May 6, 2009 - Lunch

Many thanks to our greeters, Jerry Samos and Phyllis Henry, Max Link and his crew for setting up the room for us, Don Basta for his lovely invocation, and Richard Saunders leading us in God Bless America accompanied by Lloyd Meyers on the organ. We will look forward to Tom Kasler and Carroll Vanik greeting us next week.

An additional thanks to Vice President Susan Vanik for standing in for David Bell this week.



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WELLNESS REPORT: Nancy Carpenter provided the wellness report today for Lou Snodgrass, who is under the weather with the flu. Nancy also stated that John Denaro was out with back problems and it had been reported that Blaine Keith had taken another fall.


GUESTS: Alfie Kraus with the Kiwanis Club of New River attended our meeting today. She wanted to remind everyone of their club’s 13th annual Lobsterfest this Saturday, May 9th from 5-9pm at the Roadrunner Saloon on Black Canyon Hwy. Tickets are $25 in advance ($30 at the door). Call 623-465-5959 for further information.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Yearbooks: Ted Dimon announced he still has yearbooks available to anyone who has not yet received one.

33rd Annual Kiwanis Golf Tournament: Bob Kroyer asked everyone to help in this year’s annual golf tournament scheduled for September 21st at Desert Forest Golf Club. He reported we are in need of sponsors, silent auction items and donated items, as well as players. Please see Howard Dicke or Bob Kroyer for further information.

Kiwanis Club of Desert Ridge Golf Tournament: Kathy Haugner reminded everyone of the Desert Ridge club’s golf tournament being held on Friday, June 5th at Orangetree Golf Club. The cost is $95/person. Proceeds will benefit Builder’s Club and K-Club for that chapter.

PROGRAM:
Our speaker today, Dan Subaitis, is the Director of Animal Management at the Phoenix Zoo. Dan grew up in Chicago, where his High School backed up to Brookfield Zoo (home of the first indoor rain forest exhibit) and he began working there at age 17. He attended Northern Illinois University and later earned a Master’s degree from Moorhead in Management of Exotic Animals. Dan and his wife subsequently moved to Kenya where they had two children and spent seven years managing a 65,000 acre private sanctuary located 20km from the equator at an elevation of 6,000 feet.

Dan provided slides of various animals during his presentation, as well as shared some interesting stories pertaining to his work all over the world, including shipping 16 elephants to Japan, his work at Disney World and Universal Studios, as well as training animals for Ringling Brothers. When asked by one of our members, he indicated he has been fortunate not to have sustained any major injuries while working with the wild animals, which he attributes to his 100 percent focus on safety and respect for the animals while being around them. He stated they will always be “wild” animals no matter how tame they may seem.

Thanks to Reporter Janie French and Photographer Michael Moore for contributing to this issue of the Sundial.