With more than 80 attending from the Prescott, Prescott-Sunup, Prescott-Frontier and our new satellite Prescott Valley Rotary Clubs, St. Patrick's Day was celebrated  as a festive and enjoyable evening of Rotary Fellowship.

 

Above: Sunup Rotary President Christy Maning and Frontier Rotary President Katheryn Tuberty were obviously enjoying bringing the clubs together for this annual social event.

Below: Part of the celebrants watching their numbers on their raffle tickets, to see if they had won one of the many large gift backets, which had been donated by each oif the four Rotary clubs.

 

 

 

 

PDG Ray Sanford
San Juan Capistrano Rotrary Club

 

The 2024 house building crew.

When John first helped with the Corazón house build project, he just wanted to pound nails. It's an ambitious project that builds a house in a day for a deserving family. This year, he's running the entire program.

"I came to give a day of my time," he smiles, "but Rotary saw something in me I couldn't see in myself."

This is the magic that happens when people join Rotary projects. What starts as a simple desire to help often grows into something transformative—both for communities and for the volunteers themselves.

 

Maureen, a retired librarian, found her place in a literacy program. "I thought I was done working," she laughs, "but now I'm making a bigger difference than ever."

Meanwhile, Ray P., a retired entertainer and bartender, dedicates his time to mentoring a middle-school marathon team. "These kids remind me why I work so hard," he says. "Their growth is the best return on investment I've ever received."

This is the beauty of Rotary—there's a perfect fit for everyone. Some members, like Marianne, plant community gardens. Others help raise funds through our golf tournament or car show. Some use their professional skills to guide young people, while others join international efforts bringing dental and vision care to children in Mexico.

Some want to help but worry about their busy schedule. "I can't commit to another thing," a volunteer told her friend who had invited her to a project. But her friend suggested she just come once to help with the Swallows Day pancake breakfast.

Three hours later, looking at the parade volunteers getting breakfast, she felt something shift. "I realized I didn't need to solve everything or commit forever. I just needed to show up once and do one small good thing."

The world's big problems—hunger, disease, illiteracy, poverty—can feel overwhelming. But Rotary's approach is refreshingly simple: bring good people together, find a need, and take action.

 

Whether it's a few hours at a local food bank or joining a team bringing medical supplies to another country, your participation creates ripples of change. As Paul Harris, Rotary's founder, once said: "The world moves forward when people of action come together."

 

 

Our satellite Prescott Valley Rotary Club meets at 4:30 this Tuesday, March 25, at the PV Elks Club, 6245 E. 2nd Street, PV 86314.  Help this rapidly-growing club to continue to grow by inviting, as your guest, someone you may know, who lives in PV, but is not yet a Rotarian.  One remembers for a lifetime the person who sponsored them — giving them the gift of Rotary.

 

 

 

Prescott's new Fat Frog Restaurant has recently agreed to become one of the sponsors for our Sunup Family Fun Fest.  It's a natural!

 

With what other businesses do you have a connection, who might also want to become one of our sponsors?  It never hurts to ask them.  We need your help with recruiting sponsors!  

 

 

 

Melanie Berry, Our Club Secrtetary, reminds us:
 

Baseball season is here!  Please click the link below to sign up to work the snack shack.  😊

 

Many of you will recall that one of our most impressive club programs last year was presented by two of the teen leaders of the Launch Pad's "Better Together Dinner" program, through which these teens have been encouraging civil dialogue on often controversial subjects between adult members of commuinity at thir sponsored dinners.  If you have missed participating in the previous dinners, you may want to consider signing up for their final one.  It is beng held between 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at the Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe's The Gathering Center.  See the flyer below for details, along with a QR code you can use to register for the dinner.