Sept 21, 2015 - Denise Rentschler, a Public Information Officer (PIO) with the city of Tempe gave us an enthusiastic description of the many events and programs supported by the city.  Denise has been in this position for 8 years and feels that Tempe has weathered the worst of the economic slump and is now moving forward on many fronts. She said that the city is now averaging about 2 events per week end, and conducts around 900 programs every quarter that cover a wide range of interests, geared mainly towards families. For example, there is the Halloween Carnival, Movies in the Park, Playday, Kids Swim Free,  Arts in Kiwanis park every Friday, events on Town Lake, and a host of others. Denise believes that Tempe is now entering a very creative, forward looking phase in their parks that will benefit the entire community. Check out their new brochure.

Sept 14, 2015 - "Steps of Love" runs an orphanage near Rocky Point, Mexico. Larry Horton (past president of Rio Salado and Camelback Crossroads Rotary Clubs) described how his club is partnering with Steps of Love.  Larry's club is looking for other clubs to work with them to: (1) travel to Rocky Point to "put hands on the project"; (2) provide needed items for the orphanage; and (3) donate funds to help the orphanage. Larry's club plans to travel to Rocky Point in October and again in November.  Larry and his club are very excited about the project and hope that other clubs will join them in this endeavor.

  Aug 31, 2015 - Our past president, Harry Short, described a community service project he is developing. The project involves the United Food Bank, which provides thousands of pounds of food to needy families in an area of Arizona that covers the approximate area of District 5510.  He would like to establish a regular project that would involve several local clubs - members and families - that will pack food for distribution from the main United Food Bank warehouse. Besides providing a vital service, Harry hopes that by extending the project to include families, and providing lots of publicity, we will make Rotary more appealing to a wider and younger audience.  The first session will be Saturday November 14 at the United Food Bank warehouse. Come join us. See our Events section on this site for directions.

Aug 31, 2015 - Melissa Charles, principal of desert leadership, spoke to us today about conflict resolution. Melissa has a background in banking and explained that she has experienced conflict in all aspects of the enterprise. She said that 85% of all people are involved in some form of conflict or another at the personal, workplace, community, national, and global level. Most of this conflict is disruptive rather than cooperative and results in thousands of hours a year in lost productivity.  She gave us several examples and described methods by which conflicts can be resolved. It is important to remember that communication and trust are at the heart of successful conflict resolutions.