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Were you a good reader in first and second grade? Were you in the Redbird or the Bluebird group. Do you remember Dick, Jane and Spot or were David, Ann and Zip in your first grade reader? Did you go to college? Are you in a Book Club now? Do you like to curl up with a book or a Kindle and pass the hours reading fiction, history or my favorite historical fiction with an Ipad on my lap.
It is a well proven fact that reading to preschool age children improves their vocabulary and their understanding of the reading process. Unfortunately, if a child is behind in their ability to read in the first few years of education there is a likelihood they will never catch up. If they are adept at learning to read in those early years the chances of success in the classroom and in life grows exponentially as you begin to read to learn. With this in mind local, good hearted, community minded people called Rotarians got together, raised money and donated it for the following project.
The Rotary Club of Marana in conjunction with The Rotary Club of Dove Mountain and Rotary District 5500 raised almost $6,000 towards books for preschool children in the Marana area. Working through Scholastic Book Fairs, to make our dollars go further, we purchased roughly 1,700 books to be distributed free of charge to young mothers through MHC Healthcare's WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. The Fair, held at Roadrunner Elementary in Avra Valley, was this past Tuesday May 22nd. By holding the event at Roadrunner School they too benefited by receiving Scholastic Bucks to be used in book purchases for their school.
Will this project make a difference? Will the learning light shine into even one child's eyes as a direct result of this project? Could we hope for two or three? More? Like planting a seedling this project hopefully will sprout and maybe a future book club member or, dare we hope a Rotarian, may someday trace their thirst for knowledge back to this simple project. I know I remember the books I had available in my childhood home when I was young and I bet you do too.
Rotarians making a difference and seeking members in the Marana area.
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All members and quests in attendance raised their voices in a musical tribute to John Zwick and Harold Burtzloff for their combined 103 years of Service Above Self.
MCAT honoree John Cain, his mother Elaine, two brothers Tim and Victor and a sister. John chose MCAT Secretary Tiffany Montes as someone to accompany him to the award ceremoney as she has been there for him since he started MCAT. John is 22 and running out of time to complete his high school education. He has dropped from MCAT twice but is determined to complete his studies this time. He wants to be a welder and has learned first hand of the doors that are shut to him without a HS diploma. John has a great support system as evidenced by his entourage and his biggest supporter appears to be his mom. His recognition by The Rotary Club of Marana was an emotional occurrence. 
Next we presented John and Harold with token gifts of a Rotary pen and key chain for their support of Rotary over the years. Each has been a member of only one other club. Both were rather stoic in their comments regarding their accomplishments, but John did indicate that the Marana Club has a special feeling and that he has enjoyed our club to a greater degree over the first club he joined 2/13/1963. A rather large cake with special decorations celebrating John and Harold's longevity was sliced distributed to everyone in attendance. Special thanks I believe go to Randy Brooks for spearheading this richly deserved recognition meeting.
Today was a special day also in that Richie Benner was welcomed into Paul Harris Fellowship by District Governor Hentges. Richie has excelled as an active member in his short time with The Rotary Club of Marana and this step is but one more to what we believe will be a long career with Rotary. Congratulations, Richie.
Newly married President Elect, Tony Hunter, led the meeting today. President Jo turned the reigns over to Tony so he could gain some experience running the meeting before taking over officially 7/1/2018.
Beth Garrow of Zone 26 our Rotary Foundation Chair (our zone) and Pam Kerr former PDG in the Chicago area that encompasses Evanston, IL where RI is headquartered. Pam's husband, Andy was also in attendance primarily to make sure Pam did not leave something out of her talk.
Harold Burtzloff made a generous donation to our club's foundation in recognition of his 50 years in Rotary. Thank you Harold for all your service over the years. As many of you are aware Harold also is a recipient of the Wright Bros Master Pilot Award for being a licensed pilot for fifty years. It is an honor to be in the same club as you Mr. Burtzloff.
Pam Kerr made an excellent presentation regarding Rotary's work in Guatemala. Primarily she spoke of the goal of raising 2.5 million to purchase 29 x-ray units. Eleven have been funded and eight have been installed. Each unit can serve between 50,000 to 100,000 persons a year. This is a true Global Grant with Taiwan Rotary clubs sponsoring three of the units. The individual machine/operational cost is $73,000 to run for two years with individual clubs raising $23,000 with the balance from matching funds from District and RI. Cooperation among RI, the Guatemalan Minister of Health and other governmental entities has been wonderful. Pam provided two pages of documentation concerning this project..png)
Susan Friese was our guest speaker from Literacy Connects. Literacy Connects is a Tucson nonprofit connecting people of all ages to a world of opportunities through literacy and creative expression..jpg)
Lots of good discussion regards the Tour de Cookie fund raiser last Saturday. (The real reason we sang to Dan). Randy received a Canadian check that is not as easy to pass as a Loonie. Numerous comments about the Janice Meyer cookie booth and her families baking history. John sold some cookies and commented on the Cookie Monster shirts of several riders. Talk of moving event to earlier in the year. Dan will call a meeting soon to discuss possible changes and what we have learned from this years event. Dan ballparked the net profit at almost $6,000. Thank you EVERYONE that assisted. Due to travel etc several members could not help the day of the event but I know you were with us in spirit.
Tyler McMurrich expressed her appreciation in being selected to attend RYLA. She enjoyed the interaction of being with a large group of strangers as this is fairly new to her. Tyler, a junior at BASIS Oro Valley has had the same 50 classmates for several years. She kind of enjoyed the "no tech" environment where cell phones were abandoned for personal interaction. She found it a challenge to get people to decide/agree in what direction to go for some of the activities. Being the oldest child and fairly opinionated she is used to others following her orders! She is still in contact with a few of the other participants. She liked the rock climbing, but did not participate in the telephone pole/zip line event. She plans on a career as a Forensic Pathologist and has visited schools in New York and also considering Washington University in St Louis, President Holt's alma mater.
Our MCAT student of the month is Xavier Balderrama. He was accompanied by Dani Anich his MCAT attendance coach, his mother and the aforementioned Jim Doty. Xavier has found the smaller classes at MCAT to his liking. He has a knack for anything automotive and plans to study automotive and diesel mechanics after graduation.
I believe he said the school of interest is UTI where auto body is also taught. He comes from a family with a lot of girls and appeared to enjoy a chance to speak. (Humor intended.) With his automotive knowledge he has been useful to fellow students, recently taking a look at a car leaking gas which he diagnosed as safe (probably not going to explode just sitting there) but not driveable. I personally had a 1951 Kaiser/Fraizure that fell into that same category of leaking gas, safe but not driveable without flame retardant clothing. Wish I had known Xavier back in the 60's. Xavier's long term plans would include owning his own shop.
Kimberly Ward, mother of two Eagle Scout's, friend of Richie Benner and Scholastic Book rep was our speaker. A few of the numerous points she made about reading are:
