President Dodi Doolittle called our 10-31-13 meeting to order. Chris Knutsen led us in the pledge of allegiance and Carl Richards said grace.
GUESTS: Iris Schickler was back after a long cold drive from Canada. Other winter members Mel Hansen and Jack Holmes were back too.
It was our third reading for membership for Shawn Gibson.
We inducted John Schreur as the newest member of our club. Anita VanWagoner pinned him. He said at his last workplace he was supposed to join Rotary, but put it off until he could join here. John has worked in education since 1974, and is currently director of construction and public relations for the Florence school district. He also served 12 years in the Navy.
FINES, etc.: Mark Cowling collected fines and happy bucks.
Barbara Kelly won the big scratcher ticket. In our big game, with 21 cards left and $514 in the pot, Frank Puglia ... drew the much-coveted 3 of Diamonds! Congratulations, Frank! Try not to spend it all in one place.
President Dodi Doolittle said we'll schedule our visioning session around the beginning of the new year. We'll plan for later in the day on a Thursday.
Dodi said our Assistant District Gov. Gordon Nedom will visit in November, but not to provide the program.
District. Gov. Nancy Cassel sent us a letter saying they've decided to rescind the application fee to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Academy camp in Prescott), which could be a burden to some students. Instead they're asking for sponsorships. Frank suggested we ask the district to send someone to present us a program on RYLA.
We talked some more about our December holiday party, including the possibilities of having it at the Windmill or having Elks prime rib. We plan on having a wine exchange.
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Mark Cowling led us in the Rotary grace. Past President Anita VanWagoner called our 11-7-13 meeting to order and we said the pledge of allegiance.
GUESTS: There may have been more of them than us. Shawn Gibson was back for her last few moments as a guest before being inducted into our club. We also had our student of the month, Gavin Wood, Principal Thad Gates and basketball coach David Silvas.
Bonnie Palmer was here from the Coolidge club and also provided our program.
There was also Larry Celaya, guest of Anita.
Vicki Kilvinger was here as a guest of Dodi Freeman, it was also her first reading for membership.
Our winter members Kent Milroy and Dona Kobayashi were back, along with Iris Schickler.
FINES, etc. — Sgt.-at-Arms Eddie Ortega collected fines and happy bucks. Mark won the big scratcher ticket (which was a dud). In a brand new game, with 52 cards and $50 in the pot, Kent drew the Jack of Spades. The new card we're after is the Queen of Hearts.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH — Florence High School senior Gavin Wood is a basketball player, who also played football his freshman and sophomore years and played baseball for three years.
Colleges are currently recruiting him for basketball. He has a 3.1 grade-point average at FHS and enjoys the community and the small-town feeling. Anita presented him with his certificate as our student of the month.
It's Andy Brumbaugh's sixth anniversary in our club and Dodi Doolittle's 19th.
For wedding anniversaries, Dona and her husband had 43 years together yesterday and Jennifer Nathaniel and her husband were to celebrate 18 years together over the weekend.
NEW MEMBER — Shawn was inducted as our newest member. She and her husband own Crown Point Property Service. They've been foster parents and just adopted a daughter. Shawn said they're all about giving back to the community, and Rotary's philosophy mirrors what they stand for.
PROGRAM: Anita introduced Bonnie Palmer, who is immediate past president of the Coolidge club and also our regional membership coordinator. She spoke to us about membership.
She joined Rotary in 1990, just a few years after women were first allowed into Rotary. The Coolidge club lost a lot of men when women joined. Today, Rotary International is concerned about the club adapting and adjusting to today's world. Corporations sometimes want "representation" at clubs, with different people attending for the corporation from week to week. But Rotary clubs are built around personal relationships.
Bonnie said we want to recruit people who are committed to our values, and make Rotary applicable to young people coming up. "We need to find ways to recruit and make our club meaningful to all ages and ethnicities ... and always maintain our integrity."
But the job isn't over when we get someone to join. "People are brought in and sit there — because no one put them on a committee and got them involved."
Rotary can join with others to get good work done. She said the Coolidge club recently participated in "Make a Difference Day," and the idea came from young people.
As Rotary's regional membership coordinator, Bonnie said she is "a cheerleader for Rotary and your membership chair (which in our club is Linda Toogood)." The club must be made relevant and attractive to the community. Bonnie suggested we look at our membership list and see what jobs and businesses are unrepresented. She noted that Rotary was founded on the principle of valuing every single occupation and giving them an opportunity to serve.
We recited the Four-Way Test before adjourning the meeting.
Carl Richards said grace, President Dodi Doolittle called our 10-24-13 meeting to order and led us in the pledge of allegiance.
GUESTS: Visiting Rotarian Mel Hansen was back from East Wenatchee, Wash., along his former business partner with Bill Miller, also from Washington.
It was our second reading for membership for Shawn Gibson.
Next week we'll induct John Schreur.
FINES, etc.: Mark Cowling collected fines and happy bucks.
Linda Toogood won the big scratcher ticket. In our big game, with $497 in the pot, Linda drew but had to settle for the 8 of Diamonds.
We need volunteers at the town Halloween carnival; call Barb Kelly, 560-5610, if you can help.
We also need at least one more person to attend Foundation Day with Anita in Tucson on Nov. 2.
The Casa Grande Club will host a trivia night social on Oct. 29 at Native New Yorker; all clubs in Region 4 are welcome.
Our Frank Puglia, who is also a member of the Florence Main Street Program, reminded us of the Smithsonian exhibit "Journey Stories" coming to McFarland State Park next month and said they need sponsors. He asked us to match of double the Lions' gift of $250. We voted to match it.
Also next month ... are we interested in having a float in the Junior Parada parade? Let Dodi Doolittle or Barb know your thoughts.
PROGRAM: Bob Shogren, former president of the Casa Grande daybreak club and also a former member in San Manuel, introduced visioning to us to prepare for our own visioning session.
He said we must first ask "Why Rotary?" Why are we here and what is it about Rotary that keeps us coming back?
We responded it's the service; friendships; networking; cleaning up the roadside and other projects; our students of the month; and the opportunity for international service.
Bob said we must also think of our club's future and where we'd like to be in five years. "That's the question the visioning process asks."
A visioning event takes 2 1/2 hours, usually in the evening with a light meal. People are encouraged to think big, outside the box. It's not strategic planning or business planning. It's a way to help a club sort through its ideas and identify some priorities. It translates vision into an action plan so the club can build for the future.
Some clubs do well with visioning; others aren't quite ready for it, Bob said. He will connect with Dodi and work on some possible dates for our visioning session.
Carl Richards said grace, President-elect Caroline Varela called our 10-17-13 meeting to order, and we pledged allegiance to the flag and said the Rotary grace.
GUESTS: Visiting Rotarian Mel Hansen was back from Washington. There was also Jack Holmes. Art Doloresco, CEO of Florence Hospital at Anthem, and Zenji Reynolds, the hospital's director of radiology, were also here and provided our program.
Caroline said for next week's meeting, Bob Shogren will talk to us about visioning, but we won't have our actual four-hour visioning session at that time.
FINES, etc.: Mark Cowling collected fines and happy bucks.
Barbara Kelly won the big scratcher ticket. With 24 cards left and $483 in the pot, Barbara had to settle for the 10 of Spades.
PROGRAM: Art is from New Jersey, has been married 32 years to a critical care nurse and they have four "great kids." He has worked in health care for more than 30 years and "I love health care." When he works for a hospital, he sleeps in it two nights a week, whether he's sick or not, to know as much about the place as possible. He has been at Florence hospital for six weeks.
A mentor told him once, "As long as you take care of patients and you're a good manager, you'll never have to worry about the money." He has seen hospitals wait for doctors to bring in patients, but his philosophy is "a hospital needs to go out and earn your business every day."
Florence Hospital filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Through bankruptcy, the hospital was able to void contracts that were not favorable to the hospital, and it dropped three insurers — Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna and HealthNet. But even if you're insured by one of these, by law you can still come to Florence Hospital's emergency department and your service is covered, Art said.
If you have one of the canceled insurance plans, Florence Hospital would still like a shot at your non-emergency business as well. The hospital has special cash-only rates for lab and radiology that may be lower than a patient's deductible and copays, the CEO said.
"Call us first and we'll give you the price ... . If our rates are higher, we'll tell you." The hospital's phone number is 868-3333.
Zenji told us that he has been at Florence hospital since it opened. He said the hospital had strong departments before, but it was Art who "brought us together as a hospital."
