Rotary Club of Saddlebrooke

Saddlebrooke is in southern Arizona, just North of Tucson,in a largely hot desert region, though Arizona itself is geographically and scenically very varied. Much of the state is actually owned by the various Indian nations. It looks beautiful!! The area has a huge copper mining industry, with some quite poor mining communities along the "Copper Corridor"

Saddlebrooke is one of many “active adult” communities in the state – a retirement community for the over 55s,  with many sports and numerous golf courses, cycling, hiking etc and over 200 groups and organisiations. 

The club draws its members from a wider area, and currently has 44 members, with 7 waiting to join once they can meet up for real, and a volunteer corps of 17 “Amigos” (which seem to be a cross between Associate Members and Friends of Rotary) They are a very active club, and their presentation included information from their various committee chairs. They have a particularly active community service committee, which has run one community project a month during the pandemic, for food and clothing for womens refuges as well as supplying food parcels to some of the mining communities

Their golf day, for which they are well sponsored by local businesses in cash or kind, raises about £20,000 annually and this is spent on youth projects – RYLA, Interact, Scholarships, various grants and age appropriate books and dictionaries for schools.Some of their golfers are very keen to come to Blairgowrie and play Rosemount, and were awestruck when Robin said he could arrange for them to play St Andrews! They were also very interested in our Drive it Day and the classic cars which take part..

There have been quite a number of emails flying to and fro since the meeting, and this looks like being a friendship which will be maintained.