The Rotary International 2024-25 theme is "The Magic of Rotary." Our District Governor has her own theme - Rotary Means Business.
TOGETHER, we see a world
where PEOPLE unite and take action
to CREATE lasting CHANGE
across the globe, in our communities
and in ourselves.
Mesa West Rotary Club's driving force is Transforming Communities, Creating Opportunities and Impacting Youth.
Jay said in light of theme for the day being International, he was wearing a garment gifted to hm by his guest, Fabrice from the Ivory Coast of Africa. He said the garment was very comfortable. He also shared a Chinese proverb:
"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap" is part of a longer quote that continues, "If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."
Jay thanked Eric Silverberg for leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Jim Schmidt for offering the invocation.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck explained that the raffle was the second use of a new deck. Because there is a joker in the deck, there were 52 cards remaining. He asked Jack Rosenberg to draw the winning ticket. The ticket was held by John Benedict. After John shuffled the cards and placed them face down on the table, the card John selected was the three of diamonds.
Happy $ - Sgt at Arms - Andy Bradford
- Harry Grossman said his son works for a Software and Service Company. He received a text from him. The Vice Presidential Democratic Candidate was his geography teacher and is a geography nerd. He got out of his campaign car with an ESRI shopping bag. ESRI is the largest geographical information system in the world.
- Eric Silverberg was happy to be back from a 3,000 mile adventure, which, in addition to a cruise to Alaska, included Wyoming - Eric's 50th state to set foot in.
- Connie Bunyard was happy to have met the new baby boy in their family. She met him on Saturday, August 17.
- Colleen Coons was happy to report that Frank Rosenberg has indicated he will handle medical needs for the McKinney Vento students this coming year.
- Polly Cady said they had a great time on their recent trip to San Diego. They enjoyed having lunch with our DG Nominee. They were happy to see so many on Zoom, but being together in person is so much better!
- Allan Cady was happy to report that his oldest son and his wife's new home on an island off the cost of North Carolina did not have any damage from the recent storm.
- Jack Rosenberg contributed, but your editor did not hear what he was happy about.
- Dick Myren doubled his traditional contribution for the privilege of he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels being associated with the Ace of Clubs. He was happy to be back at the meeting and was very glad he was free of COVID.
- Fabrice contributed saing it was wonderful to be back in the United States and meet with Gerry (Jay) and Liz. He said they are amazing hosts. He said when they visited the Chandler club he met people including some of the former students that he met when he was here as an exchange student.
- Warren Williamson shared a story about Ray who had enjoyed a reunion with old college friends. The Classmates were bragging about how well they had done. One was going to offer to buy a hotel. Another was planning to make an offer on the bank across the street. A third was going to make an offer on a new high-rise building downtown. They asked Ray what his plans were. He said - "I'm sorry, I'm not selling."
- Jay Paulus was thankful for the Yogi Berra book Harry had given him. He was also still celebrating the new twins born to his son, and sorry Liz had a conflict and had to miss the meeting. Jay will not be at the August 22 meeting. He will be in Pennsylvania for his 6th grade class reunion followed by a family reunion the next day. He said he has thoroughly enjoyed Fabrice's visit. They visited Mesa Sunrise Rotary and Chandler Horizon Rotory.
- Pam Cohen was happy for the wonderful job Jeanie does on the Messenger. She enjoyed her time with Wendell Jones when they celebrated Ray Smith's birthday together. She said Wendell is suffering from ALS and really misses the club. He would love to hear from everyone.
Auction - Deb Koeneman, Auctioneer
Jay and Liz Paulus donated a lovely bag of gifts from their recent cruise to Iceland and Scotland. Jay was not sure what all Liz had put in the bag.
Deb did a great job trying to drive up the top bid. Ron Thompson's $50 bid made him the lucky winner of the gift bag and its contents.
Announcements:
- Shelly Romine reminded members of the August 27 Blood Drive at the YMCA. She does have helpers. What we need now are donors. CLICK HERE to share our Facebook Post with your Facebook friends:
- Coming up in September. Two weekends and a Wednesday at the Veterans Memorial Rose Garden at MCC. Sept 7, 11, and 14. Lots of projects with various difficulty and skill levels - something for everyone!
- Watch for more information about the last Saturday in September. Sleep in Heavenly Peace will be placing a plaque about Mesa West Rotary on their Wall of Hope. There will be an opportunity to participate in a bed build event. Watch for more information.
- Please plan to attend the September 26 meeting. District Governor Michelle Holcomb will be making her official visit to our club.
- Joan and Erwin Reimann were welcomed on-line. Also attending online were Ed Koeneman, Jeanie Morgan, Pam Cohen, Shelly Romine, Bob Jensen and Melody Jackson.
- August 29, Mesa West members who have registered will enjoy a backroom tour of the Arizona Museum of Natural History. We will have lunch and hear about the direction the museum is headed.
Program - Rotary International Convention - Deb and Ed Koeneman and Jim Schmidt
President Jay introduced Jim Schmidt. Jim joined Rotary when he was 28. He has served in various leadership positions. He is a retired CPA who led his firm, Schmidt-Westergaard, for over fifteen years. He is a facilitator at RLI and is currently our District Governor Elect. Jim and Deb were present in person and Ed, who was still recovering from his recent knee surgery would be adding to the conversation via Zoom. Ed was off of pain medications and moving around more.
Jim said it was very enjoyable to hang out with Ed and Debbie at the convention, "They are super fun."
Ed put the slides together.
CLICK HERE to see them. He said it was tough to pare it down, that they could easily spend two hours talking about the 2024 and 2023 conventions. He said everyone should try to go. After attending one, it can become addictive. You get to hang out with thousands of people who want to do good in the world. Next June the international convention will be in Calgary.
Deb said she first attended an RI convention with Ed when he was preparing to be President. Since she was not yet in Rotary and not preparing for any "assignment," she was free to attend any session she was interested in. She said she learned so much and met so many people. She knew then she wanted to be in Rotary, but kept putting it off. She finally joined because the conventions inspired her.
Jim said the first convention he attended in Melbourne blew him away. The international experience combined with the sense of love, friendship and togetherness is amazing. He asked how many in the room had attended an international convention. About half had. Of those, about half had attended more than one. He said it is very common to meet and have conversations with people from a foreign country without inhibitions. At the end of the conversation, they embrace you, and want your photo.
They went on to talk about the keynote presentations and incredible entertainment. The areas of focus of The Rotary Foundation are featured in the enormous House of Friendship.
Ed talked about the Youth Exchange preconvention activity with the focus on youth. Ed had the opportunity to participate. A significant fact that Ed learned from former YE students, was that ROTEX in Germany runs the Youth Exchange program . In many countries theire is a very elite system of being admitted to Rotary and Rotaract, so ROTEX is a way they can serve until they can be admitted.
There were two opening ceremonies because there were so many people there. It was like a religious experience, but for Rotary. It was cultural, inspirational, and made one want to learn about causes and service.
Jim said that things have changed significantly since his first convention at which there was no clapping and no flash photography. He very much enjoys the cultural uniqueness including the very colorful apparel worn by many attendees.
The presentation of flags is very enjoyable. The national anthem of the host country is played at the end.
The keynote speakers had messages for all ages.
There were two guys who had flown a two-seater airplane around the world raising over $1,000,000 for polio. One woman promoted human rights, education and literacy in Africa. One speaker talked about poop for twenty minutes. Health and sanitation was talked about openly. They had spent 30 years putting toilets in all over the world. You have to have toilets before you can have clean water.
They heard from amazing women leaders.
In a photo of Bill Gates, there was a lady who was the face of front-line polio workers. Women have to work their way into the social culture. They have to convince matriarchal leaders that immunization is good. They are threatened and some have died. There is a wall of women to have fallen. They believe it is important enough to risk their lives to do it.
In the exhibit hall there was a ClubRunner booth. Ed is a member of the Beer Fellowship, but got no free samples this year. Jim attended a session on artificial intelligence. There is something for everyone. It is very organized. There are so many ways one can expand their reach.
There is always a big booth promoting the next year's convention.
Because the hotel rooms in Singapore was quite high, Ed and Debbie stayed in a sod home. Each unit had two containers on top of each other. Upstairs was bed and bath and downstairs was the living area and kitchenette. They had some pretty amazing views from their room. They enjoyed the good time with more familiar faces at the Zone breakfast.
Jim encouraged anyone planning to attend in the future to register early and sign up for home-host hospitality events where attendees are treated to great foods local specialties, and cultural shows. You have to sign up early as the opportunities fill up fast.
Jim mentioned that when you hear from the international leaders, you learn about their priorities and focus. 2023-24 RI President Gordon McInally's brother had committed suicide. That was the reason he started the mental health emphasis.
Next year, it will only be a three-hour flight to be in a foreign country.
Final Announcement -
President Jay announced a Peace initiative at Mesa Community College - Week Without Violence - There will be an Essay Contest including an event where the winners will be acknowledged.
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Saturday, September 28, 2028
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:
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