Something to Contemplate

The Rotary theme for October is Economic and Community Development, building on the September theme of Basic Education and Literacy. The connection between them is compelling. Do you realize that for every $1 spent on early childhood literacy, $16 is returned to the community — not just in reduced education expenses but in measurable community and economic development? The CEO of Oracle stated several years ago that the major attractant for business and industry to an area is an educated workforce and the quality of the educational system.
Fact: We can predict with a high degree of accuracy a child’s future educational success by age 3-4, based on vocabulary and overall literacy level. That is why the District Governor’s Challenge Project focuses on literacy projects involving all of our clubs. It also is why Susan B. Neuman is one of our keynote speakers at the District Conference on Saturday, October 14. There is no greater legacy we can leave than a literate and educated society.
Speaking of the District Conference, have you registered yet? Most of the block of hotel rooms has already been reserved. Check out the article on the Conference elsewhere in this newsletter.  
Click here to learn more at the District Conference website.  
Click here to go directly to the registration page
District Conference Breakout Sessions 

District 5500 Governor, 2017-2018

Rest in Peace, Dear Friends

We lost two dear friends and dedicated Rotarians in September.  Both died unexpectedly.
Roger Bogard, charter member of the SaddleBrooke Rotary Club, was a Vietnam veteran and fighter pilot. After retirement from the Air Force, he spent many years as a commercial pilot.  One of Roger’s great loves was Rotary. He was a past president of the SaddleBrooke Rotary Club and was the Foundation Chair for the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club. Roger reported for duty on January 3, 1937, in Roswell, N.M., was transferred to higher command on September 3, 2017.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Mary Ellen, and his 3 daughters. We will miss him.
Dave Rickert, immediate past president of the Rincon (Tucson) Rotary Club, died unexpectedly following surgery in mid September. Dave was one of the “good guys” and will be missed greatly by friends and fellow Rotarians. A veteran of 100 sorties over Hanoi during the Vietnam War, Dave was dedicated to his family and Rotary.  He was helping the District plan the Salute to Veterans and Active Duty Military for our District Conference. 
Please keep Dave in your prayers as well.  

Join the Fun,Fellowship Oct. 13-15

At the District 5500 Conference

As District 5500 Conference Chair, I want to see and greet you there October 13-15. It will be informative, engaging, exciting and filled with fellowship and fun! Learn more about the conference through the website on the District’s homepage. You’ll find a video, information about conference speakers and events, and a registration link. There are four outstanding keynote speakers and 20 diverse breakout sessions as well as fun activities for Rotarians and guests/families.  
"Change A Life" is the theme and we hope to energize Rotarians to work in their communities with agencies/schools to support early childhood development and literacy. This is one of four conference tracks. Join us in Making A Difference in the lives of others.
If you have any registration problems, contact Registrar Tom Nelson at tom.nelson@destinationwebs.com or 520-727-1285.
Contact me with questions or concerns at dwoodardaz@comcast.net.
See you in Tucson at the Doubletree.   
Doug Woodard,
Conference Chair
 
Serving the Rotarians and Communities in Southern Arizona
Rotary Hurricane Relief Help Disaster Victims
District 5500 is recommending two options for Rotary Clubs and Friends of Rotary to contribute to relief efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and elsewhere.  The choice of options is a local decision for individuals Rotary Clubs.
   Option #1:  The Rotary District 5500 Foundation is a conduit through which any individual or Rotary Club can make contributions to the hurricane disaster victims.  Donations in any amount may be sent to: District 5500 Foundation Hurricane Relief Fund, c/o Dan Contorno, 8910 N. Shadow Rock Dr., Tucson, AZ  85743. 
 Please indicate on your check that the donation is for hurricane relief.  Please do not send cash.  The Rotary District 5500 Foundation qualifies as an exempt organization under the IRS Code (Federal Tax EIN 27-0824884).  Donations are tax deductible.
At the conclusion of the donation period (to be determined later) District 5500 will determine an authorized Rotary District(s) Foundation to which all donations will be forwarded.
   Option #2:  Individuals and Rotary Clubs may choose to send donations directly to one of the following Rotary District Charitable Foundations.  The Zone Disaster Chairman for Zones 21b and 27 has recommended the following 3 Rotary Foundations.  This way we can be assured that our fellow Rotarians will be spent in the best way possible in their affected areas.
  • Rotary District 5930 is partnered with McAllen North Rotary Fund – a 501(c)3 to set up an Emergency Relief Fund.  Please make checks to McAllen North Rotary Fund (Federal Tax EIN 27-3855943).
    Questions can be sent to DG Betty Ramirez-Lara, 956-683-5706, bettylararotary@gmail.com, PO Box 3882, McAllen, TX  78502.
  • Rotary District 5910.  Funds can be sent to: Rotary District 5910 Charitable Foundation, c/o Bobbie Applegate, 985 IH-10N, Suite 111, Beaumont, TX  77706.
    Questions can be sent to DG Rhonda Herrington, 903-724-8515, Rhonda.herrington@yahoo.com, 616 S. Sycamore, Palestine, TX  75801.
  • Rotary District 5890.  Funds can be sent to: District 5890 Charities, Inc. c/0 Jackie Barmore, 3525 Preston Ave., Pasadena, TX  77505-2008.  Fed. Tax EIN: 76-0569758.
    Questions can be sent to DG Bill Palko, 303-618-6859 (cell), 713-450-2623 (home), William.palko@amergybank.com, 202 Blue Castle Lane, Houston, TX  75015.

USA/Mexico Friendship Conference 
Set for October in Scottsdale

The annual USA/Mexico Friendship Conference and Projects Fair will be held October 26-29 at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale.  It is a great opportunity to meet Mexican Rotarians, learn about Global Grant projects in Mexico, and seek partners and support for your proposed Global Grant.
For information and registration, go to http://usamex.rotary5495.org 
or contact Michael Drake at michael.drake@azbar.org

Support Rotary's Rose Bowl Float

Entering a float into The Tournament of Roses Parade draws attention and makes viewers ask “What is Rotary?”
This year we drew the attention of over 73 million viewers worldwide by winning The Princess Trophy for “the most beautiful float under 35 feet” – our fourth trophy in 14 years. There was no better way to draw attention to Rotary’s Centennial Celebration of The Rotary Foundation than to have viewers tune in to be entertained and see this award-winning float. This resulted in more TV, social media and print coverage of our float than ever before.
Our 2018 Float will represent the first year of our Foundation’s second century. The Tournament of Roses announced their 2018 Rose Parade theme is “Making a Difference.” Coincidentally 2017-18 Rotary President Ian Riseley announced his theme for 2017-2018 is “Rotary – Making a Difference.” What a wonderful theme to describe how our 1.2 million Rotarians impact their communities and the world with their selfless every day acts of kindness.
Please click on any “Donate” button on this website to help fund the cost of this float.
Joseph Ramos III,
Chair 2018 Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee
For more information contact,
PDG Sheryl Christenson at 858-232-5543 or rotariansheryl@gmail.com

Come to Yuma for Foundation Day

All Rotarians are invited to participate in this year’s Foundation Day. This All-Star event featuring TRF Trustee Brenda Cressey as the keynote speaker will be November 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Yuma Civic Center.
Entry costs are $50 and two cans of non-perishable food. The cost of admission includes an All-Star line-up of presenters, lunch and an appetizer social that evening. For more information contact Mike Suba at 928-580-5992 or Chuck Nordquist at 928-246-7916. There is a signup form on the District 5500 web site. And remember, some lucky attendee will win a Paul Harris Award.   Details (pdf) 

Presidio’s October 7 Event
Is a Passport to Fun

The Presidio Passport Event, October 7, 1 to 5 p.m., is an annual fundraiser where participants purchase a Passport allowing them to visit and sample a specialty food item and purchase a specially-priced ($2) signature cocktail at 8 participating downtown restaurants. Once they have visited all participating restaurants, had their Passport stamped and returned to the finish location, they will receive an extra raffle ticket to become eligible for a chance to win a great trip plus $1,000 cash!
Last year’s event was a great success with over 200 participants and this year we are looking to increase the number to 250. Tickets for the raffle or the event can be purchased by calling 520-297-9349 or emailing phc@hwcg.com during business hours.

Recruit and Select Your RYLA Delegates

  • Recruit, interview and select Delegates to fill your reserved spaces.  
  • Encourage previous Delegates to apply for JC positions. The 12 strongest applicants will be selected based on application and phone interview.
  • Consider applying to be an Adult Advisor! Experience RYLA and be a mentor.
All applications due by November 1. Send to: San Luis Rotary, Attn. Marcos Ramirez, PO Box 13926, San Luis, AZ 85349. Applications and information are at www.rylad5500.org
Schedule a RYLA presentation for a Club meeting by contacting Barbara Harrison, District 5500 RYLA Chair, at bjsharrison@comcast.net or 520-250-3437.

Don’t miss the Tucson Classics Car Show

The Rotary Club of Tucson’s 11th annual Tucson Classics Car Show is October 21, 2017 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at The Gregory School,
3231 N. Craycroft. Your $5 admission is also your chance to win a 2008 C-6 Corvette convertible or $15,000 cash, or one of four other great prizes.
Tickets are available online at www.RotaryTCCS.com  and from any Rotary Club of Tucson member. WeBuyHouses.com is the title sponsor.

Vintage Bisbee: Wine, Food and Fun! 

Join us at City Park in Old Bisbee on Saturday, October 7, for great local foods and 30+ wines to sample, micro-brewed beers from Tombstone Brewing Company (and others to be named shortly), jazz and standards from Out of the Blue with Jessica Fleet, raffles, silent auction items and more!

This event, running 4-7 p.m., is our major annual fundraiser that allows our small club to do a tremendous amount of good in Bisbee, Naco, AZ and Naco, Sonora. Tickets and more information are available at https://vintagebisbee.org/cart/tickets-sq.aspx?EID=112033 or call event chair Tom Nelson at 520-727-1285. Groups welcome, news on transportation coming soon!

Join Sunrise for Road Rally and BBQ

The Rotary Club of Tucson Sunrise will be hosting theImage may contain: 6 people, people smilingir 8th Annual Rotary Road Rally to benefit Intermountain Centers for Autism on Sunday, October 22. The Rally will feature celebrated routes through Tucson, route clues and awards and famous Road Rally BBQ.
The route will start at 9:30 a.m. at The Gregory School, 3231 N. Craycroft Road, at the north field. The route will return to the school for the BBQ after touring Tucson and will end at 2 p.m.
Title sponsors are Jim Click Mazda and Coco’s Bakery Restaurants.
Please join us for a day of fun.  For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.RotaryRoadRally.org
Image result for facebook logo  Like us Rotary Club of Tucson Sunrise

1st Annual Presidio Rotary Club
Trap Shoot Invitational

The Rotary Club of Tucson Presidio invites you to its first Trap Shoot Invitational, Sunday, November 19.

Cost is $50 per person, or $250 for a team of five. Cash prizes: For Rotarians only: High-gun wins $1,000, 2nd wins $500, and 3rd wins, $250. High Team is $100 per shooter, and 2nd is $50 per shooter.  Funds raised will support Presidio Rotary charitable efforts including Southern Arizona Justice for Veterans.
For more information presidiotrap@gmail.com or go to www.tucsonpresidiorotary.org

Survey of Club Members Gives Insight for Promotional Materials

The Benson club was established in 1944 and is currently 16 members. The club has begun to search for new members by having informational booths at community events and other methods. When I asked for promotional materials to hand out at the booth, I was handed the booklet “ABCs of Rotary.” While good info, it says nothing about Benson Rotary and what we do, and therefore would not energize someone to attend.
Rather than write a large number of drafts of promotional material and ask for comments, I had everyone in the club tell me what to say. This was done by asking two questions at each weekly meeting, having everyone write down their answers, and having a Club member compile the answers. The last part was done to ensure anonymous answers, hopefully allowing answers that are more honest.
These questions also gave me a feel for what drives club members to our weekly meetings.  
Contact me at azdavidbryan@gmail.com if you’d like the the list of questions and answers.
David Bryan

Cadre Volunteer Stringham Visits Nicaragua project

Daniel Stringham, past president of the Tucson Sunrise Club and a volunteer Cadre with the Rotary Foundation, recently made a site visit to Estelí, Nicaragua, where TRF and Rotary clubs in the Eugene, Oregon, area have sponsored a Global Grant. The trip’s objective was to review their Ecoina Global Grant to acquire factory equipment to build clean, smokeless stoves for homes where open-hearth home cooking fires are used. To date, over 800 clean stoves have been installed to replace the smoky ones. The objective is to cut the high particulate-bearing smoke and help reduce health problems related to the smoke inside the home.  
Interested in joining Cadre? You may have a needed skill in one of the areas of grant focus — particularly in auditing, water & sanitation, disease prevention & treatment and education and literacy. Spanish speakers are in high demand. Phil Silvers (silverlode@cox.net) heads up the Cadre group. For details go to https://my.rotary.org/en/cadre-technical-advisers or email cadre@rotary.org.

World Polio Day October 24

World Polio Day is 24 October, so now is the time to start planning events in your community. Use the resources available on endpolio.org to get started. You’ll find everything you need to plan and promote your event, including outreach guides, sample press releases, and social media messages and graphics.

The World Polio Day anchor event will stream live from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle, Washington starting at 2:30 pm PT to bring together more than 50,000 viewers around the world. Celebrities and global health experts will join us to share our progress on the road to polio eradication.

Save the Date: 2018 Peace Building Conference

“In February 2018, the eyes of the Rotary World will be on Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Zones 24 and 25 will host the Presidential Conference on Environmental Sustainability and Peace — one of six international peace building conferences planned for the 2017-2018 Rotary year. President Ian Riseley has made environmental sustainability a major focus for his year and we are honored that he has chosen Vancouver to hold the first Presidential Conference on this key area.”
John Matthews, International Director   
John asks that you “save the dates” of February 9-11, 2018, and share this information with all Rotarians in your Clubs. For more information click here.

Rincon’s LOCAL program makes teachers’ wishes come true

Rincon Rotary's LOCAL program fulfills grant requests from teachers all over the city, from Marana to Vail, usually for around $500. The Club has competed 92 grants in almost three years of existence, giving teachers what teachers say they need, not what the club, or anyone else, thinks they need.
Case in point: Jessica Pierce, a school counselor at Lineweaver Elementary, put in a request for a Buddy Bench, which kids can sit on when they're feeling lonely, signaling to their peers that they could use a friend. That project now could be expanding to other schools as well.
Rotarians James Mandolini and John Lee had the foresight, vision, and organizational skills to put the program together and guide it to success. The Club’s Taste of Chocolate raises the money for the program.
Read more about LOCAL in this Tucson Weekly article

Arizona leads way in treating veterans with traumatic brain injury

Arizona is leading the way through a private-public partnership plan in utilizing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to treat veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Healing Arizona Veterans (HAV), a charitable organization, has been established to collect donations to treat the first 50 veterans at the two six-person HBOT chambers, one in Tucson and one in Cave Creek. Arizona is unique in the U.S. in having such large-capacity facilities.
To learn more about the Arizona effort, read the PDF summary (link). Additional information on HBOT and the opportunity to donate can be found at http://www.healingarizonaveterans.org/.
Supported by Sa’ad Allawi, board member of HAV and past President of Oro Valley Rotary. sallawi@comcast.net
Newsletter Submission Guidelines
All clubs are encouraged to submit news of previous and upcoming activities for newsletter inclusion. Please keep summaries to about 100 words or so, add a headline and include a photo with a caption if appropriate. Then add a “for more information link” to websites and forms.
Just model your submissions after those in this newsletter and you'll be set.
Additionally, put the name of your club and the month the article will run in the subject line of your email to newsletterAZ5500@gmail.com. Submit the article ONLY as a .doc or docx. No pdfs or flyers, please. Typically the deadline is the 15th of each month for publication around the 1st of the next month.
For the month of November the deadline will be November 20th, publication Nov. 5th.
Questions? Contact Maria Parham at newsletterAZ5500@gmail.com or   520-975-3335.
 
MEMBERSHIP CHART DISTRICT 5500
Club Name
Members as of
July 1,  2016
Members as of July 1, 2017
Members as of
Aug 31, 2017
Ajo
8
8
9
Benson
15
16
16
Bisbee
21
19
19
Casa Grande
29
21
21
Casa Grande Daybreak
10
9
9
Catalina (Tucson)
57
56
57
Cienega (Vail)
15
14
13
Coolidge
14
10
11
Douglas
12
8
9
Eloy-Robson Ranch
14
8
8
Florence
21
19
19
Fort Yuma
60
67
69
Gila Bend
10
7
7
Gila Valley
21
20
20
Globe
21
19
19
Green Valley
30
32
34
Kearny
8
0
0
Marana
19
21
23
Marana Dove Mountain
25
23
23
Maricopa
9
12
12
Miami
19
18
17
Mountain Empire-Sonoita
21
15
15
Nogales
27
24
24
Old Pueblo (Tucson)
32
37
39
Oro Valley
33
34
36
Pantano (Tucson)
21
18
20
Pima (Tucson)
12
0
0
Rincon (Tucson)
30
40
39
Rio Rico
20
19
20
SaddleBrooke
41
42
46
Saddlebrooke Sunrise
27
30
31
Safford
16
17
16
San Luis Frontera
8
11
12
Sierra Vista
51
53
57
Sierra Vista South
12
13
16
Sierra Vista Sunrise
25
28
28
Sierra Vista West
18
19
18
Somerton
15
18
17
Superior
7
4
7
Tubac
27
28
28
Tucson
229
237
235
Tucson (Casas Adobes)
33
33
33
Tucson Kino
16
17
17
Tucson Presidio
21
30
28
Tucson Sunrise
56
48
47
Tucson Sunset
21
19
19
Valle Verde-Green Valley
55
47
51
Willcox
11
13
13
Yuma
113
115
113
Yuma Crossing
25
23
25
Yuma Foothills
18
18
16
Yuma North End
9
10
11
Yuma Sunrise
18
20
20
DISTRICT TOTALS:
1,506
1,487
1,512
 
 
Loss of 19 =
(-1.3%)
Gain of 25 = +1.7%
Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
Sage
ClubRunner