced they would be presenting a program about the Guaymas mission to GCU Rotaract this fall.
- John Pennypacker - Pledged $5 because his class of District Governors had recently had a Zoom meeting with Steve Snyder who had been their RI Director. He shared news from Evanston (RI Headquarters). Good news was that RI staff have had no instances of COVID. Bad news is that Rotary has lost 14,000 members this year. 12,000 of the members lost were in North America.
- Don Boucher - Pledged additional $12. He and Sharon will be celebrating their 12th anniversary on the 26th.
Announcements - The October 15 meeting will be presented by a representative from the C-Span network.
- The Step-up-for Rotary fundraising opportunity provided by the district can be entered by individual Rotarians or groups of Rotary friends at any time. CLICK HERE for information.
- Shelly Romine reminded members of the September club service project, which will take place on Friday, September 25 from 6:30 AM to Noon. Members who are interested in participating can CLICK HERE to register on the United Food Bank website.
- Shelly also announced that the October service event will be an evening event doing emergency food packaging for United Food Bank.
- Colleen Coons announced that the second introductory on-line meeting about the Vello tutoring project would be held following the Rotary meeting at 2:00 PM. There will be another two-session opportunity in two weeks.
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Plan to enjoy a "Conversation with the Commander" Thursday, September 17, and our 
President Dan introduced Kiana Sears, a member of the Governing Board of Mesa Public Schools. One of Dan's first memories of our speaker was when she was working with the United Way and was instrumental in planning a fun fundraising event - a scavenger hunt in downtown Phoenix. Kiana was a member of a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) team that traveled to Switzerland in 2009. At one time, Kiana was a member of Mesa West Rotary Club. She was invited to speak at our Mesa West Rotary Club meeting about the impact of COVID on the school system.
Saturday, September 5, President-Elect Bob Zarling and Vocational Service Chair Bryan Goetzenberger utilized Zoom to participate in an online interview with Nicholas Phair. The interview was to determine if Nicholas would be a worthy candidate to be sponsored by Mesa West Rotary for a grant from The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA).
