Thursday, September 19, Mesa West Rotarians will meet at 12:30 PM for a tour of the Child Crisis Center, 817 North Country Club Drive in Mesa. Lunch will NOT be provided.
President Jim Called the meeting to order by requesting Chris Krueger to provide the thought for the day. John Pennypacker led the Pledge of Allegiance. Remembering when members of both houses of congress stood on the capitol steps following 9/11, Ray Smith led Rotarians and Guests in singing the song they sang together - "God Bless America."
Guests
John Pennypacker introduced Shelly Romine, who recently moved to our area from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Shelly is a Rotarian and would like to find a great club here to become a part of. Since Mesa West is the Ace of Clubs, we believe she should choose our club. Also introduced as a guest for the last time was Greg Bouslog.
Drawings
President Jim asked Shelly to draw a token from the bag to see who would win the attendance drawing. Pam Cohen was the lucky winner. Chuck Flint also asked Shelly to draw to see who would win the $25 weekly drawing. She drew Ron Thompson's ticket. Chuck explained that 1/3 of the money collected from ticket sales goes to the club to cover administrative expenses, 1/3 goes to the holder of the ticket drawn and 1/3 goes into an accumulating pot, which is now up to $400. If the winner of the weekly drawing draws the Ace of Clubs from the deck, they get the big winnings. If not, the card they drew is destroyed making the odds better each week until someone draws the Ace of Clubs. Unfortunately (for him) Dr. Ron drew the King of Diamonds.
Auction Items
Four members had items to auction. Ray Smith's bid of $40 won the bag of items personally crafted by members of her family in Colorado which was offered by Jeanie Morgan. For bids of $40 each, Chris Krueger and Ron Thompson each received a bag of items from the Rotary Zone Institute in Denver provided by John Pennypacker. Melodie Jackson had a bag of items from Sonoma County California, which was won by Dan Coons with his $45 bid.
Wisdom in Lieu of Humor
Rather than follow his recent habit of telling a joke, President Jim shared a quote from Dennis Prager, an American writer, speaker, radio and TV commentator, theologian, and Zionist:
"The vast majority of those who are famous are not significant and the vast majority of those who are significant are not famous."
Thank You from Gilbert High School Basketball Team
The Gilbert HS Basketball Team - State Champions last year - gave our club a framed photo of the championship team to thank Mesa West for the long-term relationship our club has had with the team and for supporting their efforts to provide every player on the team with a championship ring and events relating to celebration of their outstanding achievement.
Our Newest Member - Greg Bouslog
Greg Bouslog relocated from Illinois to Arizona with his wife to become the Sports Director at the Ross Farnsworth-East Valley Family YMCA. He has recently attended Mesa West more regularly than many of our members. He was inducted as a new Member of Mesa West by President, Jim Schmidt. Greg comes from a long family history with Rotary His grandfather was a member of Rotary in Macomb, Illinois, and his father is currently a member of a Rotary club in Princeton, Illinois.
Happy Bucks
Pam Cohen was happy to have a new job. She was happy Greg is a new member of Mesa West. She was sad to report that honored member, Alan Ramsdell passed away Wednesday, September 11, two days prior to his 81st birthday. He and Mary Jo celebrated their 57th anniversary this past summer. Dr. Ron was happy he won the raffle. Chris Krueger enjoyed the Rotary Zone Institute and is looking forward to enjoying Disney World. Contributing sad bucks, John Pennypacker told of a friend he had reconnected with at the recent Rotary Zone Institute and who had passed away very unexpectedly Monday, September 9. John became acquainted with Richard D. Elixman during his District Governor Nominee and District Governor Elect training. "He was a good man and a better Rotarian." Jim Schmidt was happy Jim Crutcher was able to attend his first meeting in a very long time. Polly Schumacher donated - glad Jim Crutcher was back. Greg Okonowski was happy about a great experience when Jim Crutcher sold him a used truck recently. Dan Coons, who filled in for her while she was away taking notes and photos for the Messenger, was happy Jeanie was back from her trip to Colorado. Jim Crutcher was happy to be able to reconnect. He will miss Alan Ramsdell and asked that we all pray for Mary Jo. Jim was with Berge Ford for 25 of their 75 years in business. He is now happy to be with Larry Miller - another great family-owned company. Larry Miller's widow and sons do everything right. One positive change for Jim is the Larry Miller team believes in their General Managers having an ownership interest in the company. Geoff White was glad to be able to attend. He was so happy to be back that he donated $100 toward his Paul Harris Fellow account for being late to his first meeting back. Chuck Flint was happy that Geoff was the largest donor of the day with the money going to The Rotary Foundation.
Announcements
The Rotary Club of Mesa will have as their speaker on Wednesday, October 16, Ray Anderson, the ASU Athletic Director, and on Wednesday, December 4, their speaker will be Dr. Michael Crow from ASU. John Pennypacker contributed sad dollars.
Program
Jack Rosenberg introduced our speaker, Alice Gartell, with Books for a Better World. Following her retirement eight years ago, Alice has worked passionately t promote literacy in Central America and Mexico. Her nickname is "Reina de los libros" (Queen of books).
Alice was an avid reader as a child. Many children have never seen a fun book. If you learn to read, the world is yours.
To deliver the books to the rural and underserved areas in Central America and Mexico, they go through corn fields, across bridges, and up steep hills. The children learn to read, often reading and enjoying the books together. Most of the books they deliver are in Spanish. A few are bilingual.
To get ready for the books that will be delivered next summer, there will be a book-packing party at her house in March or April. In addition to delivering books, they deliver commonly needed supplies which go to the schools and are shared. Most of the schools they deliver to are 1 to 2-room schools where several grades share a classroom and teacher. One school is larger - with six rooms. They delivered plastic tubs to store their "library" in the plastic tubs so the books would be protected from the wet conditions that are prevalent there.
Since their beginning, Books for a Better World have delivered over 5,000 books to ninety schools in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and have received thousands of smiles. They operate with a minimal budget and is entirely ran by volunteers. 80% of the books they deliver are new and about 20% are used. Alice encouraged those in attendance to "Like" the Books for a Better World Facebook page, participate in an organizing and packing event , or join their board. They are currently looking for a treasurer. They can also receive Amazon Smiles donations.
When buying books, Alice tries to find books about animals, books that are silly, about dinosaurs, or about sports. She tries to find books suitable for first-through third grade reading levels. Classic fairy tales are also popular. The number one favorite award is a pencil. Coming in second are erasers. They use their pencils down to a nub, so the erasers rarely last as long as a pencil. The teachers in those rural communities are Alice's hero's. Many of them have an hour bus ride plus an hour walk and teach multiple grade levels in a single classroom. The books inspire the children to be more creative in their writing, their drawing, and their enthusiasm for learning.
She does not go through the governments. At the local level there is a lot of corruption, and they don't want their charitable world to be tainted by any questionable associations. Two Rotary clubs locally have been generous in the past and she hopes will continue to be in the future. All of their funding comes from donations. Last year, their income of $23,000 supported their transportation, purchases, and deliveries of supplies and books.
Alice was asked if the volunteers feel safe. She answered that they follow very strict rules. They know they are in a violent environment, but the violence is not directed at Americans. They never go out alone at night. Their volunteers dress and act modestly so they are not likely to be targeted by those wanting to steal jewelry or valuable personal belongings. Large cities are more dangerous than the rural areas they serve. In Honduras, they stay in a nice hotel. In Guatemala, they have arranged homestays. In El Salvador they have stayed in dorms owned by the church at a minimal cost. In Nicaragua, they stayed at a modest hotel. The most expensive part of their travel is their airfare. Meals are very reasonable.
Members were reminded that our next meeting will be a tour of the Child Crisis Center located at 817 North Country Club Drive, Mesa. There will be no meal provided. We are to arrive there by 12:30 PM so the tour can begin promptly.
As announced at our Rotary meeting last Thursday, our esteemed member, Alan Ramsdell, passed away peacefully on September 9, 2019 with his wife of 57 years by his side holding his hand. We will miss his gregarious nature and service to mankind through his service to Rotary and the Salvation Army. Please visit his obituary by clicking on his name below:
Alan’s Memorial Celebration of Life will be held at the following:
Mesa location of the Salvation Army
241 East 6th Street, Mesa, AZ
Sunday, October 6, 2019
2:00 pm
The Celebration of Life will be followed by a reception at the Salvation Army Reception hall following services. Alan’s wife, Mary Jo, would like you all to attend an bring an uplifting memory to share at memorial services as well as the reception.
Over 50 students attended the first meeting of the GCU Rotaract Club for the 2019-20 academic year. Those in attendance had a great time listening to some speakers and making cards for kids in hospitals!
Their first service project is on Saturday, September 28. Members will receive 4.5 CCSC service hoursfor participating.
Members will be working at Oktoberfest in Fountain Hills to help our sponsoring Rotary club raise money to donate to multiple volunteer organizations. Rotaractors will be working at a pretzel booth and picking up trash.
The club's next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 9 at 6:00 PM in room 57-222. At the meeting, members will be making cards for veterans and active-duty military. Members will receive 1 hour of CCSC credit for participating in the project at the meeting.
Members do not have to be in CCSC to be part of GCU Rotaract, but those who are CCSC scholars will benefit because Rotaract service hours convert to CCSC hours.
Colton Cagle is shown proudly displaying the US Flag during a Youth Exchange gathering in The Netherland. Paige Goetzenberger is shown proudly displaying the Arizona flag at a similar gathering in Austria.
Marcella, who is sponsored by Mesa West while attending school in Flagstaff is shown at a YE gathering this past weekend in Sedona, where they had a chance to enjoy a Pink Jeep tour.
Paige had the opportunity to reconnect with former inbound YE students to our district - Lissa and Max.
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.
Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.
President Jim Called the meeting to order by requesting Chris Krueger to provide the thought for the day. John Pennypacker led the Pledge of Allegiance. Remembering when members of both houses of congress stood on the capitol steps following 9/11, Ray Smith led Rotarians and Guests in singing the song they sang together - "God Bless America."
Colton Cagle is shown proudly displaying the US Flag during a Youth Exchange gathering in The Netherland. Paige Goetzenberger is shown proudly displaying the Arizona flag at a similar gathering in Austria. 
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