At the conclusion of their regular meeting on April 28, the Four Peaks Rotary Club celebrated their 25-year anniversary.

“I joined the Rotary in 1988, it was the second-year women were allowed to be Rotarians by order of the supreme court,” Patricia Tuttle recalled, who became a Rotarian because she appreciated the activities that the club was doing in the community.

Dick Bauer was invited to become a charter member of Four Peaks Rotary in 1997 when the club was first chartered, holding all offices except for treasurer in the club. Boasting 40 years of perfect club attendance, Bauer is especially proud of their international efforts with the Rotary Youth Exchange program which has been in place for over 20 years.

“The Youth Exchange Program in Fountain Hills is as strong as any club in the country.”

Tuttle has personally hosted eight exchange students over the years and still keeps in touch with the very first exchange student from Melbourne, Australia.

“It’s unique,” Rotary member Paul Perreault said who has hosted one exchange student. Perreault has a 29-year perfect attendance record at the Rotary and was president of the Four Peaks Rotary Foundation Board for more than 10 years. He currently runs the Native American Dilkon Chapter water project for the club.

Joining forces with Dig Deep, a non-profit organization that brings clean, running water to hundred of Native American families, the Rotary has focused on bringing clean, running water for the Navajo Nation whose water source has been threatened for decades due to uranium mining. “We raised more than $396,000 within one month to fund 100 homes to have self-sustaining water systems,” Perreault said. The project has gone international and has funding coming from around the world.

Another significant project that the Rotary has participated in is partnering with an orphanage in Hermosillo, Mexico. “We furnished the orphanage with beds, furniture, washers and dryers, all sorts of things,” Bauer said. The orphanage provided a home for children who, during the day, would traverse through storm drains to live in the sewer only to come out at night to forage for food. Despite mounting pressure from the Mexican Government who is attempting to put the children out for adoption, the Rotary has supported the orphanage for 15 years and put some of the kids through college.

“I don’t know what I would do without the members of four peaks,” Tuttle said. “They are my family in so many ways.”

The Four Peaks Rotary Club is one of more than 46,000 Rotary clubs worldwide. Its members consist of active, civic-minded individuals who are passionate about making a difference in the Fountain Hills community and the world.

In a few weeks, family, friends and members of Four Peaks Rotary will plant thousands of flags around Fountain Park for Memorial Day. Volunteers will wake up before sunrise to plant flags in honor of service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

“We are a service organization Perreault said. “If someone asks us to help with something, we’re up for the challenge.”