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.
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.
Chad Reid introduced Pietro Ippolito. Chad explained he had invited President Jay to talk to his Toastmasters Club about Rotary. Pietro was at the meeting and accepted Jay's invitation to visit Mesa West Rotary.
Jim Bannon introduced himself as a repeat visitor and told a little bit about himself.
John Pennypacker introduced his in-person guests, his son, Jay Pennypacker, and Monica Monson. He also introduced his daughter Katie who was attending via Zoom.
AG Dan Coons had a few words to say when it was his turn to be introduced.
Induction of New Member
President Jay invited Neil and Sheona Theobald to come forward so Neil could be inducted and welcomed as a new member of Mesa West Rotary. Jay recited the Rotary Vision Statement, Rotary brand statement, the Rotary motto, and Mesa West Rotary Club
's vision:
TOGETHER, we see a world
where PEOPLE unite and take action
to CREATE lasting CHANGE
across the globe, in our communities
and in ourselves.
People of Action
Service Above Self
Transforming Communities
Creating Opportunities
Impacting Youth
Our members are committed to encouraging and fostering these ideals. President Jay asked Sheona to pin our newest member, and gave Neil the opportunity to share a bit about himself.
Neil said he and Sheona would celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary this summer. They have three adult children and six grandkids. One of their daughters and her two children are here in Arizona. Neil was a college professor for fifteen years and in administration for the last fifteen years of his career. One of his passions was to try to limit student debt. Sheona was a school psychiatrist until Neil went into administration. She stayed busy supporting his busy calendar and public image. Members gave Neil a standing ovation to welcome him to Mesa West.
Rotarian of the Month - Chuck Flint
President Jay invited Chuck Flint to come forward, Jay thanked him for his dedication managing the weekly raffle, and serving as Treasurer of Mesa West Rotary Foundation. Jay mentioned that he liked Chuck's copper hat that he used for the raffle. Chuck speaks Spanish which is very helpful with our annual Gift of Hearing project in Guaymas Mexico. For embodying the spirit of the club, Chuck was given a gift certificate and presented with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Act of Hearts Rafflle - Chuck Flint
Chuck explained that the raffle tickets sell for $5 each. The proceeds are split three ways with 1/3 going to the club operating account, 1/3 going to the small weekly pot - which was $35 at this meeting, and 1/3 going into the large accumulating pot which was up to $970. When the large pot is over $500, tickets are only sold to club members. The person whose ticket is drawn receives the small weekly pot plus the opportunity to draw a card from the cards remaining in the deck. If they draw the joker, they win an additional $20. If they draw the Ace of Clubs (which we believe we are) they win the large pot.
Monica Monson was asked to draw the winning ticket. The stub of the ticket she drew belonged to Frank Rosenberg. After receiving the small pot and carefully shuffling the cards, the card Frank drew from the deck was the Two of Diamonds, which he was allowed to keep.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Andy Bradford
It was noted that April 10 was John Pennypacker's 80th birthday. To celebrate that special milestone, it was announced that Happy Bucks would go to the Mesa West Rotary Foundation Sponsor Program. If members filled out a designation form, they would get credit for their tax-deductible donation, and their team would receive credit for their support of the sponsor drive. Any miscellaneous cash donations would be credited to John's team.
John Pennpacker was wearing a white jump suit to celebrate the first day of the Masters' Tournament in Augusta. He was celebrating the fact that his age is still less than the temperature. He was glad Katie, Jay and Monica were celebrating with him. John first joined Rotary in 1977 while in the Army, but was only in about a year when he was transferred. When he next joined, it was in 2001. He was working at Boeing in Mesa and was asked if he knew anything about Rotary. When he said he had been a member in the past, he soon found himself to be the charter president of the employee's Rotary Club being chartered at the Boeing plant. To celebrate his round-number birthday, his 25 total years in Rotary, and to honor his late wife, John has recently donated $1,000 to Polio Plus, $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund, and $500 to Mesa West Rotary Foundation with half designated for McKinney Vento and half designated for Crutches 4 Africa.
Allan Cady said his 80th birthday is looming ahead of him. He pledged $100 to the sponsor campaign.
Polly Cady said John was her favorite PDG. He was DG the year she served as Club President.
Chad Reid donated. He was appreciative of Jay talking to his Toastmasters Club and glad Pietro wanted to learn more about Rotary and came to our meeting.
Frank Rosenberg was glad to have recently seen the Suns play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Jim McGown was happy to have been able to donate to The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona by transferring from his IRA directly to TRVFA instead of personally taking his mandatory distribution.
Our guest - Pietro - was happy to celebrate John's 80th birthday, and thanked Jay for the invite.
Marilyn Klingler wished John a happy birthday.
Jim Bannon contributed $10 to TRVFA and $10 to MWRF Community Service
Chuck donated to celebrate the occasion.
Pam Cohen contributed to celebrate John's 80th birthday. She explained that the copper hat used for the raffle was actually the hat worn by Jack Rosenberg as Jellybean the Clown. The hat went with Jack to Bosnia when he went there after the war to cheer the children. When Jack retired as Jellybean the club had his hat bronzed.
Harry Grossman enjoyed the Spring Olympics.
Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 for he and Rod Daniels being associated with the Ace of Clubs. He contributed $2 sad dollars. A young lady that was recently stabbed was the granddaughter of one of Dick's friends. She is stable, but facing many challenges from her injuries.
Ed Koeneman was happy to have celebrated his and Deb's 28th wedding anniversary at Spring Olympics.
Jay said his 14-year-old granddaughter had recently wanted a smash party to celebrate her birthday. They went to a facility where the attendees were given hammers and mallets to smash things up. He asked her if she had some pent-up anger. Her response was she was the second, middle child - what did he think?
Warren Williamson told about Ronald Reagan who liked to poke fun at Democrats. One of the stories he told was about a woman who would sell pretzels for a quarter. Reagan would toss a quarter in he jar, but not take a pretzel. One day as he was walking past her after tossing in his quarter, she grabbed his arm. He thought she was going to ask him why he didn't take a pretzel. Instead, she told him the price for pretzels had gone up to thirty-five cents.
Announcements
Colleen Coons encouraged members to register for and attend the District Conference. Registration closes April 18. Frank Rosenberg will be facilitating two sessions. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn CPR. Chad Reid will have a session about Toastmasters. Attendees will learn how to convey Rotary in two minutes or less. He will also talk about leadership. Danny White will be the Saturday Keynote Speaker. Connie Bunyard will present a program about nurturing community relations. There will be a live auction that will benefit youth programs.
Jeanie Morgan encouraged those attending the conference to go a day early and enjoy the May 1 Saguaro Lake dinner cruise tp benefit TRVFA. She also reminded members who had procrastinated about completing their tax returns that if they have an income tax obligation to the state of Arizona, they can direct some of that obligation by making a tax-credit donation to The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona.
Pam Cohen told members to save the date of June 14 so they can attend Jim Schmidt's installation as District Governor at the Mesa Country Club.
Members were reminded to register to participate in our Rotary Week of Service project at Midwest Food Bank - use the link in a separate article in this Messenger.
President Jay announced that the fifth Thursday in May, the club will take a tour of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale. The date is May 29.
Program - How to Take Better Photographs - Dr. Wayne General
Wayne General has performed thousands of neuropsychological evaluations, but he also puts a lot of talent and passion into his hobbies - photography and playing the violin. He told about a person who was complimenting a violinist by saying that they loved the sound that came from their violin. The artist picked up his violin and placed it by his ear, and said "I can't hear anything." The point was, alone, the violin doesn't make a sound. It is the violinist that makes it sing.
Similarly, a good photographer can enable their camera to capture their subjects with more richness by using knowledge, tools and equipment to manage the light and other aspects of what the camera will see and record. I won't attempt to try to put into words what I heard, because my understanding is not adequate to ensure that I recorded my notes accurately. I will refer those reading this to download the report that Wayne shared prior to the meeting. You can download it by clicking here.
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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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: