Fellow Rotarians,

 

A NEW TRADITION PERHAPS?  

 

You asked for more social time. Well, get ready as our June 22nd gathering will provide what you requested and more.

 

Everything about this meeting will be different starting with the fact we will have already had the Change of Administration five days before.  So how can we have a COA and follow it with the last meeting?  Why not, especially if the last meeting is not a true meeting?

 

Details?  Both big screens will be set up.  We will be showcasing photo’s all during lunch that were taken during our Centennial Year or during the first six months of 2022 for your enjoyment.  If you have any photos to share, please reach out to Dorinna.

 

We will not be setting up the big stage as everyone will be seated in the audience.   We will however have a small 12” high, 4’ x 4’ stage with a pedestal microphone and a spotlight set up.  More on that later. 

 

Also, we have no plans for a luncheon program.  Rather, this will be a social event where you are encouraged to get up, move around, mix and mingle.  Khris Dodge has arranged some special top secret music for us to enjoy during our lunch.  Rumor has it he has other things planned and is not even telling Irv about it. 

 

We will be doing a buffet which will open at 11:45.  By starting a bit early it will give everyone plenty of time to get through the line and be ready for some fun soon thereafter.  Don’t worry if you cannot get there until noon - the buffet will be open until 12:15 or so. 

 

We will formally kick things off at 12:10 with the Pledge, Song and the Inspiration.  That is it, no other program.  Then we will simply enjoy 10-15 minutes of social time and afterward the overhead lights will dim and the spotlight on the mini stage will shine and Khris Dodge will take over.  

 

Over the next 5 minutes you will get to hear from five different folks who have each paid $100 for a one-minute opportunity to say whatever is on their mind.   Those going 10 seconds over risk getting hit with another $100.  Thereafter, the “hook” will be used to remove folks who are too verbose.  They will also hear the infamous jingle:  “Be Brief, Be Bright, Be Gone”.

 

No, this is not meant to be a roast, but doing so is fine.  It is also okay to pay $100 and simply have Khris announce: “This minute of silence is brought to you courtesy of _________”.  I would not wait if you want to speak as the 20 spots are almost sold out.  Reach out to Khris if interested. 

 

Then, after 5 minutes, the lights will come back on for about 15 minutes only to dim again to allow the next five speakers to say whatever is on their mind.  This format will repeat itself four times so that all 20 speakers have their one-minute of fame.  It also allows time between and during all of this silliness to just be social.  

 

We have also been fortunate to have CHASSE Building Team sponsor this luncheon.   They have paid $1,500 for this opportunity.  Special thanks to Leigh-Anne Harrison and Paul Bojan (new Rotary Corporate Members) for this amazing and impactful support.  Yes, they get one-minute to address us too.  

 

All of this money ($3,500) will go into the 2022-23 Presidential Discretionary Fund as additional money for incoming President Bruce.  It will be a gift from my Administration to his and is something we hope happens every year going forward - A NEW TRADITION!

 

When you sit down at your table for lunch you will also notice a champagne flute/glass waiting for you.  Before we start the last round of the four speaker presentations you will be given a choice of either a glass of champagne or a non alcoholic cider to go with your chocolate dessert.    Another first, and hopefully A NEW TRADITION.

 

The last speaker spot is reserved for me.  A rebuttal of sorts I’d guess.  Cheers!

 

Irv

 

First, thank you for the confidence.  It has been my honor to serve as your 101^st Club President.

 

I’ve both appreciated and enjoyed sharing our Centennial year with your 100^th President the amazing Jen Hoffman.  She closed out our first 100 years and my focus, and that of our Board was on helping kick off the next 100 years.  In the process, we also wanted to set a new bar. 

 

We should all take the time to collectively pat ourselves on the back.  It has been one heck of a Centennial Year.  Adding in the first six months of 2022, it is obvious the Club is off to an excellent start as it kicks off its next 100 years.

 

We not only survived a significant move to downtown, but we have grown our Club’s membership in the process.  It is at a 5-year high.  I am not sure other Clubs have been so fortunate.  Special thanks to Board Member Steve Pickering for his efforts in stepping in and overseeing Membership. 

 

We also have significantly more women in our Club, going from just under 28% to close to 31% in just one year.  Thank you to Past President Jen Hoffman for leading that charge.  Likewise, we have become younger and more diverse overall. 

 

Our Corporate members, thank you Mitch Pisik, also hit a new highpoint and we have more than doubled the number with over 10 such Corporate memberships now.

 

We had our most significant fund-raising year ever thanks to the impact of the combined efforts of the Car Show and the Centennial Event.  Hats off to the leadership of Jim Lubinski (Centennial Chair) and Joni Condit (Car Show Chair) for their collective efforts.  They totally knocked the ball out of the park.

 

As a Club, we promised Pima County JTED $250,000 and we almost doubled it.  In the process, we helped create the new Pima County JTED campus. The icing on the cake was the $71,000 plus that O’Rielly Chevrolet made in our Club’s name to Pima Community College’s JTED program.  All total, over $500,000 impacted the two JTED programs thanks to the Rotary Club of Tucson.

 

From a financial perspective, our club finances are holding steady, and we are ahead of our projections.  Your Board, Dorinna, and Kari are the reason for our continued success in managing this.  Glenn Ewing does an excellent job as our treasurer.  His relationship with staff is outstanding.

 

We have over $100,000 in savings, and overall operations continue to do well. We have also been able to hold off on any dues increase due to the financial contributions we enjoy by continuing to find sponsors for our lunch programs.

 

The $10,000 to $15,000 in sponsorship monies have made a huge impact.  In 2014 we had dues increase from $300 to $310 per quarter.  Three years later, in 2019, they were increased $10 to $320 per quarter.

 

Despite costs going up, we have not had an increase since then and will not as we close out the 2021-22 Administration.  We are in very good shape financially, and with our growing membership this should continue.

 

We have also created some new traditions.  Having a Change of Administration party before the last meeting is a new twist. 

 

So too will be our final meeting of this Administration, which will be held on June 22^nd.  It will not only be fun, but it should also be a silly event.  In the process it will provide a great opportunity to socialize and will also allow this administration to leave $3,500 in new money for the incoming administration.  Special thanks to Kurtis Dawson for his thoughts in helping flesh out this fun idea. 

 

We are also planning to have a yearly “don’t forget about the time capsule” event at Hotel Congress on or about our Rotary Club of Tucson anniversary every April, over a cocktail. 

 

As for me, I plan to move to a supportive role for our new President (and my pal) Bruce Jacobs.  I am looking forward to sitting in the audience and enjoying all of your company.  Also, I want to enjoy the company of the 10 plus members I brought in who joined this year because they wanted to be a part of the most amazing Rotary Club on the Planet. 

 

 A special thanks to my Board of Directors.  I have enjoyed having an opportunity to interact with all of you.  I enjoyed your commitment and creativity more than you will ever know.  Thank you all for your leadership.  Finally, thank you to Dorinna and Kari. 

 

What an all-star cast.

 

President MARK IRVIN called the meeting to order at 12 noon from the Tucson Convention Center. The opening of the meeting featured the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag lead by BRITTANY BATTLE from Social Venture Partners and the rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. A Moment of Silence was held for Ukraine followed by a heartwarming Inspiration given by KURTIS DAWSON, YMCA, featuring a video about leaders that set-up solely for a positive outcome, not for themselves.  

The lunch featured a delicious swordfish, they tell me and some healthy vegetables. As always, the TCC banquet staff were attentive to the hungry Rotarians.

 

President Mark kicked off the formal part of the meeting by not introducing KHRIS DODGE who was not available, so DAN KALM stepped in, with no music and thanked all of the enthusiastic audience attending the meeting and introduced our honored guests to the luncheon.  

 

Today’s program was introduced by Matt Russell courtesy of RICK ROSE Film Creations. Jim Storey, a native Tucsonan, representing “Empower Coalition” spoke enthusiastically about his group’s effort to be part of Tucson and help those in need featuring unique leaders throughout the community, that certainly follows the “Rotary Four Way Test”. Jim signed the Make Way For Book entitled appropriately, “The Giving Bag.”

 

Not to be anti-climactic but today’s Birthday featured Bob Logan, who has never taken advantage of his Birthday just to secure the opportunity to grab the podium mic. Making an exception for today, BOB clearly left us with a message, that unfortunately cannot be shared in this written format. However, it can be seen on the Rotary’s YouTube Channel to enjoy his reiteration of how life would be if we started with death, rather than birth.  Other birthdays today included MATT BLAIR, Cirrus Visual Communications and MONTE CLAUSEN, US Dept of Justice.  Happy Birthday guys!!

 

Up next was the PAUL HARRIS PRESENTATION presented by Char Harris - Presentation to: JOE DANISZEWSKI, Michael Daniszewski (Joe’s Son).

 

Mark Irvin introduced Rotary Club of Tucson’s newest member DEBBIE SHEPPARD from Banner Health Foundation.  Welcome to the club DEBBIE!

 

Maintaining our meetings new tradition, BOB LOGAN, 2019-2020, was welcomed to the Big Screen with an interview by historian BOB SHAFF, honoring Mr. LOGAN in a very timely history moment of his tenure as President of Rotary Club of Tucson during perhaps the most challenging time of any recent President. BOB led the club through the COVID-19 Pandemic with honor, and a mission to maintain Rotary’s commitment to the community through very innovative ways to communicate with the membership. This was done through a series of weekly meetings held on our new YouTube streaming channel where members, guest speakers and surprises along the way appeared in a weekly streaming broadcast all done at Film Creations courtesy of Rick Rose. The end result, the club continued serving the community and survived to grow even stronger. Thank you, BOB LOGAN for your leadership, compassion, creativity and just being BOB.

 

The rest of the meeting was followed by a drawing which didn’t produce a big winner, Blue Badge presentation to NANCY STOCKTON, reminder about the Change of Administration event on Saturday and of course the Fly-Fishing Fund update by President MARK IRVIN.  MARK'S last meeting will be on June 22 with some surprises so be sure to attend as we welcome our new Rotary President, BRUCE JACOBS, who has been patiently outspoken during MARK’S tenure. His first official meeting will by on July 13, 2022. 

 

Meeting was adjourned with a toast mentioning how wonderful it was to support JTED throughout the year.  And left us with a quote from Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”

 

 

 

 

We would like to thank all of our members who showcased on the Wall and donated over $9,000 to Rotary charities.

To view videos on the RCOT YouTube channel go to our Home Page of the Club website and click on the YouTube link on the right hand side of the page.  Or, go to YouTube and type in Rotary Club Of Tucson.  You will be able to click on the video you wish to watch once they are posted.  Here is the link to do this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rotary+club+of+tucson