Rotary Club of
Tucson
"Tucsotarian"
Tucsotarian - February 5, 2020
We meet:
WEDNESDAYS, 12:00 NOON - 1:20 PM
DoubleTree Hotel
445 S Alvernon Way
Tucson, AZ  85711
United States
(520) 623-2281
 
 
Stories
Rio Nuevo 2020
2020 Update for Rio Nuevo and downtown development.
 
Fletcher McCusker ~ Biography
 
Fletcher J. McCusker is the CEO and Founder of UAVenture Capital, a venture firm dedicated to his alma mater where he is also Alumnus of the Year. Fletcher is a third generation Tucsonan, a 1974 UofA graduate and was honored with an honorary doctorate by the university in 2015. Fletcher was the founder and CEO of Providence Service Corporation, a health care company that he launched in Tucson in 1996 that became a multi- billion dollar public company before he retired in 2013. In 2013 he and several UofA faculty spun out the College of Pharmacy’s medication management research and formed a company called SinfoniaRx. That company, the first UofA spin out, sold in 2017 for 32 times their investment and was the genesis of UAVenture Capital. Fletcher also heads the downtown Tucson revitalization board called Rio Nuevo and is credited with spearheading the emergence of Tucson as an urban tech community with a thriving downtown. Fletcher was just honored by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey as the State’s business leader of the year.
Mystery Editor ~ 1/29/2020
President BOB LOGAN opened our meeting with a sad announcement that LIZ MCMAHON is facing surgery for a brain tumor.  All our prayers and best wishes to you LIZ!! The pledge/song was led by JOE ZARAGOZA and our inspirational video was “Dogs On The Train.   
 
After introduction of guests and visitors by ROB LAMASTER, president BOB explained that in order to prevent (or delay) the raising of our club dues, our meeting today was underwritten by sponsors Rusing, Lopez & Lizardi (Pat Lopez) and Stewart Title (Shawna Ruboyianes).  Pat and Shawna each had a few moments to address the club, recognizing the good things Rotary does.  WE think THEY are great, too!  Thank you to both companies for your generosity!
 
GARY HIRSCH introduced our speaker of the day, Charlene Grabowski, CEO of Perimeter Bicycling Association of America/El Tour de Tucson.  Now, don’t you just love technology?  Great when it works!  We had a glitch with our projector, so President BOB continued with our club business while the problem was being solved.
 
Birthdays were celebrated by TOM ELITHARP and EMERY BARKER.  Happy Birthday to you both!
 
CHUCK SAWYER introduced our newest member, JEFF HOTCHKISS who took the place of retiring Scout Leader KEN TUCKER.  Welcome JEFF! 
 
Then Charlene started her presentation again.  What an impressive leader she is!  She thanked Rotary for being such an important contributor to El Tour and explained her goals being at the helm.  She was happy to report that non-profit El Tour has now raised over $100 Million for participating charities!!  It is clear that we need to keep this tradition/event going (which is so important to Tucson), and she is making sure she does all she can to make it happen.
 
CHARLOTTE HARRIS reviewed the impressive accomplishments of MIKE and SUSAN ANDERSON (WeBuyHouses.com), recognizing the huge generosity of their donations to Rotary, and presented them with pins and a crystal.
 
Sergeant at Arms for the day, BOBBY LARSON, conducted the drawing.  KEITH WIEGAND won the drawing but did not draw the King of Clubs to win an even larger amount!
 
DAVE GALLAHER donated 15 baseball game tickets which will be at the Rotary office for anyone who wants them - no charge!
 
TCCS 2020 Chair CLIFF BOWMAN introduced JOE DANISZEWSKI (JOE D. as we call him) who is the head of Member Ticket sales this year.  He gave us a pep talk on selling car show tickets this coming year.  Next week we will sit with our birthday month selling partners to get everyone in the selling mood! 
 
DOT KRET, encouraged us to donate to TRVFA with another of her clever raps, and (after a bad AV day) BRUCE RICHARDSON meekly pled to the membership for more AV volunteers to help at our meetings. 
 
President BOB pointed out the lovely table set for our visiting past exchange students who for some reason did not make it to the meeting and then adjourned our meeting with a toast.
Proposed New Members
The following New Member applications have been submitted for membership in Rotary Club of Tucson:
 
New Member:  Khris Dodge
 
Company: Khris Dodge Entertainment
 
Classification: Entertainment: Music
 
Sponsor: Bob Logan
 
_______________________________________________________________
 
New Member:  Ann Marsh
 
Classification: Retired: Education
 
Sponsor: Chuck Sawyer
 
If no written objections are received within ten days of publication, these applicants will be accepted.
New Member Spotlight ~ Jeff Hotchkiss
Jeff Hotchkiss
 
Jeff was born in Painesville Ohio but grew up outside of Los Angeles in Buena Park California (some of you might know it as the home to Knotts Berry Farm). For College, he attended Clairmont McKenna, a great liberal arts college in LA, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History.  Out of school he started a career in Banking…or make that a short career in Banking.
 
You see, Jeff is an Eagle Scout and Scouting had a big impact on him early in life.  He left banking and joined the Boy Scouts working in the three different Scouting Councils in the Los Angeles area: Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley and in Van Nuys.  In the late 1990s he left Scouting for a number of years and worked as Chief Operating Office of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.  Life brought him back to Scouting in Indianapolis and then on to Worchester, just west of Boston, where he became CEO and Scout Executive for the Mohegan Scout Council.
 
When our own Ken Tucker retired from the Catalina Council here in Tucson, Jeff applied for the job and was selected as the new CEO / Scout Executive last year.  The Council is lucky to have him…he is an excellent administrator, fund raiser, membership development and volunteer recruiting executive.
 
Something newer members in our Club might not know is that our Club has been a long-time supporter and sponsor of the Catalina Council. In fact, the Boy Scout camp on top of Mt. Lemmon, Camp Lawton, was named after a member of our Club, James Lawton, who was President of the Catalina Council, and founded the retreat in the same year as our Club, 1921.
 
Jeff is married to Melody and they have two adult daughters.  He has served in leadership roles in Toastmasters and Kiwanis (he was a Rotarian 25 years ago) and had come back after seeing the light!   His interests include; reading, gardening and spending time with his family.
 
A few things you might not know about Jeff are:
  • In his early 20s, he and a buddy took a 1200-mile bike ride up the West Coast
  • From his years in Scouting, as he was in the LA area, he has the distinction of founding Boy Scout troops in Barrios, Ghettos and Beverly Hills.
  • And appropriate to the times in California; he once led 80 boys to safety during a forest fire in Mountains around LA, in a place called Lost Valley.
RCOT Facebook Live
Reminder, you can view past Rotary meetings on Facebook Live.  So, if you missed the meeting go to www.facebook.com/RotaryClubTucson to watch the program.  You can also find the Facebook Live link on the home page of our website next to the Facebook logo.  Just click and you are there!
 
Membership and Attendance
Membership         Scholarship Cups  

 

Total Active Members 248   
Cash Contributions
$
37.00
Honorary Members
17  
Quarterly with Dues
$
 

  252.00

Meeting Attendance - January 29, 2020   Total Scholarship Cups$

289.00

Members110  Raffle $

163.00

Active Members AE18  Auction RCOTF$

0.00

LOA/Honorary Members0     
Total Members Present128    

 

Guests4    

 

Guests of the Club 12    

 

Visiting Rotarians4    

 

Total Meeting Attendance 148    

 

Speakers
Feb 12, 2020
Making Sense of the Man or Woman in Your Life
Feb 19, 2020
To Ella with Love, the Music of Ella Fitzgerald
Feb 26, 2020
Creating Vibrant Communities
Mar 04, 2020
View entire list
Sponsors
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