It seemed the majority of club members present wanted to sing since Ray was present, so Rod's birthday was celebrated with a harmonious rendition of "Happy Birthday" in his absence.Visitor Christy Citterman turned in an application for membership today and Jane Pierce returned and was welcomed as a repeat visitor.
John Benedict was present to win the $5 attendance drawing. Warren's ticket was pulled to win the small drawing, but he did not draw the ace of clubs so the jackpot will continue to grow.
The Sponsor Program has now reached $13,000 in donations. Team Captains have been selected for the Steak and Beans competition. The Steak and Beans finale will be held at Chuck's Place. The team raising the most dollars in donations will eat steak as will the team(s) where every member has brought in at least one donation. All other members will eat beans.
President Allan announced that the Guaymas Project has received $1,000 in $100 donations from club members, which will cover the cost of 10 hearing devices. It is still possible for members or friends of Rotary to make donations to cover more devices. Don Boucher announced the day of departure, which will be November 8, there will be a breakfast for participants. Those not going can attend the breakfast to see them off. The breakfast will be held at the MCC Red Mountain Campus. They will be taking school supplies for the school there. We may ask for donations for those items. It is planned to award Paul Harris Fellows to Guaymas Rotarians helping with the project using accumulated points. The awards will be made at the final event.
At the June 29 meeting, outgoing President, John Eagleston announced that he had selected Donna and Brian Goetzenberger as "New Rotarians of the Year." He also announced the selection of Chuck Flint as "Rotarian of the Year." The recognition plaques were not available to give to his honorees at that meeting. He made the formal presentations at the August 17 meeting.
Dick Myren introduced the speaker, Brian Sexton, C.M., Community Relations Manager for Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Brian started with the airport 21 years ago. The airport is located on the property formerly known as Williams Air Force Base. For a period, it was named Williams Gateway Airport, which was confusing to some from out of state who thought it was an airport for Williams, Arizona. It is now known as Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Located at Power and Ray, there are three 10,000' runways - the same runway capacity as Sky Harbor. Brian works for the airport authority which represents six municipalities. Mesa is the majority owner, with Gilbert, Apache Junction, Gila River Indian Community, Queen Creek, and Phoenix all having financial involvement in the airport. The airport is self sufficient.
In 2016, 1.3 million passengers flew out of the airport. It is the 38th busiest tower in the US. Fifteen Million Gallons of fuel were used. There are fifty tenants and 2,000 employees on the site. Military consists of 4% of the total operation. 48 cities are served from Allegiant and Westjet. Future plans are to focus on hub destinations such as Salt Lake or Denver. There is a 10-gate passenger terminal which adequately serves the current passenger traffic. The cheap fares offered by Allegiant bring new tourist dollars into the valley. There is a park adjacent to the airport which offers great views of aircraft landing and departing from the airport. Friday and Saturday are the best days for viewing aircraft. The views of various types and sizes of aircraft from the park are so outstanding that visitors from all over the world come to our municipality for the primary purpose of visiting the park for viewing purposes. For more information, visit their website: http://www.gatewayairport.com/