To begin the last club meeting of the year, the invocation was offered by Daryl Bethea, with Christy Citterman leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Ray Smith led an enthusiastic group in singing Jingle Bells.Seasonal visitor Lolita Wiesner was present, Yordi (an aspiring outbound Youth Exchange student) was present with his mother. Becky Morgan Beverly was attending with her mother, Jeanie. Robert LaBarge seemed and was treated like a guest since his professional duties have kept him from attending recent meetings.
After three attempts, it was declared there was no winner of the weekly attendance drawing, so the $5 will roll over to the first meeting of 2018.
Frank Rosenberg won the small raffle prize of $38, but the ace of clubs was not drawn, so the $630 pot will continue to grow.
Polly Cady had auction items from recent trips to Cabo and New York City. Some of the items were pretty and some were edible. After some competitive bidding, Chris Krueger prevailed with her bid of $100.
During happy bucks, Polly reported that she and Allan Cady reported on having a good day ringing the Salvation Army Bell at Bass Pro. While Allan was gone to get Polly some iced tea, Polly overheard a young man who was waiting for a friend describe his location as "by the Salvation Army chick." Donna Goetzenberger reported that Yordi is completing his application for the Youth Exchange program. On their recent trip to New York, Allan was happy he took time to use the rest room before he and Polly decended 31 flights of stairs because of a false alarm at their hotel. Lolita stated that a waiter recently told her she would have to present ID to be served wine. When she asked if he was kidding, he said "Yes." Jim McGown donated 20 pair of slacks, which he no longer can wear, for Chuck Flint's trip to Mexico. Some still had price tags on them. Ron Thompson donated $100 toward his Paul Harris Fellow to celebrate his December 31 birthday. John Pennypacker had some more silver slipper jewelry celebrating 30 years of Women in Rotary to present to ladies in the club.
Announcements
- The After Holiday Party will be January 20 at thehome of Dan and Colleen Coons The meat will be catered, with Rotarians and their guests providing pot luck appetizers and desserts. There will be a gift exchange for those who want to participate.
- Don LaBarge reported one of his bell ringers took everything home with them at the end of their shift. They lived out on 99th Avenue in Glendale. He also reported that the income is looking really good this year - probably record setting. He reminded members there were still some open shifts, and that we wwould be ringing both of the next two Sundays.
- Yordi needs help finding host families in the Westwood High School District. He won't be given his assigned country until host families are identified.
- President Allan announced that the January programs will have a common theme - "Community Support Month."
Don Boucher reported that to date $7,000 had been donated to The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona by Mesa West Rotary Club members. This significantly exceeds the $5,000 commitment President Allan had made to the District Governor at her November 15 official visit. TRVFA funds up to $3,000 scholarships for 2-year community college programs or technical schools. They have a 10-member board of directors. Mesa West Rotarian, Pam Cohen serves on the board. Married couples can get an $800 State of Arizona tax credit for their donation. Single filers can get a tax credit for their $400 donation. In 2016, $143,000 was raised. The average scholarship is $1,800.
Mesa West leads clubs in Arizona in supporting TRVFA, so Don's most significant point was that members need to help identify candidates to use the scholarships and asked members to prospect for feeder organizations who could encourage students to apply for the life-changing TRVFA scholarships.