Saturday, April 21, District 5495 held a Club Leadership Academy at the Black Canyon Conference Center in Phoenix.  Well over 200 Rotarians were in attendance and each enjoyed the opportunity to attend five of the 40+ breakout sessions available on a wide variety of topics.  
 
Allan and Polly Cady had the privilege of picking up the keynote speaker, PDG Vicki Puliz, and her pilot husband when they arrived in Phoenix from Reno, Nevada in their twin-engine private plane with a Rotary wheel on the tail.
 
The topic of Vicki's presentation was next year's Rotary Theme - "Be the Inspiration."  Each of us, who are known as Rotarians by our family, friends, co-workers, business associates and acquaintances are "the Rotary brand."  We need to remember that we represent Rotary in everything we think, say, and do.  That responsibility puts our four-way test in perspective.  It sounds simple until we think about how we react in various daily situations - when we are impatient in line at a store, when we are cut off in traffic, or when we tip for service at a restaurant.  If we want to attract and retain quality members, donors, and volunteers, we need to represent Rotary well.
 
Several Mesa West Rotarians were present at the Academy, some were presenters.  Shown in the photo are (front row l-r) Pam Cohen, Jeanie Morgan, Polly Cady, Lucinda General and Donna Goetzenberger, (back row l-r) Bob Zarling, Allan Cady, Darl Andersen, Jim Schmidt, and Chris Krueger.  Not shown in the photo, but in attendance was Bob Jensen, who was a presenter in a session on grants.
 
Mesa West is an excellent club.  It is good to know that our current and future leaders understand that Rotary is a large and ever-evolving service organization, and no matter how much each of our members know about Rotary, there will always be much more to be learned.