It seems like it was only a few days ago when we were planning 4th of July celebrations, summer travel and the beginning of our Rotary year. Now here we are, watching our snowbirds return, planning pumpkin festivals and holiday gatherings. The first quarter of the Rotary fiscal year is soon ending.
Our committee chairs are so busy with exciting projects, keeping the calendar updated is a constant challenge. Our club has been blessed with a steady stream of new members; it has been exciting getting to know them all.
The first three months of my Rotary year has been exciting, challenging and fun!
How have your first three months gone? Are you getting what you hoped from being a member of our club? Are you finding the opportunities you want to volunteer, to serve on a committee to lead a group? Are you finding the programs interesting? What else would you like to see?
This is your club! We all came to Rotary for different reasons. For some it is a great place to grab lunch and visit friends. For some it is a place to log in and hear a speaker who interests you. And for others it is a place to take a leadership role and bring your great community idea to fruition. What you want to get out of being a member of Rotary is a personal choice, there are no wrong way to do this.
But if for any reason you aren’t getting what you had hoped from your membership, please let me know. You can help make this club the best it can be, all you have to do is speak up, raise your hand, share an idea. I want to hear from you! Call, email, or text me anytime. I would love to hear any thoughts you have.
Rob DeCou is highly involved in ultra-endurance sports and uses this passion to raise awareness and build community around important issues.
In 2017, Rob completed a 146-mile run across Death Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney known as “the World’s Toughest Foot Race”, raising $700,000 for End Polio Now, Rotary’s global campaign to eradicate polio. The prior year, Rob completed the solo Race Across America, known as “the World’s Toughest Bicycle Race”, a 3,000-mile journey from coast to coast raising over $20,000 to fund brain cancer research. In 2019, Rob swam the 18 mile crossing from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, Canada across the Strait of Juan de Fuca raising over $10,000 through Rotary to fight human trafficking. In October 2020, Rob became the 7th-person to complete Uberman, known as the “World’s Toughest Ultra-Ironman”, raising over $55,000 in the fight against human trafficking.
Rob is the Executive Producer and Co-Founder at Lux Virtual, a full service marketing agency that creates Hollywood-grade video, animation, and immersive experiences to simplify and illuminate brilliant ideas. He is also a proud member of the Playa Venice Rotary Club. Rob lives in Port Angeles, WA with his wife Kristin, son Hudson, and daughter Kalea.
Next up for events, Rob will be running the 68 mile Backbone Trail from Santa Monica to Pt. Mugu teaming up once again with Rotary.
Members of Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke joined together on Saturday, September 18, to help beautify Golder Ranch Road. This has been an annual service project of the club for many years. Always a great fellowship event and a great service to the Catalina community. We would like to thanks the following volunteers for making this project a success again this year:
At our regular meeting on Thursday, September 16, 2021 we were treated with very interesting bios from new members, John and Linda Howard. John a West Point graduate, Army officer, and business manager in the oil service industry and Linda an Army nurse and later a career nurse in the health care industry. If you missed their presentations we encourage you to meet these new residents of HOA2. Welcome John and Linda!
We were very pleased to receive word from the Oracle Community Center this week that they have received and installed their new commercial stove. Many thanks were sent to Saddlebrooke Rotary for making this donation and many thanks to all Rotarians who have participated in this Community Services project. Special thanks to Bre Zientarski and to her committee for their dedication.
The SaddleBrooke Rotary Club Foundation awards grants to youth-oriented groups operating in our immediate area. The grants are funded by the annual Fore For Kids Golf Tournament. If you are aware of youth-oriented organization that could use our help, please provide them with our grant application or direct them to the Club’s website, or to grants chair fredlowy@wbhsi.net (360-907-5778). Applications that were received for the 2020 grant process are on file. Those organizations are being contacted for any necessary updates.
FORE FOR KIDS ANNUAL CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT TO PICK UP WHERE IT LEFT OFF
In January 2020 members of The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke were hard at work preparing for the annual Fore For Kids Annual Charity Golf Event to be held in April of that year. This critical fundraiser had been held every year since 1998. Yes critical, because in the 21 years this important Rotary event raised over $1/2 million for local community charities serving youth. As we now know this was not to be.
COVID19 became so severe that the tournament was postponed until the Fall of 2020, thanks in a great part to the on-going support of tournament sponsors. By the Fall of 2020 it became clear that once again the tournament needed to be postponed again as the pandemic continued to rage. Tournament Chairman, Gordon Wainwright appealed to sponsors and once again they reiterated their commitments to support the new tournament date. After much discussion another postponement was felt necessary and a new date, November 22, 2021 was chosen. And here we are, on the way to another exciting charity tournament. This year it will be held at the beautiful Oro Valley Golf Club.
1998 was the beginning of 23 years of successful tournaments. Support from community businesses and individual has been outstanding. Tournaments such asFore For Kids cannot be successful without sponsor support. We have also been blessed with celebrity support. For several years Hall of Fame U of A basketball coach, Lute Olson was the tournament’s Celebrity player. Lute’s support was unending. Lute will be greatly missed.
The Fore for Kids Annual Charity Golf Tournament has become an important event in the community and is also fun for all, Rotarians, golfers, and guests.
Details include:
Tournament Format
The tournament will be a four-person best ball scramble. Registration includes golf, driving range, prizes, an on-course lunch, and an after-play barbeque buffet. There will be special hole-in-one awards on all par 3's. There will be a shotgun start at 1:00pm.
About the Tournament and Rotary
November 22, 2021 is the date. Checks will be made out to the SaddleBrooke Rotary Club Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) organization. All proceeds from the event will be used to support numerous youth charities serving our community. The balance of your contributions will be used to fund scholarships for local students or distributed to youth-centered organizations in northern Pima/southern Pinal counties.
The registration fee is $150.00 for a single golfer. Register as a foursome ($560.00) and receive a discount of $40.00 per foursome. Registration will be held beginning at 11:00 am on the day of the tournament.
Contact Rotarian Gordon Wainwright for more information; phone: 520-908-6110 or email gwainwright6@aol.com.
If you would like information on how Rotary may fit into your life and schedule please contact: Wendy Guyton, Membership Chair, 520-404-5712 or by email wguyton17@gmail.com
Little Hooves & Big Hearts is a nonprofit organization founded by horse lovers who want to give something back to the people of Arizona. LHBH’s mission is to help children with special needs and seniors improve their physical and emotional well-being through interaction with specially trained miniature horses. Among the many benefits received by our clients from our equine-assisted therapeutic programs are the following:
Increased muscle strength, joint mobility, balance and coordination
Improved communication and perceptual skills
Greater self-confidence and trust
Stronger connections to the physical world and to other people
I am providing you with the information regarding the Youth Service Committee's decision at our August 25, 2021 Youth Services Committee Meeting to fully support the request for our participation in this Event. The following are some details regarding the Event:
What is National Night Out? - Nationwide it is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. "National Night Out" will be held at the Oracle Community Center in Oracle and is sponsored by the Pinal Sheriff's Department and the town of Oracle. It is designed to build stronger relationships between the Community and residence in town.
What will take place at the "National Night Out" in Oracle? -The Event will consist of a parade on Main Street; a Community cookout at the Oracle Community Center; participation by both the police and fire department in providing demonstrations and play games with the community youth.
What is the role of the Rotary Club of Saddlebrooke? - We have been asked, and agreed to distribute books to the youth in Oracle and any attendees. We have also offered to assist in any other activities that will be a part of this Event. (To be determined.) The Youth Services Committee felt as a group that this is a positive way to reach out to the youth in Oracle and build/enhance relationships within the Community of Oracle.
Date and Time: "National Night Out' will be held at the Oracle Community Center on October 5, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
We will be looking for volunteers to assist with this project as more details come available. Thank you!!
Working together we can continue to make a positive difference in the lives of our youth and build relationships in surrounding Communities!e
On Saturday, August 28th, Saddlebrooke Rotary members worked side by side with Oracle Community Center board members at the Oracle Community Center Toy Drive. Our mission was to assist the OCC with this worthwhile event by unloading trucks of donated (by Dollar General) toys at OCC in Oracle. 685 E American Ave, Oracle, AZ 85623. Members of Saddlebrooke Rotary also made cash donations totalling $650.00.
Members of our International Service Committee attended a paella fundraiser of The Rotary Club Nogales Industrial. Fun for all. Those participating were President, Liese Razzeto, Committee Chairman, Bill Demeroutis, and Committee Member Mark Miller.
Five members of the Rotary Club of Saddlebrooke were honored by District Governor, Hank Huisking, with Paul Harris Fellowships. Also present were Club President, Liese Razzeto and Assistant District Governor Marc Snow. Paul Harris Fellows are recognized by Rotary International for outstanding service and financial support for the Rotary Foundation. Those receiving awards were John Ruland, Paul Herr, Chris Millar, Dan Watson, and Mark Miller. Congratulations !!
District 5500 Governor, Hank Huisking, paid a visit to The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke at the regular meeting on Thursday, August 19.
Longtime Sierra Vista resident, Army wife and retired three-term city councilwoman Henrietta “Hank” Huisking has taken office as the district governor of Rotary International District 5500. Hank will be in SaddleBrooke on Wendesday and Thursday, August 18th and August 19th. On Wednesday she will meet with our Board of Directors and on Thursday she will visit our regular club meeting.
Huisking’s area of responsibility and service as DG spans 50 Rotary Clubs totaling more than 1,300 members. Included are clubs in the Tucson metropolitan area, Sierra Vista and Yuma plus Graham and Cochise counties. This area encompasses 50,000 square miles and serves a population of 1.1 million.
Huisking has been a Rotarian for 15 years and her home club is the Rotary Club of Sierra Vista West. She has been an active and action-oriented Rotarian, as evidenced by her participation and support of the District 5500 Rotary Leadership Institute, the Rotary Leadership Academy, and the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy programs. She has served at the district level as the district secretary. She also supports The Rotary Foundation and is a member of the Paul Harris Society.
Hank is married to Peter Huisking, who also is active with the Rotary Club of Sierra Vista Sunrise. Together they have hosted Rotary Youth Exchange students from Germany, Brazil and Peru plus young businesspeople and professionals from Thailand, South Africa, Brazil, Japan, Turkey and Australia who were members of the Rotary Group Study Exchange program.
Huisking has a bachelor of science degree in education from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. She most recently taught water conservation in Cochise County schools for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension WaterWise program.
The Huiskings have three children and six grandchildren living in California. Their favorite pastimes include reading, hiking, cycling, gardening and planning travel adventures with family and friends.