WOW! We have accomplished so much in the past three months, it's hard to believe it's only been 90 days! Many thanks are due to your 2025-2026 Board members Brittany Battle, Jason Grabosch, Michael Guymon, Diana Madaras, Alan Schrope and Jonathan Walkup as well as Sergeant at Arms Dan Kalm, Secretary Jenn Delaney, Treasurer Glenn Ewing, Past President Kurtis Dawson and President-elect Bobby Larson. Special appreciation is due to our amazing Dorinna York and Debra Munoz-Chacon!Unite For Good is the RI motto for this year, and our RCOT goal is to Unite Southern Arizona through Connections, Collaboration, Community and Compassion. And cookies!
Thanks to our Cookie Monsters - all meetings through this Rotary year have been sponsored by a Cookie Sponsor! For those of you who haven't yet had this opportunity, and to our sugar addicts (I mean, Sugar Cookies) worry not - President-elect Bobby will be continuing this program next year! Please note that there are also many opportunities to sponsor an entire meeting if you prefer.
Connections:
We celebrated accomplishments of our members with a Way to Go: nine member businesses who won the 2025 Readers' Choice Award: Banner – Debbie Shepherd, Cartridge World – Chuck Sawyer, Contact One Call Center – Jen Hoffman, Jim Click automotive – honorary member, Pak Mail – David Lex, Ralph’s Moving and Storage – Lynette Wells, The Villas – Bobby Larson, Tucson Appliance – Chris Edwards, YMCA – Kurtis Dawson.
Other Way To Go honorees included: Andres Espinoza, Salvation Army; Michael Guymon, So AZ Chamber; Art Allis, Skal; Jim Murphy, induction into the Salpointe Hall of Fame and Diana Madaras, featured in Acrylics Magazine.
Diana Madaras also hosted a reception honoring club members Ricky Hunley (inducted into the AZ Sports Hall of Fame) and Bob Logan (who just published his book, "Let Your Path Find You").
We have welcomed our Virtual Viewers and promoted the Red Badge Selfies. Thanks to the hosts of our successful EAT (Events Around Town) program, which has enabled members to meet throughout the community for fun, food and fellowship!
Our mixers have been well attended, as have our many Fellowship gatherings - including the new Agave (Mescal and Tequila) and Axe-throwing groups. The Book Club, Cycling, Golf, Hiking, Whiskey and Wine Fellowships are very active and popular.
Collaboration:
Our Global Grant for a vocational training program in Senegal has been submitted and approved! Much appreciation to Barbara Kiernan (Catalina Club), the District 5500 Global Grants coordinator, to Jim Lubinski who will be heading this project and to Elijah Ndoye, who will play a critical role in implementation.
We were sponsors of the District 5500 conference, where our member El Ndoye performed and gave a beautifully inspirational speech.
Kudos and congratulations to our program committee, headed by Pat Zumbusch and Cami Evans, for an excellent slate of programs, which included: Dist 5500 Governor Bruce Monro; Marie Fordney, Children's Advocacy Group; Nancy Kluge, Reid Park Zoo; Beverly and Bob Elliot, Tucson African American Museum; Don Bourn, Development; Diana Madaras, Service Project fair; Dr. Sharon Megdal, Water Surety; Mari DeVries Ross, Presentations by charity applicants for Car Show revenues; Housing Affordability panel, hosted by Michael Guymon; Dave White 2025 TCCS and UA Basketball Coach Tommy Lloyd!
Community:
Our many and varied service projects benefit Southern Arizona in myriad ways: Food Bank, Tucson Clean and Beautiful (We've adopted Oracle Road, between River and Wetmore - be sure to look out for our sign when you drive by!), Triangle Y, Camp Lawton, Salvation Army, Youth Services (Interact, Rotaract, Youth Exchange, RYLA), Reading Coaches at Robison, The Haven, Boys & Girls Club, TRAK, AZ Trail maintenance, our Ride To End Polio and the pending Downtown Mural Project.
We have taken a tour of the Steele Children's Research Center, contributed to the UA and Pima scholarship funds as well as TRVFA (The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona).
Compassion:
Sadly, we have lost Rotarians and family members during these three months; the outpouring of love and support has been so needed, welcomed and appreciated as we said farewell to Burt Struthers, Nan Rollings, Jan Green, and Karen LaMaster.
We have contributed to the Rotary Disaster Relief Funds to help fire victims in LA and flood victims in Texas and, importantly, we are helping to end polio! There are only two countries left, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and we are making progress through Rotary International and our RTEP.
Report card: Thanks to you all. We did so well with all of our Cs that I give us an A!
What's next?
A lot! Our Nifty 19th car show is shaping up to be one of the best ever! We will have our Friday night dinner to celebrate our car show exhibitors and volunteers. Huge thanks to Dave White, the Executive and TLT teams - as well as all of our fellow Rotarians and friends who contribute so much.
El Tour de Tucson is November 22 and we have a team of riders participating Ride to End Polio: Matt Blair; Luis Hernandez; Gary Hirsch; Kandy Hirsch; Dan Kalm; Bob Morken; Lee Olitzky; Alan Rogers and Jonathan Walkup. Our Indoor Ride team includes: Dana Cole; Jo DeChatelet; Rich Flynn; Nancy Gutt;Charlotte Harris; Gary Hirsch-leader; Jennifer Hoffman; Sean Hoffman; Dot Kret; Ann Lancero; Bobby Larson; David Lex; David Lovitt; Jim Lubinski; Ernie Montagne; Steve Pickering; Darrell Stewart; Hugh Thompson and Bruce Tunze.
John Hewko, from Rotary International in Chicago, will be again participating in the ride and will be a featured speaker at the pre-ride Friday night dinner.
More kudos to our program committee, as upcoming speakers include:
11/5 Michelle Conklin, Tucson Botanical Gardens; 11/19 Presiding Judge Danelle Liwski; 12/3 Suresh Garimella, UA President; 12/17 Alison Flynn Gaffney, Banner CEO; 1/28 Dave White and Alan Rogers: Car Show reveal; 2/18 Rob Draper, O'Reilly Chevrolet; 4/1 Cliff Bowman, RCOT Foundation with more exciting speakers to come.
Thank you to everyone for such a successful start to this Rotary year; I am honored to be a part of this remarkable club!
YIR,
Dot Kret
2025-26 President
