Rob LaMaster has been the Southern Arizona Director for Make-A-Wish Arizona since 2013 and has over 29 years in non-profit and association management and fundraising. He also holds the designation as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). 

 

An Oro Valley resident, Rob was also a member of the Town of Oro Valley (AZ) Economic Development Think Tank, and the Oro Valley Planning & Zoning Commission and served one term as a Board member of the Northwest Fire District. He is also a member of the Tucson Rotary Club.

 

A native of Dallas, Texas, Rob attended Texas Tech University, graduating with a Bachelor of Business degree in Marketing and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, with an emphasis on Business, Political Science and Mass Communications.

 

Rob is married to Karen, an Oncology Physician Assistant (PA) and has one daughter, Madison, a graduate of Northern Arizona University, and recently received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Texas Tech and two Boston Terriers, Bailey and Hazel. Rob loves to play golf (not well), hike, kayak, and is an avid sports fan.

PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN greeted us for a virtual meeting and offered a special thanks to RICK ROSE and Steve Koeppen at Film Creations.  A very dramatic voice offered the Pledge of Allegiance. The inspiration was a video that offered a few Random Acts of Kindness and was great!

 

PAST PRESIDENT CHUCK SAWYER offered a nice memory of SID HIRSH who passed away in December. CHUCK highlighted some of SID’s achievements including how involved he was with hiking. SID started the Rim to Rim to Rim effort in the Grand Canyon and had a way of saying “It’ll be fine” no matter what the situation.

 

ANITA McDONALD introduced our speaker. ANITA is the incoming District 5500 Governor and has been a Rotarian since 1998. Our speaker was current District 5500 Governor DIANE VENTURA-GOODYEAR.

 

DIANE is from the Saguaro Rotary Club and has had a number of Rotary achievements including being President of that club and built the original ClubRunner website. She has been deeply involved in Rotary and is the owner of The Computer Nanny in Tucson.  DIANE highlighted some of her priorities and accomplishments for this difficult year. She implemented Office Training for all Rotary officers. Purchased ZOOM for District 5500 so that all clubs would have access to the online meeting platform. She established Quickbooks online for the District 5500 office.  She also created the Rotary Direct Campaign which makes it fast and easy to donate to Rotary (details to follow). DIANE let us know that the District Conference that was originally planned for September 2020 has been postponed to June 4^th and 5^th, 2021. She reminded us to wear our Rotary Pin every day and be proud of it. It is a great way to let others know about Rotary.

 

PRESIDENT JEN closed the meeting with a reminder that our next meeting will be presented by ROB LAMASTER on the Make-a-Wish Foundation.  She then offered a couple of Martin Luther King Jr. quotes and an air toast to Rotarians.

The RLI Committee would like to remind you of the Rotary Leadership Institute taking place virtually this month.  These are wonderful courses for new Rotarians and those long-term Rotarians who would like refresher courses on all things Rotary.  Please see the information below on RLI and how to sign up:

 

Hello everyone,

 

Our Rotary District 5500 will be conducting a Virtual RYLA on February 19th and 20, 2021.  These are revised dates from our previous announcements. The District Youth Team is developing a program of leadership and team building for young people working with adult and peer advisors. Contact Diana Cannon, 520-245-8862 or Joe Daniszewski, 520-245-4350, if you would like to serve on staff.

 

 

Leadership Program

 

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards is a leadership program coordinated by Rotary Clubs around the globe. Each year, thousands of young people participate in this program. Young people ages 13–30 are sponsored by Rotary Clubs to attend the event run by the club's district committee. Participants are chosen for their leadership potential. Rotary Clubs and the Rotary District cover all expenses for the participants. The format of the event vary from district to district, but commonly take the form of a seminar, camp, or workshop to discuss leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice. Rotary clubs and districts select participants and facilitate the event's curriculum.

 

Leadership Program

Josh Taylor

Jay Parker

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