Following the Pledge President Holt provided words of wisdom from Rotary 1957. Basically Rotary is universal and to thrive we must build on our commonalities and not focus on our differences. Next came a rousing rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame led by Lynn Himmer. 
Attendance continues to be lackluster mostly due to the summer travel plans of many members. There was one hell of a welcoming for Marana's version of the wondering son, Mark Murray. Good to see you, Mark. Hope the bike ride across Iowa next week goes well.
Guests included potential new member Jason Halper and Fonda Insley, Tucson Club member and friend of Mary Straus.
Brief discussion of our hastily submitted District Grant proposal. Due to number of requests and limited funds a cutoff date was imposed. President Holt has submitted a $10,000 proposal (half from our club with possible input from Dove Mountain Club) to provide reading material for young children in conjunction with the Diaper Bank program of the the Maana Food Bank. Also involved is MUSD's Christine Noriega.
 
 Javier got pinned by President Holt!
 
 
Happy bucks came from many including Joe Farr, a BIG boxing fan. Who knew? Some sad bucks when Randy shared with the club news of the passing of Rotary International's President elect. Sam F Owori of Uganda was to be only the second RI President from Africa.
Speaker Michael Drake, a Stanford University graduate and UA trained attorney, was our speaker. His topic was a grant proposal for the area often referred to as Palestine. Mr Drake did his utmost to remain unpolitical in educating us on the troubled history of the area from League of Nations decision to split TtransJordan and Palestine from the area controlled by Lebanon and Syria. This is a fascinating opic and one in which I personally am quite interested in. However, space does not allow for me to go into greater detail from the two pages of notes.
Bottom line there is a Rotary Club in Ramallah and one in Bethlehem plus two more. The Club in East Juruselem   is seeking a Global Grant to assist with Ramallah Club in funding the Princess Basma School that serves about 300 disabled kids. Money will be for remodel of library, computers and training material. Total including match would be $70,000.
 
DO NOT FORGET: Maribel, our Nigerian Exchange Student, arrives this Friday at the Tucson Airport. Please try to join your club members. Be there by 6 pm and flight arrives at 6:14 pm.