So, what’s a Club Assembly?  The question came to me this week as Club Assemblies are not a big part of what we typical do at the Rotary Club of Tucson.  They are a common element of other Rotary Clubs that sometimes will do a couple Club Assemblies per year.  If I am not mistaken, our last Club Assembly was during Dave Gallaher’s year as President in 2013-2014.

A Club Assembly is a meeting for the Club to focus on operations, results, strategic direction or planning.  This upcoming Wednesday we are going to use the meeting to take a look at our goals from the past year and see how we did, but more importantly, to check in with the membership to see how we are doing both as a Rotary Club and in running our meetings.

A big part of our focus this year has been on how do we increase the value of your membership in the Rotary Club of Tucson.  During the meeting we will be filling out a survey to get your feedback on areas we are doing well and areas we can improve.  The information will be very relevant and helpful to President Bob as he takes over in July.

We will also use the meeting to recognize as a group, all of the members and staff that worked hard this year to make our meetings happen.

I know we are into summer…but if you are here in town, join us on Wednesday to review the year that was…but more importantly, give us feedback to allow us to continue to build our Remarkable Rotary Club into the future.

 

YIR,

 

Chuck Sawyer
President 2018-2019
Rotary Club of Tucson

President CHUCK opened the next to last meeting of his glorious reign with a resounding bell ringing, and ANN LANCERO gave the inspiration.

 

DARRELL STEWART led us in the Pledge and was accompanied in another fine rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” by GARY HIRSCH on the piano. JEANNE ZETAH introduced our guests and visiting Rotarians. 

 

We had three Birthday Rotarians:

 

GARY HIRSCH leads our Club in the Business Round Table and the Ride to End Polio.  When he’s not doing a million other things, GARY has been on a 30-day silent retreat.  GARY remembers his mom taught him humility and believes that Rotary does the same.

DARRELL STEWART has met the wife of Anwar Sadat while building a hospital in Egypt, worked on an Indy 500 pit crew, and received a mug as a gift from Walt Disney.  In the spirit of leaving a legacy, DARRELL announced that he has arranged in his will to make a gift to the Rotary Foundation Scholarship Fund in the amount of $100,000.  Thanks for your amazing generosity DARRELL!!

ANGELA MOORE is a current Board member who was born 3 and ½ months early weighing less than two pounds which earned her the nickname “Mighty Might”.  ANGELA reminded everyone that Congress is currently debating the Secure Act which could affect all our retirements.

 

We had a special Paul Harris presentation by MARK IRVIN to Honorary Member UA Women’s Basketball Head Coach ADIA BARNES. Coach BARNES remarked on the similarity of values between her program and the goals of Rotary especially when it comes to community involvement.  We also had a very special Paul Harris presentation to Kari Meger who was joined by her husband Jim.  Among other support she provided to the families of Davis Monthan when her husband was base commander, Kari distributed more than 15,000 cookies!

 

Sergeant at Arms BOBBY LARSON recognized our very own MIKE ANDERSON, home seller and longtime Car Show Sponsor. MIKE recently gave away houses to support Wright Flight and the Boy Scouts. We also had the following announcements:

 

Past President PHIL GUTT introduced our speaker Brent DeRaad - President & CEO of Visit Tucson who spoke about “Travel’s Impacts on Metro Tucson”.  Mr. DeRaad noted the tremendous impact tourism has on our local economy ($2.3 B in revenue, $74 M in local taxes and 25,000 jobs directly related to tourism) and detailed some of his organization’s efforts to build a brand for Tucson around the theme of “free yourself”. The branding effort appeals to travelers who are looking for a place to rejuvenate in a beautiful desert setting. Among other efforts, Visit Tucson hopes to build off the successes of Rio Nuevo with a 10 year tourism master plan, development of a downtown gathering place, and efforts to promote food, culture, and outdoor activities such as cycling. Mr. DeRaad signed a book for our MWFBs library: “The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo”.

 

President CHUCK closed our meeting with a toast and a quote from Marshall Trimble:  “Among all the geographic areas of the United States, the Southwest in general and Arizona in particular is blessed with a panoramic beauty that almost defies description.”