The Rotary Club of Sierra Vista - People of Action in These COVID Times - PART 1

PART 1 – April 2020 to June 2020: During these COVID-19 times, the Rotary Club of Sierra Vista - People of Action, have been busy tackling some community projects that support local efforts to combat the virus and to support community organizations and businesses. All the way back to April 2020, the Rotary Club was working to complete projects that had had serious impact from restrictions on gatherings and face-to-face meetings. After continuing to receive applications and making selections for scholarships, the club awarded over $9,000 in scholarships to students going to colleges or vocational schools. Similarly, working closely in the community and with the Rotary District 5500 Grants for Coronavirus relief, the club was able to make substantial contributions to The Salvation Army, Peach’s Pantry, Boys & Girls Club of Sierra Vista, and the Good Neighbor Alliance. 

 

In this time-frame, the club originally cancelled the weekly luncheon meetings at the Pueblo Del Sol (PDS) Country Club because the PDS was closed and there were restrictions on meetings that would have groups of people congregating in an enclosed space. Very quickly, emails began to burn up the internet and ZOOM meetings started to be held so we could have virtual meetings and maintain safe “social distancing” for our members. This helped the club to maintain momentum in our annual projects and enabled us to keep contact with Rotarians. Gradually, as some restrictions were lifted or modified, we started hybrid meetings of live and virtual (Zoom) members, meeting at the Tandem Restaurant of the Windemere Hotel and Conference Center where we were able to reserve Mondays (the normal day off for the restaurant). We started with a small number of members attending the meetings in person and have continued to adjust the numbers attending as time goes along.

 

The Rotary Club also started the new Rotary Year in a non-traditional manner. Normally, in a non-virus year, the new Rotary Club President has an installation prior to the 1st of July. This year happened to be the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Rotary Club of Sierra Vista and it was also the 60th birthday of the 2019-2020 Club President, Fred Shirley. To celebrate both, President Fred developed an evening program for June 22nd to trace the club’s history and recognize many of the Club’s Past Presidents who still are active in the Club and in the community of Sierra Vista. What made this non-traditional was a slight variation in the program that President Fred developed. President Fred did not schedule an actual “installation swearing in” for the evening. Historically, the Installation of the new Club President is done with an oath of service for all Officers and Directors of the Club and a presentation of a new Rotary Club Gavel to the new Club President. The new District Governor or an honored Rotarian is normally the person to administer the oath for the new President and the new Officers and Directors of the club.   Instead, this year, because of some complications and scheduling issues, this did not happen until the following meeting when Club President for 2020-2021, Ms. Candy Pardee, was installed by Past President Bob Fusco. This was a small break in tradition, but everyone was able to enjoy the ceremony. (Prepared by John Spengler, Rotary Club Reporter)