President, Allan Cady opened the meeting with Daryl Bethea offering the invocation and Jim Crutcher leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
 
Among the guests, were John Pennypacker, Cindy Rosenberg, and Dawn and Mike Polley. 
 
Jim Crutcher won the attendance drawing. 
 
President Allan made the following announcements:
  • Members were reminded to sign up and attend the fireside chat and chile cook-off to be held the evening of October 7 at the home of Tim and Angie Troy.
  • The team heading for the annual hearing project in Guaymas, Mexico will depart the morning of November 8.  They will depart from the Red Mountain Campus of Mesa Community College following a light breakfast to be provided by our club.  Members are encouraged to plan to be there VERY early to have breakfast with and show our support for the team.
  • Allan also reminded those in attendance to look in the Messenger and take advantage of Dan Coons' business card offer to print Rotary business cards for our members.
Tim Troy held the lucky ticket making him the winner of $34 in the weekly drawing, but did not draw the ace of clubs, so the $394 in the larger pot will continue to grow.
 
Chuck Flint circulated the Buck Board, continuing to raise funds which will go to The Rotary Foundation making the next winner the recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship.  For each $10 donated, members and guests who purchase squares on the board will have a one in one hundred chance of being the lucky winner.
 
We had two drawings:
 
  • Greg Okonowski auctioned a bag containing a variety of items purchased on his recent vacation in Alaska.  Polly Cady won the bag with her $40 bid.  She received a cedara cutting board, smoked salmon, a knife, coasters, and a recipe book, which it sounds like she will encourage Allan to use.
  • Jim Crutcher auctioned two Cardinals tickets for the Sunday, October 1, game against San Francisco.  The tickets were in Club Seating, and included a parking pass.  The tickets were valued at $213 each.  Jim said he would match the top bid with the money to go to the Guaymas project.  Daryl Bethea was the winning bidder with his bid of $300.  Daryl then announced that he would not be able to actually attend the game because of Sunday commitments, so he re-auctioned the package.  Chris Krueger was the final winner of the tickets with her bid of $200. 
Darl Andersen was re-inducted into Mesa West Rotary.  Darl is a Past President of the Club.  As part of his induction, Darl was introduced by his sponsor, brother-in-law, and long-time friend, Daryl Bethea.  CLICK HERE to read a copy of the impressive bio of this re-membered Rotarian.  When Darl was first a member of our club, he was sponsored during the club's first year by member and past district governor, Ted Williams, who was a charter member of Mesa West.  Darl and his wife, Kaye, enjoy spending time with their nine children and 39 grandchildren all living in the east valley.
 
President Allan introduced our Program, a Kickoff of a Business Networking focus for our club.  When Rotary first started in 1905, networking was one of the primary goals.  Later, in the evolving history of Rotary, networking fell out of favor for a few years.  It is currently encouraged again in Rotary, worldwide.  Allan has a vision of having a second table at our greeter station with ads displayed and business cards and information available for our Rotarian's businesses.  Jim Crutcher's in-house ad person will help develop a 7" x 7" ad for any member who would like that assistance. 
 
Jim Crutcher gave a personal narrative of his history in the automotive industry, which led him to his position as General Manager with Berge Ford.  It was apparent that Jim takes a great deal of pride in the way Craig Berge has led the Ford dealership, making employee pride and satisfaction a priority which results in outstanding customer service.  Berge Ford has 273 employees and do over $200 Million in business per year.  They sell 4,000 new/used vehicles each year, and sell $1.5 Million in parts each month.   They deliver 300 parts on a typical day, and service an average of 350 service customers daily.  He is proud that the dealership has won the Ford's Presidents Award for the 3rd year in a row.  300 of these awards are given each year in our nation.  They also won the Ford Elite Presidents Award three years in a row.  Only 30 of these awards are given annually.  They are not the cheapest - they get a fair profit which enables them to retain good employees, and deliver good service.  The average employee has been there 8.5 years.  They have over 50 emlpoyees who have been with Berge Ford for 25 years or longer. 
 
John Eagleston told of growing up as the youngest of eight children (but only five minutes younger than his twin).  His dad started an insurance company in 1968.  His business grew and he held licenses in all 50 states, doing a lot of business over the phone.  Until John was in college, he really had no idea what his dad did.  In 2001, John's brother went to work for their dad.  After John graduated from college in 2004, he and his wife were living in Utah.  When he let her know that he had been invited to join his father's business, he was surprised when his wife enthusiastically supported the move.  Being in a family business can be challenging.  Their dad was reluctant to support the investment in technology John and his brother both felt was needed for future development.  They broke off from their father's business and started their own.  It rocked their relationship with their dad for about a year, but eventually the relationship healed.  He and his brother had a vision of being an insurance hub, with the ability to serve all insurance needs of their clients.  They are still growing.  They have 1100-1200 clients in all 50 states.  They shop the market for their clients.  They were pleased that in seven years, they accomplished the goal they had set when they started.  They are continually growing and are having fun!
 
Before the meeting adjourned, Rod Daniels announced that he was stepping down from his District Position as Polio Plus Coordinator, but that the position will stay in Mesa West Rotary with Bob Zarling stepping up to do so.