At our May 3, 2017 Club lunch meeting, the membership will be voting on the 2017 Final Four TCCS Secondary Beneficiaries.  They are as follows:

 

The Caregiver Training Institute was founded to address the increasing need for professional certified caregivers in our community to attend to rapidly growing numbers of seniors and disabled individuals in our community.  There are relatively few programs in Arizona that can provide required training and certification for these entry level roles.   A grant from the Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation would support approximately 25 students in their training by funding program materials and supplies necessary for practicums, clinicals and job searching; will provide an Android Tablet and eBooks to complete assignments since most have no access to computers; and will partially cover the cost of instructor fees, uniforms, and medical supplies such as pressure cuffs and stethoscopes.

 

GAP Ministries provides rehabilitative programs to address those recovering from drug abuse and homelessness through a Culinary Training Program designed to educate, empower, and rehabilitate at-risk, vulnerable youth and adults who desire to obtain living wage jobs in the culinary industry.  100% of participants are ex-convicts, ex-drug addicts and most are survivors of physical and sexual abuse.  These students are individuals whose ability to thrive has been greatly diminished since early childhood.  A second year Rotary Club Foundation grant for GAP would help expand this program so that more of these individuals can acquire culinary skills and receive a national certification through ServSafe.  These students will also give back during their training by preparing over 200 meals daily for low-income elementary-age children in nine Title I schools in Pima County. 

 

JTED offers advanced technical education programs across its 13 member districts.  JTED programs offer cutting-edge technology, relevant hands-on experiences, and a  rigorous curriculum.  JTED currently serves over 14,000 students in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs throughout Pima County.  The support of the RCOT Foundation over this past school year has made a difference in over one hundred students' participation and certification in JTED program areas who could not otherwise afford this education.  Grant funds from the Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation this year would allow the program to grow and be sustained. Funding will support work uniforms, fees, and needed supplies to 50 students so that they can complete their JTED programs.  It would also assist students in completing an industry certification and assist in the cost of a career and college specialist in their academic challenges. 

 

Arizona currently ranks as 6th in the nation in poverty.  In its 100th anniversary year, the YWCA responded to this crisis by creating the Women's Impact Fund to reduce the number of working women who still live in poverty and to increase access to capital for entrepreneurs.  The YWCA is a leading provider of bilingual, culturally competent workforce readiness, leadership development, and business training programs for more than 2,000 women each year.  The Women's Impact Fund seeks to become a primary lender for women and immigrant entrepreneurs in Arizona, and a source of capital to invest in programs and businesses that drive economic development in Pima County.  A grant from the Rotary Club of Tucson would provide job training for low income women, immigrants and entrepreneurs and will help to establish capital investment through the Women's Impact Fund.

On May 4th, 1987 the United States Supreme Court ruled that states could outlaw gender discrimination in Rotary Clubs, effectively ending an era and ushering in a wave of members unlike most Rotary Clubs across the nation had seen before: WOMEN.

 

On May 5th, the New York Times headline read: "High Court Rules That Rotary Clubs Must Admit Women."

 

7-0 vote. The news was also widely publicized in the Los Angeles Times, the Herald Tribune and many other national and local newspapers.

 

The woman in the photo with me is Dr. Sylvia Whitlock, the first woman president in Rotary International. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Rotarian Sylvia last November at the Zone Institute. She made me feel instantly at ease with her warm smile and gracious manner as we chatted about the events and theme of the Zone that Saturday evening. Who would have guessed that this well-dressed, elegant woman was a member of the infamous Rotary Club of Duarte, CA, a club that was chartered in District 530 in 1952. Just before its 25th birthday in 1976, the Duarte club violated Rotary’s bylaws by inviting women to join, ultimately causing its charter to be unceremoniously revoked by Rotary International. The Duarte Rotary president at the time was the Superintendent of Duarte Unified School District. He started looking around the school district for professional types who could make good Rotarians, but they were all women. When his DGE was asked if he could invite women, the response was positive but he cautioned the Duarte president on sending in only first-name initials when registering the new members with RI. (not exactly the 4-way test). The Board of Rotary International then terminated the club once discovering that the new members were women and the club became the "Ex Rotary Club of Duarte." The Duarte Rotary club filed a suit in CA superior court and won, and then Rotary International appealed to the US Supreme Court in 1986. Duarte Rotary had the final say after this loss for Rotary International when in June 1987, Dr. Sylvia Whitlock was inducted by DGE Dr. Kim K. Siu as the first woman club president in the history of Rotary. One of Sylvia’s quotes was: "the biggest job I have is to represent Rotary with integrity."

 

Sylvia considers Rotary to be the best vehicle she knows for humanitarian ventures in service to mankind.

 

Women membership quickly spread and in less than a year after the vote, 33 countries representing more than 500 clubs in 239 districts admitted women members. Within 5 more years, the first 8 women would serve as governors in 1995-96. Currently 1 in 5 Rotarians are women. But, nearly one-fifth of clubs throughout the world still refuse to admit women.

 

Past RI President, K.R. Ravindran said, “we have had women in Rotary for only the last quarter of our history, and it is no coincidence that those years have been our most productive.” I’m sure our Tucson Rotary men would agree with this! So, let’s all celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Women in Rotary this Wednesday and cheer loudly for the outstanding women members in our Rotary Club of Tucson.

First off let’s thank all of the Home Hospitality folks that held an event last week.  PE CLIFF & Kathy BOWMAN, JIM & Karen LUBINSKI, WOCKY & Mark REDSAR-WIEZBINSKI, KRISTEN & Peter WENDLER, MIKE & Dee Dee ORCUTT, ANN LANCERO & ELLIE PATTERSON, and WAYNE & Kaye MEYER.  Home Hospitality is the best way to get to know fellow club members and the food with drink are just extras.  Also, DAVE GALLAHER, ALLYN BULZOMI, Interactors and Rotaractors for the Triangle Y Ranch work project was a total success.  Great job Rotarians!!!  And, one more thing, JERRY HARRIS, ROGER HARWELL and STEVE PICKERING sold car show tickets last weekend at the annual 4^th Avenue Street Fair.  DAVID PASHKOW, JON WANG, ARNIE JACOBSEN, DAN GUARE and future member, Andy Sherman helped to give out car show flyers.  Many thanks to all.

 

Our meeting began with PRESIDENT ELLIE calling for a Moment of Silence for GORDON SHAW’S wife, Carol, who passed away on April 13^th.  PAT LENNAN gave the Inspiration about Risking and Failing, which had wonderful thoughts to live by.  GARY HIRSCH performed on the keys with RICHARD WHITE leading our song of the week “God Bless America”.  DARRELL STEWART introduced the guests and visiting Rotarians.  CHRIS EDWARDS (Tucson Appliance) and KATHY KITAGAWA were our birthday boy and girl.

 

CHARLOTTE HARRIS presented Paul Harris’ to JUDY KEAGY, Tricia Freitas, MARIANNE’S daughter, GARY GETHMAN, and 4 degreed SHARYN FELTON. SAA FONDA INSLEY had no fines and gave out some prizes to the winners in our Raffle.

 

Under Announcements:

PRESIDENT ELLIE – District Conference is coming up this weekend and invited all to join her at the monthly Social Mixer at the Trident II on Swan & Ft. Lowell.  Go and have some fun!

JILL MADDEN – announced a Happy Jackson for her and her husband’s B&B at Aravaipa Farms.  This is about 30-40 miles north of Oracle.

 

PAST PRESIDENT JONI CONDIT introduced our program, Sharon Megdal, a Princeton graduate and current UofA Water Resource Research Center Director.  The program, entitled “Beyond the Mirage”, Sharon spoke about our current successes over the last 20 years:

 

Recharge basins in Marana – this reduces our groundwater overdraft.  This is a huge win for the Old Pueblo, since we are maintaining our water table.

 

Twin Peaks pumping plant – this has given us a steady supply of Colorado River water.  The canal is 350-380 miles long, 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

 

The four stages of emergency water supply have been established by measuring the level of Lake Mead.  This system has worked beautifully so far.  Please conserve water at all times.

 

In closing, the biggest problem seems to be the saltiness of the Colorado River water.  People are working on this problem as I write this.

 

Our closing toast from PRESIDENT ELLIE was to praise Sharon and water – the most important commodity of mother earth next to air.

 

Highlights from our April meeting include:

Another nice Social Mixer at Trident II in Plaza Palomino where everybody knows your name.  It was fun to have members from other Rotary clubs join us. Danny and his team always takes good care of his Rotary customers and their guests. Our next Social Mixer and the last one for this Rotary year will be May 25th. Please save the date.

Stay connected with our Rotaract Club from the University of Arizona.  See what they are up to and their involvement in helping the community.  Click on the links below: