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We welcomed the return of our president Clent to preside over the meeting. Linda guided us in prayer, John White with the pledge, Roy with the 4-Way Test, and the Thought of the Day provided by Donna in remembrance of MLK Day: “You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” Marin Luther King. Clent reminded the club that we are enthusiastically reaching out for volunteers to take notes during our meetings. Please contact Dwayne Warrick if you are interested in assisting our club in this way. Greg Raskin and Richard Hernandez volunteered to act as the Sgt. at Arms. All those who are not volunteers for note takers were fined a buck, Dennis was fined for his new rescue dog Gigi, Richard fined all who did not exercise this morning a buck, Dan had a happy buck for 51 years of marriage and is in peril of another $10 fine unless he visits an ‘unnamed’ jewelry store for his anniversary needs, Jane Anne paid for a successful end to the charity auction, Jerry F. donated $10 “just because” and we were all relieved to hear Dan is recovering well from his bout with Covid. Laura Vanderberg had six happy bucks for the six new volunteers for the PASS meal program, and reminded volunteers they are welcome to prepare the shelter meal for 30 at their homes. Clent was happy to be back with $10 another $10 for our guest speaker DG Elizabeth, Donna covered Elizabeth’s $10 fine, all members are now aware of John Stewart’s Facebook stalking as he congratulated DG Elizabeth for her son’s birthday and her hot air balloon ride. Sunup had the prodigious honor or welcoming 2020-2021 District 5495 Governor Elizabeth Mahoney as our guest speaker. In 10 short years, Elizabeth has  served Rotary in many capacities. She successfully launched the Sun City Satellite Club and served as the club’s first chairperson. Her strong Rotary background includes being a former District Rotary Foundation Chair, Rotary Youth Exchange mom and committee member, Emerging Rotary Leaders committee member, and leading two Interact Ambassador to Kenya teams. She served as chief of staff to PDG, Nancy Van Pelt and manages several innovative special projects. Elizabeth began by expressing her deep-felt feelings for our club, as Sunup occupies a special place in her heart. She started things off by illuminating on the 2020-21 Rotary International theme, Rotary Opens Opportunities, which asks Rotarians to create opportunities that strengthen their leadership, help put service ideas into action, and improve the lives of those in need. The theme is symbolized by three open doors symbolizing opening the doors for Rotaracts, Interacts, and Rotarians. While acknowledging the massive challenges brought on by the Covid pandemic, Elizabeth stated that it was her highest honor to be at the helm during these times as the Rotary clubs of our district put on pause their usual programs in order to address head on the specific problems of these uniquely challenging times. She had particular praise for Sunup as an exemplary club which stepped into action and went the extra mile to address the needs of those impacted by the pandemic. Elizabeth spoke about the far-reaching effects of Rotary, and shared with our club the heartwarming experiences of how her son Caleb, born with a congenital challenge, rose above those challenges as he succeeded through his experiences with RYLA, his participation with an Interact team in Africa, Youth Exchange in Italy, Rotaract, and finally becoming a Rotarian himself. Elizabeth provided two poignant accounts of how Rotary in general, and our club in particular, dramatically transformed the lives of so many in Kenya forever. The first account involved her experience with Interact delivering mobility devices to impoverished villages in Kenya, including giving the gift of wheelchair mobility to a woman who had spent 40 years dragging herself on the ground. In the second account, she described how she was there when, after 10 years, the Rotary sponsored water project finally found water, providing a village with water for the first time ever. Sunup is a sponsor of both the mobility project (Crutches for Africa) and the water projects. The presentation was concluded with the announcement that in lieu of a Covid/Zoom format District Conference, our District will be holding a ‘Rotarians at Week of Service.” This entails asking all 70 clubs as well as Interacts and Rotaracts in the District to organize a community service project during the week of April 17 – 24. Elizabeth finished her presentation with this thought: “The small, little gestures that you do, the opportunities you open for someone, are life-changing forever.” Thank you, Elizabeth, for your heartfelt and inspiring vision of Rotary, District 5495, and our club! |
