The meeting was a Rotary club meeting with low attendance due to multiple members being on vacation. The meeting officially started with the Pledge of Allegiance. The club heard from their guest speaker Fran, who introduced Luke 5 Adventures Tucson, a nonprofit organization that provides adaptive hiking experiences for individuals with disabilities using specialized rickshaw-like devices called Rosies. The organization has grown from seven hikes in 2022 to 70 hikes in 2025, serving over 200 hikers with the help of approximately 130 volunteers.
Other updates included news about Andrea leaving the club to become assistant town manager, the installation of Emma as district governor, and plans for hosting a young man from South Korea at Ironwood Ridge High School through a youth exchange program.
Happy Bucks:
Bob – Headed to Oklahoma where 4 generations of family members will gather for a month-long reunion.
Don – Enjoying a vacation in Flagstaff with family. They took their grandson to Sunset Crater on Monday.
Mark - Spent the weekend in Flagstaff and attended a Jerry Seinfield show at NAU, the best Uni in AZ! He’s currently attending a state-wide administrator’s retreat at El Conquistador. Two of the school’s principals earned honors as Best in the State (MHS & Roadrunner)!
Harold – Lost his phone and his daughter could find it via the app. When he returned to the bank the next morning, they greeted him at the door with his phone.
John – Is impressed with the ability of AI to help plan a trip to Yellowstone with a grandson and his buddy. They’re leaving later in July.
Gregg – Looking forward to finishing a home project to provide shade for the 3 Sulcata tortoises. He discussed his experience with sulcata turtles, explaining how they unexpectedly had 43 baby turtles after one of their female turtles laid clutches. He described the challenges of caring for the turtles, including building an enclosure with railroad ties and creating a pool with rebar. Gregg mentioned that while the turtles were once popular and could be sold for around $50 each, he is not interested in selling them and is working to prevent future breeding.
Fran – Will be spending time with his 1 year old granddaughter and helping the family move from New Mexico to California.
Cindy – Announced that an exchange student from South Korea will e attending Ironwood Ridge High School. She’s headed to Yuma to meet with several exchange students including recently returned Maddie Brooks, outbound Bella Rector and current inbound Ilinca Vlasceanu.
Loop 5 Adventures Tucson Presentation
Fran Emmerling presented Loop 5 Adventures Tucson, highlighting their growth from 7 hikes in 2022 to 70 hikes in 2025 with over 1,600 volunteer hours. He explained their use of modified Rosie devices (single-wheel rickshaw-like equipment from France) to enable hiking experiences for people with disabilities, with three current devices and approximately 130 volunteers in their database. The organization conducts various activities including regular hikes, special events like date nights and sunset hikes, and partnership programs with Jonni and Friends and Tim Tebow's Foundation.