Welcome to 2022, a new calendar year begins as our Rotary years hits a halfway mark. I am excited about all the possibilities 2022 will bring to The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke.
Our club is growing! Which is exactly what we had hoped for. But it does not come without challenges. We outgrew the board room at the Ranch, and the private dining room is now out of space. The board will be discussing our options at the board meeting on January 19th. The board meeting is open to all members. Watch your email for a zoom invitation.
The board is also closely monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 and variant situation. You will recall our club will adhere to the guidance provided by Rotary International and restrictions the venue we are meeting at puts in place. We will continue to provide zoom access to all Thursday meetings.
A sincere thank you to each of you who worked on community service projects during the holiday season. It warms my heart as I remember the faces of those we helped. From the kids in the back seat of the cars at the Impact Turkey Distribution, to the elder shut-ins who received Christmas baskets, we can be proud knowing we truly made a difference in people’s lives. That’s why we became Rotarians!
Please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions to make 2022 another wonderful year for The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke.
SaddleBrooke Rotarians and guests can look ahead to a fantastic line-up of programs in 2022. Here are some you will enjoy:
February 17, 2022
Lanny Leach
Florence wild horse and burro training
Lanny Leach
Lanny Leach is a nationally known horseman and clinician starting off his horsemanship career at the age of 2 when he rode along on his father's cattle drives. At the age of 12 he started working for his first paying client who recognized his horse training abilities. As a young man he worked cattle on his own ranch or did custom cattle work from 1976 to 1992. Lanny worked or managed cattle on large spreads from 2,800 acres to 20,000 which included starting horses and training them for cattle work and hay wagon team work.
February 24
Hank Mueller, Chief of Police, Mammoth Police Department
Registration is now open. Seating will be limited so register early. Tables of 10 may be reserved for your group by calling Wendy Guyton at 520-404-5712.
SaddleBrooke Rotary will once again bring to our community a very interesting and enjoyable program featuring the artwork of Diana Madaras. This fundraising event will provide funding for youth and community charities which work hard to enhance the lives of children and others.
Description: Diana will bring much of her artwork. She has also invited other Tucson artists to join her. We will have door prizes, a raffle, and a live auction.
The name Diana Madaras has become synonymous with Tucson and her bold, colorful artwork recently earned her Tucson's vote for Best Visual Artist for the seventh time. Dozens of newspaper and magazine articles have been written about her and her work, and she has been featured on television shows produced by NBC, CBS, and PBS affiliates. She is president of the nonprofit Art for Animals Foundation, a charity she founded that has raised more than $200,000 to help abused, injured and orphaned animals.
Much in demand for commissioned artwork, Madaras has completed paintings for many of the major resorts in Tucson including the Hilton El Conquistador, Westin La Paloma, Loews Ventana Canyon, Canyon Ranch and Miraval.
She also has created eight paintings for the estate of the former President of Mexico.
Her art is featured at Tucson International Airport and has appeared on the covers of 12 magazines including Art Book of the West, The American Veterinary Hospital Journal, and Tucson Lifestyle Magazine.
Her book, The Colors of Tucson, gives the reader a unique tour of Tucson through her paintings from the last 27 years.
Our Community Services Committee has volunteered to patch walls and paint the Impact suite in the strip mall at 15930 N. Oracle in Catalina. This weekend a crew consisting of Bill and Diane Demeroutis, Chris Millar, Gordon Wainwright, and Ed Lueck began patching and prepping the walls.
At the club meeting on January 27th, 2020-2021 Rotary District 5500 Governor, Diane Ventura-Goodyear presented the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke with the Rotary Citation for Rotary year 2020-2021. The Rotary Citation is awarded to clubs for achieving Goals include increasing club membership, developing sustainable service projects, giving to The Rotary Foundation, and building awareness of Rotary in your community.
Past Presidents Barbara Barr and Joe Guyton receive for the club the Rotary Citation from 2020-2021 District Governor Diane Ventura-Goodyear.
PDG Diane also recognized the club with an achievement award for its contribution to the 2020-2021 Rotary Polio Plus Campaign. Tom Turriff, the Chairman of the annual campaign was not present to receive the award but Club President, Liese Razzeto and riders in the most recent Ride to End Polio received it for the Club.
Left to Right: Bill Demeroutis, Doug May, Liese Razzeto, Eric Erickson, Monica Oszust and John Oszust.
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke adds five new members. They are:
Kristi Halvorson
Mollie Hunter
Jack Hunter
Debbie Rue
Marvin Soskil
L to R Membership Chair, Wendy Guyton inducts Marvin Soskil, Mollie Hunter, Debbie Rue, Kristi Halvorson
KRISTI HALVERSON
Kristi worked in a family land development firm in Portland for 20 years, then had a homebuilding business on the Oregon coast. She and her husband Steve lived on a farm in Sherwood, OR for the past 30 years where they operated a tree nursery business. Kristi and Steve have travelled extensively over the years, usually to the 3rd world, and have enjoyed 9 International Rotary conventions. They bought a house in Sun City Oro Valley a couple years ago and have been snowbirds. They just sold the Oregon farm and will moving to Oro Valley full time. Kristi is a long-term Rotarian serving as President, District 5100 District Governor and District Rotary Foundation Chair. She and her husband have participated in two National Immunization Days for Polio in Ethiopia and India; joined two Rotary Friendship Exchange trips to Croatia and India; and have been on several Rotary project trips to Central America. They are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation and Kristi is a Paul Harris Society member.
DEBORAH RUE
Debbie has been a member of Rotary for 30 years and enjoys the fellowship and giving back to the community. She and her husband are both retired veterinarians. She moved to Fremont, CA after veterinary school at WSU and eventually owned her own practice. She joined Rotary in 1989 and served as president in ‘94/95. She and her husband both retired in December of 2020 and moved to SaddleBrooke in January of 2021. They purchased a home in Montana this summer and plan to be snowbirds.
JACK AND MOLLIE HUNTER
Prior to retirement and moving to SaddleBrooke Ranch, Jack owned a printing company and Mollie was a software executive who helped organizations scale up their sales efforts. Mollie was also the COO of the Girl Scouts of Orange County. Individually and together, they have done disaster relief projects over the years primarily around hurricane damage. Most recently they were in the Bahamas helping with the rebuilding efforts after hurricane Dorian.
MARVIN SOSKIL
Marvin is the President and Founder of Brett Harrison Jewelry Brokers, Inc. since 1996 and the author of the book “Integrity, When No One’s Looking”. As a member of the Long Island business community, Marvin served on many boards and committees for Long Island charities including, Ronald McDonald House Advisory Board, Theresa Foundation Golf Committee, Harry Chapin Food Bank, and served as a board member for the National Network of Accountants. He was president and founder of TGIF Business network, board member of LIBRA network and founding member of the Health and Business Alliance in Queens NY. He served on committees for CCAN, The Arthritis Foundation, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and many more.
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke made a major donation of books to the Mountain Vista Elementary School in Oracle.
Over 700 new age-appropriate books were delivered by Rotarians to Mountain Vista for their upcoming Summer Youth Program.
Pictured above (l to r) Crystal Nehmeyer, Superintendent of Schools, Liese Razzeto, Shanon Soule, Principal, Harvey Smith and Elaine Terry, Chair of Youth Services Committee. Not pictured was Don Terry.
Saddlebrooke Rotary members partnered with the Oracle Community Center to purchase, assemble and distribute 25 baskets to Home Alone seniors in the Oracle area.
Baskets were assembled by Members of Oracle community center, OWN and a member from Home Alert who evaluated the needs of the home bound seniors.
The baskets contained:
Apples Oranges Mugs Hot chocolate Popcorn Knitted slipper socks Soap Lotion Lip balm Dish towels Ghiradelli chocolate
Barbara Barr, Linda Howard and Diane Demeroutis made cookies. Bill Demeroutis did double duty as a Club member and also a Board member of the Oracle Community Center. Bill and Liese Razzeto shopped with $400.00 donated by the SaddleBrooke Rotary Club Foundation for the goodies.
At the Annual Meeting of The Rotary Club of Saddlebrooke Bill Demeroutis was elected as the President Nominee. His term of office will be for 1 year beginning July 1, 2023.