Opening and Welcome to Meeting - President Jay Paulus
Jay said he recently attended meetings at the Mesa Rotary Club and Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club. The Mesa Club said they were the best Rotary Club in the World. Mesa Sunrise said they were the Best in the Universe. Jay said Mesa West is the best Rotary Club in Mesa.
Jay reminded members that the Rotary International 2024-25 theme is The Magic of Rotary. He then recited the Rotary Vision Statement:
TOGETHER, we see a world
where PEOPLE unite and take action
to CREATE lasting CHANGE
across the globe, in our communities
and in ourselves.
Jay then shared a thought of the day from Pope Francis:
"Rivers do not drink their own water; trees do not eat their own fruit; the sun does not shine on itself, and flowers do not spread fragrance for themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature. We are all born to help each other. Always remember, no matter how difficult it is, life is good when you are happy but much better when others are happy because of you."
- Polly Cady led the Pledge of Allegiance
- Ron Thompson offered the invocation
- There were no guests or visiting Rotarians present at the meeting (other than the speaker and her parents who would be introduced later in the meeting).
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck explained that the cost of raffle tickets is $5 each. The sales proceeds are divided three ways - 1/3 to the daily pot, 1/3 to the accumulating large pot, and 1/3 to the operating budget of our club. The daily pot was $30 and would be delivered to the holder of the ticket drawn. The large pot was up to $130 and could only be won if the holder of the winning ticket were to draw the Ace of Clubs from the dwindling deck. There is also a joker in the deck. Should it be drawn, they would win an additional $20. Chuck asked Detective Trever Cook to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Ron Thompson. After shuffling the cards face down, the card Ron drew was the Deuce of Spades.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Andy Bradford
- Ron Thompson was happy to have won the raffle, but was going to keep the cash. He did pledge $100 toward his next Paul Harris recognition.
- Colleen Coons pledged $13 saying that we have 13 McKinney Vento students this year. She needs a mentor for each of them. She believes she has that many committed mentors and glad the program is already starting to come together this year.
- Machel Considine fined herself for being missing in action while she travelled with her husband to Oregon and Minnesota to spend time with family - especially enjoying their grandchildren. She told her husband she needed to be at home at least a month before leaving on another adventure.
- Harry Grossman said he would be bringing a basket of goodies to be auctioned before the first home game of the Cardinals - at the next meeting. Included is stuff for preparing a super bowl party, a book of 100 facts about Cardinals every fan should know. When football was football - Chicago Cardinals - Super Bowl T-Shirt. He has his red shoes dusted off for the upcoming season. They have low-mileage. He only wears them when they win. The money raised from the auction will to to The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona.
- Pai Bethea contributed $1 - happy to see his good friend Ray Smith and another $ - happy Jeanie Morgan takes care of Rotary stuff for him while he travels.
- Shelly Romine was happy, HAPPY, HAPPY to be back after spending two months in Idaho. She showed some emotion while expressing her appreciation of spending that much time with her parents. She is looking forward to a good September with all the activities the club has going on.
- Polly Cady contributed saying she had a wonderful time on their Canadian fishing trip with long time friends, including Kayla Mudge and her family. During the trip, they had a very nice private memorial service for Kayla's stepfather, Fritz Rapp. Polly was also very thankful for all the mentors helping McKinney Vento students transition into new lives following high school.
- Allan Cady said he'd also had a great time fishing. He caught his longest walleye ever - 21". It went into their soup one day. It was a wonderful time.
- Pam Cohen contributed saying it was nice to see Pai Bethea. She said she had a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Tim Troy and his family at their home outside of Cottonwood.
- Ed Koeneman was glad to be back on AV duty. He said his new knee was working out very well. It keeps getting more flexible and stronger. He has been cleared to drive again. He thanked Chuck Flint for attending Interact in his place.
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs.
- Jay Paulus contributed $10 for himself and another $10 for Liz. They enjoyed their visit celebrating his 6th grade class reunion. On the trip, they visited an amusement park from Jay's youth. It has the oldest fun house in the world. Out of the blue, Liz got a call for College Bound from a donor who would like to make a donation to pay for all the scholarships College Bound gives this year.
- Warren Williamson contributed explaining that a lot of thought needs to go into brand names. For instance Chevrolet Nova's do not sell well in South America because the "Nova" sounds like words meaning "no go" in Spanish. He spoke about the thought that went into naming the transit system in San Francisco - San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit is known as BART. He was local leaders did not use similar thinking to shorten the name of the Valley Metro Regional Transit System. It could have been PHoenix Area Rapid Transit...
Announcements
- Shelly Romine talked about the September 11 week of service memorial project - refreshing and cleaning the Rose Garden at MCC. Many volunteers have already made a commitment to help. There will be three shifts of work on the mornings of September 7, 11, and 14.
- Jay Paulus reminded members that our District Governor Michelle Holcomb will be making her official visit to Mesa West Rotary Club September 26. He asked everyone to come looking their best so a group photo can be taken of our members. The photo and a list of our members will be put on a disk to be transported to the moon. Anyone who wants to go to the launch at Cape Canaveral September 9, 2025 can do so (on their own dime.)
- Shelly Romine also announced the September 18 Bed Build project with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. They will be placing a plaque honoring Mesa West on the wall in their warehouse recognizing the partnerships they've enjoyed with us on projects in the past. Their President, Joe Genovese was recognized as a Person of Action at our 50th Anniversary Celebration in June, 2023. In addition to the volunteer opportunity on September 28, Shelly is collecting new twin-size bedding to donate to SIHP. We will again be partnering with them in April on a Rotary Week of Service bed-build project.
- Jay announced a September 25 "Week Without Violence" event at the Arts Center where awards will be received for youth who have written about Peace. Booth space will be available for our club at the event.
- Pam Cohen announced a "Soup to Nuts" orientation event on October 5 at her house, where newer members can learn more about our club. CLICK HERE to see a flyer about the event. All members are welcome to attend and bring a guest. Four or five people will bring soup to be shared by all. Other attendees will bring appetizers or desserts to share. Those who want adult beverages will be free to bring their own.
- Colleen Coons announced that there will be no meeting at the hotel on October 10. At 10:00 AM that morning, there will be an open house at the main library to dedicate the devices Mesa West Rotary donated. If there between 10:00 and Noon, those present will be able to see the virtual reality of the dropping of a Rotary Wheel off the coast of Philippines and seeing the ecosystem develop around it.
Recognition of a Job Well Done
President Jay called Past President Colleen Coons to come forward. Colleen set some far-reaching goals for her year as president, July 1 2023 through June 30, 2024. All the goals were reached. Our club has earned the Rotary Citation, the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve, for her year as our President. Her commitment to success was apparent the members supported her ambitious goals. Together we helped Rotary Create Hope in the World.
New Member Induction - John Bunyard
Polly Cady, Membership Chair, invited Connie and John Bunyard to come forward. Connie is John's wife and the sponsor of John's application for membership. John spoke briefly. He said when he attended Connie's induction last March, he was very impressed with the number who had shown up. Her induction was held at our Spring Olympics social event. He loves community. What he as seen from our club is an amazing family who takes care of and loves each other.
PP Colleen Coons handled the actual induction, saying it was her special honor to do so. The Bunyards own a business - Valley Remodeling. When Colleen first was involved with Mesa Leadership, Connie agreed to support one of our projects. Colleen met John at the Mesa Leadership Christmas party. It is clear that God, Family, and Community are his priorities. He was not yet a member when he helped with the pool deck refurbishing project at the YMCA. John's understanding of what would be necessary for the project to be successful was very beneficial. He is hardworking and generous. His focus on family is very impressive. We are lucky to add him to our Rotary family. John's application was reviewed in accordance with our Constitution and Bylaws. After reciting the Rotary Vision Statement, she mentioned the Rotary motto of Service Above Self and talked about the club's guiding principals - Transforming Communities, Creating Opportunities and Impacting Youth, Colleen asked members to welcome him as our newest Rotary member. They did so with a standing ovation.
Program - Autum Cook - Youth Resilience
Eric Silverberg introduced our speaker, Autum Cook along with her parents, Detective Trever and Michelle Cook. Autum is a graduate of Williams Field High School and is currently enrolled at ASU. Trever, a proud father spoke about how Autum had overcome the challenges of growing up with a disability. Autum has Cerebral Palsy. Some cases of cerebral palsy are not observable, while others can be very extreme being non-verbal and confined to a wheel chair. Autum has muscle tightness, which causes her to have trouble speaking. She has a goal of being an elementary school teacher. Working to live with limitations and find creative ways to overcome obstacles has made her stronger.
Autum said she has always had an active imagination. She used writing to share the stories she created. Her imagination kept growing. She said "writing is a river - it can change directions, but will never stop." During her freshman year of high school, she met with a counselor who asked her wat her goal was for high school. Autum replied that she wanted to publish a book by the end of her senior year. The counselor told her that goal was unrealistic. She left the room angry to have been told her goal was unrealistic She made up her mind to get her book finished and get it published and give the counselor a signed copy before she graduated. She did so. She wrote "Rollow your dreams" on the inside cover. Don't give up on your dreams just because others don't believe in them. The club gave her a standing ovation hearing her determination!
Autum spoke of a couple of instances where she was actually injured because those in charge in the school did not understand her limitations.
In 4th grade, they were having an evacuation practice drill. When Autum was taking too long to get off the bus, another child was encouraged to pull her off. She landed a couple of feet away and the incident left a scar and a rock in her knee which remained there for years. Because of her limitations, she never rode a school bus. Her parents took her to and from school and on field trips. She should not have been participating in that practice evacuation.
In 9th grade, her teacher was a physical therapist who Autum thought she could trust. Her class was going to do an exercise where the students had to run and touch the ground and come back. The exercise was timed. Autum tried to tell the teacher it wouldn't be safe for her to do it. She did not know how to advocate for herself and followed the teacher's instruction to go ahead and try. She injured her whole right side. She couldn't move or function for a week following the circumstances. She broke her right hand in the fall.
Autum and her father encouraged people to get educated and part of that education is truly listening to the person with the disability with patience. When it appears they are doing something wrong, they may be adapting to accomplish the task with their limitations. Autum's dad shared some startling statistics. He said they have two daughters with CP. His wife spent hours reading to them. He said 1% or less make it to college. Learning ability combined with great imagination has helped motivate Autum.
The name of Autum's book is Hyper Focus. Her pen name is Autum Wind.
She attended a military camp for kids to learn how to fight their endless war and fight the urge to give up.
Autum said it took 2.5 year to get her book published. She is currently working on two that need editing, and seventeen drafts. She said she comes up with new ideas every day. She urged members to take time to communicate with those who are different.
She said we all need to remember we have purpose in life. She uses any free time after required work. After dinner, she works on her writing. Her goal every day is to "like what I write."
She wants educators to work on "knowing their students." In a month, they should have an understanding of what they can and cannot do. Autum was put in special ed for a day. She wasn't thriving there. Autum has physical challenges, but not a learning difficulty. It's important to focus on strength rather than weakness.
Unpleasant experiences like Autum described could make parents angry, but the Cook family has made it their purpose to use those experiences as an opportunity to educate school personnel and make it a learning experience for everyone.