President Bob Grady gaveled the opening of the meeting at 12:10 PM.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, M. Craig led us with the invocation.

Today’s helpers: Treasurer-Andy Kerr, Queen of Hearts-Arturo Mojica, Photographer-Michael Troughton, Scribe-Bob DeLaney, Sergeant at Arms-Irv Mindes, Parliamentarian-Pat Egbert, Greeter-Norm Rebenstorf.

Introductions

Norm introduced the following guests: Rotaract president Adam Lurie, his parents Michael and Teresa Groening, PDG Michael Drake (current district 5500 foundation chair), and Gayle Peacock from Chapel Hill, North Carolina who has relocated back to Tucson. In addition, we welcomed back snowbirds Rich Henry, Pat Dwyer and Merle Anderson. Our favorite son, Kirk Reed, current district governor was also in attendance.

Announcements

President Bob reminded us of these upcoming activities:

Saturday, January 12th: Volunteer opportunity at the Community Food Bank of So. AZ at 8:30 AM.

Monday, January 14th. Informational meeting at Reading Seed at 4PM on Yavapai Street near Stone and Fort Lowell.

Thursday, January 24th: Social get-together at Contigo Restaurant at La Paloma Resort, 5:30 PM.

RLI is Saturday, January 26th at Viscount Hotel…an opportunity to grow in knowledge of Rotary.

Trip to Alamos, Mexico January 31 through Feb 3rd/4th. See Barbara Kiernan for details. 2 slots remain.

February 1st: Integrative Touch for Kids annual Butterfly Gala takes place at which Catalina Rotary is one of three honorees. Please consider attending this important event.

Tucson Rodeo signup is ongoing. Please use signup genius to select your time. Arturo Mojica can help if you have any problems doing so.

Reminder that now is the time to sign up for next October’s District Conference called Cruise for Cause. Reduced rates for the cruise to Ensenada are available now.

Pat Egbert reported from the Nominating Committee that, due to Olivier Fahrni’s not being able to serve as President next year, Bob Grady will continue as President an additional year. The slate of officers and Board members was distributed and will be voted next meeting. Current board members returning are Anita McDonald, Peter Pritz, and Jeff Hamstra. New board members are Jimmy Munoscano, Michael Troughton and Bob DeLaney.

New Member

Adam Lurie (Rotaract Club president) was inducted into the Catalina Rotary Club. Adam was sponsored by Sharyn Chesser and Anita McDonald. His mother and step dad, Teresa and Michael Groening, attended. Adam gave a touching tribute to his mom and thanked the club and his sponsors. We congratulate Adam for his leadership and welcome him as a new member. See a photo below.

Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts drawing did not yield a winner. The pot is over $2500 and remaining cards are down to 22.

Sergeant at Arms

Irv Mindes levied fines and collected happy bucks in his usual fun way. Arcane references to Crossing the Rubicon and Alexander Hamilton’s birthday were involved.

Program

Matt Matthewson introduced Andrea “Andee” Coppel, founder and secretary of Families and Children Experiencing Symptoms (FACES) of Narcolepsy. She is married to husband Ricardo and mother to two daughters (Liliana-14, Krista-11). She is also Matt and Edie Matthewson’s daughter.
In her highly personal presentation, Andee gave us a window into pediatric narcolepsy, for which there is no known cure, through her daughter Krista’s experience. We learned about the disrupted sleep patterns, symptoms, medications and therapies. A serious problem is lack of early diagnosis of this condition which afflicts 2,000 to 3,000 children in the US. It takes 3-10 years to diagnose in some cases due to lack of awareness. Andee showed us how this disease affects the entire family and how FACES helps both patients and families.

President Bob Grady sent us on our way with a pithy quote from Mary Shelly at approximately 1:31 PM.

Click on the photo to enlarge.