President Chris Krueger opened the meeting by asking Wendell Jones to offer the invocation and Pam Cohen to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.  She thanked Dan Coons for serving as greeter, welcoming Rotarians and guests to the meeting.
 
Guests
Ed Koeneman introduced Greg Randolph, Scoutmaster, Abel Wild, a Scout nearing completion of his Eagle Scout requirements, and Rick Canon, Abel's Eagle Mentor.  
 
Drawings
On the third and final draw, Brian Harvey's badge number was drawn making him the lucky $5 attendance drawing winner for the week.  Before turning the microphone over to Chuck Flint, President Chris suggested members sing happy birthday to Chuck, who apparently has age-related dyslexia, announcing it was his 47th birthday.  There is a new twist to the weekly drawing.  Because we had a big winner at our most recent regular meeting, the accumulating pot was starting over.  Both the weekly winnings and the ace of clubs winnings were announced to be $28 each in the drawing.  Chuck has added a new card - a joker - to the deck.  The holder of the lucky ticket drawn will win the small weekly pot and have two additional chances to win.  If they draw the joker, they will win $20 and the joker will go back in the deck.  If they draw the ace of clubs, they will win the accumulating pot and the drawing will start over again.  If they draw any other card. it will be destroyed, making the odds of winning big a little bit better each week.  Bryan Goetzenberger was the holder of the ticket drawn.  When he drew from the deck, however, he was not so lucky - he drew the seven of hearts.
 
Happy Bucks
Brian Harvey was happy to be able to attend a Mesa West meeting before heading to Baltimore for the summer.  When asked what the draw was in Baltimore, he answered that he has three amazing grandchildren living there that he loves spending time with.  Lots of people were happy to have attended the wonderful steak dinner on May 11.  Carolyn Jones was welcomed back after being gone for two and a half months recovering from a broken hip.  Wendell said she had celebrated her birthday two days prior to the meeting.  Warren Williamson was happy Carolyn was back, but now his own sister is in the hospital with her hip.  Dick Myren contributed a dollar, honoring Rod Daniels' tradition of being "happy to be a member of Mesa West Rotary."  Ed Koeneman was happy about a number of things.  He was happy school is out for the summer.  He was also happy to have Abel attend our meeting.  He is thankful he and Debbie will be able to attend the Rotary International convention in Germany this summer, and happy about the new home he and Debbie have recently purchased.  Chuck Flint was also happy about Ed's new home (he served as Ed's realtor).  Chuck said it is a very unique home with about 900 square feet of living area and 4,000 square feet of workshop.  Ed clarified that there were two air-conditioned garages - a 2-car and a 4-car garage.  Ted Williams confessed that he and Susan had left the spring olympics early because he was not performing up to his standard in the events.  He felt bad when he later learned that he had taken Susan home before she was recognized as the gold-medal winner in the women's competition.  Pam Cohen announced that the mortgage company she had been working for recently shut down their Arizona operation - the second time this has happened to Pam in less than a year.  She is now in the home warranty business.  Dr. Ron was sad that they had missed the Steak and Beans celebration.  His son had been in his first fender-bender that afternoon and needed Ron's presence.  Fortunately there were no physical injuries.  Frank Rosenberg contributed sad dollars.  His Apple ID and Cell number were stolen and put into use with another carrier.  If anyone needs his temporary phone number, he asked fellow Rotarians to send him a private Facebook message.  Chris Krueger thanked everyone for the very nice Steak and Beans Celebration.  She especially thanked Dan Coons and Team Ribeye as well as all Rotarians who participated in the sponsorship drive.  It was noted that John Pennypacker, the only member of Team Ribeye who was out of uniform at the celebration, now has his official Team Ribeye t-shirt.
 
Announcements
  • Ed Koeneman announced Abel Wild's Eagle Scout project.  Abel is raising money to build sensory tables for two local elementary schools - Eisenhower and Whittier.  The tables will be used to enable special needs students to develop ways to process sensory overload.  John Pennypacker volunteered his hat which was passed to collect funds to support the project.   (Since the meeting, Ed reported that Abel raised $260 at our meeting and is just over half way to his goal.)
  • Don LaBarge announced that our May 23 program will be presented by someone he has been trying to get to our club for a long time - Jesse McGuire - the horn and saxophone player.  Don said Jesse might play one song.
 
Program
Dan Coons who has been a host father to our speaker this year, introduced Caio Luque to share his experiences as a Rotary Youth Exchange student hosted by Mesa West Rotary Club this year.
 
Caio is from Ecuador.  He showed a photo of his family where he is with his father, mother, 22-year-old brother, and 14-year-old brother.  Also shown in the photo is a figure that is traditionally burned as part of family New Year celebrations each year.  They live peacefully near some of the world's most active volcanoes which make for stunning vistas and scenery.  Cai's father is a systems engineer and his mother is involved with school administration.  Caio's older brother participated in Rotary Youth Exchange in Taiwan.  His younger brother wants to follow in his brothers' Youth Exchange footsteps, but he wants to go to Europe.  
 
When Caio left Ecuador on July 28, 2018, he was very nervous.  He has attended Campo Verde High School in Gilbert.  One of the biggest contrasts that was immediately apparent was that In Ecuador, the teachers rotate from classroom to classroom, and here the students rotate to different classrooms throughout the day.  In Ecuador, Caio is a very active competitor in both soccer and ping-pong.  
 
While in Arizona, Caio has enjoyed the opportunity to go on lots of trips and experiences.  He enjoyed the opportunity to go on small plane rides with Frank Rosenberg (another host dad).  He had the opportunity to go to Six Flags in California - "It was a really good, fun day."  Pam Cohen made it possible to ski for the first time in his life.  It was a "magic day" even though he "was on the ground most of the time."  He had the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon with other exchange students.  He went with Chuck Flint to Mexico.
 
Caio said that when he attended RYLA at Camp Pinerock in Prescott, he learned to get out of his comfort zone.  He was thankful for his amazing experience.
 
Caio said that he has changed a lot physically.  Dan and Colleen's son, Nick, has challenged him to be more fit, and they have visited a local gym together so that Caio has had the opportunity to learn how to use the various pieces of equipment.  He has also learned how to stay fit even without the equipment using a routine of calisthenics and cardiovascular exercise.
 
He has changed as a person, too.  Caio said that he has learned he really likes math.  It is his favorite subject.  He now knows he wants to be involved with building things and/or involved with home design - areas where he can use his math skills to their best advantage.
 
Caio's father is a Rotarian.  Caio told his dad he wanted to be a Rotary Youth Exchange Student.  Two months later, his dad told him he would be going.  Caio says it has been the best experience of his life.  Caio said he is not able to afford the train trip that many of the inbound students participate in each year.  Prior to going home to Ecuador on June 28, he will leave Arizona on June 18 for a brief visit to Florida.
 
Caio's real name is Carlos, but since he was very small, everyone has called him Caio.  Apparently, he would sleep deeply and regularly fall out of bed while dreaming.  Caio is spelled slightly differently, but essentially is taken from the word which means "to fall."  The only person who does not call him Caio is his grandmother who calls him by his middle name, Jose.