Dear Rotarians,

You all know what a great service club Rotary is, and many of you benefit from Rotary’s original purpose of business relationship building, but if you ever had a question about the depth of the Family of Rotary, please consider this letter from Deb Granda. 

“To My Rotary Family

In the early 80s, we all wore suits to work, and I had a friend who did all my tailoring. I would go to her house and was able to meet her husband and get to know him a bit.

In 1995, I started my business and my pharmacist insisted that I join him at this “networking” meeting called Rotary. Having a new business and needing to meet as many people as possible, I went with him. I thought this was a business networking club, so yes, I joined for all the wrong reasons.

I had always been involved in charity work / volunteering since I did my first fundraising event at the ripe old age of 12. I was deeply involved with an organization called FISH, as well as other charitable projects. Once I learned what Rotary really was all about, I was thrilled to be a member. At that time, I really had no idea that this was a life changing decision.

At one of my first Rotary meetings, I run into my friend’s husband, Jimmy Onoszko. This won’t mean much to the newer members of our club, but to those of us who have been around a long time, Jimmy was a long time member of our club after he moved here from NJ. Bill and I followed a year or two later. When I left my New Jersey club and came here, Jimmy was my sponsor. We already had a friendship over 20 years. It was wonderful.

I’m still in very close contact with members of my first club and in fact my original sponsor, Mike Ryan visited our club about 3 years ago. He has a winter home in South Carolina and we are planning on a weekend together soon! Rotary friends never go away! As I embark on my newest adventure, I’ll be joining the Rotary Club of Myrtle Beach. Sent in my application today.

I officially joined our club in June of 2008 after visiting quite often. I visited other clubs in the valley, but it just made sense to stay with Jimmy “O” and join the “big” club. In my first club, I was honored to be president during Rotary’s Centennial Year – 2004/2005. How special was that! Our club, and most east coast clubs do formal installation dinners and not the casual debunking parties that we do here. Most incoming presidents chose a local country club and have the obligatory rubber chicken dinner. Well, those of you that know me well, know I don’t do anything small or traditional. No, I chose a dinner cruise around lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty! Definitely a night to remember. Anyway, I digress.

Upon joining Las Vegas Rotary Club I quickly became involved in many areas, including chairing our annual Valentine’s Day Gala. We did the event three years in a row until we realized we were not making enough money to warrant the amount of hours invested by the entire committee.

I worked on the golf tournament committee and joined the membership committee. I loved meeting all the new members right away. I worked on district awards, district conference, holiday party, Santa Clothes and so much more. Honestly, I was on so many committees, I can’t remember them all. Eventually I was elected to the board and served for four years. Most of those four years I co-chaired the membership committee. I served under Mary Ann Avnet, Steve Linder, Ginger Anderson and David Thorson. What fun we all had.

On July 9, 2012 Bill was diagnosed with a rare cancer, transitional cell carcinoma. A journey that would last for 5 years and 7 months and during that time, we experienced so many traumas. But yes, we had many times where he was feeling ok and we were able to live and have fun. It wasn’t always bad. But, throughout this time, my Las Vegas Rotary Family was at our side! You guys jumped in in a big way. Rides to doctors, meals delivered to the house, plenty of shoulders to cry on, shopping done for me, visits to the hospital and plenty of people that just came to the house to help Bill while I was out doing other things. Lawry’s delivered prime rib to the hospital. Katie Decker’s students made a book for Bill which I still have. It was during these years that Bob Patten practically moved into our home taking care of all things there. One day I was so worn out, I said to Bill “the next person who calls is taking me out to dinner”. That person was Mary Ann Avnet who took me to dinner while her husband, Steve sat with Bill. I could never have gotten through those years without every member of this club! Everyone was super and really propped me up. And you’ve all continued to be at my side while I learned how to be a widow. You all helped me this year with my horrific Covid journey. And even organized a drive by parade – WOW! Thank you to Arleen, Janice, Tina and Kirk. I am so blessed. To go back to 1995, I would never have dreamed that Rotary would be my lifeline.

With all the trauma in my life, including a very rough 2020 with my illness and significant loss of business, I just decided I needed a “reset”. My sister jumped in to help me find a new home and get this process going (as she always jumped in!). We came to the east coast in August and after looking at a few areas, I settled on Conway, SC. I couldn’t have done it without her. I went back to LV, put the house on the market and it sold within one hour! And then my beloved sister got a fever, was admitted to the hospital and lost her Covid battle on October 23. I absolutely needed to get the ** out.

I am here now 2 months and I can honestly say I think it’s the best thing I could have ever done. For the first time in over 8 years, I can actually say I am feeling peaceful. It’s a much different way of life. My home is on the outskirts of Conway, in a semi-rural area although my immediate neighborhood is more suburban. People are all very nice, friendly and helpful. The weather is very nice right now. Of course, summer will be a totally different story with 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I am the one that wanted change, well I’ve got it. The best part – I’m 30 minutes to the beach. And my new club meets at a hotel that is literally on the beach!

The Rotary Club of Myrtle Beach will be my third club and if it’s half as good as our amazing club, I’m in great shape. I’m already looking at things that I would improve on and I had a long talk with myself and decided I couldn’t come in like a tornado and upset everything. So, I’ll take a step back and learn the lay of the land first!

I wanted to take this moment to share my Rotary story, but I mostly wanted to thank every single member of this amazing club. You’ve given me 13 of the best years of my life! This has been a spectacular experience. I already miss you all and looking forward to my visit home soon. I honestly can say I would not have come through all these difficulties without my LV Rotary family. And for the record, I bought beds for the two guest rooms, so an open invitation to my Rotary family members. I love you guys!!!

Deb
xoxo”

Richard Jost
President
Las Vegas Rotary Club

Scribe – March 11, 2021

• President Richard Jost called the meeting to order.
• Niki Bates gave the invocation.
• President Richard Jost played “The Star Spangled Banner” as performed by 7,000 people at MGM Grand on July 5, 2014, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
• Bhavan Singh served as the Sergeant At Arms.
• We had six guests of rotarians.
• Kim Nyoni presented two Paul Harris +7 awards to Carolyn Sparks and Gary Vause
• PP Karen Whisenhunt gave an overview of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) in which we receive matching grants. All donations to TRF are held in an interest-bearing account for three years with half of the donations, plus interest being returned to the club.
• Maria Walsh provided an update on Breakfast with Books. In February, the program supplied books to 673 families. Spread the Word is now distributing 3 book per child. Breakfast with Books will resume in person in the Fall.
• PP Jim Kohl presented a check for $5,000 to Jeff Gordon with Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.
• Dan Adamson, President of the Las Vegas Rotary Foundation, announced that Ted Wiens donated $1,000 to the Wheelchair Foundation.
• Rose Falocco announced that the 25 Club held a mixer on Thursday, March 4 at Lawry’s and the 25 Club will continue to have monthly gatherings.
• Tina Bishop provided details on the March 24 Virtual Wine Tasting event in conjunction with In Good Taste.
• President Richard Jost reiterated that we are still selling rotary face masks and rotary pins. Please contact Shawn for more information.
• President Richard Jost fined Dan Adamson, PP Jim Kohl, and Kirk Alexander $11,000 for missing a meeting to go skiing. PP Jim Kohl is protesting the fine.
• The raffle ticket winner was PEE Caty Crockett who received a prize of $10, and the Lawry’s Bucks winner was Joan Murdock.
• PEE Caty Crockett introduced our guest speaker, Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, who educated the club on the role of Secretary of State which comprises overseeing 8 divisions including; Silver Flume (Business Licensing), Securities, Operations, and Elections. Barbara also had a guest speaker with Deputy Secretary of State for Elections, Mark Wlaschin, who joined via Zoom. The conversation centered around the election, future of elections, and H.R. 1. H.R. 1 or The For the People Act is a bill in the United States Congress to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limit partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.
• President Richard Jost then adjourned the meeting.