Home Page Stories
Welcome and Opening of Meeting - President Colleen Coons
 
  • Ray Smith offered the invocation.
  • Ted Williams led the Pledge of Allegiance.
  • President Colleen thanked
    • Pam Cohen for serving as greeter.
    • Chuck Flint for managing the raffle
    • Jack Rosenberg for filling in for Treasurer Diane Ware at the greeter table 
    • Ray and Ted for their leading the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
    • Ron Thompson for his service as Sgt at Arms
    • Ed Koeneman for managing our technology during the meeting
    • Don Boucher, Melodie Jackson, Lola McClane, Jeanie Morgan and Diane Ware for logging in to attend the meeting via Zoom.
Introduction of Guests
 
  • John Pennypacker introduced Curt Ward from the Gilbert Rotary Club and Abby Lyon with the Boy Scouts of America.
  • Olivia - our Rotary Youth Exchange Student from Sweden - was introduced.
  • Pai Bethea celebrated his ability to attend the meeting in person and was glad to introduce Jimmy Johnson - a former member of the Mesa Baseline Rotary Club.
  • Shelly Romine introduced Jillian Haefs, a local real estate professional and member of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce.  Jillian was checking out the club.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
 
Chuck explained that 1/3 of the raffle ticket sales revenue goes to the Club Operating Account, 1/3 becomes the daily "small" pot, which would be $40 at this meeting, and the final 1/3 gets added to the large, accumulating pot.  The large pot was up to $985.  The holder of the stub of the ticket drawn would win the small pot plus the opportunity to draw a card from the remaining cards in the deck.  Should they draw the joker, they would win an additional $20.  Should they draw the Ace of Clubs (which we believe we are) they would win the large pot.  Chuck asked our BSA guest, Abby, to draw the winning ticket.  The stub was held by Lucinda General.  Lu's attempt to draw the Ace of Clubs failed.  
 
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Ron Thompson
 
  • Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 for himself and for Honorary Member Rod Daniels for having the good fortune to be associated with Mesa West Rotary Club.
  • Ted Williams said he was walking - getting some exercise - Saturday, September 9.  A photo came up on his phone showing our Rotary Club's new banner at the Community Event.  He thought he ought to fine himself for not being there, but did go.
  • Pam Cohen fined herself for missing a couple of meetings.
  • Debbie Koeneman was planning to take Olivia and Carlotta to see a high school production of Romeo and Juliet.
  • Lu General contributed sad dollars.  Her godmother, Maryanne Gilmore, was currently in a Texas hospital.  Lucinda contributed $10 to share the same reminder she shared when her dad went into assisted living.  "We are all going to die.  Make sure your paperwork is in order."
  • Mike Schroeder said his wife has let him have the tv back just in time for football season.
  • Harry Grossman was happy the Cardinals did win two pre-season games.  He contributed $2 because he forgot to wear his Sedona Village badge or his visitor badge for Mesa West.  His grandson is in Osterlund Sweden on Rotary Youth Exchange.  The grandson sent Harry a sweatshirt with the RYE logo on it for Harry's birthday.
  • Machel Considine thanked the club for tolerating her having let her grandchildren come first.  She got to see the Rotary Park in the Hualapai park south of Kingman.  She said it has some difficult grades, but is very pretty.  The ages of her precious grandchildren are 7, 6, 5, and 3.
  • Mike Whalen pledged $50 for his Paul Harris for having missed several meetings due to moving and work.  He has just launched a website for a client.  He has the capacity to take on another if anyone knows of anyone with a need.
  • Shelly Romine was sorry to have missed some meetings.  She is happy club members are supportive of the October service project.
  • Ed Koeneman was happy Olivia was at the meeting.  Ed had lunch with Ted after he arrived at the September 9 event.
  • Warren Williamson contributed $5.   He was happy his sister who will soon be 82 is in remission from cancer of her esophagus. 
  • Colleen introduced Susan Manning from Queen Creek Rotary Club, who would be presenting the program in a bit.
  • Jim Schmidt was happy to be back.  He had recently been overseas and attended his high school class reunion, where he was recognized for having the most children and grandchildren.
Announcements
  • John Benedict was presented with a new badge after a HUGE mistake had been discovered.  The join year on his old badge was incorrect.
  • Harry Grossman was presented with a permanent visiting Rotarian badge to be kept in our badge box for him to wear when he attends Mesa West Rotary Club meetings.
  • October 21 - Save the date on your calendar and watch for information about our October service Project.  Lots of volunteers will be needed.  We will be preparing, serving, and cleaning up after serving a meal to about 140-150 homeless individuals in Apache Junction.
  • Colleen will send a reminder to vote for which charitywhich has presented to our club this quarter will receive a $750 donation from our Mesa West Rotary Foundation.
  • Volunteers are needed to participate in a basketball game at the Scottsdale Girls and Boys Club.
  • Abby Lyon invited members to attend a scouting event to be held at the Doubletree on October 19 from 7:30 to 8:30.
Exchange of Club Banners
 
President Colleen presented a Mesa West Rotary Club banner to Olivia and Olivia presented her sponsoring Rotary Club's banner to Colleen.
 
 
 
Photos taken at the Day of Service Event held Saturday, September 9 at the Red Mountain Institute Building in Mesa. Mesa West Rotary Club Volunteers joined Westwood High School Interact Club Members at the Mesa West Rotary booth at the event.
 
From the Facebook post about the activity: 
 
"Amazing Day of Service in Mesa in honor of 9/11 National Day of Service.

Thank you everyone who came out to enjoy the morning
with Mesa West Rotary and the Mesa community!

We LOVED making dog toys for our local pups!
260 toys were made by all of our crafters"
 
 
 
Opening and Welcome - President Colleen Coons
 
Colleen pointed out the new Club Banner which was designed by Pam.  AG Dan Coons arranged for having it printed.
  • Dick Myren offered the invocation.
  • Jack Rosenberg led the Pledge of Allegiance.
  • Chuck Flint was thanked for arriving early to sell raffle tickets.
  • Steve Ross was thanked for serving as Greeter, welcoming members and guests to the meeting.
  • Ron Thompson was thanked in advance for his effort as Sgt at Arms collecting Happy Bucks.
  • Ed Koeneman was thanked for his expertise as chief tech officer.
Introduction of Guests 
 
 
  • Polly Cady introduced Olivia from Sweden, a Rotary Youth Exchange student hosted by Mesa West Rotary.   She is attending Mesquite High School where she is on the student council and is on the cross-country team.  She is really enjoying school and looks forward to any experience she can have while on her exchange.   She would like to attend our Rotary meeting every week if possible.  She also has a list of things she would like to do while here.  Olivia announced she would like to go hiking, visit a pumpkin patch, the zoo, and attend a football game to name a few.  She would enjoy the theater, and would like to try barbeque.  If anyone in the club would like to do something with Olivia, they should contact Ed Koeneman or Polly.  To follow RI youth protection policies, Olivia's contact information cannot be published in our Messenger.
  • Frank Rosenberg was happy to have a friend and former member seated at his table.
  • President Colleen also acknowledged those who were attending the meeting via Zoom:   Pai Bethea, Deb Koeneman, Lola McClane and Jeanie Morgan.
 
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
 
After announcing that the small pot would be $30 and the large pot was up to $950, Chuck asked Olivia to draw the winning ticket.  When no-one responded that they had the ticket number drawn, Chuck checked his own ticket, which did match.  He had Jay Stuckey verify that fact, then asked Olivia to try to draw the Ace of Clubs on his behalf.  The card Olivia drew was the Ace of Hearts - which was then destroyed.  
 
The raffle will continue with the large pot growing.  Each week, proceeds of ticket sales are divided three ways:  1/3 to the club operating account, 1/3 for the small pot and the final 1/3 added to the cumulating large pot until it is won when some lucky person draws the Ace of Clubs.
 
Happy Bucks - Ron Thompson
 
  • Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2.00 for the good fortune of he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels being associated with Mesa West Rotary.  He said he really enjoyed the tour of the Library on August 31.
  • Don LaBarge had recently returned from a two-week trip to Vermont where he visited three of his aunts.  While he was gone, his wife, Chris, was in charge of his normal residential maintenance duties.  Something went wrong with the irrigation system.  A valve needed to be turned.  Chris couldn't turn it.  Their neighbor couldn't turn it either.  Don suggested they try turning it the other direction.  They did, and it worked just fine.  The other thing that went wrong was it appeared they had a roof leak.  It was not actually a roof leak.  There was a rusted pan collecting water from the Air Conditioner which had started leaking through the ceiling.
  • John Pennypacker said he had an appointment to see Ron Thompson to get his wisdom teeth removed.  John removed his baseball cap to show the resulting stitches on top of his head.
  • Ed Koeneman was happy Olivia was at the meeting.  He and Deb are going to take the student they are hosting to the State Fair.  When they decide for sure when, they will try to reach out to Olivia to see if she is available to go with them.  Ed added that he had renewed his library card after the library tour.  Ed said the Westwood HS interact members had informed him that it is incorrect to say Interact is Rotary for kids.  What is accurate is to say that Rotary is Interact for old people.
  • Warren Williamson contributed $5 to tell a story on Steve Ross.  It seems Steve told his doctor he had recently walked about 3-4 miles, waded in a small lake, climbed cragley rocks on the edge of a mountain, and walked in the sand where he got sand in his shoes.  His doctor congratulated him on taking the need to exercise so seriously.  In truth, Steve just had a bad day on the golf course.
  • Polly Cady was happy Olivia was at the meeting.  She said she has the best job in the district, being the Youth Exchange Counsellor.  She was also happy that Ron Thompson said he would take Olivia to a Cardinals game including a tailgate party.
  • Harry Grossman was celebrating the Cardinals pre-season games.  He was wearing his specdial shoes and Cardinals hat.
  • Chuck Flint was happy to have won the small pot.  He was unhappy that John Pennypacker was giving chocolate away at the front table, but he was only giving it to females.  Chuck wondered why John didn't bring enough for everyone.
  • President Colleen contributed $2 celebrated the arrival of our new official volunteer service vests.  They come in all sizes.  We now also have a table banner for use when we do tabling events.  As part of her Mesa Leadership, Colleen participated in a police department ride-along lasting nine hours.  She said it was the best experience she ever had.  She said she learned so much from their viewpoint - those who are on the streets every day.  She said they consistently showed dignity and respect to those they dealt with.
  • Ray Smith pointed out that Allan Cady's birthday was coming up.  Allan pledged $78 to the Guaymas project to celebrate his birthday.
  • John Pennypacker asked President Colleen to remove her hat.  He placed a new red "enhancer" (flower) in her hair.  Colleen said she was surprised and delighted it was something so sweet.  She was kind of expecting it to be something that would move or crawl down her back.
 
 
As Rotarians, we are regularly exposed to opportunities to support various causes with our time, talent and treasure.  Sometimes it is hard to sift through all the information and decide where we are going to use our available financial resources. 
 
It would be wonderful if every Arizona Rotarian would make the following BIG FOUR their Rotary charities of choice and support every one of them every year, we could make a bigger difference than we are making today.
  1. The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Annual Fund - The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world."  Giving a small amount each month adds up.  CLICK HERE to download a form you can use to sign up for Rotary Direct, electing "Annual Fund - Share" for your recurring donation.  
  2. The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Polio Plus - Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio is so well known and respected that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matches donations $2 for $1.  To take advantage of this opportunity to multiply the effect of your giving, CLICK HERE and download a second Rotary Direct form, this time electing electing "Polio Eradication" for your recurring donations.  Those who donate $100 or more annually to Polio Plus qualify in District 5495 as Polio Plus Society Members.  If you would like to make that commitment, CLICK HERE to download the commitment form.
  3. The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA) provides vocational education grants to Arizona Residents who meet specific low-income guidelines.   The grants enable the recipients to lift themselves out of poverty, benefitting themselves, their families and the economy of our state.  TRVFA is a 501(c)(3) charity.  They also are a Qualifying Charitable Organization for Arizona Tax Credit Donations.  Their QCO Code is 20698.  Many Arizona Rotarians say giving to TRVFA is a "no brainer."  If you can help someone lift themselves out of poverty and it won't end up costing you anything why would you not do it?  Mesa West Rotary has the highest number of members who have signed up for automated monthly recurring donations by electing that option on the "Donate Now" button on the TRVFA website.  Click the image to learn more or CLICK HERE to DONATE NOW.  
  4. Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club.  It is a 501(c)(3) charity.  We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events.  Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation.  Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club).  Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
    1. Community Service
    2. International Service 
    3. Vocational Service
    4. Youth Service
The process isn't quite automated at this point in time, but we hope it soon will be.  For now, you can email our executive secretary who can help you work out a recurring donation plan should you wish to make that arrangement to support our own club's charitable activity.
 
Club Information
Welcome to our Rotary Club of Mesa West!
Mesa West

Transforming Communities, Creating Opportunities, Impacting Youth

We meet In Person & Online
Thursdays at 12:00 PM
Via Zoom or in-person
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85900479873
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210
United States of America
Our hybrid meetings are held weekly on the 1st thru 4th Thursdays of each month. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to include all, whether attending virtually or in person.
Club Executives & Directors
President
President Elect
Secretary
Treasurer
Director '24
Director '24
Director '25
Director '25
Director '25
Mesa West Foundation President
Club Service Chair
Fundraising Chair
Membership Chair
Public Image Chair
Rotary Foundation Chair for Mesa West
Sergeant-at-Arms
Vocational Service Chair
Youth Services Chair
Executive Secretary
Speakers
Colleen Coons
Sep 28, 2023
Club Assembly
Danielle Fischer
Oct 05, 2023
211 Arizona
Dave Brauchler
Oct 19, 2023
Reverse Mortgages
Vice Mayor and Councilman Francisco Heredia
Nov 02, 2023
Service in Mesa Community
Club Assembly
Nov 09, 2023
Featuring Jane Foley Graff - McKinney Vento
Kevin Pitts
Nov 16, 2023
Official Visit of District Governor, Rotary District 5495
Jessica Payne, ED
Nov 16, 2023
Kids Need to Read
NO REGULAR MEETING
Nov 23, 2023
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
NO REGULAR MEETING
Nov 30, 2023
We do not meet at noon on the 5th Thursday of any Month with 5 Thursdays
Sheri Lopez
Dec 14, 2023
Pearl at the Mailbox/Human Trafficking Kids
Upcoming Events
 
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