Opening and Welcome - President Colleen Coons
- Eric Silverberg shared an inspirational quote from Andrew Carnegie: "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do."
- Jim Schmidt led the Pledge of Allegiance.
- President Colleen thanked
- Eric Silverberg for serving as greeter
- Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
- Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief Technology Officer
- John Pennypacker for handling room setup
Introduction of Guests
- John Benedict introduced his daughter Kelly Benedict, proudly announcing she is a medical doctor.
- Marilyn Klingler said the last time she visited a Mesa West Rotary meeting, the program was Matthew 24 Prison Ministries. She became an active volunteer with them following the meeting.
- Frank Rosenberg introduced his guest, Blake Layton who is a paramedic and teaches at Frank's office.
- Melissa Hollenbeck is someone President Colleen met at a Mesa City Council Meeting. She is a District Coordinator working with our speaker, Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury.
- Harry Short was introduced as a visiting Rotarian who will soon be heading back to Seattle. While in Arizona, Harry is very generous with a property of his in the mountains, allowing Rotaractors to use it for an annual retreat.
- Tom Yuzer, another seasonal visiting Rotarian introduced his wife, Liz.
- Dora Le is a Past President of ASU Rotaract.
- Shawn Buntin was introduced by John Pennypacker as a new member who has not yet been formally inducted. His induction is scheduled to happen at the April 25 meeting.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
Dick explained that the income from raffle ticket sales is divided three ways: 1/3 goes into the Club Operating Account, the second 1/3 goes to the weekly winner, and the final 1/3 goes into the accumulating big pot. He said the weekly winner would receive $35 and the big pot was up to $441. To win the big pot, the weekly winner would need to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck. There was one other way they could win. They could win an additional $20 if the card they drew was the Joker. Dick asked Tom Yuzer to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Connie Bunyard. Connie's attempt to draw the Ace of Clubs produced the Six of Spades instead, which Dick had already torn in half before Lola got the picture of the losing card taken.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms, Ron Thompson
- Ron Thompson was the first to make an announcement. He pledged $100 toward his Paul Harris account to celebrate the fact that his wife, Toni, had been named President of her university. He said he now calls her "Madam President," He also contributed $2 because he has happy Kelly Benedict was at our meeting.
- John Pennypacker announced that 57 years ago, the Army Aviation Association of America was formed. Ten years later, John got his wings. He said that it is a fraternity that never dies. He will miss our April 25 meeting because he will be with some of those he flew with in Vietnam in 1968 at a reunion event to be held in Denver.
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 happy that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are in the Ace of Clubs. He contributed an additional $3 thanking our President.
- Jack Rosenberg pledged $100 to Ron Thompson's sponsorship team. Frank Rosenberg's Master's Degree achievement has made him a very proud father.
- John Benedict contributed. He was very proud of his daughter, the medical doctor, Kelly.
- Kelly Benedict thanked everyone for the very warm welcome.
- Liz Paulus contributed. She was very happy to announce that College Bound had helped a student get a $30,000 scholarship to attend law school.
- Polly Cady contributed. She was just happy to be a member of Mesa West Rotary. She feels that what we do is awesome!
- Allan Cady pledged $5 via Zoom to echo Polly's enthusiasm, saying we are a wonderful, giving club.
- Pam Cohen contributed. The final disbursement of our Global Grant partnering with Aqua Africa is being made. The project is in South Sudan. The water project will provide clean water for five villages, serving a total of about 20,000 people.
- Jim Schmidt happily praised Dora Le as an amazing Rotaractor. He pledged $10 to his sponsor program team to celebrate something that happened at the Rotary Week of Service project at the YMCA. While working at the event, he had ear buds in his ears so he could participate in a Zoom meeting while he worked on the painting of the pool deck. As he was multi-tasking, a fresh five-gallon bucket of the thick paint they were using was delivered, and one of his ear buds fell into the bucket. He reached into the bucket and fished around for the ear bud until he found it. President Colleen volunteered to clean the ear bud while Jim got himself cleaned up. Miraculously, the ear bud still works!
- Harry Short was very complimentary of the Past President of ASU Rotaract, saying it has been a very pleasant experience letting them use his place for their annual Rotaract retreat. He said they do a great job of leaving it like they found it and are very comfortable people to be around.
- Connie Buntin was happy that they were going to get the "Rotary District" from Don LaBarge on a new pressure washer. She and John need to replace the washer they had taken to the YMCA to clean the pool deck on Friday before the painting of the deck on Saturday. Their washer broke down while on the job.
- Tom Yuzer contributed $100 to John Pennypacker's sponsorship team to celebrate his and Liz's 60th wedding anniversary.
- Ed Koeneman was happy the club had new toys - some new cordless microphones to use at our meetings. He explained that they need to be held close to the chin, to have optimal results, and hold the microphone closer to the large end rather than the small end of the handle to avoid feedback. He thanked Jim McGown for the good auction find. For an update, Ed said their son is still in Poland, and still sleeping in a closet.
- Warren Williamson contributed $1 to comment on a rumor about a movie to be made about the O.J.Simpson trial when O.J. was being tried for the murder of his wife. He said the rumor was that John Elway was going to be cast as the slow, white Bronco.
- Harry Grossman said he has been trying us on for size for a year while maintaining his membership in his Rotary club in Sedona. We have met his standards, and he will be applying to transfer his membership to Mesa West the end of June.
- Ray Smith was glad to be back at our meetings following tax season and contributed $500 to the sponsor campaign.
- Erwin Reimann contributed $50. He said they would be heading north soon. He was happy to report that their grandson who some members might remember training for the Olympics, would be coming to Arizona for a week's visit.
- President Colleen was very happy the Rotary Week of Service project went so well. Our own member, Greg Bouslog who manages the East Valley YMCA was very happy with the result, saying their pool deck has never looked better. She was thankful for the Bunyard's loan of their equipment. Helping with the scrubbing on Friday were the Bunyards, Pam Cohen, Polly Cady and John Pennypacker. She was thankful that four youth exchange students helped on Saturday along with our Past President and AG Dan Coons. she said Jim Schmidt and Warren Williamson had their heads down working away in full sun. while some of the others found shade or at least partial shade to work in. One of her joys as President has been that when we ask for help - people show up! She also said that DG Kevin Pitts recently called to see if Mesa West could help out in hosing six Kenyans who would be arriving early to travel to the District Conference in Mexico. Colleen made one phone call and Liz Paulus said they would host them all.
Sponsor Program Update - Steve Ross- John Pennypacker's team has reclaimed the top spot.
- Close behind are Ed Koeneman and Ray Smith's teams.
- Donations for this year are now over $42,000 and counting...
Announcements
- President Colleen thanked Steve for the amazing report. The sponsor program which Allan Cady created, continues to make it possible for us to do the charitable things we do. It is surviving with Steve's cheerleading and Jeanie Morgan's help.
- Eric Silverberg said there would soon be a survey to respond to about types of programs members would like to hear in the coming Rotary year.
- Saturday, April 20, the Mesa Rotary Club would be celebrating their 100th anniversary Saturday, April 20 with a breakfast, ribbon cutting and park cleanup event at Guerrero Park.
- Camelback Crossroads Rotary Club is having a pickle ball tournament to raise funds if anyone is interested.
- Colleen reminded members who plan to attend to get registered for the District Conference.
- May 18th Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) will be held at Benedictine University in Mesa. All three sessions will be offered.
- June 8 a new member orientation event will be held at the Coons residence.
Program - Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury
Eric Silverberg introduced our speaker. Councilwoman Spilsbury was elected to the Mesa City Council in August of 2020. She began her first term representing District 2 in January of 2021. Her term on the Council runs until January of 2025. She is a product of the Mesa Public Schools, for her entire education. She has been active for more than twenty years in local schools, earning an award from MPS for her volunteer work. Both of her parents were teachers, instilling in her a drive to support those who lead our children. Julie and her husband Jeremy ran a small tree care company for more than 20 years. They have lived in District 2 for almost all of their 26 years of marriage. They have six children - five girls and one boy. She attended Brigham Young University.
CLICK HERE to see the slides Councilwoman Spilsbury shared during her presentation.
The warm welcome for Julie and District Coordinator Melissa Hollenbeck were very much appreciated. She was very impressed to be among so many people doing amazing things. One of the first slides she shared was a wedding photo taken at her son's wedding. Julie is quite tall, as are the rest of the family. Her son gave them all a tiny sister-in-law. His bride was 5'1". Her youngest is a senior at Mesa High School.
For most of her married life, Julie was a stay-at-home mom. She kept the books for their family business and volunteered at her children's schools. She has been a PTO President.
She was urged to run for a council seat. It was not anything she had ever aspired to, but was finally persuaded to run. Now, there are three women on the Mesa City Council for the first time in Mesa history. A lot of people don't realize that Mesa, with 520,000 citizens is the 36th largest city in the US. She showed a map of the city of Mesa with the districts highlighted in color. Her district is most center (the yellow district on the map).
She said there are many ways for citizens to be involved in their local government. Every ten years, they have to adopt a new general plan.
MesaListens.com is a way for citizens to be heard. One of the initiatives coming out of citizen input is a plan to plant 1,000,000 trees by 201.
Citizens are urged to recycle accepted items.
Julie is especially passionate about championing education as a means of workforce development. All communities in the School District involve businesses in their round-table discussions.
Mesa Promise is a unique program where graduates of Mesa High Schools can have two years of free education at Mesa Community College. That program is being expanded to adult learners who meet the financial qualifications and are age 24 and older.
Knowing that literacy need to happy by third grade in order to be successful in subsequent school years, Julie is passionate about the literacy initiative - Read-on Mesa. They have business engagement support, a system of volunteer tutors. There is opportunity for those who need to tutor from home to do so via Zoom.
She spoke about a spot of local history, which could also be considered an eyesore - Buckhorn Baths. It was started in the 50's and was a Mecca for baseball people with mineral baths. It's still there, and very expensive. Lots of unique memorabilia. Located at Recker and Main, there is a new owner and some (re)development is being worked on.
Mesa Kindness is another initiative Julie is fond of. The intent is to take bertter care of homeless in the Mesa community.
District 2 is lucky to be represented by someone who truly cares about Mesa and enjoys dong the work she was elected to do.
