President Bob Grady brought the assembled multitude to order with an authoritative whack of the bell at 12:12 pm.
Bob started off with a question: “We are Rotarians, and what four questions guide us?” The unanimous answer was, “What’s for lunch?” But we quickly realized that Pres. Bob was referring to the 4-Way Test, which we then recited en masse.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Joan Buth offered the day’s invocation, incorporating the theme of truth.
The menu for the day:
Chicken & Dumplings with Green Beans Almandine.
Cobb Salad for those of the non-dumpling persuasion.
Vegan enchiladas, rice, and beans for the herbivores.
Dessert: Chocolate Cupcakes topped with a pompadour of frosting.
Announcements
Pres. Bob reminded us of the following:
Storytelling committee meeting on Wednesday, January 29.
Social event at the Guadalajara Grill on January 30.
Facebook webinar on February 5. Bob sent an email with info to members.
Rodeo signups. Arturo Mojica says over 50% of available slots have been taken. Sign up now!
Introductions
New member Pablo Sandoval introduced today’s visitors and guests:
Friends of Merle Anderson’s from Iowa; former Catalina members Randy & Carol Long; prospective member Audrey Tolouian; visiting Rotarian Phil Lotavo; former Catalina member Aleta Doroudian.
Queen of Hearts
Jo Anne Westerman donned the off Q of H apron and conducted today’s drawing. Carol Long picked lucky ticket 074, which just happened to belong to Pablo Sandoval. Unfortunately, Pablo extracted the 4 of Diamonds from the deck – so the Queen of Hearts remains elusive and the pot continues to grow.
Sergeant at Arms
SAA for the day, Bob Stofft, ambled up to the rostrum and promptly raised some green from Maria Elena McElroy, whose cell phone rang after the meeting began. Put those devices on airport mode people!
Those who were sans Rotary pins or not wearing red or blue were encouraged to feed the can.
Absent members Dick Stein and Gordon Brown are celebrating birthdays – keep them in your thoughts.
Happy bucks:
Doug Jones proffered a happy dollar plus a leg-up in celebration of his company, Sabino Electric, winning International Contractor Award honors.
Dorice Beren joined with Ed McEuen to enrich the can in celebration of Ed’s mom turning 108 in January and his son becoming a CEO.
Jo Anne Westerman dropped some dollars to show her happiness about her hubby Bob turning 70. They marked the occasion with a birthday feed at the Grill at Hacienda del Sol. Jo Anne reminisced about shooting a photo with Bob, Steve Pender, and his wife Halina in the Hacienda del Sol pool during our photo rally years ago. She and Bob also enjoyed a trip to Scottsdale for the Barret Jackson auto auction.
Tony Spear once again shamelessly promoted his Red Moon Trio at Hacienda del Sol tomorrow night.
SAA Bob promoted upcoming UA sports events and then let us know that on this day in 1935 was the first time beer became available in cans. Holy Pale Ale, Batman! He wrapped up by sharing some bull about a famed Utah rodeo bull rider.
Program
Because his PowerPoint presentation turned up MIA, Merle Anderson’s talk was postponed. PDG and PP Kirk Reed stepped into the breech. He remembered the last time a scheduled program didn’t happen – it was at Kirk’s very first meeting, when a speaker scheduled to talk about rare earth elements was a no-show because of a canine medical emergency. Our late friend and Catalina Rotarian Kevin Horstman gave an extemporaneous talk on the subject, so impressing Kirk that he joined our club.
Ironically, Kirk said that last Saturday, as he was having lunch with Pres. Bob, Bob wondered what they would do if a presenter didn’t show. The answer, as we found out, was the following:
Each member was given a slip of paper and asked to anonymously write one thing about him or herself that most people wouldn’t know. After the papers were collected, Kirk read a sampling and asked us to guess which member wrote each.
We all had a great time and learned some fun facts about our fellow Rotarians that we otherwise wouldn’t have known.
President Bob closed the meeting by thanking the day’s volunteers and asking for a round of applause for Tony Spear, in appreciation for his work as club secretary. Bob noted that Rotary beer sales packets are now available – please grab yours on your way out the door.
Finally, Bob left us with this quote from Khalil Gibran:
“Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do.”
He then banged the gong at 1:26.
Epilogue
But wait – there’s more!
Before we could scoot, Membership chair Jimmy Munozcano took to the floor and described our new membership competition, focused on bringing guests who could be prospective members to meetings between February 1 and May 31. Members were assigned to teams helmed by the following captains: Pat Egbert, Al Chesser, Anita McDonald, and Irv Mindes.
Details about the competition will be emailed to the membership. Good luck!