Dear Fellow Rotarians,Lots of activity going on right now in our club and I thought I would reach out to bring you up to speed …. It is going to be a fun spring of Rotary activities!
Random Acts of Kindness – Faye Morse
A special shout out to Faye Morse for a great job in helping bring a novel concept to the club – Random Acts of Kindness (RAK). Hopefully, if well received, this might become an annual event. And a special thanks to about 20+ Rotarians who provided the funding to make this project a reality. We have already received a few reports from members about their individual RAKs, for example:
- Angela Moore paid for a couple of cars behind her while in the drive through line at Starbucks;
- Melanie Hoffman gave $10 to a homeless man, and then took it a step further and gave $20 to homeless couple with a dog;
- Rick Rose bought a couple of DM airmen a beer;
- While in line at Safeway, David Lovitt purchased the roses a mom and her daughter were buying for their teachers at school;
- Lee Olitzky gave his $10 to a homeless couple;
- Ken Light was planning on helping a homeless man he sees on a regular basis.
Remember, it takes so little effort to do good for someone else, and it feels good at the same time!
March Madness
At this Wednesday’s meeting, you will all meet the head coaches of the eight March Madness teams. Special thanks to these Rotarians who have stepped up to lead our efforts to expand our membership. Margaret Higgins, Phil Gutt, Nina Trasoff, Denise Newton, Bobby Larson, Jeanne Flower, Lynette Bruster and Kurtis Dawson. They have come up with some inventive team names, colors and songs. It will be a hoot! And remember, should you bring a prospective member to a meeting during March Madness – THEIR LUNCH IS FREE! Don’t miss this opportunity to spread the goodwill of the Rotary Club of Tucson into our community.
Rotary Club of Tucson History – UA Scholarship Program
This Wednesday, we will all meet a very special person, Dr. James Walker. Dr. Walker contacted the club last fall about visiting Tucson and a desire to attend one of our meetings – to say thank you to our club. Believe it or not, James Walker was the recipient of one of our UA Rotary Scholarships in 1949. 71 years ago! He then went on to win a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship in 1956 and studied at the University of Basel. Thanks to Jon Wang and Roger Harwell for helping facilitate this very special visit. Jon will interview Dr. Walker for a brief time during our meeting. Please make sure you all say hello to Dr. Walker and his wife Nadine.
Service Projects
We have a couple of outstanding opportunities to provide Rotary service to our community. Gary Olsen is leading a charge to do some painting at Imago Dei School on Saturday, March 14, and Dave Gallaher is leading our annual effort to help out at the Triangle Y Ranch Camp in Oracle on April 25. We need plenty of able-bodied Rotarians to help in these efforts. Please reach out to Gary and Dave if you can help.
Upcoming Music Programs
In our continuing effort to bring fun, memorable or education programs to our club, this Wednesday we will have our first music program of the year. Thanks to brand new Rotarian Khris Dodge, who has an entertainment company himself, we will be blessed with accomplished vocalist Katherine Byrnes. She will be performing with Khris and may sing a combination of Carole King and/or Barbara Streisand songs. To catch a glimpse of her work, please visit https://www.katherinebyrnes.com/shows.
Later on this spring, we will hear from American Idol contestant Crystal Stark, who we had to reschedule since she was filming a commercial this week. To see what might be to come with Crystal, please visit: https://www.crystalstarkmusic.com/
And finally, on April 1, Khris Dodge will be bringing back the popular Tucson High Steel Drum band, Jovert. They were a huge hit a couple of years ago when they visited the club. One can’t help but love the sound of the steel drums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFI5bwCGq3Y
Social Gatherings
Some fun stuff is on store for the rest of the spring. Our next replacement mixer is on March 4 and we will be going to The Living Room up at La Encantada. In April we will be having Home Hospitality once again – think about hosting a dinner at your home. Finally, we have bought out the entire Gaslight Theater for a special Rotary performance on May 17. More information and registration details on these later. A special thanks to Bruce Jacobs for coordinating all of the fantastic mixers we have had this year.
Fitness Challenge Bulletin Board
Thanks to Darrell Stewart for setting up the Rotary fitness challenge spread sheet on our website. We have hikes up Sabino Canyon and to Hutch’s Pool coming up this month. If you want to lead any kind of activity, just add it to the board and hope people show up! It could be a bike ride or a walk down the Loop river walk. It is that easy! Check it out here:
As we enter the final few months of the Logan Reign of Terror (who is counting, not me!), I want to re-emphasize our goals for this year:
- Have Fun
- Make an Impact
- Be Inspired
- Connect to Rotary
Yours in Rotary,
Bob Logan
