March 26, 2015
The Santa Claus Rotary Club
Tempe Rio Salado Meeting Minutes March 26, 2015 ATTENDANCE Members: Larry Horton, Ben Eubank, Patrick de Haan, Geoff Pashkowski, Corey Bruggeman, Kent Hendricks, Karen Ingersoll. Linda Ingersoll, Sibil Ingersoll, and Diana Ingersoll. Guests: Parker Horton – Medford Oregon Rich Miller – from the Rotary Club of Merced (CA, District 5220) Mick Stein - from the Rotary Club of Port Huron (MI, District 6330) Mathew Nickolai - from Anchorage South Rotary Club (AK, District 5010) 7:00 AM: Meeting called to order by President Larry. Invocation: Ben Eubank Pledge of Allegiance: Kent Hendricks Four-way Test: Pat de Haan, Karen Ingersoll
Our club has doubled in size! DISCUSSION 1. Three of our guests are here for Make-ups from their clubs. What an interesting group! 2. Have you all seen the new Easter video creation yet? Be prepared to laugh! http://youtu.be/pqxNcbStSDw 3. The Microcredit Lending Project in Hermasio, Mexico is going well. Stacy Gates from CSR was able to travel with the group that recently visited the area and see the progress being made. Yay! 4. A question was raised from one of our visitors, Matt Nickolai. Why are we called The Santa Claus Club? This was a great opportunity to share the what’s and whys about the many Christmas projects we do.. our visitors were impressed! We also talked about the different ways we support the military, and the Asteroid project. 5. Pat circulated pictures from our March 4th post-Christmas event at Saint Peter’s Indian Mission School on the Gila River Indian Reservation. 6. April will be a busy month for us Rotarians… a. April 30th – Rocky Point project. Many CXR members will be going, TRS are welcome as well. b. April (tbd) – Habitat for Humanity c. April 9-12 – RYLA! Larry will be participating so will be absent from the regular meeting that week, and the week following. d. April 11 – RYLA Introduction Day. Parents and other community members can come to see what this Leadership camp is all about. 7. Asteroid Project… Pat has the certificates to present to the District Governor and Governor Elect. 8. The Club bills are paid. 9. May 15-16 – District Conference at the Point Tapatio. CXR will be selling T-shirts as a Fund Raiser. 10. Paul Harris Foundation is covered. This is a really big deal!
HAPPY $$
Geoff is happy to be here on such a nice day. Welcomes the guests! Kent happy that the Hawkeye’s are doing so well. Karen happy and thankful for all of the moving help, and had fun celebrating March birthdays with family. Also, has another identity… Diana! Pat is really looking forward to his and Bobbi’s 25th Anniversary trip to Hawaii in September.
Larry is happy that his cousin, Parker, is visiting. Also looking forward to RYLA. Rich.. Ben was razzing him about Texas A&M, but he held his own! Rich is visiting AZ specifically to watch the spring training games. Mick very happy that Detroit is making a comeback. And Michigan State Spartans are doing great! Matt… Ben teased him about Sarah Palin (no-one is immune to Ben’s harassment). Turns out, he knows the family very well! Matt has performed for every president since Ford, and treated us to a demonstration of Illeagosiik, a traditional Eskimo game in which complex patterns are created by slipping a circle of string over the fingers, often in accompaniment to songs and chants based on Eskimo myths. He shared a particularly interesting and funny story about performing for Reagan and Gorbachev. Could Matt be responsible for the renewed peace between the US and Russia? The things that make you go “Hmmm….. “. Corey threw in some late $$. Shared that his wife, Patti, was engaged to one of the San Francisco Giants prior to meeting Corey. Ben very happy to have our guests. Also had a very successful hunting trip with his grandson. Ben got himself a buffalo!
The meeting was completed with a presentation of the Club Banner to our guests!
Have a terrific week everyone!
Mick Stein
Mathew Nickolai
Rich Miller
Parker Horton
Rotary Microcredit Project in Sonora Mexico March Tour to Hermosillo MX. The March 20/21 tour of the Hermosillo Microcredit Project was a great success. The group consisted of Rotary clubs members from 8 different clubs from District 5500 & 5510. Clubs represented were: Oro Valley, Nogales, Val Verde, Fountain Hills, Mesa East, Camelback Crossroads, Tempe South, and SanTan Crown. Also represented were members of our Microcredit Project Host Partner, Pitic RC Hermosillo, and the President of FinReg, our MFI partner in this project. The tour started in Nogales AZ on Friday 3/20 at the Burger King for introductions and a lite snack. We then proceed to cross the border and to take a taxi to the Tufesa Bus terminal, a short 10 min ride in beautiful downtown Nogales Mx. The bus ride was a quick 3 hrs trip on a clean and comfortable bus with A/C and a movie, in Spanish. After arriving in Hermosillo we were met by the Host Club and FinReg for a van ride to the Ibis hotel. We had a few hours to settle in and enjoy fellowship at the lobby bar before going to dinner with our hosts. Before Dinner the FinReg MFI made a presentation highlighting their Microcredit Program history and answered questions from the group. Dinner was a feast and no one went home on an empty stomach. After dinner several members of the group walked to the local Cathedral, about ½ mile, and enjoyed the Mexican fiesta activities on a beautiful warm night. We started the morning on Saturday with a nice breakfast and the tour started at 9AM. Due to the size of the group we split into 2 groups and headed out to meet the Microcredit clients. The tour took approx 4 hours and both groups got to see 6 borrowers, ask questions and see how their contributions to this project directly impacts the people we serve. I think everyone went away with a better understanding of how Microcredit helps the borrowers provide a better living for themselves and their families. After a nice lunch we got together for more fellowship before heading to the Bus terminal for our return to the border. After crossing the border, no line or wait which was great, we retrieved our cars for the trip home. I want to thank all the tour members, the Host RC, and especially FinReg for this wonderful experience. The bus fare and the hotel were paid for by FinReg, for that we are very grateful. Our next tour to the Microcredit project will be: Hermosillo; overnight trip on May 8/9 Nogales; 1 day trip on May 23rd If you or other members of your club are interested in going to see either of these projects or would like to schedule a Microcredit Presentation to your club please contact me directly at terrylubsen@yahoo.com, or call 480-699-9649 or 480-250-8159, to reserve your spot on a trip or a club presentation. Contributions to this next Global Grant should be sent to Fountain Hills Rotary Club Foundation Microcredit PO Box 18188 Fountain Hills AZ 85268. Terry