District Governor Sue Archibald wanted a funny picture of our club. She wouldn’t even let us take a serious photo! Note: We have a lot of snowbirds in our club, and they had not all returned for the winter when this photo was taken!
Number One in Service Projects
Barbara Barr Bengen and Wanda Bailey
District Governor Sue Archibald just made her annual visit to the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke. While visiting, she had two big announcements for our club. We were so excited to learn that our club was #1 in the district in service projects. We were also thrilled to learn that we were awarded another Presidential Citation.
The District Governor’s first announcement was music to our ears. We knew we had done over 100 service projects. However, we were astonished to learn that we had done the most service projects of all the Rotary Clubs in Southern Arizona. District 5500 is comprised of more than 50 Rotary Clubs, so being No. 1 in service projects means a lot. We aren’t the biggest club; we just have a lot of caring members. Our committee chairs offer us opportunities to help others based on our time and interests. Some of our service projects only require four or five people. Others might need six to ten people. And on occasion, it’s all hands on deck.
Members of our club have a lot of fun gathering together in fellowship to make a difference. We have ongoing work at the food bank, Kids’ Closet, packing food for IMPACT, and cooking meals at the Oracle Community Center. As a busy, active club, there are many events taking place each month. We offer many ways to serve. The following are some examples of opportunities between now and the end of the year. Interested? Please join us! Guests are always welcome!
Oct. 25-27: Corazon Build a House in a Day, Tecate, Mexico
Nov. 3: Paella Party for Polio Fundraiser
Nov. 9: Veterans Day Ceremony at Oracle Courthouse and Breakfast at Oracle Community Center
Nov. 16: American Avenue Roadside Clean-Up
Nov. 23: Distribute Thanksgiving Dinners to Low-Income Families with IMPACT
Nov. 23: El Tour de Tucson (Ride to End Polio)
Dec. 13: Serve Holiday Luncheon for Seniors at Oracle Community Center
Dec. 14: Wreaths Across America at Marana Veterans Memorial Cemetery and Oracle Cemetery
Dec. 14: Help at Children’s Holiday Party at Oracle Community Center
District Governor Sue’s second announcement was no surprise. The Presidential Citation recognizes Rotary Clubs that are well run. Much of the award is based on setting and reaching goals in a variety of areas. This is an award our club has historically achieved year after year. Out of over 50 Rotary Clubs, this year only 10 clubs received this award.
Come join us in a service project or for lunch! The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke meets on Thursdays at 11 a.m. for lunch at the Ranch House at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Then, a brief meeting in the ballroom is followed by an educational program or speaker. Rotary is open to those who live and work in SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, and the surrounding communities. For more information, check out saddlebrookerotary.com or contact Membership Chair Diane Demeroutis at [email protected].
David Dettmann (photo by Christianne Dettmann)
A Love of Quilting Becomes Quilts of Love
Christianne Dettmann
Last month, the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club spotlighted one of its newer members—David Dettmann—who happens to be my incredible dad! The article mentioned the 30+ quilts he donated to the club so they can be sold to support local charities. This month, we share the story of how these quilts came to be, hoping perhaps you will decide to make one (or more) of them part of your story too!
My folks retired to SaddleBrooke nearly 20 years ago. One of their house-hunting criteria was that it needed adequate space for my mom’s brand-new long arm quilting machine. Measuring roughly five feet wide, 14 feet long, and seven feet tall, this was no easy task! But her gleaming “elephant in the room” soon found its home opposite the living room sofa, while the walls—much like a trellis—bloomed into a garden of beautifully colored thread organized across rows upon rows of wall-hung racks. Likewise, the closets burst with a bounty of soft batting and a forest of fine fabrics, fat quarters, quilt kits, and jelly rolls.
With hopes of starting a small business, my mom pieced patterns that spoke to her, while my dad—the engineer—focused on keeping the machine in tip-top shape. Though she had sewn her whole life, my mom began taking quilting classes at a local sewing store. However, she soon developed hip problems, such that my dad would often drive her to class and wait in the back to take her home. It didn’t take long for him to start learning some tips and tricks by osmosis, until soon they were working together on a variety of quilts, just for the fun of trying new techniques. Mom tended to favor putting blocks together, while Dad became the primary operator of the long arm machine.
The quilts they amassed over the years speak to the variety of their interests. Mom enjoyed experimenting with machine embroidery, various block patterns, and occasional appliques. Dad challenged himself to cut every piece exactly to size so the seams would line up perfectly … which they usually did!
Not long into their retirement, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. However, she never let that stop her. During her ensuing eight-year battle, she and my dad continued to create quilts together, resulting in the collection the club is now preparing to sell. While each quilt uniquely reflects the years of love my folks had for quilting and for each other, my dad realizes they do no one any good folded up in closets. Putting them into the hands of people who will love them, while simultaneously funding local charities that pour love back into the community, seemed to him the best way to turn their love of quilting into quilts of love.
The SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club hopes you agree and will join us for this sale in early 2025.
More details will be announced in the near future. To learn about the club’s many other initiatives, email [email protected].
Maggie de Block (photo by Joyce Wainscott)
Spotlight on Maggie de Block, President of Sunrise Rotary
Joyce Wainscott
Meet Magdalena (Maggie) de Block, president of SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary. First, you see the impish countenance, then boundless energy, the bright smile, mischievous eyes, and exploding laughter, which is often followed by an utterance of “oh sheet.” A perfect blend of a whirling dervish and Mother Teresa.
Maggie entered the SaddleBrooke charity scene in 2007 with SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, serving as president for four years. She orchestrated and continues to coordinate portions of the Adopt Program with shopping, wrapping, and delivering the gifts to San Carlos Apache Reservation. She grew the Kids’ Closet from an abandoned San Manuel schoolroom to a modern steel building in Mammoth, leasing the land for $1 a year.
In her spare time, she golfs, belongs to Verde Putters, plays poker, and visits her brothers in Florida and relatives in the Netherlands. Maggie’s Rotary activities include volunteering at the Golden Goose, the Tri-Community Food Bank, the Tucson Marathon aid station, SaddleBrooke’s “I Don’t Want It Sale,” the Triangle Y Ranch Camp cleanup, and the San Manuel Elementary School.
The project closest to her heart is 51 Homes Vets in Tucson, a homeless veterans assistance program. Maggie’s life tells us why. Maggie’s family, Dutch citizens, helped colonize the Dutch West Indies in the 1860s and had substantial holdings. As war spread in Southeast Asia and Europe, they attempted to return to Europe in 1940; their efforts were thwarted when Holland fell under German occupation. Maggie’s father and uncle were called to serve in the Dutch military in Southeast Asia. Maggie’s grandmother, a government official, was imprisoned in 1943 after the Japanese invasion. The remaining women (Maggie’s mother, aunt, and sister), fled north into the mountains.
Magdalena was born in Garat in 1945. Her family was held in an internment camp during the latter part of the war. In late 1946, the Dutch government repatriated Dutch citizens to Holland. Maggie, her sister, brother (born in early 1946), her mother, and her grandmother were sent to The Hague. Housing was difficult and the children were placed in care for two years to deal with malnutrition and allow the women to help rebuild the country. They visited on weekends. In 1952, Maggie’s mother remarried and, in 1959, the family (excluding the grandmother) immigrated to Florida; two brothers were born there.
After high school, Maggie served in the Air Force as a medic, completed a degree in political science and returned to the Air Force, where she completed Officer’s Training as a Second Lieutenant and worked in Air Intelligence during the Vietnam War. In 1972, she became a contracting officer serving internationally. She retired as a Lt. Col. in 1982 and left the reserves in 1997. Maggie worked for TRW on defense contracts until 2005.
If you have a passion for service, laughter, and camaraderie, consider joining us. You will love meeting Maggie and the rest of our cast of characters. Contact us at [email protected].