President Allan Cady called the meeting to order and invited John Pennypacker to the podium to deliver the thought for the day. February 22 would have been the 49th wedding anniversary of John and his wife, Betsy. He recited a following poem from an unknown source (see the end of this article to read the poem). Polly Cady led the pledge of allegiance.
President Allan continued to challenge the members to wear their pins to the meeting by paying a dollar for each member wearing their Rotary pin. There was a record count of 22, costing him 22.00. He reminded everyone the challenge would last one more week. He also held up the progress meter for the sponsorship program celebrating the fact that the committee had been able to bring in the last $300 necessary to take the total collected to $40,000 secondary goal set after the original goal of $30,000 was reached quicker than anticipated. The successful campaign will support the charitable work funded by our club locally and internationally.
Many guests were present at the meeting. PDG Terry Cowan, Immanuel Beeson with the Salvation Army, Angel Pilato, Parker Robertson, Dick Thomas of Sun Lakes Rotary, Pamela Mason, Mary Wyatt (Melody's guest), and Brett Morey from LaJolla CA Golden Triangle Rotary Club (who created "Surfers Unite Rotarian Fellowship, which is now 320 members strong) Bob James, Mike Polley (who works in energy), Bruce Devon (a rehab doctor from Michigan), and Abe Harrison from the Superstition Club.
Greg Okonowski won the attendance drawing after the holders of badge numbers 21 and 25 were absent. In the weekly drawing, the small pot of $41 dollars was won by John Benedict, but he did not draw the Ace of Clubs, so the large pot, which is now up to $880 will continue to grow. Chuck Flint explained the Buck Board for the benefit of the guests.
Members were encouraged to look into attending the Arizona Mining Days activities at the state capital on March 15.
President-Elect Chris Krueger announced the upcoming Club Leadership Academy to be held at Black Canyon University on Saturday, April 21. Rotarians who attend the academy will each have the opportunity to attend five of the forty offered subjects at the academy. The cost to attend is $65 per person, and to encourage incoming officers and interested club members to attend, the board has approved covering that cost for any member who wishes to do so. Members can contact Chris for more information or CLICK HERE to visit the district website for information and/or on-line registration.
Yordi Miguel, who is being sponsored by Mesa West Rotary to be an outbound youth exchange student next year, was invited to the podium to announce that he has learned where he will be going. He was excited to report he will be going to Brazil and thanked the club for their sponsorship.
Pam Cohen reminded members of the Steak and Beans dinner Saturday, February 24 to celebrate the successful sponsorship program.
John Pennypacker introduced the guest speaker, Dr. Angel Pilato, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, who took the club down memory lane to the sixties. She not only was the first woman assigned to manage an Officers' Club, she was the First to run one on a fighter pilot base in a war zone. At the time she enlisted, she had a Bachelor's in Food Management from Rochester Institute of Technology. She later earned a doctorate from Oregon State and has held management positions in a fortune 500 company, higher education and a non-profit. She is a Rotarian, a Paul Harris Fellow, and a board member of Boots to Shoes.
In her presentation, Dr. Pilato kept her audience's attention with both humorous and heart wrenching accounts of her experiences as a woman in the military in the late sixties in general and her time managing the officers' club at the fighter pilot base in Udorn, Thailand during the Vietnam War. Early on, she could see that she was in uncharted territory for women in the military with a base of mostly men who were flying or supporting the flying of dangerous missions. When MiG's were shot down, she allowed the crew's jeep to be parked in the officers' club. When one crew tried to park their truck in the club, it got stuck in the door frame and the crew wanted to tear the wall down so they could put it inside at 3:00 in the morning. Hence a sign with the name Angel's Truck Stop went up on the building until it was stolen and never recovered.
Angel had been encouraged by friends to write a book about her experiences as she would tell stories at dinner parties and enjoyed a reputation for entertaining those who listened. Writing her book, Angel's Truck Stop, our speaker came to terms with some of her own feelings about the war and how women were regarded in leadership positions during that time period. During the writing, she found some of the material very sobering. Not all the pilots made it back to base. The book has enabled Angel to locate family members of some of those who lost their lives. The cousin of one of those who lost their lives was present at the meeting.
At the end of her presentation, Dr. Pilato presented certificates acknowledging their service to Don LaBarge and John Pennypacker as well as to Paula Robertson who lost her cousin in the war. Many members took advantage of the opportunity to purchase personally autographed copies of Angel's Truck Stop.
On March 8th our speaker is Judge Tommy Webb, one of the most inspirational speakers you will ever hear. Judge Webb was born in South Korea sometime in l952. He never knew his father; his mother was a prostitute. He spent the first six years of his life as a “street kid” and left home shortly thereafter to walk to Seoul, South Korea, in search of a better life. At seven he was taken in by the Holt Orphanage and subsequently adopted by an American couple. Following high school and a stint in the Marine Corps and after attaining his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Judge Webb went on to serve seven consecutive terms as the first Kansas Magistrate Judge of Asian descent. Over the years Judge Webb received many awards and recognition. Among those were Past President of the National Judges Association, Recipient of Distinguished Service to Kansas Children Award and National Judges Association recipient as the Outstanding Non-Attorney Judge in the United States.
Judge Webb’s life story, “You can make a Difference” focuses on making a positive difference in a negative world. You will find his unforgettable life lessons, illustrated with humor and insight , to be both captivating and thought-provoking. Please, feel free to invite a guest.
GCU Rotaract had their fifth meeting of 2018 Thursday evening, February 22. President-Elect Isabelle Clausen was pleased to share that their student leadership development has been increasing. A couple of their members are scheduling upcoming service projects and formulating and planning service projects for next semester. Their organization has also been increasing with the officers dividing up responsibilities and delegating roles to club members.
Mesa West Rotary President, Allan Cady attended the February 22 meeting and presented the club with a check to support their service endeavors. They send their thanks to Mesa West Rotary for sponsoring their club.
The young club has been getting quite involved in service around Phoenix. At the beginning of December, they packed food with fellow Rotarians in Mesa. Also, at the beginning of January, they had an on-campus project where they packaged notes and granola bars to distribute to the homeless population in Phoenix.
At another January project, they volunteered at an organization called Abounding Service. The organization utilizes volunteers coming in and helping immigrants learn English. The volunteer sits with the immigrant while they take a Rosetta Stone lesson and helps the immigrant when needed. The project was intriguing and gave the Rotaract students a new cultural perspective as they realized just how many cultures are dispersed in the Phoenix area.
The members had plans to pack food at St. Mary's Food Bank on Saturday, February 24.
On March 3, they will be leading their biggest project of the year at GCU's last basketball game of the season. They will be doing the Purple Pinkie project before and after the basketball game when there are a lot of people on campus watching the game to raise money for the cure for Polio. They are very excited for this project.
I was born in Munich in 1950. Eager to leave post-war Germany, Mom, Oma and I immigrated to Canada at the end of 1951 and Mom’s boss, a kind American colonel, gave her the money for our passage. Mom married my stepfather in 1953 and within a few years Alex and Eileen joined the family.
With a German Mom, an English Dad and growing up in French speaking Quebec, I was fluent in all three languages by the time I started school. As a teen, I dreamt of becoming an interpreter at the United Nations, but instead, I became a paralegal for a number of years and then spent the last 22 years of my working life in administration at the public library in Red Deer.
Hans and I met on Valentine’s Day in 1972 and five days later, with a promise ring on my finger and marriage on my mind, I nevertheless left to tour Europe with my girlfriend. The year I was planning to travel suddenly seemed far too long and I flew home a few short weeks later. We married that August. Our daughter, Soleena Alethea, is married to Drew who, in a twist, took her last name, so they are both Wiesners. They have no children and live and work in Calgary, about 100 miles south of Red Deer.
Since 1993 Hans and I have travelled extensively, often on cruises, and I think we’re pretty close to having stepped foot on 100 countries. My favorite destination used to be Asia: South Korea, China and Japan. But last year we visited the South Pacific islands and now Bora Bora is #1 on my list!
As for my volunteer work with Rotary, by far the most memorable experience is the first wheelchair delivery in which I participated, to Huatulco, Mexico. We delivered 280 wheelchairs along coastal towns and to hill people, many of whom had never seen a wheelchair and needed to be shown how to use one. Since then we have delivered over 2500 wheelchairs to eight countries. Our oldest recipient was 104. She wept when we lifted her into her chair.
Many thanks to all who helped raise the $40,000 during the club's first attempt at raising funds for our charitable endeavors by soliciting sponsors. The Steak and Beans celebration dinner was enjoyed by all who were able to attend.
Somehow, one of the two most successful team leaders, Chuck Flint, ended up hosting the event in his lovely home and also served as "grill-master extraordinaire." Pam Cohen coordinated the decor and the appetizers and desserts which were provided by members who were not so successful. We may want to think of ways to celebrate that do not involve a winner serving his fellow members. On the other hand, maybe that is why Chuck was so successful - a true servant leader!
The food, fellowship, and atmosphere were outstanding and truly representative of the Ace of Clubs! Thanks to all who made this celebration possible!
Many members have commented on how much they have enjoyed this series. We have now finished publishing profiles of all the leadership team. It is time to move on to the general membership. To keep the profiles somewhat consistent, we have had everyone respond to the same questions. If you would be willing to let your fellow members know a little more about you, please CLICK HERE to download the list of questions.
You can send your answers to JEANIE MORGAN along with a head and shoulders photo of yourself. Selfies from smart phones work and can be texted to 928 486 4328. Please provide your name when texting so she can add you to her contact list.
If she receives multiple profiles, she will publish them in the order received. If she receives these at the same meeting, she will publish them in the order of time in Rotary - longest to shortest.
This article will reappear in the Messenger anytime there is not a waiting list of profiles to be published.
Through academic training, practice, and global networking opportunities, the Rotary Peace Centers program develops leaders who become catalysts for peace and conflict prevention and resolution. These fellowships cover tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation, and all internship and field-study expenses.
In just over a decade, the Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,000 fellows for careers in peacebuilding. Many of them are serving as leaders at international organizations or have started their own foundations.