President Chris Krueger opened the meeting asking John Pennypacker to offer the invocation - "A Soldier's Prayer."  Ray Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance.
 
Introduction of Guests
Don LaBarge Introduced Ryan Ellis with the YMCA.  Jack Rosenberg introduced his wife, Cindy.  Chris Krueger was pleased to introduce member Karen Chavez who was back from an extended absence.
 
Weekly Drawings
Chris asked Cindy Rosenberg to draw a token for the attendance drawing.  She drew #7, which made Frank Rosenberg the lucky $5 winner.  Chuck Flint explained that the small weekly raffle winnings would be $22, and if that winner should be lucky enough to draw the ace of clubs from the deck, they would win $74.  Karen Chavez drew Chris Krueger's ticket, but the card Chris drew from the deck was the four of clubs.
 
Buck Board
A Mesa West tradition of boosting support of The Rotary Foundation was back.  Chuck Flint explained for the benefit of newer members and guests that there are 100 squares on the Buck Board.  Members and guests will be able to purchase squares at a cost of $10 each.  Members can charge the cost of the squares they purchase to their dues account, but guests need to pay at the time they commit to their purchase(s).  When all 100 squares are filled, values will be assigned to each row and column by drawing cards from a deck.  Those 20 cards will then be shuffled and redrawn one at a time eliminating rows and columns until only one square is left without being eliminated.  The owner of that square will have $1,000 donated in their name to The Rotary Foundation for Paul Harris Fellow credit.  They will receive a receipt from TRF for the $1,000 tax-deductible donation.
 
Happy Bucks
Steve West paid $100.  He and his wife, Julie, recently marked their 39th wedding anniversary.  He confessed he was in Brazil and Julie was not in Brazil with him on their special day.  There were two common sources of contributions at this meeting.  There were contributions celebrating the life of Senator John McCain, and other contributions were from Rotarians happy to have Karen Chavez back.  One of those was Chuck Flint, who pointed out that Karen is a fellow Havasu Falls hike survivor. 
 
John Pennypacker was happy to have driven Francesca (his convertible) with the top down to Show Low to play golf there with his friend who rode with him.  He was happy with the ride the game and the cooler temperatures.  Dick Myren contributed $1 honoring Rod Daniel's tradition of paying $1 because he was happy to be a member of Mesa West.  Jack Rosenberg was happy a recent corrective surgery endured by Cindy was successful and she is able to walk unassisted again.  Ted Williams announced that he and Susan had recently celebrated their 15th anniversary as he donated $100 to the foundation. 
 
Don LaBarge was happy he would be heading to Boise next week for the Zone Institute for Zones 21A and 27.  He was really happy his hotel and registration costs would be covered as thanks for his willingness to transport all the flags he has in his custody for use at the Institute.  Don is not confused.  He knows our own zone will be having their institute in Reno in November.  A bonus will be that Don will get to reconnect with friends made before the zones were reorganized a few years ago.  He will see many Rotary leaders from the midwest that he met while preparing for and serving as District Governor of 5510 in 2008-09. 
 
Don asked for thoughts and prayers for his brother, Neil.  A spot was recently found on Neil's lung and they are anxiously awaiting biopsy results.  Immanuel Gleeson also asked for thoughts and prayers.  He has a teen-aged daughter who is going through some troubled times.  Immanuel wants to be a loving, supportive parent, but is surprised to find himself troubled with some selfish feelings, such as "Why am I having to deal with this right now?"
 
Chris Krueger was happy she would be headed for Nebraska Friday and would get to spend time with family.  Jim Schmidt donated $100 for Paul Harris credit in Karen's name.
 
Announcements
Dan Coons shared Caiu's wish list of activities to enjoy while he is in Arizona for his Rotary Youth Exchange.  He passed the list around asking Rotarians to sign up for any activity they wished to host.  There were blanks on the last page for Rotarians to use to invite Caiu to have dinner with their family or participate in a unique planned event not listed.
 
 
Program
Chris Krueger discussed club goals, activities, and events.  Now two months into her term as Mesa West President, she was able to report the following:
  • Board Members participated in a 4-hour retreat at Chris's home on July 21.  They discussed goals, did some strategic planning, and approved the 2018-19 budget.
  • Our club goals are listed on the District Goal Center.
    • Membership.  We are at 63 today and set a goal of being at 65 by end of year, for a net increase of 2.
    • Service Participation Goal was set at 42 members participating in planned service activities and events
    • Five new member sponsorships
    • Leadership Development - board members and interested Rotarians are encouraged to attend
      • Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) - Three day-long modules with in-depth information about Rotary beyond the club level. 
      • Club Leadership Academy (CLA) - held each spring to prepare elected and appointed leaders for the following year.
    • Service Projects - a goal of five projects was set
    • Social Activities - a goal of six was set
    • The budget was prepared with a great deal of help from Jim Schmidt.  The approved budget with positive cash flow of $1,417.50 is available as a download at mesawestrotary.org.  To ensure the club is operating in a fiscally sound manner,
      • A dues increase was implemented retroactively to July 1, 2018
      • When we have socials, if the club is dark the week prior, members who pay full dues will not have to pay for themselves.  All others will be charged $20 for themselves and each of their guests.  If the club has not been dark, members who pay full dues will also be charged $20 for attending the event.
      • There is no initiation fee for new members.
    • The updated Bylaws and Constitution which had been a work in progress going back to Ed Koeneman's tenure as Club President and which had been approved by the Board of Directors to be sent to club members were e-mailed to club members for their approval on August 15.  In her cover message, Chris invited members with questions or comments to contact her, but also indicated that no response would be an indication of each member's approval.  The approved ByLaws and Constitution are also available as downloadable documents at mesawestrotary.org.  Chris thanked Lucinda General, Greg Okonowski, Aaron Huber, Jim Schmidt and the board for this accomplishment.
    • The club currently has two related non-profit foundations:  Mesa West Rotary Foundation and Mesa Baseline Foundation.  In a meeting immediately prior to the August 30 meeting, a meeting was held related to merging the two foundations - a matter that has been discussed and explored for several months.  A goal has been set to accomplish the merger by December 1.  Steve West is helping with the necessary documentation.
    • Service Projects
      • Gift of Hearing in Guaymas, Mexico.  The second planning meeting for the mission, which will be November 7-11 this year, will be held immediately following our September 6 club meeting.
      • Micro Credit in Hermosillo, Mexico.  Darl Anderson, Pam Cohen and Gloria Lara on on this committee working on oversight of an ongoing project originally funded by The Rotary Foundation through their grant process.  96% of the small loans are made to women, and the repayment rate, to date, is 98%.
      • Salvation Army - we will again be collecting for the Salvation Army in front of Bass Pro during the holiday shopping season.  Don LaBarge will coordinate having all shifts covered.
      • Aqua Africa - Mesa West will coordinate recreating an annual 10K relay which has been held successfully in Nebraska by the organization we heard about in February from Buey Ray Tut.  The relay will raise awareness of those in the world who do not have access to clean water.  It will also raise funds to support the drilling of a well in Sudan, and getting the necessary education, training and other measures in place to ensure the project, once functional, will remain sustainable.  Toni Farmer (Dr. Ron Thompson's wife) has volunteered a team of GCU students to do analytics to help us understand where and how to market the event.  The target date is Saturday, January 12.  It is hoped we will be able to have it at Saguaro Ranch.  We already have interest form Interact, Rotaract, Paige Goetzenberger's private school and the Mesa Rotary Club.  The goal is 300 participants in teams of up to five members.  Their is room on the target site for food vendors.  We will be seeking corporate sponsors and the participating teams will each find their own sponsors.  The results of this project will cover nearly all of the six areas of focus of The Rotary Foundation.
    • Fundraising Activities
      • We will again do the very successful sponsor solicitation drive that brought in $40,000 in 2017-18.  
      • On February 23, a new, fun, fundraising event will be introduced - a Pony Plop to be held on Tim and Angie Troy's property.  Plots will be sold.  The plot owners will hope the pony on the property will plop on their plot to win available prizes.  In addition, there will be fun activities for all ages ranging from face painting for children to a steak fry and barn dance for adults to enjoy.  It is hoped this will become an annual signature fundraising event for Mesa West Rotary.
At the end of her presentation, Chris asked if anyone had any additional information.  Jeanie Morgan announced that she and Ed Koeneman had been in contact with Mai Ley Duong, who had hoped to start a satellite club at A.T.Still University.  The cost of dues was a difficult hurdle to overcome in building enthusiasm for the satellite.  After talking to Ed, Mai-Ly feels it will be more realistic and easier to start a Rotaract Club at the University.  Jeanie will be working on getting an application in process for Mai-Ly's Rotary membership to be transferred to Mesa West.  The other thing Mai-Ly had communicated to Jeanie was an invitation for Mesa West Rotarians to help with a free dental clinic she organizes for adults with special needs.  It is planned this year for October 26, 2018.
 
Next week, September 6, President Chris will be out of town.  Dan Coons will lead the meeting.  The Phoenix Zoo will be the program topic.