Co-President Laura Vanderberg and Community Service Director Marsha Teller get the credit for engineering the success of this year's dinner party celebrating the holidays. Although our club meetings are dark for the next two Wednesdays (Dec. 24 and Dec. 31), we made up for the loss of our usual fun and fellowship with this gala event, which we held in the Marina Room of the Hassayampa Inn on Dec. 17.
The only damper on the evening was the absence of Co-President Christy Manning — always the life of any party — who was unfortunately sidelined with a bout of COVID. The word is that she has been pretty sick with it. We wish her a speedy recovery, in time to enjoy Christmas with her family.
DGN Joe Sweeney, with his wife Linda, and Parshalla Wood, our Club Secretary, enjoying the evening. Linda Sweeney also serves as the current Club President of the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club.
Jane White, Sarah Van Bourgandien, and Marsha Teller were having a good time.
Pres.-Elect Russ Davis and Sarah Van Bourgondien, Membership Chair, ready for action in their Santa Pants
The hit of the evening was the Santa Pants Game. The object of the game was to toss as many of the fluffy colored balls into the hooped Santa Pants of your partner within 30 seconds, in order to beat your opponents.
Apprehensive Jane Anne Schimizu and Joe Brown suited up for the action in their Santa Pants.
District Conferences
A Highlight of the Rotary Year
The District Conference is intended to be the inspirational highlight of the Rotary year for all Rotary Clubs in every Rotary district. As a celebration of all of the collective good that is happening through the combined efforts and resources of the clubs, it is an event to which Rotary Clubs should plan, with anticipation, to send the largest possible delegation of their club members. The more members they send to be inspired by this gathering and its speakers, to see and hear about what other clubs are doing and accomplishing, and to gain a greater vision of Rotary's power and potential, the stronger and more enthused any participating Rotary Club will be — GUARANTEED!
Contrary to a popular misconception, Rotary District Conferences have never been the type of event to which a club only sends a couple of representatives. Instead, these conferences are intended to be a stem-winder for as many members as you can possibly send as your club's delegation. As a Club President, I essentially doubled the size of our Rotary Club by persuading more than a dozen of our members and spouses to attend a District Conference. They returned inspired, and ready to make things happen — and we did!
Our 2026 District Conference will be held in Mesa, May 1-2. Mark it on your calendar, and save the date. This one is going to be a good one you won't want to miss!
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Sunup Rotary Serves!
Wreathes Across America - December 13
Marsha Teller places a wreath on a veteran's grave in the Prescott National Cemetery.
Tiffany Jones also places a wreath, honoring the sacrifice of a veteran.
Jane White also places her wreath, honoring a veteran at Christmas.
Mayer Jr. & Sr. High Homeless Kids Project
Jane White, Marsha Teller and Vicki Mikel display the blankets which were included in the supplies in the totes for homeless kids in the Mayer School/
Sunup Rotary's tote-loading crew stuffed 100 bags with needed supplies at our club meeting on December 10.
Jane White and Marsha Teller delivering our club's loaded tote bags to the Mayer School representative.
Community Service Director Marsha Teller wants to especially thank Jane White and Vicki Mickel for helping to organize and deliver the bags.
YOUTH SERVICE
Launching New Interact Clubs in Prescott
We have said much this year about our new Interact Club at Mile High Middle School. Interact Assistant Governor Carly Duggan has been doing a great job of finally gettiug this club up and running this year. We are very proud of this new club, and of the services they are already performing. This is going to be a great "feeder club" for our Prescott High School Interact Club.
AG Carly has also been working on launching several other new Interact Clubs. We are excited to announce that another new club is now up and running. This one is beginning as a high school club, but it has the potential to expand to serve the full 12-18 Interact age range in the future. While the club has received permission to meet on the campus of the BASIS Prescott charter school, it is actually being chartered as a community-based club, rather that as a school-based club. Helping to share the responsibility of sponsoring these new Interact Clubs, the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club has agreed to sponsor this one. Fittingly, the Interact Club has just chosen, a week ago, to call themselves the Prescott Frontier Interact Club.
An immense amout of time and planning goes into starting these new club, and credit needs to be gven to Sophia Brown, who served as an amazing Interact Assistant Governor last year. She did did much of the initial "spade work" in planning for these clubs.
Annual Drivers for RYLA Appeal by Noel DeSoussa
Drivers for RYLA are needed for these shifts:
Thursday, Jan. 15: Roughly 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - to transport materials and supplies
Saturday & Sunday, Jan. 17 & 18: 8:00 a.m.- noon, and 1:00 - 5:00 - to transport RYLA teams from main camp to confidence course
Monday, Jan. 19 : Roughly noon to 3:00 - to pack & transport materials & supplies
If you can help, let Noel DeSoussa know ASAP: noel.j.desoussa@gmail.com.
Q: Have you heard about the schizophrenic priest?
A: He had altar egos.
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It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children's sermon.
All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she sat down, the pastor leaned over and said, "That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter dress?"
The little girl replied, directly into the pastor's clip-on microphone, "Yes, and my Mom says it's a bitch to iron."
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MATH LESSONS
A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine..."
His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, "What are you doing?"
The boy answered, "I'm doing my math homework, Mom."
"And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked.
"Yes," he answered.
Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher, "What are you teaching my son in math?"
The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition."
The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?"
After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four."
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WHAT CAUSES ARTHRITIS?
A man smelling of booze and cigarettes sat down on a subway next to a priest. His tie was stained, there was red lipstick on his collar and face and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.
After a few minutes, the man turned to the priest and asked, "Tell me Father, do you happen to know what causes arthritis?"
The priest replied, "My son, it's caused by loose living, consorting with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath."
The drunk muttered in response, "Well, I'll be damned", then returned to his paper.
The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?"
The man answered, "I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope suffers from it."
MORAL: Make sure you understand the question before offering the answer.
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NOTICE:
There will be no Sunupian published next week. The next issue will be on Jan. 5.
Wishing you all a joyful Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
