PRESIDENT BOBBY LARSON rang the bell to welcome another full house of Rotarians, guests, and virtual viewers!
JOSE GUERRARA did a fabulous job leading us in the Pledge, followed by a beautiful piano flourish from KHRIS DODGE that led us into a room-wide rendition of “My Country ’Tis of Thee.”
CAMI EVANS kicked off our Inspiration with a nod to the one and only Dolly Parton, sharing some Dolly-inspired wisdom and reminders for living a good life. DRE WILLIAMS then welcomed our guests and virtual viewers.
This week’s COOKIE MONSTER was MICHELLE SPETNAGLE, sponsored by AWARD ELECTRIC. Thank you for keeping our Rotarians well supplied with sweets!The program spotlight went to SUSAN GRAY, CEO of Tucson Electric Power, who shared how TEP works to provide safe, reliable, and affordable energy to our community. Susan knows TEP from the ground up — she joined the company 30 years ago as an intern and today leads approximately 1,800 employees!
Susan shared that TEP has achieved top-tier reliability and talked about some of the big energy issues facing our community, including Proposition 421, Project Blue, and data centers.
Apparently, our Rotarians had been saving up their toughest questions for Susan! During Q&A, she joked that she was getting a little “hot” up there and had expected some easy questions. She thought the noise-maker table in the back was a sign she would be getting softballs. Nope! Our Rotarians came prepared, and the room got a good laugh.
Birthday cheers rang out for JEANNE ZETAH, PHIL GUTT, and JENN DELANEY! Jeanne used her birthday minute to encourage us to support and bring joy to young people visiting the United States — a fitting wish from someone who has spent so much time welcoming international youth into our community.
Representatives from JOBPATH also shared their appreciation for Rotary’s support and for helping people build better futures for themselves and our community.
Then came one of the sweetest moments of the afternoon as MIKE ANDERSON introduced our newest member — his daughter, MIKA COLE!Rotary has been part of Mika’s family since the 1980s, and both father and daughter became emotional as Mike welcomed her into the club. Mike choked up first…and then it was Mika’s turn! She managed a few words before the happy tears arrived, admitting, “I’m much better speaking in front of 9-year-olds than I am in front of adults.” There may have been a few misty eyes around the room by the time those two were finished. Welcome to Rotary, Mika! SAA DRE held the raffle. The King of Clubs was not drawn, which brings the pot to $2700. Come buy those tickets as the card deck gets smaller!
Announcements kept things moving with updates on Membership, Marketing, Happy Jackson, the Car Show, Family Fun Club, and upcoming service opportunities. PRESIDENT BOBBY also reminded everyone to keep supporting our UA and Pima Community College Scholars.
Next week is our SERVICE PROJECTS MEETING with Chair JOE DANISZEWSKI. Come meet our service project chairs, find a project that speaks to you, and get involved!
CAMI EVANS led the toast, and PRESIDENT BOBBY sent us on our way until next week!
