Welcome to the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke! You may have found this page as you were looking for a club near you, or as a current member checking in. Either way, you are in the right place.
Our club is growing and making a difference in the communities we serve. You can be a part of that! We have fun weekly meetings with interesting programs. Come join us for lunch on Thursdays at the Ranch House Grill at Brewery at SaddleBrooke Ranch.
As you can see from this site, we have many volunteer opportunities if hands on projects are what you are looking for. From highway clean-up, painting crews, to meal deliveries, our club is continually looking for ways to serve.
Please join us at our upcoming fundraising event “Inspiration in The Desert” featuring Tucson’s renowned artist and philanthropist, Diane Madaras. The event will be held on April 9, 2022, at the Sol Ballroom at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Tickets are going fast; be sure you don’t get left out. You can purchase the tickets on this site.
If you want to have fun, meet new friends, and make a difference in our local community, you are in the right place.
Hope to see you on Thursday!
Liese Razzeto
President
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke
Linda Bradner, one of our Amigos, is embarking on a year-long project to make lap quilts and kids’ quilts for our Club to give as Christmas gifts to low-income families. She is collecting used blankets and flannel sheets to use as batting inside the quilts. The blankets will be totally invisible in the quilts, so it’s okay if they are stained, have holes, and are thin and ragged. Linda just had two requests: Please wash blankets prior to donating, and please remove wires from electric blankets.
Linda attends our meetings on Zoom, so Barbara Barr has kindly agreed to collect the blankets at our meetings. Monica Oszust will be assisting Linda in the sewing. Questions? Please contact Linda at 520-818-3169 or at lederhosenkid@yahoo.com.
SaddleBrooke Rotarians and guests can look ahead to a fantastic line-up of programs in 2022. Here are some you will enjoy:
March 3, 2022
Doug Killian
Pleasurebent Tours
Pleasurebent Tours is based in sunny and friendly Tucson, Arizona and we are enjoying our 44th year in business!
We love taking our customers on sightseeing tours. We started out small. At first just eight or nine people would board vans for guided trips to local ghost towns. In time, we really got to know our groups and the people in them. We listened to what you had to say and what you wanted in the way of future travels, attractions, vacations, and getaways. Gradually, we began expanding the scope of Pleasurebent Tours and the number and kinds of trips and tours we offer. Besides the United States, our travel itinerary now includes destinations around the world.
March 10, 2022
Arizona Youth Partners
Darien Mathews
Arizona Youth Partnership builds solid foundations for youth and families by partnering with Arizona communities to prevent and solve local issues such as substance abuse, youth homelessness, lack of educational opportunities, teen pregnancy, and challenging family dynamics.
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.
Saddlebrooke Rotarians joined together with many volunteers from the Oracle community to help beautify American Avenue in Oracle. Working with the Oracle Community Center 37 volunteers pulled 48 bags of trash from American Ave today! Thanks to all the individuals, organizations, and businesses who participated to help us Keep It Clean!
Rotarian volunteers were: Diane and Curt Prickett, Jim Fry, Liese Razzeto, Bill Demeroutis, Dan Green, Linda and Dave Daubers
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.
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