Our Replacement/Social Mixer is Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at Trident III, 250 S. Craycroft Road from 5:30 p.m. ~ 7:30 p.m.  There will be good food and great fellowship with a No Host Bar. Looking forward to seeing everyone at our first social mixer in 2020! Remember, this is a replacement for our lunch meeting on Wednesday, so don't forget your Make Up if you cannot attend!

 

See you all there. . .

 

Well here we are, early January and by this point a few things should be very evident.  Hopefully, you did not overeat and overdrink over the past few weeks; and hopefully, you have taken down your holiday decorations (if not, please do it this weekend or people will drive by your house and point and make comments); and finally, I hope you now realize that the Logan Reign of Terror is halfway in the books!  It has been a great ride so far and there is more to come!  So let’s take a look back and review and at the same time discuss what might be coming down the pike in the next few months.

 

 

When we started this ride, it was my goal to improve the member experience for all of our Rotarians.  We would do this in the following way:

First, I really wanted to bring fantastic and memorable keynote speakers to our weekly meetings.  The hope was that members would NOT want to miss a meeting.  A special thanks to Mark Irvin and Jeanne Flower for leading the charge.  Programs ranged  from a city-wide Tucson Mayoral Debate at the TCC; to a moving tribute on 9/11 honoring first responders in our community; to a couple of our favorite UA coaches, softball coach Mike Candrea and Women's Basketball coach Adia Barnes and their always inspirational messages.  We had former UA athlete Jay Dobyns and his terrifying story of the Hell's Angels and the ATF to our favorite animal handlers with all of their desert critters.

 

We switched up the meetings a bit, changing our weekly inspiration to a 2-3 minute feel good story video.  People seem to be enjoying this.  We moved our keynote speakers earlier in our meeting agenda to ensure they get the time they deserve.  Too many times over the years, our speakers would get shortchanged on their time because of too much Rotary business.  I am proud to say that will not happen again.  We added professional video introductions to our keynote speakers and we need to thank Rick Rose for providing the studio time and to KVOA GM Bill Shaw for providing on air talent Priscilla Casper. 

 

As a service to our membership, we added Facebook Live for all of our Keynote Speakers, so if you miss a meeting, you can go back and watch every one of our past speakers.  This is helpful for our members who spend part of the year away from Tucson and to everyone who wants to watch a previous speaker.  Special thanks to Social Media chair Liz Bowman and to Jeff Ronstadt for facilitating this new approach to our meetings.

 

We are in full gear for our Centennial plans.  Jim Murphy led the charge to select a charity beneficiary and JTED was the near unanimous choice.  They will be a wonderful partner.  Jim Lubinski is heading up the Centennial planning and later on this spring we will know more about our plans for our celebration.  There is a lot to be proud of and we should really use this as an opportunity to spread the message of Rotary to the Tucson community.

 

Thanks to Jason Grabosch for leading another amazing Tucson Classics Car Show.  It always amazes me how many people are involved with this massive effort.  There are too many people to name, but thanks to all of you for making this an annual Rotary Club of Tucson tradition.

 

Gary Hirsch is leading an innovative effort to promote a job board for our Rotarian business owners to post jobs and for members to look for jobs for themselves or for their kids or fellow Rotarians.  Still in its infancy, please check it out by going to the home page of the club website, under the RCOT Member Area on the top menu bar.

 

Congrats to President Nominee Mark Irvin for being named Tucson Man of the Year.  With all Mark does in this community, honestly, how he was not recognized earlier is beyond me.  The event is Saturday night, February 1 at Loews Ventana Canyon.  Hopefully we will have a few tables of Rotarians to support Mark (remember to wear your Rotary pin or I will fine you!)

 

Finally, our social calendar has been plenty full as well, thanks to chair Bruce Jacobs.  We have been to Sabino Canyon, Top Golf, and to a brand-new country bar on the northwest side, Whiskey Roads.  Great fun for all and much more to come this spring.

 

 

Our first meeting of the New Year was with our very own Ellie Patterson, District Governor for Rotary District 5500.  We heard all about our wonderful District and we thank Ellie for the amazing job she is doing this year for Rotarians all over southern Arizona.

 

March Madness is coming….March Madness is coming!  Yes, after a two-year hiatus, the March Madness membership drive is coming back this spring.  We had a great time in 2018 and Steve Pickering has agreed to lead the effort again.  Membership chair Margaret Higgins and retention chair Bob Shaff are sure to make this a fun exercise.  So think about people in your circle of friends and ask them to consider joining our club. 

 

As a result of my heart attack in August, you may recall our conversation for our club to get healthier.  Darrell Stewart has agreed to lead us on a “Weight Loss Challenge”.  This is sure to be fun so keep your eyes and ears open – more on this soon.

 

We have fantastic programs coming up as well, including former American Idol contestant Crystal Stark.  Later in the spring we will all be attending a performance at the laugh-a-minute Gaslight Theater.  We will hear about the Car show results, our plans for the Rotary Centennial and the always entertaining Tucson High steel drum band, Jovert.

 

In February, we will have a little surprise for all of you.  February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness day all across the United States and our Rotary Club will participate as a group.  It is sure to be a memorable and moving activity for our members and again, more on this later.

 

All told, it has been a fun year so far and working together, we will have a fantastic final six months of the Logan Reign of Terror.  Thanks for going along for the ride!

 

Yours in Rotary,

 

Bob Logan

President

2019-2020

President BOB opened our meeting with a sonorous bell ringing followed by the Pledge and Song led by TAMARA CRIMANDO accompanied by GARY HIRSCH (“God Bless America”.) President BOB then introduced an inspiration courtesy of DOT KRET that included a poem and slides for the anniversary of the Tucson shooting.  A moment of silence followed. We also had Moments of Silence for the passing of two long time members of our club, GORDON SHAW and BILL GILKINSON.  You both will surely be missed!

 

The esteemed ELLEN WHEELER introduced our guests and visiting Rotarians, and then we launched into our program. 

 

Assistant District Governor Anita McDonald reintroduced us to our own ELLIE PATTERSON, current District Governor.  Anita told us some things we didn’t know about Governor ELLIE:  she grew up on a barley farm, barrel-raced quarter horses, and bicycled from Canada to Mexico.  In addition to starting an amazing staffing company (the Temp Connection), Governor ELLIE developed her passion for Rotary after joining more than nine years ago.  ELLIE appreciates Rotary’s ability to break things – for example, breaking the cycle of poverty, breaking through illiteracy, breaking the hold polio has on the few remaining countries where it exists. She noted that she’s enjoyed her time as District Governor, visiting clubs, promoting joint projects, riding to end polio, and working to grow Rotary membership. We’re blessed to have one of our own as District Governor!

 

In other Rotary news, we had three Birthday Rotarians:

 

BOBBY LARSON has served as our able Sergeant at Arms for the last year, and also has a brother Peter who played in the NFL.  DAVE EAGLETON went from Hughes Aircraft to the PGA tour… and proved man does not live by golf alone.  DAVE is a proud graduate of Amphi High School (in other words, not Salpointe).  LEA MARQUEZ PETERSON has transitioned from honorary to active to honorary membership due to her recent appointment to the Arizona Corporation Commission.  Come back soon LEA!

 

ELLIE PATTERSON and SCOTT VAUGHAN introduced our newest member MIKE TANNENBAUM. MIKE has multiple degrees and worked for many years as an education administrator.  More importantly, he is a Red Sox fan and a former carnival barker.  Welcome MIKE!

 

Sergeant at Arms BOBBY LARSON conducted a 50/50 raffle with two prizes, and then recognized President BOB for sneaking onto the field as Santa during the halftime of the 1979 Fiesta Bowl. We then had the following announcements:

 

President BOB reminded us of the social mixer on 1/15 (sign up by Friday).

President BOB asked us to join MARK IRVIN when he receives the Man of the Year Award. 

MARK in turn offered a Happy Jackson in honor of the opening of a lounge for soldiers travelling through the Tucson airport, which MARK raised all the funds for from local donors. Thank you MARK!

Wiley Faron, president of the UA Rotaract Club reviewed the Club’s activities for the year (including help at El Tour, attending the Big West Roteract convention and activities every two weeks.)

Mike Kloehn introduced the award winning Amphi High School Interact Club who conducted 28 separate activities, 100 hours of service, raised $1,200 to build a specialized bike for the Children’s Clinic, and a Thanksgiving dinner for refugee families.

And LYUDA EISENMAN introduced our UA and Pima Rotary Scholarship Recipients.  In the words of President BOB, so many marvelous young people!

 

President BOB closed the meeting with a toast and a quote:  “Let your smile change the world. But never let the world change your smile.”

The first official hike of 2020 is in the books!  Martha and I were joined on a refreshing morning in the Tucson Mountains by Past President Chuck Sawyer, Bruce Jacobs, Rich Flynn and Jeff Heath.  We enjoyed a crisp and beautiful morning hike on the Brown Mountain trail offering spectacular views and great camaraderie.  This was a first time hike on this trail for all that joined and great reminder of what we sometimes forget about in the Tucson Mountains.  Stay tuned for another Tucson Mountain hike to enjoy the wild flowers later this spring and thanks to Bruce Jacobs for the photo!