President Bob Grady opened the meeting right on time (12:10) and offered the invocation.

Guests

Elise Jubelick introduced our guests: Visiting Rotarians from Tucson included Daniel Stringham from the Sunrise RC and Andy Swarthout from the Old Pueblo RC. A proposed new member, Shay Beider, was also visiting for Rotary Information. Frank Presson brought his wife, Jackie, and Dick Stein, brought his wife, Johanna. DG Kirk Reed then introduced a visiting dignitary, DGN Diane Ventura Goodyear. This is her first time at Catalina, but he predicts that it will not be her last!

Announcements

President Bob shared the success of the Membership Seminar held recently in Green Valley, and announced that he hoped to bring back our Membership Minute in the near future. He also reminded the club that the District 5500 Conference was coming up on September 28 & 29 and urged everyone to come to this exciting event. This year’s conference will highlight The Rotary Foundation’s Six Areas of Focus, with grants and projects and community partners featuring their contributions to each area. President Teddy Roosevelt will also be our guest speaker at the Banquet on Saturday. Be sure to support our own Kirk Reed as he opens this year’s conference as District Governor! President Bob then announced that the club is looking for a member to take on the wonderful fellowship cards that are sent on special occasions to members as they recuperate from illnesses, have birthdays, etc. Steve Pender has been doing these honors for several years now and it is time to pass that proverbial baton. Thank you, Steve, for all your much-appreciated work on this project!

Queen of Hearts

Jo Anne Westerman led us again in the Catalina drum-roll and asked our speaker to draw the “winning” ticket. President Bob jumped up as his number was drawn. With a flourish and a moment’s hesitation, he then announced that while it was indeed a face card, it was not the Queen. So, the pot rolls over once again!

Sergeant-at-Arms

SAA Irv Mindes then stood up to do what he does so well – raise $$ for Rotary! Following his generous offer to match the first two legs-up, Barbara Kiernan offered one up for her birthday and anniversary as did Steve Pender for his recently sponsored trip to Italy (and a bit of travel on the side)! More dollars came in from our scanty knowledge of baseball trivia and other happy bucks.

Today’s Speaker

DGE Kirk Reed introduced our speaker, Dr. Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar, a cultural ecologist working on the culture of rain in Tucson – and how we as people in the community are involved. Joaquin is a graduate of the University of Arizona with MSc in Natural Resources and Agricultural Economics and a PhD in Renewable Natural Resources Studies with an emphasis on management, policy and economics of natural resources. A native of Sonora, Mexico and resident of Arizona., Joaquin is fluent in both Spanish and English.

His presentation today focused on how we should optimally envision and interact with the closed system of water that we have on our planet. It was a thought-provoking talk designed to help us consider this critical issue. Through humorous examples, personal stories, and helpful visuals (remember the earth without any pipes coming in or going out of it?), he brought his points very close to home. Some of his goals: 1) Bring back the water in the Santa Cruz River to the surface (from 200 ft below) and get us to use 40 gallons of water a day (instead of 80 we are now using). Throughout his career, Dr. Murrieta-Saldivar has specialized in building resilience in diverse communities by enhancing the connections between people, culture, and natural resources. To this work, he brings vast experience on the multicultural border region between the US and Mexico, where he has implemented community-based approaches to watershed management, river restoration, geo-tourism, conservation of native peoples, and best practices for the ranching community. His past work has been with the Sonoran Institute and as a consultant for National Geographic Society and other organizations To find out more, visit https://watershedmg.org.

President Bob adjourned the meeting at 1:30 PM.