Highlights of March 28 Meeting

Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President Colleen Coons
 
President Colleen thanked
  • Andy Bradford for serving as Greeter
  • Jeanie Morgan for handling check-in
  • Ted Williams for offering the invocation
  • Logan Harper for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
  • Ed Koeneman for serving as Chief Technology Officer
  • John Pennypacker for handling room setup
Introduction of Guests
 
  • Polly Cady introduced Valeria, the daughter of PDG Omar Falcon, who they met and became friends with several years ago at a USA/Mexico friendship conference. Valeria  She also introduced our inbound exchange student from Sweden, Olivia.  Valeria and Olivia were going to be travelling Friday with Allan and Polly to spend a week on their boat in San Diego.
  • Harry Grossman was happy to introduce his guests.  At the Cubs game, he spotted a familiar face - Bill Anderson, who was a former President of the Community College in Illinois where Harry worked for 35 years.  Bill and his wife, Anna, were Harry's guests at the meeting.
  • Our guest speaker, Deborah Schaus, was acknowledged and would be introduced in more detail later in the meeting.
  • Lizzy Barron, a new, yet-to-be inducted member was introduced.
  • Shane White, whose work responsibilities too often conflict with his ability to attend our meeings was acknowledged.
  • Mariana Meraz was introduced as the current President of the Rotaract Club at Benedictine University.  She stepped up in the middle of the term to fill that position and will be President of the Rotaract Club again next year.
  • Penny May, a seasonal visiting Rotarian from Alaska was introduced.
  • Pam Cohen introduced Diane Woods-Fowler who works with Banner Health Care was visiting for the second week in a row.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
 
 
Dick explained that the ticket sales revenue is divided into thirds.  One third would be added to the big, accumulating pot, Another third would be added to the banks operating account and the person whose ticket was drawn would win the final third.  That person would also win the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs (which we believe we are) from the cards remaining in the deck.  Should they be so lucky, they would win the big pot.  Dick asked Mariana to draw the winning ticket.  The ticket stub was held by Jim McGown.  He said we would spend his winnings on mobility devices for the Interact Crutches 4 Africa project.  The card he drew from the deck was the Ten of Clubs.
 
President Collee Introduced One Additional Guest
 
AG Dan Coons was in attendance.  She said she always forgets to introduce him because she sees him every day.
 
Sponsor Program Update - Steve Ross
 
Steve said we were seven weeks into the program and about half way to reaching our goal of $50,000.  John Pennypacker and his team were in first place with Bob Jensen's team was close behind in second place.  All five teams have brought in about 45% of the revenue received so far.  The other 55% has been brought in by Allan Cady, Steve Ross, Seasonal Visitors and any other unassigned donations.  Those funds are divided equally among the five teams so no team has a huge advantage over the others as a result of those relationships built over the years Allan ran the annual campaign.
 
 
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms - Ron Thompson
 
 
  • John Pennypacker shared some words of praise about what he observed at the Aspire Academy when members of the club got up early Friday, March 22 to cook breakfast for the girls who were at the academy to get indoctrinated on careers in police and fire departments both on the front-line and in support positions.  He thought the young ladies were pretty impressive especially when they demonstrated they had enough stamina to be able to drag a tire for a mile.  One word was stressed - Integrity.  No matter what you are doing, without integrity, it will amount to nothing.  With integrity, anything is possible.  John had an impressive coin/medallion from the Academy that he passed around so everyone present could see it.
  • Pam Cohen said Chuck Flint had to be readmitted to the hospital to have some blood clots removed.  She said he was doing well and she would be picking him up to take him home later that day.
  • Penny May said she would be leaving Tuesday to go home to Alaska.  She thanked everyone for being such wonderful friends.
  • Dick Myren was glad the University of Iowa basketball team had made it to the final 16.  Caitlin Clark has been recognized for scoring the most points in a season.  They would be playing at 12:30 Saturday on ABC.
  • AG Dan Coons noted that this far along in the Rotary year, he was surprised the President had to read the Rotary Vision Statement.  He said both he and Jim Schmidt always recited it during their terms as Club President.  He thought she should be charged $5.
  • Jim McGown contributed $20 for the fun of telling at the prior week's meeting about Colleen's burnout at the Mecham Auto Auction.
  • Harry Grossman was very happy to have Bill and Anna at the meeting as his guests.
  • Polly Cady contributed.  She was very happily looking forward to a week in San Diego with Valeria and Olivia.  She was also happy to have our two newest members, Lizzy and Gerry at the meeting.
  • Allan Cady was happy to be enjoying a grand time with Olivia and Valeria. 
  • Valeria hopes to return to Mexico with a large bag of gently used children's clothing to be used in Mexico for charitable purposes.  She hoped members would turn some in at the next meeting.
  • Jim Schmidt was happy to be with Colleen and Ed when Mesa West Rotary Foundation was one of 15 organizations recognized as recipients of  Meta Grants to benefit our local community.  He followed up on AG Dan's observation that the Rotary Vision Statement should be recited - rather than read.
  • Gerry Paulus was happy to be a new member of Mesa West Rotary.  He said fifteen years earlier he received his first Paul Harris Fellow and he pledged $100 toward his next level of recognition.
  • Ed Koeneman said their son had spent another week in Poland still sleeping in a closet near some large AC equipment.  He told his parents he was going to get a tattoo of the Koeneman Coat of Arms.
  • Warren Williamson told a story about Little Johnie.  They were studying sea mammals in their science class.  Little Johnie was proud to tell her about Jonah being swallowed by a whale.  The teacher tried to explain that in reality that would not be possible.  Little Johnie was sure it was true because it was in the Bible.  Little Johnie said, "Well, when I get to Heaven and see Jonah, I'm going to ask him."  The teacher retorted, "What if Jonah isn't in Heaven?"  Little Johnie said, "Then, you can ask him."
Announcements
  • With the Meta Community Action Grant, we will be purchasing 30 Oculus II head sets for placement in local public libraries.  Because it was so difficult, many students were not inclined to study science, technology, engineering and math.  Colleen believes when students experience what STEM can do through the virtual enhanced reality the grant will allow us to provide, they will be more inclined to aspire to higher goals for themselves.  The libraries will be provided the RI virtual reality featuring the Rotary Wheel image that was sunk to create an eco-system renewal.
  • Our Rotary Week of Service project will be at the YMCA managed by our own Greg Bouslog.  Our volunteers will be cleaning and repainting the pool deck at their facility the morning of April 13. 
  • It has been approved that our club will transfer recognition points to help any member get their first Paul Harris Fellow Recognition.  Once the member has contributed $500, the club will transfer up to 500 recognition points to get them to their first $1,000.  If you don't know where you stand, John Pennypacker can help.  It's easy to check for yourself through your "My Rotary" account on the rotary.org website.  If you haven't set up your "My Rotary" account yet, put that chore on your "to do" list.
  • Our final March service project was announced.  Meal service would again be provided by our volunteers at Paz de Cristo Friday, March 29.
Program - Deborah Schaus - Aster Aging
 
 
Eric Silverberg introduced Deborah Schaus - the CEO of Aster Aging.  Deborah has over 30 years experience as a Social Worker in Non-Profit Aging Services.  She received her Masters from ASU.
 
Deborah hoped everyone was relaxed after lunch.  She began by reminding everyone how excited children are to be aging.  They use fractions to excitedly say how old they are, like "I'm seven and a half!"  They admire their older siblings just because they are older.  One of the goals of Aster Aging is to bring back the joy of aging.
 
Aster has facility-based services where classes and activities are held..  They have huge kitchens at both their downtown and Red Mountain facilities where they can prepare and serve congregate meals as well as prepare meals on wheels to be delivered to those who are home bound.  
 
They try to meet seniors where they are at, encouraging them to get out and socialize but being available for those who cannot do so. For those who receive meals on wheels, their interaction with their driver may be the only social contact they have.  The drivers and the meal recipients form bonds where they truly care about and look forward to seeing each other.
 
For homebound seniors who have pets but no way to provide supplies for them, Aster has a service to help with that as well.  
 
Their "neighbors" program can provide drivers to get homebound seniors to their medical appointments or simply visit them in their home for social interaction, or simply call to check on them.  Volunteers can also help with non-medical home care.
 
Aster is a National Council on Aging Benefits Enrollment Center.  Sometimes there are benefits available that the seniors are unaware of, laving money on the table that could benefit them.  Through this center they are helped with enrolling for available benefits and navigating a complicated system which can be very daunting for seniors.
 
Their counselors can provide a hub helping seniors or family-members who are helping their parents adjust to life under new circumstances following a variety of health-related events which change their capacity dramatically.  The Aster staff can help them connect to needed resources.
 
The quality of a community can be judged by how well they provide for their most marginalized citizens.  Aster is there to try to take care of a very vulnerable population in Mesa and the surrounding communities.  They need growth in both volunteers and funding support to meet the growing needs of our aging population.  The numbers needing service grow each year.
 
Visit AsterAZ.org to learn more.