Posted by Ed Mystery on Apr 05, 2021
President JEN HOFFMAN called the March 31st meeting to order at 12 noon. As beautiful as Hacienda del Sol is, the real beauty was inside as many of the ladies were adorned with lovely spring dresses.
 
The lunch featured Grilled Salmon with Herb Roasted Fingerlings, Haricot Verts, and Herbed Citrus Buerre Blanc. As always Hacienda del Sol banquet staff did a fantastic job serving all of our Rotarians.
 
President JEN started the meeting by introducing Nancy Bevens, guest of Ellie Patterson, who is currently in the membership process. JEN then thanked the online audience for attending the meeting virtually.
 
President JEN introduced the days program, which featured our Tucson Classics Car Show. CLIFF BOWMAN, the 2020 Car Show Chair, received an impressive introduction from President JEN before taking the stage. CLIFF declared this to be his favorite day of the Car Show – Car Show Results Day, and then provided an extremely thorough and inspirational recap of the 2020 Tucson Classics Car Show. His highlights included a Slideshow recap of October 17th and thanks extended to The Executive Committee; Title Sponsor MIKE ANDERSON (who was the recipient of a unique 1963 Corvette flask filled with KY bourbon that CLIFF warned MIKE not to drink); Friday Night Raffle Sponsor FAYE MORSE; Raffle Sponsors Sam Levitz, Wellspring Financial, Tucson Appliance Center, Tucson Family Wellness, and Jack Furriers Tire & Auto; Ticket Sales, comprised of ROGER HARWELL, JEANNE ZETAH, DAVE WHITE, and JOE DANISZEWSKI
 
The 30,000 member ticket sales goal was exceeded by a few hundred tickets, thanks to the hard work and outstanding efforts of our members.  CINDY BARBEE and her marketing partners at Madden Media shattered the previous online ticket sales record of 4,000 tickets by selling a whopping 13,500!  Top 10 Individual Ticket Sellers, which include 1st place – LARRY ADAMSON, 2nd place – PAT ZUMBUSCH, 3rd place – DREW VACTOR (the three of which earned drinks at the next social from CLIFF, who couldn’t quite catch them and came in fourth), and 5th place – Jim Murphy.  Top 3 Ticket Teams: 3rd place – October Rovers (led by JIM MURPHY), 2nd place – January Jaguars (lead by JIM ENGEL), and 1st place – March Maturates (led by CHARLOTTE HARRIS).
 
The online auction was a huge success at $28,000, which almost doubled their goal of $15,000. A big thanks was given to JEANNE ZATAH and DANIELLE BALLIERE for their tireless efforts.
 
CLIFF’s final announcement, before the check presentations, was the winner of the corvette. The winning ticket, which happened to be an online ticket purchase, was held by a gentleman named Martin, who drove down from Phoenix to collect the corvette with his excited grandson.
 
JIM MURPHY prepared for the check presentations by providing background on the deserving recipients. After JIM’s introduction of the organizations and their representatives, both groups expressed their gratitude for the club supporting their missions. JIM also shared the great news that the real value of lighted Rotary logos on the JTED building has an estimated value of $1,000,000!
 
CLIFF returned to the podium to proclaim all of this great teamwork paid off! He joyously announced the 2020 net proceeds exceeded $133,000! The beneficiaries each received:
 
The Gregory School… $10,000
Make Way for Books   $49,000
JTED… $74,000
CLIFF and JIM presented the giant checks (with JIM playing his very best Vanna White) to our very excited beneficiaries.
 
CLIFF then introduced JONI CONDIT, the 2021 Car Show Chair. JONI shared that we are off to a great start – 1,850 Car Show tickets have already been sold this year, and over 1,000 of those by our incoming president, MARK IRVIN! JONI then honored her predecessor CLIFF BOWMAN – and shared details about CLIFF that many of us may never have known otherwise. I have no doubt CLIFF will forever be grateful for now being known to our club as Chicken Daddy. CLIFF was presented with a gift that he proceeded to immediately and unintentionally dismantle. As our speaker, CLIFF was given a book to sign, which was appropriately titled “Race Car Dreams”.
 
Club Members, keep up the good work! We are making a difference!
 
Todays Birthdays featured BOB MORKEN (3/28), DON ROLLINGS (3/28) and Rotary Club of Tucson (4/1). If you were not with us at Hacienda del Sol to celebrate these birthdays, I suggest you ask DON about earning his Romantic Literature degree from Princess University!
 
Sergeant of Arms: Announcements:
JEN HOFFMAN – Peace Poll at Literacy Connects building on Friday, April 16th
JEN HOFFMAN – Strategic Plan (available on the website)
GARY OLSEN – Cash Raffle is back! Bring cash to the April 7th Meeting at Hilton East.
BRUCE JACOBS – Home Hospitality Week of 4/21 (no lunch meeting) – Hosts are still needed. Sign-ups will begin shortly on the website.
STEVE PICKERING – Venue Committee Update for future meetings.  Member feedback is needed in the decision-making process, so the April lunch meetings will be held at three new venues: Hilton East, Tucson Convention Center, and Westward Look. All three venues have recently undergone renovations. Selection criteria include:  location, value, potential for membership growth, and overall quality.
April 7th at Hilton East (parking on southwest side – behind the Hilton)
April 14th at Tucson Convention Center (watch for parking instructions, Parking Lot B)
April 28th at Westward Look Resort
BOB SHAFF – Blue Badge presentation to ANN MARSH, congratulations!
TOM STRASBURG – Blue Badge presentation to JOE ZARAGOZA, congratulations!
MARGARET HIGGINS – Reminder: Members have until midnight to make any online Orville McPherson and Four Way nominations
 
As a rare treat, the meeting ended with birthday cake served to all members in celebration of the Club’s 100 years.
 
Our next meeting is April 7th will be held at Hilton East, and will feature Matt Rolland of the Southern Arizona and Cultural Alliance. If you were not present, I encourage you to watch this inspirational meeting on YouTube or Facebook.
 
This fantastic meeting was adjourned immediately after President JEN’s Nelson Mandela quote, an encouraging toast about Service Above Self, and a request for Thor to give JEN back her hammer.
 
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