Our Home Hospitality events are this week, April 18th through the 24th.  These social events will replace our Wednesday, April 21st lunch meeting.  We want to thank all the members who have graciously volunteered to open up their homes and host an event.  This is a wonderful way to relax, meet fellow Rotarians outside of the lunch meeting and have some fun.  If you have any questions or need assistance, please call the Rotary office - 623-2281.  Again, these events take the place of our lunch meeting on April 21st.  Our next regular lunch meeting will be held on Wednesday, 4/28/21 at Westward Look.  Please make sure to register on the Website under Upcoming Events.

Wow, 2021 is chugging right along, isn’t it? We are halfway through April and down to the last two and a half months of my year as the President of the Rotary Club of Tucson. Things seem to be starting to get back to normal with more members able to attend meetings, thanks to the vaccine and the loosening of some CDC guidelines.  All I have to say is how lovely it is to see more of the faces that I have missed over the past year.

 

We are knee deep in our expedition to find a new venue for the club. We have visited the Hilton East, The TCC and after Home Hospitality week we will be checking out Westward Look. Our fantastic Venue Committee helped us cover all corners of our beautiful city securing the best options for the growth and development of our club for the next 100 years.

 

Another recent development is that the Strategic Plan Committee presented the Five-Year Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 to the board and it was approved. Please take a moment to read it, you can find it on our website. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to reach out to me.

 

I don’t know about you, but I was so excited to finally hear how the hard work of TCCS Chair Cliff Bowman along with the efforts of the Car Show Committee and the rest of our club paid off. What an achievement during such a challenging time! It was so rewarding to present Make Way For Books and JTED with their checks. It is truly the best meeting of the year in my opinion. That is why we are all here, right? And who knows what fantastic results we will garner this year with that beautiful 2021 C8 we are raffling off… I can’t wait to see!

 

And even more exciting things are happening my friends! Did you know that through the efforts of Jon Wang and Jeff Ronstadt on May 5th, the new U of A Football Coach Jedd Fisch will be our Keynote speaker? I can’t wait to hear what his plans are for our Wildcats. Make sure you reserve your space as soon as you can, we want as many members and your guests there as possible.

 

Finally, I also want to take a moment to thank all of you for your continued support to the club and to me. This is an amazing group of people and I feel fortunate to call you friends.

 

Yours In Rotary,

President Jen

All Rotarians arrived ready for this next venue tour, some with an extra layer of clothing due to the deep freeze we experienced last week at The Hilton.  However, the Tucson Convention Center did not disappoint.  This is the first event that the TCC has had in over 13 months; the food was hot, the service was excellent, and all Rotarians were ready for some whiskey (or was that just me?).  It was great to see so many Rotarians attend in person and we hope to see those who joined us online in person soon.  PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN rang the bell to begin the meeting.  MITCH PISIK with Pisik Consulting Group led us in the pledge and song “God Bless America”. 

 

The inspirational video was “Rescue Dog”.  Where Sadie, the rescue dog, saved the life of her owner.   A shared experience neither will forget as they are both eternally grateful for each other.  As I wipe my sappy tears of joy, PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN welcomed the longest list of guests in attendance since before the pandemic.  A warm welcome by the Club was given to all guests.

 

Rotarian JEFF RONSTADT with Ronstadt Insurance, introduced our speaker, STEPHEN PAUL with Whiskey Del Bac by Hamilton Distillers.  Paul detailed his humble distilling beginnings of making single malt whiskey in a 5-gallon still in his backyard.  With the idea from his wife and help from his daughter, he turned mesquite wood furniture scraps into a James Beard Awarded whiskey that is now sold in 16 states and at local and major retailers.  Don’t forget…they do tours AND tastings!  The book “Never Touch a Porcupine” was given to Stephen to sign for our Make Way for Books library. 

 

Rotarian SCOTT VAUGHAN gave Paul Harris awards to ROBIN STODDARD (+3), DON CLARK (+3), and RALPH PHILLIPS (+2).  Each was given a gift that highlighted their interests and contributions to the Club. 

 

There was a surprise award given to our PAST DISTRICT GOVERNOR ELLIE PATTERSON by JOE HENTGES and KIRK REED for recognition of her leadership as District Governor.  The award said it perfectly, “Thanks for helping us break things the Rotary way.” 

 

PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN reminded each Rotarian to Save the Date for May 5th, our speaker will be Jed Fisch, Head Coach of U of A Football.  She asked we all remember to turn in our venue surveys and shared we can list guests for the Centennial event.  

 

Honorary Member FLETCHER MCCUSKER gave an update on the TCC renovations and the other improvements in Downtown Tucson.  A lot has changed during this last year!

BRUCE JACOBS spoke about our Home Hospitality Week next week and the schedule was up for all to see.  There is no lunch meeting next week. 

JOE DANISZEWSKI reminded us about the Camp Lawton Boy Scout Camp Clean-Up on April 24th.  Some other Rotary Clubs will also be joining us for participating in “Peace through service.”

DARRELL STEWART from the Venue Committee announced the April 28th meeting will be our final stop on the venue tour at the Westward Look.  Please come, enjoy, and share your thoughts with the last venue survey. 

 

JONI CONDIT gave an update on the 2021 Car Show Ticket sales; we’ve sold over 2,000 tickets already; 1,099 of those by MARK IRVIN.  She reminded us all to complete the Car Show survey on your participation level at this year’s event.  JONI CONDIT also made a second announcement and introduced our 2022 Car Show Chair: BOBBY LARSON who stated he was up for the challenge and excited to take on the task. 

 

PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN began the closing of the meeting by thanking all those who attended in person and online.  Reminded us all of the Scholarship cup at the registration table if you wish to donate and don’t forget to turn in your name tags. 

 

PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN gave the final toast by quoting Mark Twain then rang the bell to adjourn the meeting.  

 

Centennial Event Guest List - In order for the Club to plan, provide as much exposure for RCOT as possible, and to ensure maximum bidding for the live auction that evening, we NEED you to go to the RCOT website, log in, click on RCOT Member Area located at the top right of the menu bar of the home page, then click on Centennial Event Member Guest List from the drop down menu. This will take you to a live Excel Google Doc to fill in the information.  Since this is a Live document, please DO NOT make changes to this Excel Sheet.  Those that you list will receive a “Save the Date” via email.  You will still need to register and make payment for yourself and your guests on Eventbrite in the future.  You will be notified when this is available.

 

Please provide this information as soon as possible. We plan to send out the Save the Date email in May.

Hours - 8:30 am - 3:00 pm

Lunch will be served.

Work Projects - trail maintenance, fire mitigation, chapel maintenance, painting prep and painting, oiling the Dining Hall and general clean up.

Bring - water, gloves, hats, sunscreen, masks, rakes, shovels and pick axes.

Camp Lawton is just off the Mt. Lemmon Highway, 12900 E Organization Ridge Road.

 

RSVP to Joe Daniszewski, jndaniszewski1@gmail.com or call or text at 520-245-4350.

 

Check out the link from the Catalina Council, Boy Scouts, Camp Lawton, with a map to Camp and the latest photos.

 

 

A few years ago Rotary gave a portion of the car show donation to Wright Flight... we are very grateful.  Wright Flight flew 18 kids last Saturday...thank you Rotary Club of Tucson.

~ Robin Stoddard

Masahisa Goi (1916 - 1980) was a Japanese teacher, philosopher, poet and author who dedicated his life to peace and humanity after witnessing the terrible destruction of the Second World War. He started a world peace movement to spread the universal message and prayer, May Peace Prevail on Earth, as a way to unite the hearts of humanity transcending all boundaries of culture, religion and politics.

 

 

In attendance were, Left to right: Roger Harwell, Jennifer Hoffman, Ellie Patterson, Joe Daniszewski, Matthew Tarver - Wahlquist, Betty Stauffer, Mark Irvin

 

 

Join the Coolidge Rotary Club in their efforts to raise money for their Scholarship Fund.  Click This Link:    Mystery Envelope Challenge 

 

 

 

 

 

To view on the RCOT YouTube channel go to our Home Page of the Club website and click on the YouTube link on the right hand side of the page.  Or, go to YouTube and type in Rotary Club Of Tucson.  You will be able to click on the video you wish to watch once they are posted.  Here is the link to do this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rotary+club+of+tucson