President Jim Schmidt opened the meeting by asking Ed Koeneman to offer the invocation. In Ed's prayer, he expresses appreciation for the opportunity to meet remotely, the ability to see pictures of fellow-Rotarians' faces, the wisdom and values shared by Rotarians and the International perspective gained through Rotary.Bob Zarling shared some interesting history during his patriotic presentation. He found that some significant events occurred during April in our nation's history - some very trying events that were overwhelming at the time but had a result of our emerging as a stronger nation:
- April 12 1861 - US Civil War began as the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
- April 16, 1862 - The United States (North) abolished human ownership (slavery).
- April 22, 1864 - "In God We Trust" was added to all US minted coins.
- April 1, 1865 - Confederate troops were defeated at Petersburg and Richmond effectively ending the Civil War.
- April 2, 1865 - Lee ordered Davis to evacuate Richmond by April 9
- April 3, 1865 - Surrender of Richmond
- April 9, 1866 - after over 500,000 deaths of Americans, the Civil War ends when General Lee surrendered to General Grant. The terms of surrender were very humane. The Confederates were allowed to keep their horses so they could return to their homes.
- Many thought our country would not survive the political differences with neighbor often pitted against neighbor
- There were food riots
- The significant differences in laws
- Instead, the nation began anew with new changes - even though they took decades for the changes to be put into everyday life.
- Many thought our country would not survive the political differences with neighbor often pitted against neighbor
Bob wrapped his presentation up saying we need to embrace change again.
Guests - District Governor David Simmer was recognized.
President Jim told about having some very vivid and unusual dreams recently. In the most memorable recollection, he said he was in a football huddle. The team he was on would have to score in the final moments of the game if they were to win. The pass plays that were attempted did not work. Jim had observed what went wrong with those plays and told the quarterback, who was a girl, he thought he had a plan for how they could score a winning touchdown. Jim ran toward the end zone. The quarterback threw a spiral pass which Jim could see was going to fall short. He planted his feet and reached to catch the football. Just then, he hit his head on the nightstand and fell out of bed.
Jim told of a conversation he had recently with his daughter in North Carolina where it was raining. She told her dad that the weather there reminded her of the nursery rhyme, "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring."
Presidential Humor - Jim said he had selected an accounting joke. (It's hard to hear the audience groan on Zoom). He explained the difference between an actuary and an accountant. Both are good at math, but an actuary doesn't have enough personality to be an accountant.
Happy Bucks
- Jim Schmidt pledged $100 to Mesa West Foundation
- Ray Smith pledged $10 because he was happy not to have to ride with Wendell Jones
- Dan Coons said he would match Jim Schmidt's $100 pledge and would be donating that amount to a local food bank.
- Allan Cady pledged $10 because he was happy to be on the call.
- Chuck Flint wondered if Ray would be borrowing the $10 he pledged from Wendell.
- Ed Koeneman was happy school was out for him for this semester. He was also happy to announce that GCU Rotaract has a new President - Ashley Ferguson.
- Melody Jackson was happy her daughter was there with her.
- Warren Williamson said he was getting adult education home schooling by watching the game show channel.
- Polly Schumacher was happy she was able to get on the Zoom platform with her computer. She said she was going to send $100 to The Rotary Foundation. She was sad because the General Federation of Women's Clubs convention to be held in June has been cancelled. Polly had been scheduled to be one of the convention speakers.
- Greg Okonowski was happy they were going to go ahead with the NFL draft later on the 23rd as planned.
Announcements
- Chris Krueger announced that she wanted to do something for the high school seniors - especially those in the Interact Club at Westwood High School. They will be missing prom, graduation, awards banquets, etc. She said she was going to contact Andrea Murphy, the sponsor of the Interact Club. Chris thinks it will be appropriate and doable for Mesa West Rotarians to adopt-a-senior and deliver gift baskets to the students identified.
- Chris Krueger also provided an update on Aqua Africa. COVID-19 has delayed their progress as well. The project we are working on with them will probably be pushed out to 2021. They are looking for more sponsors. They are about $20,000 away from the $179,000 funding goal.
Rotary Minute
Pam Cohen said it is a very sober time in history. Rotarians know and love The Four-Way Test. Many Rotarians believe there should be a fifth question in the test - "Is it fun?" If it isn't fun, why do it? They believe it is possible to have fun all the while they are doing good in their families, community and the world. In fact, Pam reported that the Peoria North Rotary Club in the West Valley already recites The Five-Way Test at their meetings. Pam believes this additional test is the best way to attract and retain new members - especially younger members.
PROGRAM
President Jim introduced DG David Simmer who began by saying that Lucinda General had told him that Mesa West was the "greatest club in the world." David said he has seen nothing to dispute that.
DG David had some options in program topics that Clubs could choose from when he made his official club visits. Mesa West chose to have him give his presentation about The Rotary Foundation. President Jim had been torn as he knew one of the other choices was a presentation about the Rotary Vision Statement which has been recited by Jim at every club meeting all year. He invited DG David to come back to do his Rotary Vision Statement presentation.
DG David began by explaining why the Vision Statement was so important to him. Six years ago, he had started to spend more time in district and club activities. He realized he didn't have an elevator speech - where he could answer someone who got on the elevator with him on the first floor and asked about his Rotary pin and then asked what Rotary was. He knew he would need to be able to explain the essence of Rotary between the first and fourth floors.
David spent hours at his computer writing about things about Rotary that made him proud in his local club, in our Rotary district and internationally. He had a page and a half - single-spaced. He knew he would have to shrink it, but it was all important. He said he can easily be sidetracked and when he didn't find ready ways to make it more concise, he got busy doing other things and kind of forgot his project.
He was appointed Co-Chair of District Training as Rotary was headed into the merger of Districts 5490 and 5510. He searched and searched for a statement that both districts would embrace but had no luck. He again got distracted and gave up the quest. Then - seventeen months ago - without much fanfare Rotary introduced the new vision statement which had been approved by the RI board.
When David first saw the vision statement he knew it was perfect:
Together we see a world
where people unite and take action to
take action to
create lasting change
across the globe,
in our communities,
and in ourselves.
Together
David thought it was noteworthy that it began with "Together," including Interact and Rotaract with Rotary. Each of the three organizations bring different assets to our winning combination. Rotarians have the benefit of being seasoned over time. Interact and Rotaract members bring their talent of fearlessly embracing technological advances, and that enthusiasm is combined with the more recent education enhancing the talents of Rotaractors. It cannot be overlooked that Rotarians are generally the source of the treasure in the "time, talent, and treasure" equation.
We see a world where people unite
Not specific people or groups
And take action
We, historically, have not wanted to brag about what we do. The new "People of Action" public image campaign recognizes that young people like to work directly with the beneficiaries of their good works. Instead of donation pictures, we need to take more action photos to tell our story. The ideal pictures are of Rotarians and our larger Rotary family doing things - having fun doing those things - and they need to show diversity.
Create lasting change
We need to be the fuel for creating lasting change in the world. Our most effective vehicle for doing so is The Rotary Foundation. TRF gets the wisdom of "give a man a fish and feed him for a day vs. teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime." Humanitarian grants effect permanent change, removing obstacles to self-control once Rotarians leave. A required term must be achieved in all humanitarian grants - sustainability - where the benefit will go on for years.
Across the globe
For forty years, Rotary has been committed to the eradication of polio. That effort has been put on a temporary hold as Rotary has used those resources to work collaboratively to eliminate COVID-19. Rotary can and will be at the core of eliminating the fear. We are well-positioned to help. We ARE a global organization.
In our communities
Rotary is always - in its purest form - a local organization Ninety-five percent of the reasons people give for joining Rotary are local and primarily involve friendship. We need to create a local presence, so Rotary is recognized and respected in our own communities. We need to be known for having fun and doing good at the same time.
And in ourselves
These three words may be the most surprising. Brad Howard, who is a well-known Rotarian in our Zone states that we need to treat members of Rotary as our customers. We need to provide what our members expect. They need to benefit from their membership in a way that is clearly recognizable, we need to invest our time talent treasure locally to create local respect and we need to recognize the need for community awareness - meeting today's needs with enthusiasm and innovation.
This statement is just ink on paper unless we engage with it. We need to make it our why. You don't see The Four-Way Test as prevalently displayed on the RI Website as the Vision Statement, but it is very compatible and core to who we are. With those values and by truly embracing the vision, we will begin to see the world we are trying to create.
Jim thanked DG David for such an enthusiastic delivery of this message about a vision they both obviously love.
In closing, Jim shared something written by Andy Andrews, an inspirational voice from Alabama who shared this prayer with his friends and business associates, which he calls:
Pandemic - a Prayer of Perspective
"...Lord, despite all we see and hear, we vow to remain grateful for we know that You will allow us to see the truth with proper perspective even during this situation. Let those of us who have enough to eat during this time not forget those who don't. Neither should we forget that in our midst are children who have never had enough to eat.
Let those of us with roofs, walls, and dry places to sleep remember the 1.6 billion people in the world who lack adequate housing. Similarly, for those of us forced to work from home, remind us to be grateful that we have a home from which to work. And for those of us who are working, let us remember those who, for whatever reason, cannot.
All those of us who are inconvenienced during this time to remember we are "inconvenienced" in a country that because of its many blessings - has a totally different definition of inconvenience than do many countries around the world. There are billions of people (and we know this) who would do anything for the chance to live at the level about which we sometimes complain.
May those of us who've had to cancel vacations, remember those who have never been able to take one in the first place.
For those of us who complain about the shortages of medical equipment and test kits for the virus, remind us that a shortage is always better than none at all. And let us remember the times throughout history when disease swept through populations and there were no test kits because no one knew what to test for or where to begin looking for a vaccine.
Thank you for the opportunity to live in today's world and in a country like America. Though we do not deserve Your attention or Your mercy, thank You Lord, for both..."