The December 7 Meeting was called to order by President-Elect Chris Krueger. Ray Smith encouraged members and guests to participate in singing "Silver Bells," which he understands was written with Salvation Army bellringing as their inspiration. The invocation was offered by Ted Williams and John Pennypacker led the Pledge of Allegiance. Darl Andersen served as the greeter.
Ray Smith won the attendance drawing. Carole Kralicek brought a guest with her to the meeting. He drew the ticket for the weekly drawing and drew Carole's ticket, making Carole the winner of the small weekly pot, but since she did not subsequently draw the ace of clubs, the $570 rolling pot will continue to grow.
During the Sgt at Arms portion of the program, Robert LaBarge paid happy bucks for learning the dental terms and vocabulary necessary for describing how to make certain linquistic sounds. Dr. Ron Thompson verified the accuracy of what Robert was describing. Bob Zarling paid happy bucks stating he will be gone for five weeks visiting Wisconsin. Rod Daniels paid to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the date his former club merged into Mesa West Rotary. Carole Kralicek announced she would have the privilege of selling a collection of valuable western art. Ted Williams announced the birth of his 56th grandchild.
John Pennypacker announced that he was sad to see that there were 5-7 people present who were not properly dressed. The background for this statement was that in March of 1978, the Duarte, California Rotary Club was terminated from Rotary for allowing a woman to join their club. The Supreme Court sided with the Club and in 1987, Sylvia Whitlock became the first woman to serve as a Rotary Club President, presiding over the Duarte, California Rotary Club. John distributed Silver Slipper Rotary Pins to the women who were present to celebrate the history of women in Rotary.
John Pennypacker auctioned a gift which he had obtained at the recent Foundation dinner. Tim Troy made the winning bid.
Don LaBarge announced that he had been able to fill every opening to date for the holiday bell ringing.
Bob Zarling announced that the Interact Club Purple Pinky project netted $850 to fund polio eradication.
The program was introduced. Scarlett Zinggeler has a longer history with Rotary than some of our members. She was in Interact in high school. She also participated in RYLA. She was a Rotary youth exchange student in Poland, and recently, she became the first President of the new Rotaract Club at Grand Canyon University where she is a senior. She is on the board for Rotex (past exchange students).
The Rotaract club was scheduled to have their first service project on Saturday, December 9. They plan to have a purple pinkie project to raise awareness of the need for continued emphasis on the eradication of polio and to raise funds to support immunizations. One of her personal goals for the Rotaract club at GCU is to develop a system where they can be pen pals with Rotaractors in other countries. They plan to hand out water to participants in triathlons. Tim Troy asked how many members are in their new Rotaract Club. She indicated they have nineteen members.
Many Mesa West Rotarians may already know that Chuck Flint travels, twice yearly, to a small fishing village on the Mexican mainland, on the Sea of Cortes, with Rotary Youth Exchange students. This is a primitive (they just received electricity 3 years ago - no water yet) village that he has been visiting since 1970. The YE kids will get to see the wonderful Sonoran Desert, hike two mountains in it, and kayak and swim in the sea.
This will be done with two other Rotarians, both from Phoenix 100. They stay in a 2 -bedroom apartment that has concrete floors and block walls and a tin roof - you do not want to be there when it rains, which is quite rare.
Chuck is asking that his fellow Rotarians check to see if they have any used clothing that they might wish to donate. Chuck rents from the same person that he has always rented from, but she is now a 75-year old widow. He is trying to bring her some clothing that she may sell or otherwise distribute to the 150 or so inhabitants of this declining fishing village. Chuck is definitely NOT asking for money - only used clothing. Chuck, himself, and the other Rotarians take care of the expenses for the trip, so it is of no charge to the YE kids.
If you have some clothing or usable household items that you wish to donate, please bring them to the meeting today, Thursday, December 14.
On Thursday November 16, at the District Governor's official visit, President Allan Cady announced that our club would collectively support TRVFA with $5,000 or more in donations from our members prior to the end of the year. As you may remember, the fund qualifies for Arizona Tax Credits, so the donations, in qualifying amounts ($400 for individuals and $800 for joint returns), will offset your Arizona State Income Tax obligation dollar for dollar and can also be a qualifying Federal Income Tax Deduction.
In the three previous years, our Club has made the following donations to TRVFA:
2016: $10,000.00
2015: $5,900.00
2014: $2,374.00
At your very earliest convenience, we ask that you evaluate an appropriate TRVFA donation to address your personal tax planning needs, and then, send an email to me (don.boucher@ccwealth.com) and to Polly Cady (pcady@cadyfam.com) to identify your personal pledge. Your donation should be completed by year’s end (12/31) and you may complete your donationby delivering a check to Polly or by donating online via the link below:
Note: Completing your donation online is the preferred club method for submitting your donation.
Should you choose to make your donation online via the TRVFA website, please be sure to add “Mesa West Rotary Club” in the area that request:Please list your Rotary Club name here.
Polly and I will look forward to receiving your emails to confirm your personal pledge amount, and we’ll provide weekly updates on our progress to meeting President Cady’s TRVFA pledge of $5,000.00.
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
We are kind and caring people who make a positive difference in the world, so as always, thank you for all you do!
Don Boucher, Vocational Chair
As of the afternoon of December 7, the total of TRVFA donations is $4,600 from Mesa West Rotarians for this this tax year, and Don has received 7 e-mail confirmations from our members verifying their donations. If yours is not one of them, remember to go ON LINE to make your donation.
We are now nearly three weeks into the Salvation Army Bell-Ringing season. From all accounts, things are going well. There are still quite a few shift openings according to Don LaBarge, our Community Service Chair. With 26 days of bell-ringing and 5 sessions per day, sign-ups are an enormous task. President Allan is confident that the service-minded Rotarians of Mesa West will once again answer the call. Please, review your calendar and call or email Don to coordinate available shifts with that will best fit your schedule. The bell-ringing concludes Saturday, December 23. We need volunteers that will take 2-3 sessions each, even 4 if possible. Don’s contact information is cell 480-213-1617 and email dlabarge47@gmail.com. Your early response and the generosity of your time will be appreciated.
Karen Hyatt-Chavez rang the bell with her little dog's help. This may have resulted in one of the best shifts of the season, so far.
Allan Cady, our Mesa West President, would like our club to receive the "Every Rotarian, Every Year" award. I believe that Rotary Club of Mesa Baseline used to do this. What this entails is for every Rotarian in our club to donate $100 during this Rotary Year to our Rotary Foundation. Please think of this as a donation of $2.00 per week to put it into very simple perspective. Just $2.00 per week. How many times do we spend this amount weekly on something that really does not help anyone?
There is a very simple, painless way to do this. There is a program called Rotary Direct which we each can sign up for which charges your credit card whatever amount you wish each month. This is an easy way of giving that you do not have to think of several times each year. Several Mesa West Rotarians currently do this. If you were to agree to commit $5.00 each month to the Foundation, we could meet our goal. Please do not limit yourself to just $5.00. I will have forms for this with me to distribute at our next meeting on November 30th. Several members of our club donate $84.00 each month and have become Paul Harris Society Members - those that have donated $1,000 per year to our foundation.
There are many options available to us that will result in not only helping others elsewhere, but half of our donations come back to us in the form of funds available of grants with District Designated Funds. All of you that have read this article so far, please ask me for a dollar at the meeting.
The Institute offers a leadership development program in three full day sessions (Parts I, II and III). The courses are designed to provide Rotary knowledge and to develop leadership skills for volunteer organizations. Each time the Institute is scheduled, all three parts are offered.
The Institute recommends that clubs nominate those Rotarians who appear to have the potential for club leadership, not necessarily as future presidents. The individuals should preferably be at least 3-4 years away from a possible presidency or other key leadership post. Candidates should have a strong interest in Rotary and be ready to be exposed to the larger world of Rotary. The Institute suggests each club nominate one or two Rotarians each year and support previous nominees in completing Parts II and III.
The Institute believes in course sessions with as much discussion/participation as possible. Discussion breakout sessions are limited to approximately 10-15 persons. Lectures are strictly limited. Course methods include disscussion groups, role playing, problem solving workshops, creating projects and audiovisual presentations. Everyone participates during one of the Institute's sessions. A course workbook containing an Institute Manual, session program agendas, faculty listings and course outlines and materials, is provided to each attendee.
For more information, visit the Rocky Mountain Rotary Leadership Institute website at www.rlifiles.com.
The Rotary Foundation has major focus areas to make our impact stronger throughout the world. During December, the focus on member education and advocacy is the work we do in disease prevention and treatment.
The "elevator speech" we can all use in educating our friends and associates about why we are proud to be Rotarians in this area is:
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
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The December 7 Meeting was called to order by President-Elect Chris Krueger. Ray Smith encouraged members and guests to participate in singing "Silver Bells," which he understands was written with Salvation Army bellringing as their inspiration. The invocation was offered by Ted Williams and John Pennypacker led the Pledge of Allegiance. Darl Andersen served as the greeter.
Many Mesa West Rotarians may already know that Chuck Flint travels, twice yearly, to a small fishing village on the Mexican mainland, on the Sea of Cortes, with Rotary Youth Exchange students. This is a primitive (they just received electricity 3 years ago - no water yet) village that he has been visiting since 1970. The YE kids will get to see the wonderful Sonoran Desert, hike two mountains in it, and kayak and swim in the sea..jpg)
Chuck is asking that his fellow Rotarians check to see if they have any used clothing that they might wish to donate. Chuck rents from the same person that he has always rented from, but she is now a 75-year old widow. He is trying to bring her some clothing that she may sell or otherwise distribute to the 150 or so inhabitants of this declining fishing village. Chuck is definitely NOT asking for money - only used clothing. Chuck, himself, and the other Rotarians take care of the expenses for the trip, so it is of no charge to the YE kids..jpg)
We are now nearly three weeks into the Salvation Army Bell-Ringing season. From all accounts, things are going well. There are still quite a few shift openings according to Don LaBarge, our Community Service Chair. With 26 days of bell-ringing and 5 sessions per day, sign-ups are an enormous task. President Allan is confident that the service-minded Rotarians of Mesa West will once again answer the call. Please, review your calendar and call or email Don to coordinate available shifts with that will best fit your schedule. The bell-ringing concludes Saturday, December 23. We need volunteers that will take 2-3 sessions each, even 4 if possible. Don’s contact information is cell 
aren Hyatt-Chavez rang the bell with her little dog's help. This may have resulted in one of the best shifts of the season, so far.
I changed my car horn to gunshot sounds. People get out of the way much faster now..gif)
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The Institute believes in course sessions with as much discussion/participation as possible. Discussion breakout sessions are limited to approximately 10-15 persons. Lectures are strictly limited. Course methods include disscussion groups, role playing, problem solving workshops, creating projects and audiovisual presentations. Everyone participates during one of the Institute's sessions. A course workbook containing an Institute Manual, session program agendas, faculty listings and course outlines and materials, is provided to each attendee.
The Rotary Foundation has major focus areas to make our impact stronger throughout the world. During December, the focus on member education and advocacy is the work we do in disease prevention and treatment.
