President Clent Walker presided, Art Harrington guided us in prayer, Phil Goode led us with the pledge to our flag, Stan Steiner with the Four Way Test, and Jane Anne with singing America. Thanks to John Stewart for registration, Dwayne Warrick for our greeter, and Donna and Ray for set-up and take down.
Several Thoughts of the Day by Greg Raskin: “You never realize what you have until it’s gone….toilet paper is a good example” & “Whoever said ‘out of sight, out of mind’ has never had a spider disappear in their bedroom” & “I realize that I am a prisoner to my phone, that’s why they call it a cell phone” & “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Todd Clancy reminded all that we will continue to collect donations for the Trunk or Treat October food drive during the next two weeks. AJ Sheridan announced their first virtual RYLA meeting was held last week and the RYLA at Pinerock this January will be virtual. He also asked members to bring in any pre-owned coats for the Clothes for Kids drive to ensure kids keep warm during the winter. Coat donations can also be dropped off on Nov. 6 near the corner of Montezuma & Goodwin. Bud Ackerman reminded us that we will be holding our Veteran’s program on Nov. 11 in the larger ballroom and encouraged members to bring a guest.
Linda Mast provided an ‘enhanced safety’ induction of our club’s two new members, Laura Vanderburg from Cody, WY Rotary 
and 
Chelsea Sederstrom from Touchmark. Welcome aboard and good luck to our newest members!
In advance of our club’s annual refurbishing of the All Vets Memorial, John Stewart provided a poignant slide show presentation on the memorial, centering on the massive 2006 upgrade by the Sunup Rotary club. Lots of cherished memories. Sergeant at Arms Jane Anne, left with virtually no time after the slide show to levy her financial damage upon us, immediately fined John $20 for hijacking her time and asked for $5 all around so as not to infringe on our speaker’s presentation. Congratulations to Ray for taking the pot.
AJ Sheridan introduced our guest speaker, Vitaliy Bezrodnov, the Vice President of the Rotary Children’s Fund and founder of the 
International Cultural Exchange Program – “GOLDEN GATES.”Vitaliy provided our club with a unique perspective of Golden Gates with a presentation of the troupe through the lens of the Rotary Four Way Test. Vitaliy, himself a professional musician and actor, was born in the former Soviet Union in what is now the South Asian country of Kazakhstan. He began his odyssey in the US with a cultural exchange program and afterwards organized a very successful Russian folk music group called Moscow Nights Trio and decided to remain in the US.
In line with the Rotary Children’s Fund goals to promote good will between countries by funding organizations that contribute to peace, cultural understanding and appreciation through the arts, Vitaliy established the Golden Gate Dancers 18 years ago, a group of young, talented artists from Russia, Georgia, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Lithuania, offering an entertaining and authentic glimpse into those countries through music, song and dance. Golden Gates has been touring the US since 2003. Each tour usually runs for two-five weeks, traveling by a large van through 20-25 states from New York to California. They often visit Rotary clubs and are hosted by local Rotarians, giving them many opportunities to learn about Rotary. The performers range in age from 16 – 21 and are chosen from their respective country’s public schools, cultural arts centers, music schools and dance academies.
Golden Gate performed here in Prescott at Camp Pinerock in January 2020 with an eclectic array of traditional folk music, song and dance. As several of our Sunup members discovered, much of their performance includes asking for and simply grabbing members of the audience to participate in their humorous song and dance sketches. Vitaliy’s efforts with Golden Gate are without doubt building good will and better friendships between the people of the US and other countries through better understanding of different cultures, music and traditions. Keep building those cultural bridges Vitaliy!
John Scholl was born and raised in the east county area of San Diego. He attended the University of California, Riverside where he earned a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry in 1990. He worked as a mobile environmental chemist in the Los Angeles area for four years until he decided to pursue his desire to teach high school. 
