It was nice to see our Past Presidents greeting all of our members and guests at the meeting today. We sure have missed the Greeter line and rumor has it, we are bringing it back!PRESIDENT ELECT KURTIS DAWSON was filling in for PRESIDENT MARGARET and he started off the meeting by introducing new member ROB TULL who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and reciting the Four Way Test.
PE KURTIS had us all take a moment to send our thoughts and prayers to former member ALLYN BULZOMI who is having some medical issues and also to SARA GAAR whose husband is in hospice. Please reach out to them to let them know you are thinking of them.
Today our inspiration was from RI President GORDON R. MCINALLY via video. He shared with us the many ways Rotary creates hope in the world and this year he really wants to focus on mental health and ways we as Rotarians can help.
We had a packed house today so SAA DAN KALM had our many, many guests stand to be recognized all at once. This is good because it would have been an additional meeting.
We had a meeting Sponsor today!! Dick Luebke with Pima Medical Institute. PMI trains medical professionals up to a Masters in Nursing and they have 17 campuses in eight states! Thank you Dick and PMI for your generosity.
GARY HIRSCH introduced our keynote speaker:Today’s program featured JOHN HEWKO, General Secretary and CEO of Rotary International, also an 11 time rider in El Tour de Tucson and the Ride to End Polio. JOHN started off by encouraging a Rotary road trip to the Windy City to see where Rotary was born. He then went on to the State of Rotary with “My Fellow Rotarians the future of Rotary is bright, but…” He continued by referencing how we stepped up during the Covid Pandemic and have continued to do so through the atrocities in the Ukraine. Our commitment to eradicating Polio is still at the Forefront, but what comes after its eradication? He went on to share what keeps him up at night; Rotary is at a crossroads and we need to be careful how we navigate. Membership is at the forefront of John’s mind as it is in all of our minds, we are in a crisis as we are stagnant or declining. We need to be creative in membership growth and retention. We need to work on our product - the club experience - work on the product or offer new products… (new club models). The thing that cannot change is our Core Values - our 4 Way Test.
We celebrated three birthdays today; MARIANNE FRIETAS who is celebrating her 70 + 10 birthday! WHAT? MATT NANCE, who is also celebrating the birth of his second grandchild. PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS was supposed to celebrate her birthday with us too but couldn’t make it. Happy Birthday to you!!
CHARLOTTE HARRIS presented a Paul Harris to JOE DANISZWESKI and his son Joseph. Congratulations!
SAA DAN KALM announced the winner of the raffle, (not the 50/50) and the winner was….MARCY EULER, YEY!!
Now onto announcements:
PAST PRESIDENT BRUCE JACOBS introduced our slate of candidates for the Board of Directors: BRITTANY BATTLE, JENN DELANEY, JASON GRABOSCH, MICHAEL GUYMON, BRANDI HAGA-BLACKMAN and DIANA MADARAS.
A Happy Jackson for ALAN ROGERS who is retiring, and passing along his practice to his daughter! Congratulations ALAN.
Remember next week there will be no meeting. Our next meeting is 11/29, see you there, or will you?
And DG DON JORGENSEN sent us off with a toast.
