Highlights of July 18, 2019 Meeting

President Jim Schmidt opened the meeting asking his guest, Jim LeCheminant, to offer the invocation and Wendell Jones to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

It appears that as long as he is able to come up with material, our President, who is a CPA, will be providing some accounting humor as one of the legacies of his presidential year.  This week, we learned how to tell if an accountant is an introvert or extrovert.  An accountant who is an introvert looks at his shoes the entire time he is talking to you.  You know he/she is an extrovert if the accountant is looking at your shoes during the conversation.

 

Dan Coons was thanked for serving as greeter welcoming members and guests to the meeting.

 

Jeanie Morgan introduced her guests, Machel Considine, a Kyrene Corridor Rotary Club Member, and an integral part of the District Youth Exchange leadership team helping Donna Goetzenberger.

Jeanie also introduced Naomi Sellers and her father, Graem Sellers.  Ron Thompson introduced Kiana Okonowski, Greg's daughter, who is a University of Arizona student who wants to be a dentist.  She is shadowing Ron in his office this summer.  Frank Rosenberg introduced his daughter, Sammy, his guest, Olivia, a student at Basha High School, and his wife, Amanda.  Tom Bradford introduced his brother Ben from Flagstaff.  Ben is studying Business Management at NAU.  Ray Smith introduced Jim LeCheminant who was visiting Mesa West for his second week in a row.  Jim is a former member and Past President of Mesa Baseline Rotary, which is now a part of Mesa West.  Paperwork is in process for Jim to become a member of Mesa West. 

 

Bob Jensen's badge number was drawn making him the lucky $5 winner in the attendance drawing.  Don LaBarge was the holder of the winning ticket in the weekly raffle.  He won $20 and a chance to try to draw the ace of clubs.  His luck did not hold out, so the larger accumulating pot of $219 will roll over to grow a bit more next week.

 

Possibly the shortest new member induction in Mesa West history occurred when Amanda Rosenberg, wife of Frank Rosenberg, was welcomed as our newest member.  Amanda is already a familiar friend to members and has attended many Mesa West meetings and social events.  She has been a Rotary Youth Exchange host mom.  Amanda said she is glad to now be officially a member of the club she already felt a part of.

 

Don LaBarge reported that his recent surgery was successful.  He did not get pneumonia or experience any blood clots when they removed 10" of his colon.  He said they removed 6mm of what they believed to be pre-cancerous tissue.  Don has not yet been released to drive.  Wendell Jones drove Don to the meeting. 

 

Frank Rosenberg reported that Jack is home recovering well from his recent surgery to remove a cancerous kidney.  

 

Ray Smith contributed happy dollars and reported that Lucinda General and Wendell Jones would both be going to Guaymas this year.  Bob Jensen contributed, happy to have enjoyed a vacation in Europe recently.  Wendell Jones reported that 35 members of his family enjoyed quality, active time together the other side of Durango, Colorado.  Ron Thompson was happy to have Kiana interning in his office.  Greg was happy to report that Kiana does have ASU scrubs, but sad to report she refuses to wear them.  John Pennypacker was happy to report he would be spending the next two days at a Celtic Festival in Flagstaff.  Pam Cohen was enjoying getting to spend time with her daughter, but sorry that the reason for her daughter being in town was to have oral surgery.  She also paid happy bucks for the suspicious-appearing contents of a plastic bag  of seed pods which Warren Williamson delivered to Pam from Son Hee.  Lola Mcclane was happy to report she had recently enjoyed time with friends as well as two daughters and two sons in Kansas.  Chris Krueger was happy with the dessert as well as the opportunity to spend the prior weekend in Sedona with Mike and her favorite sister-in-law, Pam Cohen.  Dan Coons paid happy dollars for the opportunity to do the pack the bus school supply service project with Melodie and her daughter.  Tim Troy was happy to report he and his wife had enjoyed a great 4 1/2-week road trip with their family to celebrate their anniversary.  The low point of the trip was when he hit a tree while mountain biking.  Ed Koeneman reported it is 154 days until the next Star Wars movie.  Dick Myren contributed his traditional Rod Daniels "happy to be a member of Mesa West" dollar.  Don LaBarge was happy to have enjoyed time with Robert while he was on summer break from the Pinion school where he teaches. Chuck Flint was happy to report that Dick Myren is celebrating his 60th year as a CPA.  Chuck and his dog had enjoyed a weekend in Greer, Arizona. 

 

Tim Troy had a bag to auction calling it a family fun pack since the bag contained items collected during their family road trip.  Pam Cohen was the successful bidder.

 

President Jim presented recognition certificates to Ray Smith for 18 years, John Pennypacker for 18 years, John Benedict for 18 years, Lucinda General for 22 years, Don LaBarge for 23 years, Jeanie Morgan for 24 Years, Dan Coons for 26 years, Pam Cohen for 27 years, Wendell Jones for 30 years, Chuck Flint for 32 years, and Jack Rosenberg for 39 years.  At the end of this presentation, Jim stated that our club is growing larger.  One of his goals is to have more Rotarians involved in a robust committee structure.

 

Jeanie Morgan introduced Naomi Sellers, who will be a senior at Westwood High School this fall.  During her junior year, she was encouraged to apply to participate in a summer program called Yale Young Global Scholars.  When she was accepted, she wrote to Jeanie wondering if there was any possibility Rotary could help with some of the associated costs to participate.  When Don LaBarge learned of the request at a Mesa West board meeting, he enthusiastically took the request and indicated it would perfectly align with funding goals of a District 5500 Foundation of which he is President and Dan Coons is a board member.   The foundation board did approve the funding, asking only that Mesa West contribute "airport fees" of $100.  

 

Naomi began her presentation introducing herself.  She is an active volunteer in Interact and other service programs including Little Warriors, a program where Westwood High School Students work with kids at a nearby elementary school.  Naomi said she is passionate about three things.  She loves kids, she enjoys being creative, and is very passionate about sustainability.  She is seventeen.  At Westwood, she is involved with Little Warriors, Link Crew, Interact, and Athenas.  She is in the National Honor Society and the International Baccalaureate program.  

 

At the Yale Young Global Scholars program, the focus of their studies surrounded Sustainable Development and Social Entrepreneurship.  The program took place during two weeks spent on Yale's New Haven, CT Campus.  Participating youth heard lectures by Ivy League Professors and industry professionals.  She said one of the jokes that proved to be true was the statement that it takes ten minutes to introduce the professors participating in the Yale program because their lists of credentials and noteworthy achievements are so long.  Participating students were from 90+ different countries, 6 continents, and 49 states.  The goal was "to foster curiosity and build a global community among the youth of my generation." 

 

Each day, following breakfast, they heard lectures, followed by breakout sessions.  They had some time for recreational activities or time with their assigned "family" following lunch.  At Yale, their "family" consisted of a very diverse group of other participants in the program.  Because of their common new experience, the families bonded and became very close.

 

Some of the varied subjects discussed included:  "Earth Liberation Front and Migration and Climate Change," "Feminism in Islam," "UN Refugee Crisis and UNSC Response to Syrian Civil War," and "The Uncanny Goodness of Being Edible to Bears."

 

Naomi grew close to those in her assigned family as well as to those in close proximity in her dorm. The one large group photo is of all the participants in the program with an arrow pointing to Naomi.

 

Naomi said that the scholastic environment and the diversity of views and perspectives was very intellectually enriching, but that she was surprised at her biggest takeaway from her participation in the program.  She related three incidents:

 

After relating these three incidents with a common theme of kindness, Naomi was pretty sure that Rotarians and guests would think her takeaway from the program was "kindness."

 

She surprised everyone with her real takeaway being "Hope."  She said that should be our takeaway too.  Through unselfishly spreading kindness, we can all have hope for our future.

 

Naomi's final slide and her entire attitude thanked Rotary and the District 5500 Foundation for supporting her participation in the Yale Global Youth Scholars program.