We welcomed back our club member Pete Polster arriving here for the first time this winter from Wisconsin. Rotarians visiting with us today were Brian and Patricia Olson from the Lincoln, Ont., CA club, Davis Edels from the Okotoks, Alta., CA club (who presented Bryant with a trading banner and received one of ours in return) and Jim Dokken from the High River, Alta., CA club. Club guests were our speaker Robert Cooper accompanied by Roger Barrientos and Richard Wilson, all from Superstition Search and Rescue.
Len LaFlesch receives the "door prize" at the Holiday Social. To see more pictures of the social, go to www.superrotary.com. On the right side of the home page is a box labeled "Picture Albums". Click on "HOLIDAY SOCIAL AT DUNGANS". To view all the pictures, adjust the "Photos per page" to 50. Click on "Start Slide Show."
We inducted two new club members today. The ceremony was led by Past Presidents Sharon Stinard, Jim Erickson and Jay Jones and current President Bryant Powell. The new members received a new member packet, a pin, a badge and a framed copy of the Rotary Four Way Test.
Jeff Cutler lives in Apache Junction. He is a managing partner in TH.INC TANK LLC. Jeff's wife's name is Tamara.
Mirza Fareed Baig is the owner of BZB limousine service. He and his wife Anjah Goss live in Gold Canyon.
2. We passed around a donation can for a Christmas "Thank You" gift for Maria and other resort staff who take care of us so well for our meetings and meals.
3. Jack Beveridge thanked the club members who donated to their Turkey Drive. Club members are welcome to come to the distribution to help hand out turkeys.
4. Ron McCullough donated two Rotary T shirts that were later auctioned off by Mike Dungan. Purchasers were Jim Dokken and Bill Burrows.
5. Mike Munion asked club members to donate raffle prizes for the golf tournament. They can be personal purchases you donate or solicited from businesses. Jeannie Anderson will gather the donations brought to the club meetings. We will need 12 volunteers not golfing to help out with the golf tournament.
6. Jim Erickson promoted the club shirts made at Gold Canyon Embroidery. He passed around a sign up sheet. If you want one, see Jim. Cost is $33.45.
7. Mike Munion and the club thanked the Dungans for hosting the Holiday Social. Homann has pictures of the event on the club website (www.superrotary.com).
8. Mike Dungan served as Sargeant-at-Arms. He has a neighbor with a shotgun who doesn't like drones flying around (see Speaker section).
9. Bill Burrows won the raffle and $10. The pot was worth $162. But Bill missed the joker and drew the five of spades.
Our speaker was Robert Cooper, head of urban searches of the Superstition Search and Rescue team. He was accompanied by Roger Barrientos, head of wilderness searches, and Richard Wilson, treasurer of the organization.
The SSR group has 35 members currently. Most of them have received specialized training in areas such as desert rescues, water rescues, helicopter evacuation, etc. In the 22 years SSR has existed, no one on the team has been injured in a search or rescue operation which speaks well of the training. They are now also a certified CERT team - Community Emergency Response Team - that can assist in dealing with natural disasters. In 2009, they broke away from the Pinal County Sheriff's office.
Robert brought a drone that they now can use for search operations. It can be used for surveying areas difficult to reach on foot. The drone has a 1.3 mi range and can stay up 20-30 minutes. It has a Go Pro camera on board that records pictures that can then be downloaded into a computer and studied. It has amazing resolution that can pick up small objects such as cell phones, cameras, canteens, etc.
Drones are now available with FLIR technology that can look for heat-emitting objects at night.
Robert told the story of a cold case search for a young man missing for a year near Tortilla Mountain. They were able to find clothes scraps in lion scat that matched what he was wearing. Later after a 2-year search, they found the man's remains in a crevice into which he had fallen and died.
Robert also told us about a hand- held ham radio that has line-of-sight connection to repeaters located on high spots around the state. It costs only about $30-50 and has incredible utility for their group as well as for individual hikers and outdoorsmen.
Nearby Rotary Clubs that might be useful for meeting makeup attendance. You can find the meeting times and locations for Rotary clubs throughout the world by going to the Rotary International website (www.rotary.org) and clicking on "Club Locator" in the upper right corner of the screen.
Mesa East Rotary Club: Thursdays at 12:00 p.m.
Superstition Springs Golf Club, 6542 E. Baseline, Mesa (16 miles)
Gilbert Rotary Club: Thursdays at 7:00 a.m.
The Henhouse Cafe, 3244 E. Guadalupe Rd., Gilbert, AZ (20 miles)
Mesa West Rotary Club: Thursdays at 12:10 p.m.
Hilton Phoenix East-Mesa, 1011 W. Holmes Ave.,Mesa (24 miles)
Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club: Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m.
Banner Health Business Center, 525 W. Brown Rd., Mesa
Tempe South Rotary Club: Fridays at 6:45 a.m.
Friendship Village, 2645 E. Southern Ave., Tempe (26 miles)
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