The First Annual Rock n Bowl fundraiser on May 12th was great fun for one and all. We also raised a bit of cash for Tempe South Rotary charities. What a deal!

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Motley Crew…

Pins Refuse to Fall…

Bowling Fashion Statement…

What a Game!

The intrepid Tempe South Rotary golf foursome invaded the Buffalo Classic on May 12th. The won so much that they will have to consider giving up their amateur status if they keep this up.

The semi-pro ringers from Tempe South Rotary came oh-so-close to taking the grand prize. Our 4-ball scramble score was a respectable 67, only 6 strokes behind the winners. That put is in a 6-way tie for about 23rd place. So close!

It was a great, fun day in support of the Tempe High Buffalo Foundation.

Tempe South Rotary – Hole Sponsor on the First Tee, Ken McDonald Golf Course

Somebody finally remembered to put the joker back in the deck on May 11th, and our illustrious Immediate Past President and District Assistant Governor, Gary Johnson, drew it as if he were psychic.

Gary was last overheard by several club members, offering to buy the first round for any club member who shows up at the Conference of Clubs in June. You all heard that, too, right?

For our program on May 11th, Glenn Capeloto told some fascinating stories of his experiences in sports, without ever having been an athlete himself. His self-published book offers many more stories, including vignettes about our local sports celebrities such as Jerry Colangelo, Ron Wolfley, Ann Meyers Drysdale, and Lon Babby.

As advertised in the Independent Publisher,

This comprehensive guide details “insider information” on how to break into the world of sports in a vast array of professional and collegiate capacities. Chapters detail working at sporting events, in-depth career advice from several notable sports industry experts, and how to go about getting your foot in the door. It also includes a historical perspective of sports and a detailed directory of where to start looking for work in your chosen sports livelihood. Considering the huge popularity of sports in the U.S. and around the world, this book comes at an appropriate time.

Anybody ready for a new career in sports yet?

Bryan Boll, Jackson National Life Insurance Company, presented some valuable concepts about retirement for our May 4th program. Here are few of the more fascinating facts that he shared with us.

The Pension Plunge … the past twenty five years have shown a dramatic reduction in the number of traditional pension plans in the US; from about 170,000 in 1985 down to about 49,000 in 2007. Most of those that remain are under funded.

Social Insecurity … Social security benefits are funded by younger working people. When the number of workers far exceeded the number of beneficiaries the system was sound. Not so today. The number of workers supporting a beneficiary was 16.5 in 1950 … that ratio has dropped to 3.0 in 2010.

The Healthcare Nightmare … A retired couple aged 65 may need $250,000 just to pay for healthcare. That’s more than the typical household has saved.

Most investors fail to accumulate the funds needed for retirement. Using a financial planner to determine the best investment strategy is critical. In so doing the investor can deal with other challenges such as taxes and inflation. Our longer life expectancy is just another factor to consider when planning for the amount of money needed during our retirement years.

Bryan suggested one investment alternative is the Variable Annuity with Living Benefit. The Jackson National provides a wealth of information on this and related topics.

Former Tempe South Rotarian Charles “Buzz” Buzzard paid us a visit in April. Buzz was a great Tempe South Rotarian, and he has continued to be a busy Rotarian in Lakeway, Texas.

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Upon his admission into the Roll of Fame in the Rotary Club of Lakeway/Lake Travis, Nancy L. Keetch, Club Secretary, had this to say about Buzz:

Charles “Buzz” Buzzard is the quintessential Rotarian. His dedication to Rotary is a strong and constant presence in his life. He has always been one of the “core” members of the Rotary Club of Lakeway/Lake Travis . . . one you can count on to be involved, to step forward when needed, to get things done. In particular, Buzz has been the driving force behind our club’s contributions to the Paul Harris Foundation. He has kept on top of the donations of our members and has been a continual source of encouragement for all of us to recognize the international efforts of Rotary, not just the projects with which our club has been involved, both locally and with our sister club in Matamoras, Mexico. Buzz’ participation with Polio Plus, taking part in immunization trips to Nigeria, and with a Rotarian group teaching English in Kazakhstan, has impressed us all and made these RI efforts very real to our club. Buzz’ life truly exemplifies “Service Above Self” and we feel he is very deserving of the District 5870 Roll of Fame.

Tempe South Agrees:

Buzz gets a Merle Fister Wings pin from Jim Vandeventer

Masked and caped crusaders swooped into Rotary Park in Tempe on Saturday morning, April 28th, and pitched in to help several clubs clean up the park. These superheroes did their best to keep their identities secret, although they did inadvertently reveal a little of themselves. Can you tell who they are?

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Many clubs pitched in for the park clean-up: Tempe South, Tempe, Rio Salado, Tempe East, ASU Rotaract, East Valley Rotaract, and Camelback Crossroads. Thanks to all!

Take a look at all the effort in our Facebook photo album here:

Rotary Park Clean-Up Photos

Meanwhile…

Does anyone recognize any of them?

Tempe South Rotary will join other Tempe rotary clubs for a morning clean-up of Rotary Park on April 28th.

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We will meet at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning. Bring gloves, plastic bags, etc. We will not have a pancake breakfast, contrary to popular rumor.

Rotary Park is located on Country Club Way in Tempe, at Hermosa Drive (turn south onto Country Club from Southern and go to the end of the road – next to Ward Academy).

The park looks pretty good at the moment. We can pick up trash, sweep sidewalks, rake leaves, and maybe trim some trees. It should be fun, with great fellowship, and not too difficult.

Rotary Park Before Clean-Up

James LaBar gave us a wonderful and enlightening presentation on the history of SRP on April 13th. Protecting our surrounding watershed and providing reliable water resources were a couple of crucial developments, even before electric power was on the grid.

Just imagine what the SRP legacy looks like, spanning the past century, beginning with pre-historical canals and continuing to the present. See more photos, plus videos, at: The SRP Legacy.

Tempe South Rotary is joined by three new members in the first quarter of 2012: Lindsay Underwood, Jim Hall, and Randy Courtney. Look for these bright and shiny new faces, introduce yourself, and sign their blue books. (See why one of them may want to resurrect TSR as a singing club!)

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The New Singing Rotarian?

It is not real clear whether Jim Hall can sing. He does appear to have something to do with music, though.

Doesn’t he remind you of our Singing District Governor, Alan Havir?

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