Submitted by Gary Whiting, Past District Governor, and Past RCSL President,
and Dr. Honora Norton RCSL Public Image Director April is a special month for our Rotary Club of Sun Lakes (RCSL). RCSL, chartered on April 22, 1986, celebrates 39 years of service within the Sun Lakes Community. RCSL was conceived in 1985 when Chandler Rotarian Andre Felix put an advertisement on the Sun Lakes Club House Bulletin Board to see if anyone was interested in attending a Rotary meeting at the Palo Verde Country Club. Rotarian, Wayne Johnson, had just moved to Sun Lakes responded. Wayne and seven other Sun Lakes retirees met with Andre and decided there was a need for a Rotary club in this fast-growing Sun Lakes Community. After working with the Arizona Rotary District 5510 and Rotary International, final approval was granted and RCSL was charted as a Tuesday morning club with 15 members. Allan Gustafson was elected the Charter Club President. Over the years RCSL, has become known as the “Education Club” because of its youth projects, teacher recognition, and scholarships provided for K-12 education, vocational education, and higher education. RCSL has participated in several RI “Global Grant” projects through the RI Foundation and Sun Lakes/Chandler community projects. For example, a RCSL Rotarian delivered the Sun Lakes Splash Newspaper to your driveway. If you hear about inside running tap water being furnished to off-the-grid Navajo homes on the Navajo Nation, that was RCSL providing this humanitarian project through an RI Foundation Global Grant. RCSL provides over 4,000 dictionaries each school year to third graders in the Chandler Unified School District. This school year, RCSL provided dictionaries to the Casa Blanca Community School and the St Peter Mission School on the Gila River Indian Community. RCSL grew to 140 members in year 2000 from the start of 15 members and now there are over 85 men and women members. In Rotary year 2001, RI recognized RCSL as one of the most involved Top 50 clubs in the world with the 21st Century Challenge Award at the Rotary International Convention held in San Antonio, Texas. Rotary celebrated its 100th year in 2004-2005. Arizona Rotarians selected RCSL Past Club President Gary Whiting as Arizona Rotary District 5510 “Centennial” Governor overseeing 46 Rotary clubs and 1,648 members in the Northeastern part of Arizona, USA. Sadly, Charter Member, Wayne Johnson recently passed away. He was a Rotarian for 66 years and served as club president, director, and committee chairmanships and was a RI Paul Harris Fellow in support of the RI Foundation. To learn more about RCSL, visit www.sunlakesrotary.com and our Facebook page. Come for a visit and join us as people of action. | 
