President Jim Schmidt opened the meeting asking John Pennypacker to offer the invocation and Warren Williamson to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. He thanked Lola McClane for serving as greeter.
Guests
Ed Koeneman introduced Greg Bouslog who was visiting from the YMCA. Also at Ed's table was Cindy, a visiting Rotarian and retired housewife from Washington. Cindy just joined Rotary a month ago. Several of the women present were curious about how anyone ever gets to retire from being a housewife. It was noted that Andrea Murphy, who is a member but rarely gets to attend, was present. Ed introduced Wendy Cagle who was present with her son, Colton Cagle. Jeanie introduced Sadaf Hakeem as an applicant for a grant from The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona. She also introduced Dr. Marek Wosinsky who would be presenting the program later in the meeting.
Drawings
In the attendance drawing, following two unsuccessful draws, when Pam Cohen's badge number was drawn, she was happy to be present to win $5. Chuck Flint asked Andrea Murphy to draw the winning ticket in the weekly drawing. Tim Troy won the weekly winnings of $30, but his luck did not hold out. Rather than the Ace of Clubs, Tim drew the King of Spades. The larger, accumulating pot, will continue to grow.
Happy Bucks
Ray Smith served as Sgt. at Arms collecting money first from Pam Cohen because he knew she had some. She pointed out the new club calendars she had produced that were on the table. John Pennypacker suggested Pam should be fined because the calendars showed August to be Basic Education and Literacy Month in Rotary, when August is actually Membership and New Club Development Month. John paid Pam's fine for her. Dan Coons contributed happy dollars because the club's new Rotary Four Way Test banner was resting comfortably in his car. He was also happy to have recently had the opportunity to visit his mother in Illinois. Wendell Jones celebrated a recent trip he had enjoyed with his 98-year-old dad - they drove the Coronado Trail together. Wendell encouraged other members to make that trip if they haven't already done so. Polly Schumacher was happy to report her twin granddaughters would be turning 20 on Saturday, but sad that they would celebrate without her at a Lollapalooza Concert. Jim Schmidt was happy to have his youngest daughter in town. Andrea Murphy was happy she, Ed, Colton and his mother were all able to attend Colton's last Mesa West meeting before leaving for The Netherlands on August 8. Ed Koeneman was also happy for that same reason and also reminded everyone that it was down to 141 days until the next Star Wars movie. Tim Troy who has enjoyed significantly more time with this young family this summer than ever before admitted he was happy school was starting. Cindy, our visitor from Washington, contributed sad dollars. She is in town because her son, Jacob Morrison, has been in hospital with serious medical problems. She asked for prayers for Jacob. Chuck Flint wished Colton a great time on his Youth Exchange adventure. Dr. Ron contributed because he is very impressed with the growth he has witnessed in Colton from when Colton first visited Mesa West to the confident young man he has become.
Accountant Humor
President Jim said that Carolyn Jones has been having trouble sleeping. It was suggested she ask her husband Wendell (who is a CPA) to tell her about his work as they are settling into bed each night.
Announcements
Pam Cohen admitted to errors in the new calendar. There will be a change in the August 22 speaker as Lola McClane has been scheduled to have eye surgery. The monthly focus error occured because the calendar was originally intended to first be issued in July.
Going forward, the 4th Thursday of each month, instead of meeting for lunch, Mesa West will meet at 6:00 in the evening. The plan is to meet at the Hilton if a meeting room is available. Anytime we have to meet offsite, members will be given plenty of notice. The purpose is to grow membership by inviting potential members to a meeting that is more social where we can get acquainted our guests. Rotary International has recognized that young professionals today have a difficult time being away from their job for two hours during the day on a weekday and have encouraged clubs to be creative and flexible about when we meet and what Rotary meetings look like.
Any month that has a 5th Wednesday, the plan is to give members the opportunity to participate in a hands-on service project. The Feed My Starving Children project planned for the evening of August 29 will be very family-friendly.
Chris Krueger and Pam Cohen participated in a Stuff the Bus event Friday, July 26. They arrived early - at 7:00 AM at AZTV and stuffed back packs with all the supplies needy school children will require to be successful in the classroom. There were lots of cute back packs to be stuffed. In addition to Pam and Chris, Four Peaks Rotary had a good contingent helping and one Sun City West Rotarian helped. It was a good event for a good cause. "Service Brings Smiles."
Rotary Leadership Institute will be held August 24 in Flagstaff. The registration fee is $60. If interested in attending, CLICK HERE to register.
Paul Harris Fellow Recognition
Chuck Flint explained that the funds raised by Westwood High School Interact, when sent to The Rotary Foundation could be given in someone's name to help them toward Paul Harris Fellow recognition. When the funds were sent this year, it was decided the Interact Sponsor, Andrea Murphy, would be the appropriate person to receive that recognition because of her inspiring and dedicated leadership as the school sponsor of the Interact Club at Westwood. Andrea was very obviously touched and surprised by the recognition. When given the opportunity to say a few words, she said that Colton deserves lots of the credit for the success of Westwood High School Interact. Andrea explained that when asked to be an Interact Sponsor, it was explained to her that Interact is a student-led organization and their success or failure is a reflection of the student leaders. She said that was difficult for her to accept at first, but she can see the value of that strategy, as it brings out the "something extra" within the student leaders allowing them to lead, organize, and brilliantly inspire each other. Colton's growth under this philosophy has been amazing - more than she has seen another student do in anything. All the Interact members are very enthusiastic wanting to serve their school, their community, and make the world a better place.
New Member Induction
Daryl Bethea announced he is assisting Membership Chair, Polly Cady and was pleased to have the honor of bringing Jim LeCheminant back into Rotary. Jim was a member and Past President of Mesa Baseline, which is now merged into Mesa West Rotary. Daryl encouraged members to reach out to former members of both clubs and invite them to come back to Rotary. Jim briefly told those present he looked forward to being an active member of the club and was glad to be back in the area.
Program
In the interest of time, Jeanie Morgan gave Dr. Marek Wosinski a very short introduction explaining that she had sat next to him during a brief encounter at the District Conference in June, was impressed by his credentials, and asked for his business card. That brief encounter was what led to his invitation to talk to Mesa West Rotary about his post-retirement "occupation," the Global Network for Sustainable Development. In retrospect, she wished she would have taken the time to fully and properly prepare members for what they were about to hear. To read what she was given and wished she had read in introducing Dr. Wosinski, CLICK HERE.
Dr. Wosinski retired from Arizona State University following 50 years teaching psychology. He noted that he could see Mesa West was a great Rotary Club and wondered out loud why he is driving to central Phoenix to Phoenix 100 when he lives in Dobson Ranch. He is still involved in global projects with the goal of protecting the future of the earth for future generations. He began his presentation telling about an experience of going through a very deprived area in India and coming to a large gate. On the other side of the gate, everything was clean and beautiful - the result of a partnership of Gandhi Research Foundation and Jain Irrigation Systems, Ltd.
The partnership had resulted in bringing young leaders from Africa for training. In 2014, the question "What is next in global partnerships?" began to be explored. Finding an answer doesn't happen with the snap of a finger. The young leaders from Africa created a network to explore how to create partnerships between challenged schools in developing nations and well-performing schools in more developed countries. Their hope was to grow in understanding of community development and to incorporate peace education and an understanding of ways to work to achieve social justice.
Dr. Wosinski showed a brief outtake from a youtu.be video, which began with a statement from Gill Hicks saying "Never presume anything about anyone you don't know." The video told the story of a Gill, who as a young woman lost both legs as a survivor of an explosion on a commuter train. She had watched as the person who she had never seen before gave her and others on the train the unwarranted and unwanted title of "enemy" as he calmly, before their eyes, detonated an explosive device. 26 people died. She lost both legs. She held on to the truth that as human beings we have more in common with each other than we have differences. She started a peace organization. CLICK HERE to view the full video.
Dr. Wosinski then revisited the peace project. The goal is to convince young people they are brothers and sisters with other youth in very different circumstances and help them learn to not only like, but help each other. In 2014, the Global Network for Sustainable Development (GNSD) evolved out of the partnership first formed in India. It was launched in Nepal. Interact, Rotaract, and Rotary were all involved to speed the growth of enrolling young people in community projects to collaborate with other countries and schools.
He also spoke of IBM's development of "Smart Schools" using technology as a platform. There are 100 Smart Cities in India. They grew out of the idea of Smart Schools for Sustainable Smart Cities. One problem was noted. The smart schools equipped students with technology and access to information, increasing the disparity between those students and nearby students who did not have the opportunity to be in a smart school. Out of this was born the sister schools project on the premise that "every child deserves a basic education."
A school in Nepal found a partner school in Poland. The school in Poland raised money and sent equipment to Nepal. They invited young visitors from Nepal to visit Poland. It proved to be a good idea. A dream that can be realized through the network of Rotary is to do more of this with many other nations involved. Dr. Wosinski through out the possibility that Mesa West could become involved by helping to fund a global grant. He encouraged Andrea Murphy to present the idea of having him visit Interact at Westwood with his program. Dr. Wosinski expressed the thought that the nature of education needs to evolve from teaching facts to motivating students to search for information, learn how to evaluate the information found, and to learn by doing by being involved in projects.
The interns from the United States who went to Nepal found the experience life-changing. When we see good, it motivates us to do more. Dr. Wosinski wrapped up his presentation with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "It always seems impossible until it's done."
To learn more about the Global Network for Sustainable Development, visit www.gnsd.org.
To read Dr. Wosinski's full bio and cv, CLICK HERE.
We have some very good problems that I want to discuss with you. The number of Rotary global grant requests is exploding. Rotarians are seeing the amazing impact of our grants, and they want to harness the power of global grants to take on ambitious projects.
One crucial aspect of our global grants is the emphasis on sustainability when planning a project. When we come together to tackle a problem, we do not just drop off a check and leave. We change lives. We bring sustainable solutions. The growth in the number of applications for global grants is a good problem to have; it shows Rotarians' dedication to service. But to fund more global grants, we need to keep The Rotary Foundation growing.
Another good problem we have is how best to support Rotarians' desire to provide relief in the face of disasters. Through our disaster response program, clubs can get grants from a new fund when a disaster strikes — but only if you fund it. We can help our fellow Rotarians rebuild quickly, but we need you to step up.
And we are so close to ending polio forever. All of us have done great things in our lives. But just imagine that you make the donation that funds those final drops that rid the world of polio forever. You will never do anything so great and so important in your life.
There is an old bit of wisdom that says, "Wherever you go, go with all your heart." So open your heart and give to your Foundation. It may be the most important thing that you ever do.Donate today, then drop by my Facebook page and tell everyone just how good giving made you feel. Let's connect and change the world together.
Note to Mesa West Rotarians: The easiest way to remember to give and "not miss it" is by giving through Rotary Direct. CLICK HERE to download a form to send to RI to sign up. You can also sign up on line at https://my.rotary.org/en/donate and choos a recurring donation. To enroll online, you may need to know your Rotary identification number which can be found on the address label of your Rotarian magazine.
August is Membership and New Club Development Month, and that’s the perfect time to celebrate you — the pillar of Rotary. You continue to show the world that Rotary members are people of action — people who are doing good in communities all over the world. For that, we thank you.
President Jim Schmidt opened the meeting asking John Pennypacker to offer the invocation and Warren Williamson to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. He thanked Lola McClane for serving as greeter.
