https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85900479873
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210 United States of America
Our hybrid meetings are held weekly on the 1st thru 4th Thursdays of each month. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to include all, whether attending virtually or in person.
CLICK HERE or on the title (above) to download information Wayne will be discussing at our April 10 Mesa West Rotary Club Meeting. For those who truly want to learn how to take better photographs, Wayne suggests reading his 24-page document before the meeting so you can be prepared with questions to ask if you don't hear them answered during his presentation.
Watch for a reel of photos taken by Wayne General and Lola McClane at our April 5 event. Ed Koeneman will be posting the reel of their photos taken during the competition and social time on our Club's Instagram account. The above collage of photos taken of the medal winners will serve as an informative preview. Congratulations to:
Women
Gold - Kim Bradford
Silver - Suzanne Nunez
Bronze - Emilia Bunyard
Men
Gold - John Bunyard
Silver = Andy Bradford
Bronze - Chad Reid and John Pennypacker were tied
Teams
Gold - Andy and Kim Bradford
Silver - Al and Suzanne Nunez
Bronze - John Pennypacker and Luin Ross
In addition to club members, spouses, and family members, the Spring Olympics was attended by Wendy Lancy from Prescott Frontier Rotary Club. Wendy wanted to preview the games since some of them will be used during a social occasion she is helping organize at the District Conference.
Amyla Buckhannon, Westwood Interact President and Kenya Ambassador was in attendance along with Anise Carroll Covarubias, Interact District Governor and Kenya Ambassador last year. They presented John Pennypacker with his 50/50 raffle winnings from their Crutches 4 Africa fundraising raffle for March. They were selling tickets for the April 50/50 raffle, raising funds for the same purpose. Ed will make sure members who were unable to attend Spring Olympics have an opportunity to buy raffle tickets.
Members are encouraged to invite family and friends to join us for this activity. Each participant should register.
CLICK HERE or on the image above to register to participate in our club's Rotary Week of Service project
Midwest Food Bank generally has opportunities for adults, families, and teens. Specific age requirements or limitations can determine on the type of task assigned. It's best for younger volunteers (under 18) to be accompanied by an adult.
Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged. Please plan to arrive early so everyone can be in place to receive instructions promptly at 9:00 a.m.
Dick Myren offered the invocation. Ted Williams led the Pledge of Allegiance. John Pennypacker led everyone in reciting the 4-Way-Test by singing it.
District Governor Banners
John Pennypacker has been the room preparation guy for Mesa West Rotary for several years. Displaying the banners for our many Past District Governors is a chore that would make it hard to recruit a replacement should John ever want to retire from that task. He had received the first of two new pull-up banners listing several PDG's on a single banner - the cost of which was about half what we would be paying for a banner for our soon-to-be District Governor, Jim Schmidt. Colleen Coons is now officially in the line-up to be DG in 2027-28. There seems to be a height requirement for setting up the new banner. Exavier King displayed his "Always be prepared" boy scout values by getting up to assist John.
Lou General wondered what would be done with the existing felt banners, and expressed her desire to have her banner if the club was no longer going to use it.
Wayne General thanked Jeanie for putting a link to his report on taking better pictures in the Messenger. He will be presenting a program on that topic April 10. He encouraged members to read through it so they could be prepared to ask any questions that he might not cover during his presentation.
Lucinda and Wayne General were both celebrating birthdays during the week of the meeting. The club sang Happy Birthday to them
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck announced that the small pot was $30, and the large, accumulating pot, was up to $930. He asked Andy Bradford to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Lou General.. Chuck delivered the $30 small pot to her, and she deliberately worked with the cards before her attempt to draw the Ace of Clubs so she could also receive the large pot. Unfortunately, for Lou, the card she drew was the Eight of Spades.
Happy Bucks - Andy Bradford, Sgt at Arms
Wayne General made a $75 contribution to celebrate his 75th birthday.
Liz Paulus contributed. She had attended the organization meeting for the satellite club and was very happy to be a part of Rotary.
Jack Rosenberg was also happy to have attended the organization meeting of the satellite club.
Harry Grossman enjoyed the singing of the 4-Way-Test. In a prior Rotary Club he was a part of, singing was a very integral part of their club culture. They had a Rotary song book, there was a piano in the room to accompany their singing. At each meeting, a random member would be selected to choose the Rotary song that would be sung at that meeting. They had the page numbers of their favorite songs memorized.
Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs. He contributed a couple of sad dollars for missing Ignite Innovation and the organization meeting of the satellite club.
Lou General thanked everyone for the lovely birthday serenade. She said she would be heading for Chicago April 12 to participate in the Rotary International Council on Legislation. Once every three years, the COL is held in person to vote on potential changes in the RI governing documents. It will be her second opportunity to represent District 5495 at the unique event and hear the perspectives offered from different parts of the world regarding the proposed changes. She said it is an interesting process to see it all play out.
Justin Hart was happy to have made it to a meeting and expressed his appreciation of the warm welcome he received when he arrived.
John Pennypacker thinks that Warren Williamson has somehow influenced one of John's grandsons. John's daughter took his grandsons - ages nine and eleven - to the National Archives. When showing the Declaration of Independence, the tour guide asked if anyone knew where it was signed. Nine-year-old Will said, "At the bottom."
Ed Koeneman was happy he and Deb would be hosting the social event of the season - Spring Olympics - at their home on Saturday. He said to be sure to wear close-toed shoes and apparel that would make being attacked by spiny plants less likely. When asked what time help should show up to help him get the games set up, he said help should arrive at 2:00. To celebrate the long list of family birthdays and anniversaries, he pledged $100 to his sponsorship program team. He was also happy to announce it is only 414 days until the scheduled release of the next Star Wars movie.
Deb Koeneman was was attending on Zoom also pledged $100 to their team to celebrate their anniversary. She said a few years ago, they renewed their marriage vows in Star Wars apparel at a Star Wars event which they attended on their anniversary.
Colleen who was attending on Zoom pledged $50 to Pam's group and encouraged everyone to register for the District Conference.
Warren Williamson told about a woman who woke up in the middle of the night and was surprised her husband was not in bed. She found him in the kitchen enjoying some hot cocoa. He told her he was celebrating their first date. When she expressed her surprise that he remembered the date, he said it would always stick in his mind, "Your father found us in the back seat of my car. He took me aside and informed me that you were only seventeen, and that I could either marry you or he'd see that I spent the next 20 years in prison. I would be getting out this year."
Announcement
Exavier King announced the Rotary Week of Service Project scheduled April 19 from 9-11 a.m. The link to register with Midwest Food Bank to participate in the work project is available in the Messenger. Members were encouraged to bring other family members with them. Children are welcome, but need to be old enough to make a real contribution to the work effort.
CLICK HERE for a shortcut to the Midwest Food Bank Registration Site for our event.
District Governor Michelle Holcomb did a great job of promoting the Rotary license plate that is now available when she made her official visit to our club September 26. Mesa West Rotary members often lead the way. We want to encourage our members to get their plates purchased so we can be known for having the highest percentage of members displaying the Rotary license plate on their car(s). To that end, we have two incentives to offer:
The first Mesa West Rotary Club member who can honestly tell a story about how they met someone who showed interest in Rotary because of their plate AND that conversation resulted in an approved membership application into Mesa West Rotary or any other Rotary District 5495 club will get one free quarter of their Mesa West Rotary Club dues.
CLICK HERE or on Michelle's photo to go to the order form on the MVD website, scroll down alphabetically and get yours ordered.
Well, maybe NOT the shirt off your back, but instead some old t-shirts out of the back of your closet.
Westwood Interact Club will again be making dog chew toys for a couple of animal shelterswhere the Paws For Peers program rescues and trains dogs to work as therapy animals with teachers within Mesa Public Schools. .They make these dog toys out of old t-shirts. So, dig way back into your closet, or that drawer where all your old stuff is, and bring a shirt or two to lunch at one of our Thursday meetings this September.
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.
There are many different nonprofit organizations that AZ recognizes as authorized recipients of these tax funds. Mesa West sponsors the Interact Club at Westwood High School, and they are a qualified recipient of these tax credit funds in the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) category. Here's how you can donate up to $200 as an individual or $400 as a couple filing jointly and deduct that amount from your state tax burden.
If you have children currently enrolled in Mesa Public Schools, you can use your existing login information. Otherwise, it's easy to setup a guest account.
Once you are logged in, select 'Items At All Schools'under the 'Shop/Donate' list on the Home page.
On the next page select 'High Schools', then select 'Westwood High'
Select the link for 'ECA Tax Credit', and then 'Programs G-K' on the following page.
Interact - ECA is under code 8646. Enter a dollar amount in the box, and click the Add button. That dollar amount should then appear in your cart (highlighted in green at the top of the page).
You can then proceed to the Checkout process and pay with a credit card. You will receive a receipt that you can print out and save for when you do your taxes.
Thank you for supporting Westwood Interact and all of our youth programs.
As Rotarians, we are regularly exposed to opportunities to support various causes with our time, talent and treasure. Sometimes it is hard to sift through all the information and decide where we are going to use our available financial resources.
It would be wonderful if every Arizona Rotarian would make the following BIG FOUR their Rotary charities of choice and support every one of them every year, we could make a bigger difference than we are making today.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Annual Fund - The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world." Giving a small amount each month adds up. CLICK HERE to download a form you can use to sign up for Rotary Direct, electing "Annual Fund - Share" for your recurring donation.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Polio Plus - Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio is so well known and respected that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matches donations $2 for $1. To take advantage of this opportunity to multiply the effect of your giving, CLICK HERE and download a second Rotary Direct form, this time electing electing "Polio Eradication" for your recurring donations. Those who donate $100 or more annually to Polio Plus qualify in District 5495 as Polio Plus Society Members. If you would like to make that commitment, CLICK HERE to download the commitment form.
The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA) provides vocational education grants to Arizona Residents who meet specific low-income guidelines. The grants enable the recipients to lift themselves out of poverty, benefitting themselves, their families and the economy of our state. TRVFA is a 501(c)(3) charity. They also are a Qualifying Charitable Organization for Arizona Tax Credit Donations. Their QCO Code is 20698. Many Arizona Rotarians say giving to TRVFA is a "no brainer." If you can help someone lift themselves out of poverty and it won't end up costing you anything why would you not do it? Mesa West Rotary has the highest number of members who have signed up for automated monthly recurring donations by electing that option on the "Donate Now" button on the TRVFA website. Click the image to learn more or CLICK HERE to DONATE NOW.
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:
Community Service
International Service
Vocational Service
Youth Service
The process isn't quite automated at this point in time, but we hope it soon will be. For now, you can email our executive secretary who can help you work out a recurring donation plan should you wish to make that arrangement to support our own club's charitable activity.
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Lou General wondered what would be done with the existing felt banners, and expressed her desire to have her banner if the club was no longer going to use it.
Announcement
Well, maybe NOT the shirt off your back, but instead some old t-shirts out of the back of your closet. 
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.
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: