Highlights of October 5 Meeting

Opening of Meeting - President-Elect Logan Harper
 
 
President-Elect Logan shared some interesting facts as he welcomed all to the meeting:
  1. October 5 is Kate Winslet's birthday.
  2. Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011.
  3. Australia is wider than the moon by 330 miles.
 
 
 
President-Elect Logan thanked:
  • Mike Whalen for offering the invocation
  • Allan Cady for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
  • Warren Williamson for serving as greeter as members and guests arrived for the meeting
  • Chuck Flint for handling the Raffle
  • Diane Ware for checking everyone in as they arrived.
  • Ed Koeneman for managing the technology.
Introduction of Guests
 
 
  • Steve Ross introduced Dayna Gustke visiting from Tempe Downtown Rotary Club.
  • Shelly Romine introduced Jeffrey Mitchell, visiting from Superstition Mountain Rotary Club.
  • Frank Rosenberg introduced Blake Layton and Denise Riden
  • John Pennypacker welcomed Jeanie Morgan and Polo Santiago back following their extended absences.
  • President-Elect Logan introduced his girlfriend, Taylor Adams, proudly stating they have been together five and a half years. 
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
 
 
Chuck briefly explained the raffle.  The tickets are sold for $5 each.  1/3 of the revenue goes to the club operating account, 1/3 goes in the daily pot (which was $40) and 1/3 gets added to the large pot, which accumulates until the Ace of Clubs is drawn.  The large pot was up to $1,090.  The holder of the winning ticket gets to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck.  Each week the card drawn is destroyed.  There is also a joker in the deck.  If it is drawn, the daily winner will win an additional $20.  
 
Chuck asked our speaker, Danielle Fischer, to draw the winning ticket, the stub of which was held by Allan Cady.  After verifying the Ace and joker were in the deck, Allan shuffled the cards face-down before drawing.  Unfortunately (for Allan) the card he drew was the Five of Clubs.
 
Happy Bucks - Ray Smith
 
  • Dick Myren contributed his customary $2 thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels enjoy the good fortune of being associated with the Ace of Clubs.  He asked to be billed an additional $32 to celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary.  They honeymooned in Arizona and decided to make Arizona their home.
  • Shelly Romine was happy they were going to travel north over the weekend and finally get to see the Grand Canyon.
  • Harry Grossman contributed $3 - he was happy the Cardinals had two pre-season wins and one win in the regular season.
  • Allan Cady contributed $5 to pay Polly's fine for being late to the meeting.
  • Polly Cady was happy Olivia was able to attend our meeting during fall break.  While on their way to the meeting, they were chit-chatting and drove right past the Alma School exit, causing their late arrival.  She was glad Olivia's bucket list was in the Messenger.  There were also copies of the list available on the tables.  
  • John Pennypacker was thankful for Chuck Flint's willingness to make sure Francesca (John's car) made it to her next visit to her mechanic.  John had a jar of chocolates for Jeanie Morgan to share as she had chastised him the last time he shared chocolates at a meeting because she wasn't present to enjoy them.  John showed one of the four stuffed Koala bears he had brought back from the Rotary International Convention in Australia.  He had four of them and said he would give them to anyone donating $100 to End Polio Now.  Allan Cady immediately made a $100 donation and gave the koala bear to Olivia.
  • Warren Williamson (sorry - no photo) said that Son Hee is having their kitchen remodeled, so it is all torn up.  They had ordered tacos, beans and rice to be delivered then arrived at Rotary to have a like meal.  Trying to avoid any politically incorrect groups, Warren felt it was safe to talk about a couple of lawyers who were putting new siding on an old house.  One of the attorneys seemed to be discarding every other nail.  Concerned about the waste, the other attorney asked him what was wrong with the nails he was throwing away.  The answer - "Their heads are on the wrong end!"  The first attorney responded - "Stop wasting them, you idiot!  Those are for the other side of the house."
  • Ed Koeneman was happy to report that Jim McGown had bid $4 on a truckload of mobility devices, which will go a long way in helping gather enough devices for the 2024 Crutches for Africa Interact Ambassador trips.
  • Jeanie Morgan was happy to have enjoyed cooler weather while visiting her daughter's family in Michigan.  They have two daughters.  The oldest has been diagnosed with autism and enjoyed talking with Jeanie but the conversations were rather unusual.  The younger sister (just turned 15) is at an age where she is intimidated conversing with adults, so Jeanie enjoyed hearing her interact with others, but had few meaningful conversations.  After arriving in Arizona, the granddaughter in her home here welcomed her with a lengthy conversation.  She didn't stop talking Wednesday morning for about three hours.
  • Logan contributed.  He had recently travelled to southern California on business.  While there, he got to visit Allan and Polly on their boat.
Announcements
 
  • Logan reminded everyone that Ending Polio in the World is the monthly focus and October 24 will be celebrated as World Polio Day
  • Shelly Romine reminded everyone of the October service project feeding the homeless at Desert Mission in Apache Junction.  See a separate article in this Messenger with link to sign up to help.  She said Colleen had suggested Shelly reach out to the Superstition Mountain Rotary Club to see if they would partner with us on the project.  They were willing.  In fact, she wanted to introduce their President, Jeffrey Mitchell so he could say a few words.  Jeffrey was very enthusiastic about the opportunity to partner with us to do a service project in their community.  He presented a $250 check from their club to Shelly to help offset the cost of the food to be provided that day.  Jeff used to be a chef, so he is very glad to put his skills to use.  He is the youngest member of his club.  His dad had 45 years of perfect attendance.  Jeff wants to carry on the tradition of smiling while serving others.  He invited Mesa West Rotary members to participate in their December golf tournament.  He said they usually do quite well with their tournament.  Because of it, they were able to fund $20,000 in scholarships last year.
  • Warren Williamson presented Olivia with a hand-made gift from Son Hee.
Program - Danielle ?Fischer - Solari and 211 Arizona Hotlines
 
 
Allan Cady introduced Danielle Fischer and the topic of her presentation.  He said that a few months back, while he and Polly were in San Diego, they visited the Point Loma Rotary Club and heard a very informative program about 211 services - a resource he and Polly had previously been unaware of.  He was happy our club members would be learning about 211 services available in Arizona at this meeting.  CLICK HERE  to view the slides Danielle used in making her presentation.  For those who want more detail, you are encouraged to  send an email to request the full Powerpoint Presentation which includes Danielle's presentation notes.  
 
Danielle explained that in 2021 they changed their name from Crisis Response Network to Solari.  The company had expanded their service offerings beyond the 24/7/365 crisis line.  "Crisis Response Network" is now one of two Solari subdivisions along with "Community Support Network."  Under the Community Support Network division, they have 211 Arizona, Be Connected, Eligibility and Care Services, and Homeless Management Information System.
 
Following her very informative presentation, Jay Stuckey presented Danielle with a token of our appreciation.