In the past 11 years the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has invested more than $1 billion to improve mobility, travel options and safety in our region. The RTA has delivered more than 770 improvements from brand new roadways, to improved intersections, new sidewalks, expanded transit, wildlife crossings, and miles of bikeways.
There are faster connections, less congestion in some intersections, and more travel choices. Economic development has followed many corridor projects, creating jobs and opportunities across the region.
As we move into the second half of the 20-year voter approved plan we also look at the region's transportation needs beyond the RTA, and how to address them. We commend our regional partners for helping the RTA deliver our promise to voters. The key to its success is the regional cooperation among jurisdictions and the fact that it is a community supported plan.
Biography – Mindy Blake
Mindy Blake joined Pima Association of Governments (PAG) in May 2016. In her position as Outreach Coordinator, Mindy makes connections with the community to increase awareness and understanding of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) plan. She is especially enthusiastic to share stories about how the RTA meets the needs of all commuters.
Mindy was a news anchor and reporter at KOLD-TV in Tucson for 25 years. She wrote about and reported on many community issues, from education to the environment. She earned several professional awards during her journalism career. She served as Community Relations Director at Amphitheater Public Schools before coming to PAG.
Mindy is a graduate of Western State College of Colorado. She enjoys giving back to the Tucson community, has served on several boards, and is a regular volunteer for Arizona Public Media.
As the New Year’s waves of optimism vibrated through our club in January, 2017, I wrote in the Tucsotarian a 6-month review of our Club’s diverse and dynamic activities. It seemed like a lot then. Now as I look back over this last half year of all that has taken place, it bares repeating that our vibrant and energetic Tucson Rotary club has kept the momentum going. We accept the challenge that Rotary offers us in becoming better in service to our community and around the world. Our Club does good work. And as I’ve said before and can say with even stronger feelings, as your President, I’m so thankful to be a part of this dedicated Tucson Rotary Club. Evidence shows that our Club, the largest in Arizona, is unstoppable. Take a look at this past year and all that we have accomplished.
Gained 27 new members, three of them being family members for a total of 237 members as of 6/26/17.
Earned the “Presidential Citation” in meeting the required number of criteria in the following categories: Goal Setting, Membership, Foundation Giving, Online Tool Adoption, Humanitarian Service, Public Image, New Generations.
Changed banks with our banking needs now being serviced by Commerce Bank of AZ.
Completed a highly successful 10th Annual Car Show with the proceeds benefiting our new primary beneficiary, Make Way For Books. Other beneficiaries are Youth On Their Own, JTED, Gap Ministries and The Haven. The one million dollar mark was passed with this year’s record-breaking results of $209,308.
Celebrated the Anniversary of 30 years of Women Being in Rotary, a significant turning point in Rotary’s history.
Exceeded Annual Fund Goal by over $10,000 with a five-year high of $30,542 as reported in Rotary Club Central. A truly generous Club we are in keeping with this year’s theme of Rotary Serving Humanity.
Celebrated the 100-year Anniversary of the Rotary Foundation.
Supported three International Projects: 1) Uganda Rotary Family Health Days and Empowering Women in Uganda by partnering with the Valle Verde Club of Green Valley ($5000); 2) Being the Primary International Partner with the Ciudad Juarez Frontera Club in the project of Raising Awareness of Detection and Prevention of Breast Cancer which includes donating 2500 prostheses to low-income women in that border city and surrounding villages. ($5000); 3) Donated $2500 in partnership with the Oro Valley Club and their sister Rotary Club in Spain to help drill a water well and install a water pump for leprosy-affected villagers in the town of Foubarka-Mbe, Cameroon.
Hired Kari Meger as part-time assistant for our ED, Dorinna York, which gives our grateful Club members the strongest support team ever. They keep us humming and on track.
Enjoyed four 5th Wednesday replacement meetings, the first at Molinitos and the second at CAID Industries, the third at Rincon Market and the last at Jackson’s Grill.
Helped exceed the Ride To End Polio goal set by District Governor with many of our club members riding, volunteering and raising funds to reach the 13.5 million dollars achieved including Gates Foundation match.
Sponsored very active and busy Rotaract and Interact Clubs. Sent 5 students to the outstanding RYLA. Also, co-sponsored with the Cienega Rotary Club, an Exchange Student, Valentina Scotece from Milano, Italy.
Participated in social outings including a Grand Canyon and Havasupai hike as well as cheering at both the Tucson Roadrunners Hockey Game and Arizona Bowl. Enjoyed Home Hospitality and our Holiday party. Ongoing golfing and hiking Fellowship groups were in step and in full swing; and members welcomed back our revived Wine Fellowship. Yes, Fellowship runs deep in this Club.
Entered into the festive mood of the holiday season by ringing the bells for the Salvation Army and delivering presents on bicycles to South Tucson Fire Dept.
Sponsored two students by partnering with TRVFA. Our remarkable scholarship program continued financial support of 6 scholars at PCC and 10 scholars at U. of A. Increased a much needed scholarship amount to UA students by $1000. A new source of scholarship money has been established with the addition of a beer booth at the 4th Ave. Street Fair with the promotional title of Suds for Scholarships. Voted out- Beer for Brains.
Created a fresh new website in keeping with Rotary’s branding and public awareness goals and updated the design of the Tucsotarian.
Completed three STAR Trainings.
Added a Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy to our current Club Policies.
Administered a Club Culture Survey on the vibrancy of our club with results centered around more social activities, more time for fellowship and more opportunities to get to know our members.
Introduced Business Round Tables which are now flourishing with two peer-to-peer advisory groups meeting monthly.
Scheduled Monthly Community Service Projects and helping hands reached out to local non-profits such as Make Way For Books, So. AZ Community Food Bank, our ever popular YMCA/Triangle Y Camp, and NAMI So. AZ.
Donated $13,129 from President’s Discretionary fund in various amounts to these fifteen non-profits: DM50, Friends of Sabino Canyon, Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation, Girl Scouts So. AZ, Habitat for Humanity-Women Build, Rotaract of UA, Ride To End Polio/Dist. Foundation, SARSEF, Sonoran Glass School, TRVFA, Tanque Verde Band Boosters, Tucson’s Jan. 8th Memorial Foundation, Tucson Values Teachers, UA Foundation-College of Ed., YMCA-Triangle Y.
Increased engagement with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Club Financials as of 5/31/17 showed net income of $14,201.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible support, guidance and assistance of our Board of Directors, all of our Committee Chairs, all members who participated in these dynamic activities and of course, our amazing Executive Director, Dorinna and her very capable assistant, Kari. Yes, none of this would have been possible without YOU, the members and staff of our fabulous Rotary Club.
Your time and talent this year were given so generously. What can I say? Thank you, thank you, thank you. And now let’s give a cheer to the new Rotary year ahead with our outstanding 2017-2018 President at the helm or I should say at the stick, Cliff Bowman.
My best to all of you and I look forward to being with you next year.
Can you believe it? Tell me it’s not so – PRESIDENT ELLIE has circled her administration all the way around the sun! This means that her last official meeting is next week – holy cow, time really does fly . . . . . Guess we better get ready for PRESIDENT CLIFF!
Our magnificent PRESIDENT ELLIE opened her next to last “official” meeting on time and with good cheer. On a side note, STU GOLDMAN serenaded our pre-meeting gathering with some most excellent piano playing. Thanks STU!!!
HOOT GIBSON gave the Inspiration with a “Meaning of Service” quote. Pledge and Song were played by GARY HIRSCH (Leaders Edge) and sung by Major Dawn Rocheleau of the Salvation Army.
Our head “Rowdy” CHARLIE MEAKER introduced the visiting Rotarians and Guests. DARRELL STEWART was our birthday boy – thank you DARRELL for all you do for the club. ANGELA MOORE, estate planning attorney, was our birthday girl. Happy Birthday ANGELA!
PAULINE HECHLER introduced her replacement when she moves to Phoenix to be with her grandchildren. His name is CHRIS SHIREMAN. CHRIS is a Tae Quon Do Master and a fencing expert. He also works with the Physician’s Network. Welcome CHRIS!
SAA FONDA INSLEY had DAVE GALLAHER auction off Martina McBride tickets from PRESIDENT ELLIE. MIKE ORCUTT gave the Club Foundation $225 for the show.
JENNIFER HOFFMAN gave us two flags from a former exchange student from Italy. Her parents and children went to Italy and visited with the exchange student’s family; they were treated like a king and queen. This just shows you that hosting an exchange student means you’ll have a friend for life.
Under Announcements:
PRESIDENT ELLIE announced the Change of Administration party on July 8th at La Mariposa ~ sign up on the home page under Upcoming Events. It is going to be a blast having to call CLIFF, Mr. President …
PRESIDENT ELLIE also announced our end of the month social mixer will be at Cushing Street Bar on June 29th. Come by and check out a really cool bar.
MIKE ORCUTT announced our blood drive August 9th – it figures that MIKE is heading up this event. Thank you MIKE!
WAYNE MEYER presented a blue badge to CLINT MABIE ~~ welcome CLINT! What a great name!
ROGER HARWELL introduced our 14 car show captains – all women for the first time – 30 years Women in Rotary… GO GIRLS!
PRESIDENT ELLIE gave two “Red Rose” presentations, 1) BOB ERNSTEIN – thank you for your service, BOB. And 2) KANDIE VACTOR – thank you for your car show service, KANDIE.
RUBY PECKFORD gave three Happy Jacksons, one of which was for our wonderful PRESIDENT ELLIE. JILL MADDEN gave a Happy Jackson for her Aravaipa Farms Bed and Breakfast.
Our program was introduced by ALLYN BULZOMI. Our Club, along with the Sunrise Club, sponsor the UofA Rotaract Club. Wow, what a fine group this is. Amy Allen, outgoing President and Past President, Danielle Ledezma have created a really active on-campus club. Just some of the activities include: Project Linus – blankets for sick children in hospitals; Tucson Aids Walk; cleanup of hiking trails; help with autistic children’s home; Malauri African project; and of course the RCOT Car Show.
This club is open to all 18-35 year olds and you don’t have to be a UofA graduate. We all celebrate the “Do Something Amazing World Rotaract Week” with you.
The next to last meeting was toasted by our PRESIDENT ELLIE to the new generation of Rotarians!
Several Club members, all looking cheerful on a Sunday morning, attended the Rotary District 5500 Installation of Joe Hentges, 2017-18 District Governor. Joe is from the Dove Mountain Rotary Club and is committed to Rotary and a program of Early Childhood Reading. The Installation was held at The Highlands at Dove Mountain and members of Joe’s family flew in from the Midwest and California to celebrate with Dad/Grandpa. Many Rotarians filled the room to cheer Joe’s bright future as our DG this coming year.
We're "passing the gavel" to our 2017-18 President, Cliff Bowman, on Saturday, July 8th at La Mariposa from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. La Mariposa is located at 1501 N. Houghton Road. So come on out and celebrate with Ellie and Cliff. Go to www.tucsonrotary.org scroll down the left side to Upcoming Events and register ~ $50/per person. Dress is Hawaiian/Jimmy Buffett attire. REMEMBER: No Lunch Meeting on 7/5/17.
The building of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, So. AZ got a new look on Saturday morning thanks to a hard-working group of Club members. Family members helped too. Painting inside and out, removal of plants, cleaning, sweeping and other tasks made the folks at NAMI very happy. We were glad to lend a hand. That's what Rotarians do!
Let’s head downtown for our June Social Mixer. Cushing Street Bar and Grill will warmly welcome us on June 29th, starting at 5:30 pm. Delicious appetizers will be provided. Cushing Street Bar opened in 1972 and is still operated by the original family owners, the Rollings Family. Portions of the main dining room and private dining rooms date back to the 1860’s when Arizona was still a Territory. It’s described as a friendly gathering place for food, cocktails and conversation. Many Rotarians know this place well. Let’s celebrate friendship and fellowship with our last monthly Social Mixer for this year.. See you there! Don’t forget to bring a guest. Easy parking in parking lot and surrounding streets. 198 W. Cushing Street, just south of the TCC.
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In the past 11 years the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has invested more than $1 billion to improve mobility, travel options and safety in our region. The RTA has delivered more than 770 improvements from brand new roadways, to improved intersections, new sidewalks, expanded transit, wildlife crossings, and miles of bikeways.
Hired Kari Meger as part-time assistant for our ED, Dorinna York, which gives our grateful Club members the strongest support team ever. They keep us humming and on track.
Sponsored two students by partnering with TRVFA. Our remarkable scholarship program continued financial support of 6 scholars at PCC and 10 scholars at U. of A. Increased a much needed scholarship amount to UA students by $1000. A new source of scholarship money has been established with the addition of a beer booth at the 4th Ave. Street Fair with the promotional title of Suds for Scholarships. Voted out- Beer for Brains.
Introduced Business Round Tables which are now flourishing with two peer-to-peer advisory groups meeting monthly.
otaract of UA, Ride To End Polio/Dist. Foundation, SARSEF, Sonoran Glass School, TRVFA, Tanque Verde Band Boosters, Tucson’s Jan. 8th Memorial Foundation, Tucson Values Teachers, UA Foundation-College of Ed., YMCA-Triangle Y.
PAULINE HECHLER introduced her replacement when she moves to Phoenix to be with her grandchildren. His name is CHRIS SHIREMAN. CHRIS is a Tae Quon Do Master and a fencing expert. He also works with the Physician’s Network. Welcome CHRIS!
WAYNE MEYER presented a blue badge to CLINT MABIE ~~ welcome CLINT! What a great name!
PRESIDENT ELLIE gave two “Red Rose” presentations, 1) BOB ERNSTEIN – thank you for your service, BOB. And 2) KANDIE VACTOR – thank you for your car show service, KANDIE.
Several Club members, all looking cheerful on a 
We're "passing the gavel" to our 2017-18 President, Cliff Bowman, on Saturday, July 8th at La Mariposa from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. La Mariposa is located at 1501 N. Houghton Road. So come on out and celebrate with Ellie and Cliff. Go to 
The building of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, So. AZ got a new look on Saturday morning thanks to a hard-working group of Club members. Family members helped too. Painting inside and out, removal of plants, cleaning, sweeping and other tasks made the folks at NAMI very happy. We were glad to lend a hand. That's what Rotarians do!
Let’s head downtown for our June Social Mixer. Cushing Street Bar and Grill will warmly welcome us on June 29th, starting at 5:30 pm. Delicious appetizers will be provided. Cushing Street Bar opened in 1972 and is still operated by the original family owners, the Rollings Family. Portions of the main dining room and private dining rooms date back to the 1860’s when Arizona was still a Territory. It’s described as a friendly gathering place for food, cocktails and conversation. Many Rotarians know this place well. Let’s celebrate friendship and fellowship with our last monthly Social Mixer for this year.. See you there! Don’t forget to bring a guest. Easy parking in parking lot and surrounding streets. 198 W. Cushing Street, just south of the TCC.
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