President CHUCK gaveled open our meeting, followed by Rabbi STEPHANIE AARON who gave an eloquent inspiration noting that girls are made of “heart, talent, and guts.”  Thank you, Rabbi STEPHANIE!

 

New member TOM CAMPBELL led us in the Pledge and Song (the “Star Spangled Banner”) accompanied as always by GARY HIRSCH.  RICHARD KELEMAN introduced our many guests and visiting Rotarians.

 

Due to the exciting nature of our program, we moved directly to MONTE CLAUSEN’s introduction of University of Arizona Women’s Basketball Head Coach Adia Barnes. Ms. Barnes is undoubtably the best player in the history of the UA program – winner of PAC 12 Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year awards, NCAA All American, and a distinguished pro basketball career spanning 13 years.  Her pro career also included a WNBA Championship with Seattle in 2004. She continued to a career in broadcasting, coached at Washington, and returned to her alma mater in 2016 as head coach.

 

Ms. Barnes’ teams have been #1 in community service hours for two years running, and she vowed to continue that streak for as long as she is coach.  In addition to completing the #5 recruiting class last year, the team has raised its overall GPA from 2.7 to 3.2 and includes five 4.0 students.  The coach’s philosophy is “Made for It”:  each player is chosen for unique reasons, each player is committed to the process, and each player will leave a unique legacy at the UA.  Ms. Barnes coaches players for the forty years that will follow their four years of college athletics, emphasizing body language, a sense of self, and the ability to project confidence as a player and as persons.  She invited everyone to come see the exciting team dynamic and competitive spirit developing in the program.

 

Ms. Barnes signed a book for our lending library: “Dino-Basketball”.

 

After the presentation, we continued with the business portion of our meeting.  We had one Birthday Rotarian, Past President EMERY BARKER.  EMERY told the story of losing his office building into the Rillito in a flood, only to be called by Rotarian John Malloy who had an office set up for him the next day. Gestures like that have kept EMERY in Rotary for 41 years.

 

We also had the introduction of a new member by Past President CLIFF BOWMAN. CLIFF introduced MARCY EULER who is a corporate member representing the Pima Community College Foundation. MARCY thanked everyone for our ongoing support of PCC and looked forward to continuing joint efforts in support of education in Pima County.

 

Sergeant at Arms BOBBY LARSON conducted our raffle, and we had the following announcements:

 

FONDA INSLEY begged everyone who’s coming to the Sweetheart Dance to sign up ASAP since the venue needs a head count right away. FONDA was followed by “Stupid Cupid” (STU GOLDMAN) sporting a cigar and a South Bronx accent.  Did the cigar kill the romantic mood?

NANCY PURDIN presented a Blue Badge to CINDY BARBEE, Director of Marketing at O’Reilly Chevrolet. Along with her commitment to Rotary, CINDY is a member of the Salvation Army and YMCA Boards, and enjoys travel.

BRUCE TUNZE presented a Blue Badge to RICHARD KELEMEN.  RICHARD had a long career in electrical wholesales and many other occupations, as well as a track career as a pole vaulter (he cleared 12’6” which is impressive!)

ROGER HARWELL announced that Suds for Scholars had netted $5,537.61 for the Scholarship Cups – well done by everyone who participated!

JOE DANISZEWSKI brought a Happy Jackson for his first grandchild Eric Henry.

ALICE MILTON also brought a Happy Jackson asking for bookkeeping help.

 

President CHUCK closed the meeting with a quote from legendary Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach Pat Summit:  "Players don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

 

Please welcome the following new member into the Rotary Club of Tucson.  He will be introduced to the club at a meeting in the near future.

 

New Member:  Ron Bush

 

Classification:  Consulting: Information Security

 

Company/Organization:  Ron Bush Consulting, Inc.

 

 

Rotary Club of Tucson is sponsoring an all-inclusive Rotarian service project Saturday March 2, 2019 at the Triangle Y YMCA Ranch Camp from 8:30AM-3:00PM.  The 5^th Annual Rotary Days Service Project is open to all Rotarians and friends of Rotarians and families.  There are jobs for all age groups and skill levels.  Generally, we help spruce up the Ranch for the incoming summer camp session that begins in June.  In the past, we have painted cabins, stained wood beams, assembled and painted picnic tables, trimmed brush, painted the bathrooms, performed some small masonry work, and general clean up. 

 

Registration is Saturday morning 8:00-8:30 AM at the Ranch (please email or call Dave Gallaher to let us know you are coming) dave@tucsonindustrialrealty.com or 520-907-4983 and a free BBQ lunch will be served at 1:00PM.  Come for several hours or stay for just an hour.  This is a good chance to mingle with Rotarians from all over Tucson.  It is a great way to introduce Rotary to your friends and neighbors.  Please respond to Dave Gallaher at dave@tucsonindustrialrealty.com or call 520-907-4983 to register.  It would be great to have a head count for lunch on Saturday.  Please bring gloves and sunscreen and a water bottle.