Welcome to the close of the 2022/2023 year. It seemed like yesterday Dorinna was asking me to write up my first quarter summary and today it is the year end. I could spend the rest of this article just to thank everyone. Thank you to all that participated in making our meetings run smoothly. Registration, the AV Team, Mystery Editors, Inspirations and more. A special thank you to my board. I have appreciated your ideas, feedback, and dedication to making our club what it is today. I had numerous past presidents provide me with sound counsel in what at times was a trying year. Most importantly I want to thank Dorinna York. Until a person becomes a president of this club you have no idea on the work she does keeping the president on track and things running smoothly.
I started off the year with three goals over and above growing membership. Increase engagement, Inspire, and create memories, and to enhance our member’s experience. I feel we made some progress in these areas and there is still more to be done. We made progress on engagement through our Club Assemblies and the surveys members participated in. On enhancing members’ experience, I received very positive feedback on our first ever “Mix & Mingle” and know there will be more of that in the future. I would like to think that there were times throughout the year that we did inspire members as well as create lasting memories but only you can be the judge of that.
We had some great speakers throughout the year. Certainly, the big draw is always UA athletics with Tommy Lloyd and Dave Heeke. The emotional story from Mike and Oksana Schulte on the travesty in Ukraine. We had Jan Lesher, Chad Kasmer, George Hammond just to name a few.
We grew our service projects beyond our “usual” projects to include the DEK project and the Rillito River cleanup which was a collaboration with other Rotary Clubs. We supported ARSOBO in Nogales, funded a water project in Honduras, children’s education in Rocky Point, shelter boxes for Turkey, El Grupo locally and with matching funds $44,000 for Ukraine.
In our spare time we managed to pull off a little fund raiser in October called the TUCSON CLASSICS CAR SHOW lead by Bobby Larson and presented a check to JTED for $252,000. It is always a fun event to participate in and the chance to forge better relationships with fellow members.
Fellowship is what grows our club and keeps it strong. It is all about the relationships we build, and we do that through fellowships and service projects. Certainly, through the Car Show but incredible times at Home Hospitality, along with Hiking, Golf and now Whiskey, Wine, and Book fellowships.
I believe like all outgoing presidents you are proud of your accomplishments yet are sorry you didn’t accomplish more. We have such amazing talent within our club and together we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. We have had meaningful dialog this past year and have opened some new doors as a result. We are bringing forth new opportunities that might never have happened without embracing change head on.
Thank you for your trust in me and allowing me to serve as your 102nd president. It has enhanced my life, created memories that will last my lifetime and fostered new and better relationships had I not accepted this honor. Signing off today on June 22nd, 2023, with 2,198 miles of memories under my belt.
YIR
Bruce
