March 25, 2009 - Lunch

Joan Hofer and Ted Dimon greeted us as we entered with invitations to attend Western Night in the space set up for us by Max Link and company. Look for lucky drawing winners Karl Nagel and Howard Dicke to welcome you next Wednesday.

President Dave Bell called us to order and invited Pastor Bob Hutson to offer the Invocation. Rich Saunders then directed our singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” accompanied by Lloyd Meyer. The Pledge of Allegiance followed.






Science Project Winners
As we enjoyed our meal, Jim Walborn had the pleasure of introducing several winners of our recent Kiwanis Science Fair. The winning students and their principals and teachers from Cactus Shadows High School, Sonoran Trails Middle School, Horseshoe Trails Elementary, and Bella Vista School thanked Kiwanians for the motivation to showcase their science acumen. This year 2,000+ projects were judged.


Below are some pictures from the Science Fair



Dinner Theater
On our Arts and Sciences lunch program, budding scientists were followed by local artists - three singers from the cast of the upcoming Desert Foothills Theater production of The World Goes ‘Round: Songs of Kander & Ebb - presented three jazzy numbers from the upcoming March 26 – April 5 production at the Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center Main Stage.


Desert Foothills Theater Entertainment



Guests
Our guests included Joan Hofer (George), Desert Ridge Kiwanians John Kriekard and Thom Von Hapsburg (Dave Bell), Margo Hull-Saunders (Rich), Joel Weldon (Noah Kendrick).

Wellness Report
Lou Snodgrass welcomed Wally Joachim back after a three-month absence due to illness. Nicky Rycroft, Tom’s wife, is in the hospital and in need of our thoughts and prayers.

Announcements

Desert Ridge Club 1st Annual Golf Tournament
Desert Ridge Club President John Kriekard was on hand to tout the new club’s first golf tournament to be held Friday, June 5, at Orange Tree Golf Resort. For information on the 7:30 a.m. shotgun start event, phone Mr. Kriekard at 602-449-2298.

Flea Market Coming
Flea Market Co-Chair Phylliss Henry thanked all full-time and part-time Fleas for their assistance last weekend in raising over $11,600. Donations are needed to restock the shelves for the next sale. Pick-up available! Call 480-488-8400, leave a message and a Flea will get back to you.

Awards of Excellence
Two members received awards for their contributions to Kiwanis. Manny Gonzales received the Distinguished Member award from Kiwanis International and will be recognized at the upcoming Convention in Nashville, TN. Rich Saunders received the Bronze Key for sponsoring a new member.

Nominations
Dave Bell read the slate of candidates for the Board for 09 – 10:
Susan Vanik President
Manny Gonzales President-Elect
Jon Loffman Vice-President
David Bell Immediate Past President
Herb Hayde Secretary
Janie French Assistant Secretary
Elaine Adrian Treasurer
Howard Dicke Assistant Treasurer
Lenny Brown Director 2nd Year
Chuck Hoch Director 2nd Year
Bruce Lukowiak Director 2nd Year
Kirk Wilson Director 2nd Year
Paula Scully Director 1st Year
Joe DeVito Director 1st Year
Ray Arnold Director 1st Year
Mike Herrod Director 1st Year

Western Night
Sign up for Western Night, Saturday April 18 at Los Cedros. Only $50/person – price includes dinner, open bar, horse show and live auction. Do you have a talent you can contribute to the live auction at Western Night? Contact Michael Moore at 595-6480 or mmmoore@usa.net.

Pancake Breakfast
John Loffmann reminded club members of the upcoming Saturday, April 11, Pancake Breakfast at the Carefree Town Center. An Easter Egg Hunt for community children will be held in conjunction with this year’s event. Volunteers will be needed on Friday afternoon, April 10, to set up tables and chairs as well a host of flippers, servers, and greeters for Saturday’s main event.

Donation
President Dave Bell announced the reception of a generous check in the amount of $6,000 from Bill and Beverly Rockford in support of our Scholarship Fund.

Guest Speaker
Greg Moorhead introduced our Guest Speaker, Joe Yuhas. Mr. Yuhas, a partner at RIESTER, an advertising, public relations, and public affairs firm, presented a program on “Solutions Through Higher Education”

Solutions Through Higher Education is a public education effort aimed at
raising awareness of the critical role higher education plays in ensuring
economic prosperity for our country and our citizens. Their mission is to raise
the educational level of all Arizonans and help residents understand the
importance of investment in education.

Accompanied by video and PowerPoint slides, Mr. Yuhas asserted that our society’s lack of investment in higher education is eroding the United States’ economic competitiveness on the international stage.

The organization’s web site states: “As a nation, we are not producing enough educated, highly skilled workers to compete in the global economy. Statistics and studies bear this out. And yet, the American public seems unaware of the severity of the situation. This crisis is especially acute in Arizona, which lags the rest of the nation in college completion and other key measures of educational performance.”

For more information, visit the Solutions Through Higher Education web site at http://www.highereducationsolution.com/

Below are several videos of today's speaker and the entertainment provided by The Desert Foothills Theatre.


Solutions Through Higher Education Part 1



Solutions Through Higher Education Part 2



Solutions Through Higher Education Part 3



Solutions Through Higher Education Q&A

March 18, 2009 - Charter Day Lunch

Kirk Wilson – despite a bad back - welcomed the group and announced that Gene Laibe, our only remaining original Charter Member, was in attendance. Gene was seated with our soon-to-be newest member, Pat Johnson who had just turned in his application and check. Kirk also announced that it was good to see Blaine Keith and Don Parks at the Charter Lunch.






Dave Bell also welcomed our Kiwanis members and guests. He was followed by Ray Arnold with the invocation. Ray informed us that past member Erv Shutze, honorary member Nicky Rycroft and Bob Hesselgesser’s wife are in ICU need our prayers. Laura Ensign, wife of member Tom, is out of the hospital and bouncing around.

Dr. Richard Saunders led us in our patriotic song. Pres. Dave led us in the Pledge.
The lunch was great. We dined on salad, chicken roulade, asparagus, and chocolate mousse with whipped cream in a chocolate cup.

Dave Bell then introduced three guests that were with Kiwanis Members. Susan Vanik introduced Denise – an employee of Carefree Resorts - is interested in being a member of our club and will be filling out an application. Jacquie Goodspeed introduced a friend from Vermont. Tom Kleecan introduced his guest, a neighbor of his.

We had several new members and first time attendees at our meeting.

The past Presidents, Lt Governors and Governor were all introduced. We have received all three Club Visit Circles last year because of Herb Hayde whom as SW District Governor and Kathy Haugner as LT Governor at the same time. This helped our club get these three awards for the first time in our 36-year history.

All past Hixon award winners were introduced and the newest member was announced. Kathy Haugner is our newest Hixon award member. She received a plaque, and medal to wear and a pin for her lapel. In addition, she received a small vase of roses. Kathy is still very involved in the club and in many other community groups. We were proud to present her with this award. She thanked us for her opportunity to serve.

Five Honorary Members were at the meeting and received Appreciation Awards for their service to our club. This group works a lot for our club and they are not members. We give them recognition by nomination each year by the Board of Directors to another year as Honorary Members. In attendance were Joan Hofer, Delome Dixon, Janet Bell, Grace Hicks and Martha Keith. Each received a small rose.

Dr. Richard Saunders introduced our entertainment, the Desert Sands Trio. The talented group included bassoonist James Adam, flutist Maralin Coffinger, and clarinetist Charles Sessions.

ANNOUNCEMENTS (Not necessarily made at the lunch)

Nominations :
Alan Haugner, Chair of the Nominating Committee, announced the candidates for the Board for 09 – 10. Other members of his committee were Elaine Adrian, Mick Ennis and Carrol Vanik. Many of the names of the candidates are very familiar. Alan hopes that next year we have more representation of new members. These names are officially announced, will be officially announced once more, and then voted on without opposition. The 2009/2010 Nomination of Officers and Directors slate is:
Susan Vanik President
Manny Gonzales President-Elect
Jon Loffman Vice-President
David Bell Immediate Past President
Herb Hayde Secretary
Janie French Assistant Secretary
Elaine Adrian Treasurer
Howard Dicke Assistant Treasurer
Lenny Brown Director 2nd Year
Chuck Hoch Director 2nd Year
Bruce Lukowiak Director 2nd Year
Kirk Wilson Director 2nd Year
Paula Scully Director 1st Year
Joe DeVito Director 1st Year
Ray Arnold Director 1st Year
Mike Herrod Director 1st Year

Western Night:
Sign up for Western Night, Saturday April 18 at Los Cedros. Only $50/person – price includes dinner, open bar, horse shoe and live auction.
Have a talent you can contribute to the live auction at Western Night – contact Michael Moore at 595-6480 or mmmoore@usa.net.

Pima Air Museum trip:
Thursday March 26 leaving from Desert Foothills Lutheran Church at 8 am returning about 5 – 6 pm. Bus round-trip = $24 and museum entrance = $12.50. Contact Bob Leininger at 595-8787.

Science Fair Winners:
The 1st Place Winners Kiwanis Science Fair winners will be at our regular lunch meeting on March 25 – this coming Wednesday - to present their projects and be introduced to the Kiwanis membership. Come see what we have helped achieve. Let us applaud these young winners.

Thanks to Hans Thiele and John Denaro for welcoming us this beautiful day, to our set up crew, Father Dart for the Johnny Appleseed invocation, and to Lloyd Meyers and Richard Saunders for leading us in our Club Song and America the Beautiful. We look forward to Ted Dimon and Herb Engdahl greeting us at the door in two weeks -- next week is the Annual Charter Lunch at Carefree Conference Resort.




Click on the photos above to enlarge or download.


Today’s guests included Don Burton, friend of George Bowles; Mark, Sue and Jake Engdahl, son, daughter-in-law and grandson of Herb Engdahl, respectively; Erik Spurgin, son of Ralph Spurgin; and soon-to-be-a-new-member John Voloudakis, guest of Jon Loffman.

Brian Kunkel was given the Award Poster Board showing all of the awards that were received by the club during his presidency.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Wellness Report:
President Dave acknowledged how great is was to have Don Parks back with us today. Lou Snodgrass indicated everyone was doing well and Ed Knight reported Nicky Rycroft had been released from the hospital after having fallen earlier and was doing well.

Annual Charter Lunch:
The Annual Charter Lunch is next Wednesday, March 21st at the Carefree Conference Resort with the reception starting at 11:00am and lunch at 12:00 noon. He wanted to thank Carroll Vanik and Richard Saunders for their help with regard to entertainment, which will be the wonderful sounds of a wood-wind trio.

Flea Market:
Kirk Wilson reported the next flea market is scheduled for Saturday March 21st and asked all the “usual” and any “not-so-usual” volunteers to contact him about times and specific help needed.

Pancake Breakfast:
Brian Kunkel announced April 11, 2009 as the date for our next pancake breakfast and indicated everyone would be receiving their 10 tickets in the mail to either sell, buy or return. Volunteers are needed for set up, service and ticket sells, and should contact Brian or Jon Loffman for more information. Brian also awarded Jake Engdahl with a crisp $100 bill for selling the most tickets at his school for the last pancake breakfast.

Western Night:
Ted Dimon reminded everyone to mark their calendars for Western Night on April 18, 2009 at Los Cedros. The cost has yet to be determined. Ted stated there will be a live auction with all items being relevant to Kiwanis members. In addition, the horse show will be held in the main arena this year in order to provide better seating and more room for the horses.

Caring Corp Raffle Tickets:
Kathy Haugner has raffle tickets available for the Caring Corp. Please see or contact her for more information.

Pima Air Museum:
Bob Lundgren encouraged everyone to join other members and friends for the Kiwanis day trip to the Pima Air Museum on Thursday, March 26th. They are meeting at 8:00am SHARP at the Desert Foothills Lutheran Church parking lot and should return between 5:00 and 6:00pm. The bus fare is $24 round trip and tickets into the museum are $12.50. Contact Bob for further information.

Officers Slate for 2010-2001:
Names are being accepted for anyone who is interested or whom you think would be interested in serving as an officer next year for Kiwanis. Please contact Brian Kunkel and/or Alan Haugner.

PROGRAM
Ralph Pipp introduced guest speaker, Lisa Shevy, with the Junior Achievement program. Lisa was born in Wisconsin and attended ASU where she earned a degree in non-profit leadership and administration. She has been with Junior Achievement for over a year.

Lisa spoke of the Junior Achievement’s (JA) mission: “To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy,” which is accomplished by partnering with schools, businesses and other organizations to provide financial literacy education to children ages kindergarten thru 12th grade. Originally a part of 4-H, JA went out on its own in 1919 with JA of Arizona commencing in 1957. They are currently offered in over 100 countries and reach over 9 million students a year, 90,000 of which were in Arizona last year.

Junior Achievement presently has two 7,000 square foot cities, -- “JA BizTown” and more recently “JA Finance Park” -- that encourage students to learn about the free enterprise system by participating in a simulated town.

They currently have more than 6,000 volunteers from all walks of life that share their time and talent with JA of Arizona. Varied skill levels are needed for volunteer opportunities throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering your time or have or know of a business that would want to partner with JA, contact JA Central District at 480-377-8500 or visit their website at http://www.jaaz.org/.

We appreciate the efforts of reporter Janie French and photographer Sherman Agins on this issue of the Sundial.

March 4, 2009 - Lunch

While our nation’s economic situation is doom and gloom, one’s spirit can’t help but be lifted by today’s friendly greeters John Skarda and Bard Boand. Chuck Hoch and Bob McBreen efficiently prepared our meeting room today. Jayne Hubbard gave a thoughtful invocation, and Richard Saunders and Lloyd Meyer took care of the musical duties.

New member John Denaro was a lucky drawing winner, along with a prospective member and former Kiwanian.

Wellness Report - Lou Snodgrass reported that Tom Ensign’s wife Laura had surgery last Monday for a brain aneurysm. Joe Blitstein recently broke his leg and Wally Joachim and Jack Davis have continuing medical issues, as does Honorary Member Irene Leckman.

Hosts and Guests – Dave Bell hosted wife Janet and brother Ron and wife Sheryl Bell. Andy Tobias introduced his parents Josie and Marv, and George Bowles brought Don Burton, a former Key Clubber.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Charter Day Lunch – Kirk Wilson is taking signups for the annual Charter Day lunch on March 18 at the Carefree Inn.

Golf Tournament – The date has now been established. It will be held on September 21st at the prestigious Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree. We need your help in obtaining sponsors and items to use for the silent auction to make this a significant fund raising event for the Club. Contact Co-Chairs Howard Dicke or Carroll Vanik.

Science Fair – Herb Hayde needs help setting up tables this Sunday morning from 9-11 at the Fine Arts Center. Jim Walborn thanked all who are helping makes this Fair another success.

Donated Eyeglasses – Glenn Hanf is still collecting used eyeglasses to be taken to needy individuals is the Baja.

Foothills Caring Corp – See Kathy Haugner regarding a raffle and fund raising event for the Corp on March 21st.

Trip to Pima Air Museum – A charter bus trip on March 26th is being planned to this outstanding aviation museum near Tucson. Contact Bob Leininger.

New Member Awards – Max Wyatt and Kirk Wilson both received silver key awards for bringing in two new members. Glenn Hanf, Debbi Burdick and Janie French were awarded a bronze key for sponsoring one new member

PROGRAM

The purpose of the program was to educate and explain the chronic genetic disease of Cystic Fibrosis (CF). The first speaker was Chris Maxwell, a cousin of Andy Tobias. She told the story of her daughter Brandie, who battled the disease from age 2 until her passing at age 24. The Executive Director of the AZ Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Jan Lee Sproat then explained there is no known cure for CF and it is often a progressive disease.

CF results from the body producing an overabundance of salt, affecting the lungs and breathing capacity. The CF gene was discovered in 1989 and screening for CF now occurs at birth, to allow for immediate treatment. Medical advances have increased life expectancy from 24 years of age to 37. One in 30 people are carriers of the gene but both parents must be carriers to produce a child with CF.

A young child with CF, Connor, and his father demonstrated the daily regimen of chest compression and use of an inhaler to allow Connor to perform normal daily activities. In response to a question, Ms. Sproat was proud to point out that the CF Foundation operates on a dime; i.e. 90 cents of every dollar contributed goes toward research and care centers for CF.

Next Meeting – The program will be Lindsay Keam speaking about Junior Achievement. .