PRESIDENT MARGARET rang the bell at 12p to officially get the meeting started then made the announcement on the buffet, we will have fellowship first then at 12:15p we will start the presentation by Fletcher McCusker on “Investing to Revitalize Downtown Tucson & Sunshine Mile”.
After lots of great fellowship time and a delicious buffet lunch, PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS started the meeting with the ringing of the bell again. We were led in the pledge and song by ZACH TAVEL. Today’s song was “Star Spangled Banner”.
MARGARET returned to the mic to announce a Moment of Thought and peaceful consideration for MARK IRVIN’S Mother. She has recently been placed in hospice. We all paused our fellowship to offer this moment for MARK and his family.
The inspirational moment was given by MITCH PISIK who shared this inspiration moment of results beyond reasons. In the real world there are no participation awards, we expect so much from ourselves and we are an organization of change makers. A great change maker that needs acknowledgment is our own VIC JACOBS. VIC and her Team were instrumental in increasing our membership during our March Madness Membership Drive. With all the applications in process, we will have 225 members and several more members waiting to join over the next one to two months. MITCH presented VIC with a beautiful bouquet of flowers as the room stood for a standing ovation for all her efforts.
Sergeant at Arms DAN KALM stepped up to the podium to introduce our guests for this Wednesday luncheon. It’s great to see all of you here. DAN shared that if any guest is looking to join a great group, this IS THE group to join! Welcome all Rotarians and guests.
PRESIDENT MARGARET presented JONATHAN ROTHSCHILD with his Blue Badge then asked JONATHAN to introduce today’s speaker and Honorary Member of our Club, FLETCHER MCCUSKER who is going to share the latest and greatest updates with us about “Investing to Revitalize Downtown Tucson & Sunshine Mile”.
FLETCHER started off by saying there are several exciting happenings going on in this wonderful city of ours. If you have not been to Downtown in a while, you might want to check out these new and revitalized retail shops and amazing restaurants. FLETCHER presented a great slideshow with many new projects; from retail shops and creative restaurant concepts to adult play places such as a bowling alley, beer garden, indoor golf simulations and pickleball courts; along with updates to current retail shops and restaurants offering creative improvements. Fletcher gave us a great snapshot of the upcoming projects, newly completed projects, and current projects along with the economic impact of each project. So far, this program has created $1.4 billion dollars of private investments into Downtown Tucson and Sunshine Mile. There are so many improvement projects ongoing that FLETCHER could have continued his presentation but sadly ran out of time. It certainly revitalized my interest in Downtown and I plan on visiting some of these incredibly interesting shops soon.
PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS announced the book “Let’s Build” will be added to our Make Way for Books Library, both FLETCHER and JONATHAN will sign the book before it is added to the library as we continue to support children’s literacy in Tucson.
There are two new members introduced today. JEFF RONSTADT introduced CHUSHI MWEWA (Architecture & Engineering: Civil/Mining Engineering). Next new member was introduced by JIM WOOD; LISA STANTON (family member) who happens to be JIM’s Mother-in-Law. Welcome to our club! We are excited to meet you.
Next was a Paul Harris Presentation given by JOE DANISZEWSKI presented to ARNIE JACOBSON for supporting World Peace, eradicating Polio and community programs in countries making our world a better place to live. ARNIE is a 30-year member of our club, the clubs 87th President and the grandfather of our very own Tucson Classics Car Show. Congratulations ARNIE!
The Raffle and King of Clubs game presented by DAN KALM. King of Clubs card was not drawn. Better luck to all club members next meeting.
Next up…Rotary Announcements:
PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS began today’s announcements by reminding the members that the announcements; including the upcoming events and service projects are on the tables, listed on the website and in the weekly bulletin. The first announcement is there is no meeting next week as it is Home Hospitality Week. Remember to sign up on the website if you want to attend any of the events listed.
Next, the club is sad to announce that our Admin. Assistant, ERICA will be leaving us, we are looking for a replacement. We wish ERICA the best and we will miss her. ERICA has brought great energy and creativity to our club in a short time. If you know of anyone looking for a part time job, please let DORINNA know.
Be sure to check out the Arizona Rotary Week of Service Projects listed and sign up!
Another committee is looking for new help, the AV Team! Anyone interested in joining please see DORINNA.
JIM MURPHY reminded the members to nominate non-profits as the secondary beneficiaries for the Car Show as the deadline to do so is fast approaching.
KURTIS DAWSON took the mic to announce not one but three Happy Jackson’s! First was that today being his 25th wedding anniversary. A second Happy Jackson for JEFF RONSTADT for being the 2024 Honoree for Father of the Year. KURTIS would like to place an ad in BizTucson for JEFF on behalf of The Rotary Club of Tucson for the award. Anyone interested in contributing, contact KURTIS. The last Happy Jackson is for the service project Triangle Y Ranch where they all worked hard; some even bled!
GARY OLSEN reminded the members there are several upcoming events to sell car show tickets. This weekend and next weekend there are still slots open to sell tickets, sign up on the car show website. The best event is the events at Little Anthony’s on Saturday nights; those are coming up in May. Be sure to sign up!
PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS closed by thanking all our members, guests, and virtual attendees for being here today. MITCH PISIK gave the final toast before PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS rang the bell to adjourn the meeting. Cheers! See you all next week at the Home Hospitality events.
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Our Home Hospitality events are this week, April 21st through the 26th. These social events will replace our Wednesday, April 24th 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 24th. 
Adopt A Road Clean-Up: Saturday, April 27th at 7:15 am. As we did last time, we meet at 7:15 am at the Fiesta Bowling Lanes parking lot. 501 W River Road.
The UA Rotaract Club has asked us to help them to pack 1325 dental kits on Saturday April 27th and deliver them to three schools on May 2. We’re cosponsoring this project so it would be great to join them in their efforts!
join for lunch.
Celebrate over 100 years of Rotary Service and Scouting collaboration at Camp Lawton’s Rotary Service Day. In 1919, Architect John Lyman, the first Tucson Rotary Club president, prepared and laid out the plan for the first Scout Camp on Mount Lemmon. The club later provided funds for the first permanent structure in 1922 at what became known as Camp Lawton. The collaboration has continued over the last 100+ years as hundreds of Rotarians and thousands of scouts have enjoyed the same pines and cooler weather. Bring your family and friends for a fun and fulfilling day on the mountain preparing and improving the camp for the coming summer season.
WORLD IMMUNIZATION WEEK is April 24-30
We are looking for someone to fill a vacancy on the A/V Committee. If you are interested in working the A/V once a month at our weekly meetings, please contact Tom Moulton or Jenn Delaney.
