Opening and Welcome - President Jay Paulus
President Jay asked Jack Rosenberg to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. He then asked Dick Myren to offer the invocation.
Introduction of Guests
- Lu General introduced Tom Hutchinson, who was visiting from the E-Club of the Southwest.
- Shelly Romine introduced two new members who have not yet been formally inducted into the club - Al Nunez and Exavier King.
- Ron Thompson introduced Neil Theobald, a visiting Rotarian from Laramie Wyoming. Neil just retired after a 40-year career in higher education.
- Miss Ahwatukee Katlyn Gallo, 2023 Miss Arizona Tiffany Ticlo and Tiffany's mother Gianiany Ticlo were introduced.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck explained that after selling tickets for $5 each, the sales proceeds were divided three ways - 1/3 to the club operating account, 1/3 to the small weekly pot, and the final 1/3 was added to the big pot. The person holding the winning ticket would win the small weekly pot and the opportunity to draw a card from the deck. If they draw the Ace of Clubs, they will win the large pot. If they draw the joker, they will win an additional $20. Chuck asked Miss Ahwatukee to draw the winning ticket. President Jay was holding the winning ticket. He gave his opportunity to draw from the deck to the former Miss Arizona. After she shuffled the cards, the card she drew was the Ten of Diamonds. She donated the winnings back to the club.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Andy Bradford
- Dick Myren donated $5 - He was happy he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are part of the Ace of Clubs. He felt we all should be proud of the service we are a part of around the world.
- Harry Grossman contributed and pointed out he was wearing his red shoes because the Cardinals won their final game of the season.
- Ted Williams was celebrating the season of special life events - their anniversary and his birthday - and pledged $79.
- Brian Harvey contributed celebrating Ed Koeneman's new knee.
- Jim McGown reported that while he was shopping for bargains in mobility devices, he cam across an opportunity to purchase communication devices used with special education kids. They are worth much more than what he paid for them. He purchased seven of the devices for $16.
- Gaby Duran celebrated her daughter's 20th birthday on January 3. She is in her second semester at NAU.
- Shelly Romine was thankful for our successful blood drive. There were 28 donors. The next drive will be April 3.
- Erwin Reimann contributed $20. $10 was for a wonderful Christmas spent in South Dakota. He and Joan provided the table and chairs - everyone else provided the food! He was also happy about the work done through Paul Harris giving - it exemplifies Service Above Self.
- Joan Reimann told of attending a Rotary International Convention many years ago. She visited a booth at the convention about water purification in the world. She was impressed with the lives which are truly changed forever, when a community finally has access to clean water. She told about a community in Tanzania where it was common knowledge that you had to go early to get your water before the animals went in. Continuing to work to provide clean water is something she will always support.
- Jim Schmidt was thankful for those who want to help those in Districts 5280 and 5300 where the fires were raging and impacting the lives of many people. He encouraged giving to support the many needs that will result.
- Colleen Coons pledged $50. She will turn sixty this month. She was happy the stipends for McKinney Vento students totaled $690 this month which means the students are doing well. She encouraged members to attend the May 2-3 District Conference. She is the conference chair this year.
- Don LaBarge said he is dealing with chaos at work. He was happy to report that our Salvation Army station brought in $31,800 this year. He was very thankful for all the club members who responded and helped keep the shifts at the station covered.
- Eric Silverberg wondered how much in donations the dinosaur costumes worn by Kayla Mudge and Logan Harper inspired.
- Miss Arizona's mom was happy to be at our meeting.
- Waume Barefoot was happy to be at the meeting.
- John Pennypacker was glad to have received his new credit card. He had shared some information received from some of his Rotary friends in California about wildfire response. CLICK HERE to see what he shared with your Messenger editor January 8, but too late to get in last week's edition.
- Ed Koeneman was happy about a few things:
- It was three weeks post-op. and rehabilitation with his new knee was going well.
- Marilyn Klingler is getting involved with Westwood HS Interact, and that is going well.
- He was sad that a Rotarian he had visited with at the Singapore RI Convention had passed.
- He was happy to announce that it was only 498 days until the next Star Wars movie will be released.
- Connie Bunyard thanked Andy Bradford for a referral.
- Warren Williamson recalled the 1968 Presidential election when comedian Pat Paulson ran a tongue-in-cheek campaign. His campaign slogan was that "All the problems today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian."
- Polly Cady, who was attending via Zoom, pledged $20. She was happy to announce that Dick Myren will graduate from Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) at the January 25 session to be held in Anthem. She thanked him for his testimonial about the value of RLI which appeared in the District Newsletter. President Jay echoed the value of RLI and encouraged members who've not yet attended to go.
Announcements- Shelly said that we need to put in some more time in the Rose Garden at MCC. She has sent out volunteer solicitations for the afternoons of January 19 and 26 from 1-5 PM.
- February 8 - is the "girl power" women-only Bed Build event for Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
- February 12 - Westwood High School Interact is planning a Senior Prom at Aster Aging. They will need volunteers to dance with the ladies.
- March 27 Mesa West will host an event in downtown Mesa -The Venture Challenge.". We are working with ASU to invite entrepreneurs to make pitches about their business plans to compete for awards. Their presentations will be judged by distinguished judges. $5,000 will be awarded.
Program - Miss Arizona and Miss Ahwatukee Pageants
Eric Silverberg introduced the speakers. Tiffany Ticlo held the title of Miss Arizona 2023 and had the opportunity to represent Arizona on the Miss America Stage last January. She recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science (Software Engineering) and a minor in music. Tiffany works full time as a solution analyst at a Fortune 500 company. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering with her personal service project, teaching STEAM programs, spending time wit her family, and playing with her rescue dog, Max.
Miss Ahwatukee 2025, Kaitlyn Gallo, is a student at ASU pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business and Entrepreneurship. She has been involved in the Miss America program since she was six and will be competing for the title of Miss Arizona this June. Kaitlyn is passionate about her service initiative, "Stress Less. Be Your Best: Promoting Healthy Stress Management." When she's not on stage you can find her in the studio dancing, curled up on the couch watching a horror movie, or strumming her ukulele for friends and family.
Tiffany met President Jay at a charity event last fall. They talked about pageants. The Miss America Pageant was founded in 1921. Being involved in the pageants empowers women to dream, and are the biggest source of scholarships for women. Qualities of success, style, accountability and service are stressed.
Pageants go by many names. The pageants for little girls are for "little princesses." Kaitlyn said that about age ten, it was an "ambassador" program. She grew as a person. She won her first title at sixteen, and through it all has met amazing people. She's been involved with community service since 2013. One title she competed for was "Miss Valley of the Sun." She is active physically with both dancing and martial arts. The title carriers have the opportunities to participate in parades, and gain public speaking skills through their competition and because they are invited to speak at events. The interview skills gained while competing are useful on-the job.
Tiffany got involved when she was fourteen. She was terrified, but thankful she took that leap of faith. She didn't win the first time, but she didn't get discouraged. She considers setbacks to be stepping stones to her best self. She said it is a lot of work to prepare for competitions. Having a personal project forced her to get involved with community work and ensuring that what she did had an impact. Her favorite memories are when she was aware of impacting others. She's created many lifetime friendships and memories. She's been asked to sing the National Anthem at events several times.
One project she was involved with raised $70,000 for the Chandler Center for Arts. She has learned that the greatest gift we can give is our time.