Well, fellow Rotarians, the Bob Logan Reign of Terror has started off with a bang!  And the bang you heard was the HUGE Gavel Charlotte Harris found in going through an old storage locker of Rotary memorabilia (some memorable, some not so much).  So thanks Charlotte -- the reign of terror gavel will live a good life during our upcoming Rotary year.

 

Needless to say, I am thrilled to be your leader this year and it has already been an exciting 18 months of preparation to get to this point.  A special thanks to Past President Chuck Sawyer for taking me under his wing to learn the ropes on what this job is all about.  His capable leadership, open door policy and his ability to work with all aspects of our Rotary world has made us a better club overall.  You should know our club is a stronger one because of the time and effort he put in this past year.  On behalf of the Rotary Club of Tucson, thanks Chuck for an amazing year.

 

If you don’t know my Rotary background, I would consider myself a “lunchtime Rotarian”.  While I have served on the board once and I occasionally do the Paul Harris lunch entertainment for the club, for the most part, I have come to meetings, listened to the program, and then returned to my job at the UA College of Science.  Honestly, I have not been actively engaged in district activities, or very knowledgeable of Rotary beyond my weekly club experience. 

 

Clearly, I have learned Rotary through a fire hose the past number of months.  Attending PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) and the Large Club Conference in January of this year was an eye opener.  To meet so many incredible Rotarians and glean fabulous ideas and best practices was truly satisfying and enlightening.  Those two conferences lit a spark of excitement for me.  And to have President Elect Jennifer Hoffman and Dorinna with me made it all worthwhile.  The ideas were flowing; the excitement for this year was palpable.  And we will be incorporating many of these ideas this year.

 

Now to this year – what can our membership expect?  I will say this, to everyone in our club:  you will not want to miss any meetings this year.  Our programs are going to be fantastic, thanks to Mark Irvin, Steve Christy and Jeanne Flower.  We are bringing music back to our meetings and we will even have an American Idol contestant sing at an upcoming meeting!  We will have UA leaders, business leaders, inspirational presentations and many program things that highlight what makes Tucson the great place it is.

 

We will attempt to raise the profile of Rotary in the Tucson community, hence, next week’s Mayor Debate and Forum.  We hope to have a huge turnout from Rotarians as well as from the general public.  This is our opportunity to show why Rotary is the place to be.

 

We will have fun at our meetings.  Remember the old Knock-Knock jokes?  This will be a new form of audience participation!  Our inspirational video moments will bring many to tears.  The stories are amazing and they make us appreciate how lucky we all are.

 

Finally, we will have goals.  Of course we will have the typical Rotary goals for membership, retention, etc., but all these will fall in place if we accomplish these four very simple goals this year:

 

 

Let the Logan Rotary Reign of Terror begin!  I hope you enjoy the ride….

 

Yours in Rotary,

 

Bob Logan

President

Rotary Club of Tucson

2019-2020

The REIGN OF TERROR is underway.  The evil one, yielding a very large gavel, called the meeting to order.  GARY HIRSCH played the piano and MICHELE HATCH (Casino del Sol) led us in the Pledge and Song “You’re a Grand Ole Flag”.

 

Introducing a new twist to the Inspiration we viewed a video featuring professional golfer Gary Woodland playing golf with Amy Bockerstette from Special Olympics Arizona.  Amy showed us that there are “no limits”.

 

President BOB presented Past President CHUCK with his past-president’s badge and RI banner from 2018-2019.

 

Past President SCOTT VAUGHAN said some confusing things about how introductions were going to be different and then welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests in the usual way.  This was preceded by the introduction and standing ovation for District 5500’s new District Governor, our own ELLIE PATTERSON.

 

Centennial Chair JIM LUBINSKI celebrated his birthday by presenting three checks to various Rotary funds.

 

CINDY BARBEE (O’Rielly Chevrolet) introduced new member TAUREAN ORTIZ of the Salvation Army.   TAUREAN stated that he was going to do something extra-ordinary for the club --- and that turned out to be…”BRING DOWN THE AVERAGE AGE” (I don’t know…did he really look that young?)

 

Sergeant at Arms BOBBY LARSON raffled off gifts from Harlow Gardens, Supercuts, Botanica Facial, Archive Advantage, and ALAN ROGERS.  BOBBY announced that JAY GANDOLFI would be donating three tickets to the August, 2019, Rolling Stone concert in Phoenix. Stay tuned.

 

Happy Jackson – Past President CLIFF introduced his daughter-in-law, LIZ BOWMAN, as the new CEO of SARSEF (Southern Arizona Research, Science, and Engineering Foundation).

 

With all business rapidly and efficiently dispensed with, our program got an early start (12:40pm).  Honorary Member FLETCHER MCCUSKER (Rio Nuevo Chair) introduced Michael Ortega, City Manager for the City of Tucson.  The title of his presentation was “Innovation and Culture Change in the City of Tucson.”  His idea that doing what is best for the “region” (not just the city or county) was well received.

 

Our speaker signed the book “Splish-Splash” for the Make Way For Books Library.

 

Next week President BOB will help us look forward to a TERRORifically TERRORifying year, full of fun, hard work, and TERROR!!

 

The meeting adjourned with no injuries and no sign that the Reign of Terror was going to be TERRORible..

Please welcome the following new member into the Rotary Club of Tucson.  She will be introduced to the club at a meeting in the near future.

 

New Member:  Lori Gerbracht

 

Company:  GPS of the Midlands

 

Classification:  Business Services:  Personnel

 

 

Our Club will be hosting the City of Tucson Mayor Debate and Forum at our lunch meeting on Wednesday, July 24th at the Tucson Convention Center.  The Meet and Greet starts at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch and the debate.  All Club members and guests MUST REGISTER for this event.  No charge for members and the guest price is $35, which MUST be paid on line with a credit card.  This event is open to the public and there is a  STRICT DEADLINE TO REGISTER BY FRIDAY, 7/19/19 AT NOON.

 

We are NOT using the club website for registration.  We have chosen to utilize an online registration called Eventbrite.com.  If you would like to attend the Mayor Debate and Forum, please click the link below and register yourself and your guests:

 

 

Arrive early (11:30 a.m.) to Meet and Greet the Candidates!

 

If you have any questions, please contact the Rotary Office.