President CHUCK rang open our meeting, and new member ANDY KIEL gave the inspiration. We then had a moment of silence to mark the passing of Rotarian STEVE MARTEN. He was a recent member of our club since October, but had been a Rotarian since 2005.
DAVE EAGLETON led us in the Pledge and Song, a stirring rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” GARY HIRSCH, as usual, accompanied on the piano.
New Member JENNY VOLPE introduced our Guests and Visiting Rotarians.
Past President JIM LUBINSKI began the program by discussing the process used to select our three finalists for the proceeds of the 2021 Car Show and the Club’s Centennial Project. Past President JIM MURPHY, who oversaw the selection process, introduced each of the three finalists. First up was Abel Vazquez, Director of Information Technologies for JTED.
The project proposed by JTED is The Rotary Club of Tucson/JTED Emerging Technology and Innovation Center. It will house cutting edge programs with an overarching theme of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Programs at the technology center will include teaching skills in Cybersecurity, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Emergency Response, and Health Care needs. Next representing Interfaith Community Services was Tom McKinney, Chief Executive Officer, and Deborah Carr, Philanthropy and Public Relations Director. ICS’s project proposal is “The Rotary Club of Tucson Family Self-Sufficiency Center.” The Self-Sufficiency Center will provide a central Tucson location to serve an increased number of Tucsonans struggling to avoid or overcome poverty, financial crisis, hunger, homelessness, and unemployment. The center will provide emergency services to support the immediate need to families then provide follow-on services that contribute to long-term financial stability. The final presentation from the Reid Park Zoo was made by Nancy Kluge, President and Chief Executive Officer. The Zoo’s proposal is “The Rotary Club of Tucson Treetop Adventure” as part of their overall zoo expansion. The Treetop Adventure will give younger visitors an exciting birds’ eye view of the Zoo through a series of large mesh climbing tubes and mesh and rope climbing structures. This interactive area will have conservation messaging and animal information throughout the adventure structure from the ground all the way to the highest reaches of the leaves.
At the conclusion of the presentations, the Club Members voted on which of the charities we would work with on our Centennial Project. The other two charities will be our secondary recipients for this year’s Car Show proceeds, so everyone goes home a winner! Expect an announcement soon from the RCOT Foundation on which of these projects was chosen.
President CHUCK then led us back to regular club business with our birthday celebrations.
DOT KRET was first up and she spoke of her love for our club and her rhymes were sublime. As always, DOT exuded joy and passion with her tome. Birthday boy RICHARD WHITE had the unfortunate distinction to have to follow DOT. He performed admirably in his normal, gracious way. Happy Birthday DOT and RICHARD!
Next up was BRETT STEIN combining both a New Member Introduction and Blue Badge Presentation for MAUREEN ERHARDT. MAUREEN joined the club in September and is a CPA. She has been in her own accounting practice for 28 years. Congratulations MAUREEN AND welcome to the Club!
Past President CHARLOTTE HARRIS and District Governor Elect ELLIE PATTERSON presented a special Paul Harris Presentation for Rabbi STEPHANIE AARON and her husband and Rotarian, JACK AARON. The
AARONS have reached Major Donor status with the Rotary Foundation and were presented with a crystal trophy from TRF by CHARLOTTE. Thank you Rabbi STEPHANIE and JACK for all your generous contributions.
Filling in at Sergeant at Arms was President Elect Nominee JEN HOFFMAN to lead us in the announcements. President CHUCK reminded us of the Replacement Mixer on 3/27 and for Home Hospitality during the week of 4/14. We are in need of hosts for the week. Please contact the office if you would like to host an event.
Past President ROGER HARWELL is looking for a few shifts of volunteers to sell beer at the Fourth Avenue Festival to support Scholarships.
BRETT STEIN announced the Fine Beer Fellowship at Tap & Bottle on 4/12 from 5 to 7 pm.
STEVE PICKERING presented TOM CAMPBELL with his Blue Badge. TOM joined the club in October and is with Long Realty Company. Congratulations TOM!
MARGARET HIGGINS continued our club’s discussions on The Member Experience and how we can focus on women leaders in our community and how to invite them to our club and make them new members!
Past President JON WANG continued with his RCOT History series with a video of Past President SCHUY LININGER speaking of his time as Club President from 1975-76. SCHUY noted the biggest shift in Rotary during his administration were the changes in classification requirements. We miss you SCHUY.
President CHUCK closed the meeting with a toast to our three Centennial Project finalists, for the great work they do in our community, and to the Rotarians that organized and executed the selection process.
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Our next Social/Replacement Mixer will be held in "The Coop" at Culinary Dropout, located at 2543 E. Grant Road, start time is 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27th. There is plenty of onsite parking. Hope to see you all there for some Fellowship and Fun! Oops, almost forgot, no lunch meeting on Wednesday, March 27th. If you cannot attend, don't forget to do your makeup!! Please call the Rotary office with any questions, 623-2281.
The following New Member's application has been submitted for membership in Rotary Club of Tucson:
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Our Home Hospitality events are scheduled for the week of April 13th through the 20th and we are looking for members to host during the week. These social events will replace our Wednesday, April 17th lunch meeting. If you are interested in hosting a small or large group at your home, place of business or even at a restaurant, please let the office know the date, time, location and the amount of guests you will host. The Club will provide each host $20 per member/guest that attend your event. So let's have some fun during this Home Hospitality Week!
Our first meeting for the Fine Beer Fellowship is Friday April 12th from 5pm – 7pm at Tap & Bottle North (Ina and Oracle). The purpose of the meeting is for any Rotarians and their significant others/adult kids to spend some time together enjoying and talking about fine beer. It is a buy your own beer event and no cost to join. Just hanging out with like minded Rotarians. For those interested we will be happy to educate on what makes different styles of beer what they are. What goes into certain beers and introduce people to different types of beers based upon what they have liked up to this point. For information or if you would like to attend contact Brett Stein 520-977-6156 or email 
Please join many other Rotarians and friends in District 5500 who will be traveling to Hamburg the first week of June to experience the many different opportunities at the annual RI convention. There truly is something for everyone whether you’re a longtime member or you have just joined Rotary. Unforgettable moments are made at the RI Convention, a place where the Rotary spirit fills the air with the highest level of energy and enthusiasm.
The Maguire Academy of Irish Dance and the Southern Arizona Irish Dance Association would like to thank the Rotary Club of Tucson for having our dancers perform during your meeting on March 15th. We would also like to thank your members in their support of our raffle for our Irish dance competition May 4th and 5th. By allowing the Southern Arizona Irish Dance Association to become a non-profit partner with the Tucson Classics Car Show will allow our organization the ability to raise funds to help enhance our dancer’s ability to compete on the worldwide stage. Our first outing at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival allowed us to get the word out in the Irish community and helped us sell 151 tickets for the Car Show.
