Stories
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The Changes That Come in JuneThe month of June is here and with it is anticipation of sun and fun at beach. Well, in Morro Bay, the sun might be somewhat fleeting. Another thing that comes with this time of the year is the anticipation of the new and exciting upcoming Rotary Year. President Elect Tim officially takes the helm on July 1st and the upcoming Rotary Year promises to be exciting. In preparation for his year as our President, Tim is conducting a quick survey that will be circulated in the first week of June. Please take 8-10 minutes or so to complete this survey, as it will help President Tim and his Board of Directors tailor what we do as a Club with our member's ideas. One huge change that is coming is the return to in-person meetings and all of the fun that they bring. Personally, I thank you all for your support as your President for the past 16 months. Together, we've navigated our Club through this past year that was so different from the past due to Covid-19. Overall, our membership remained strong! We participated in 12 projects; including distributing Hand Sanitizer to MB businesses, raised money with our first annual Ducky Derby and two Rotary BBQs, donated more than $10,000 in support of lifeline projects and awarded $10,000 in scholarships to MB High School seniors. Working together, we've really made a difference! So, get ready to re-engage and participate in person during this new Rotary year! I'm looking to seeing everyone work with President Tim, as we head into what will be a fun, exciting, active and wonderful year; continuing to make a difference in our community and the world. Yours in Rotary, Jeff
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Second RC Morro Bay BBQ a Success!Once again, perfect weather and an energetic crew made for another great Rotary Drive-through BBQ. Tri-tips were grilled to perfection, the bread toasted and buttered, and salads and beans packaged; everyone who purchased the 110 (or so) meals drove off with a smile and a wave!  The BBQ Crew was headed by Pete Zotovich who again did an outstanding job coordinating the event. We couldn't have pulled this off without the help of many of our Club's members. Thanks to the Morro Bay Police Volunteers who provided traffic control and check-in for the event. Also, big thanks to Jude Long for coordination of our marketing and promotions and to Tim Olivas for setting up the GivSum account. Our community supporters included: Carla Wixom who provided salad and beans and her restaurant, Carla's Country Kitchen, which was a great facility for a drive-through BBQ. Dean Sullivan owner of Estero Bay News donated large ad space in two editions, Tom Hay (Hay Printing) donated printing support, and John Spencer (Spencer's Market) provided bags to package the take-away in. |
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MB Rotary Drive-Through BBQ |
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Dale Reddell Dale Reddell October 14, 1939 – February 2, 2021 I am sorry to announce that our long-time member Dale Reddell passed away after battling cancer. Dale joined the Morro Bay Rotary Club in January 1986. He was a generous Rotarian, including annually sponsoring $250 towards trophies for our Central Coast Classic Golf Tournament. Dale was elected Mayor of the City of Morro Bay in November 1986 and was committed to community service and involvement. In addition to being a Rotarian, Dale was a long-time Morro Bay Police Department Community Volunteer (MBPV) serving from the first Volunteer Academy in 1996 until he retired in 2017. During his tenure he was instrumental in fundraising for the City’s Police Department’s K-9 purchase and served as the treasurer for the MBPV organization. Dale was a prominent Morro Bay contractor and realtor, partnering with his brother Dan at Bayshore Reality. Please keep Dale, his wife Billie, sons Randy and Rusty, his two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers. |
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Join us in our online auction! |
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Welcome to the Rotary Club of Morro Bay’s 2020-21 year!I’m looking forward to serving as the Morro Bay Rotary President and working with our members and our community during the upcoming year. One thing for sure, this Rotary year promises to be very different from the past! At present, our Club continues to meet virtually due to COVID-19 and are still adjusting to deal with the challenges that have resulted from this world-wide virus. My hope is to focus our meeting so that they are relevant and fun. Meetings are at noon on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. We hold virtual socials at 6 PM on the 3rd and 5th Tuesdays. One of my goals is to keep our virtual Club meetings to an hour or less. Come join the fun – I encourage you to “come” to a meeting or join us for a social. With everyone’s participation we will see that, “Rotary Opens Opportunities”. Unfortunately, our major fundraisers during the spring of 2020 were cancelled and so were the ones previously scheduled for this fall. We recently adopted a Club slogan, “Help Us Help Others”. Please send me an email if you would like to make a contribution to our very worthwhile cause. I hope you can join us as we look forward to a fun, productive, and rewarding year in Rotary. By working together, we can really make a difference in our community as we reach out with our efforts to Help Us Help Others. Hope to see you at a meeting! If you’d like to attend, follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81332607919 If you have trouble, please send me an email and I make sure you receive a Zoom invitation. Thank you! Jeff Jones President, 2020-21 805-471-3310 |
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Crab Feed |
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Notes from our March 12th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY NOTES March 12, 2019 Pete Z, who was our co-host, called the meeting to order. Invocation by Dan Costley Pledge to the Flag by Mike Williams Visiting Rotarians: Christine Weiss from Sunset Club; Leonard Moothart from the Los Osos Club, and Gail Riley, who is a member of the Visalia Club, but now lives in Morro Bay, and was invited to our Club by Pete Starlings. Guests of Rotarians: Jill, who is Christine’s Asst.; John’s parents, Dick and Barbara Weiss; John “Woody” Wordsworth, the Manager at Coast Electronics; and Junior Rotarian, Stella.  Pete Z. unveiled our Club’s brand new banners, including “Rotary Club of Morro Bay”, “Rotary Cub Morro Bay Awards”, and “Rotary Club of Morro Bay Past District Governors”. They are very nice looking and have room to sew on many more awards etc.  Mike Williams made an announcement about the PHF March Madness Pool. Be ready next Tuesday with your $20 in hand to buy a bracket!! Crab Feed Update - Pete said he has given over 160 tickets to our members - Let’s get out there and sell those tickets!! Jamie has tickets for you to pick up; there’s a slight discount if a table of 8 or 10 is bought. May 10th is the Annual MB Rotary Golf Tournament. We are still in need players, sponsors and raffle items; sign up for something - you will love it!! Fine Master for March is Nick - he started with Steve Carnes for $25, Dave Owens for $35, Dale Reddell for $25, Michael Shaffran for $25, Pete Starlings for $25, and Mike Williams for $10. Heidi shared with us that she and her son Noah are planning to go to France to see Max, after touring Europe for a month. Jo  hn Weiss was our speaker who was asked to provide us with an “Epic Talk”. He was District Governor in 2017-2018 which included many, many visits to clubs in our district. He raided his “Rotary Basement” and then passed around gifts including basketballs that were signed by different clubs that he visited during his term, as well as a cool basketball sculpture with a John Wooden saying, a 5240 uniform, a scary mask, a basketball hoop, etc... He also has been to many conventions and meetings all over the world. He had two major surgeries while he was DG and along with the encouragement of MANY, never missed a Rotary step! He found out as he made this journey with his health, that Rotarians care about other Rotarians, as Deepa, Sandi Scwartz, and other club members in our district and Club, were there to support him and be his driver when he was unable to do it himself. Bill Pierce was the first person to encourage John to be the District Governor. Thanks John, for another interesting presentation.50/50 won by Doug Riddell, who brought boxes for the troops to mail - please pick one up!! Our program next week will be Mayor John Headding - his subject will be the Outlook for MB in 2019/2020 Jude gave an inspirational thought about peace. |
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Notes from our March 5th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY NOTES ....MARCH 5, 2019 Meeting called to order by Co-host Katherine, who also gave the Invocation. Flag Salute led by Lorraine Visiting Rotarians: Sherry Sim from Cayucos Guests of Rotarians: Judy introduced Paul Deis, who was our speaker. It was nice to have Tim Olivas, a friend to many of us and a Club member, with us today. Robert and Lynn Enns and Barry Branin, friends of Tom Rost as well as his wife, Carole, were here to see Tom welcomed into our Club. We passed around signups for help with the Crab Feed, Car Show and Golf Tournament. Pete mentioned that for the past several years, he and Mike Williams has run a March Madness Pool with the winner getting a Paul Harris Fellow. Our club members can “buy” a bracket for $20, fill it out or have Pete or Mike fill it out and follow along with the tournament results. He asked - do we want to do it? A raise of hands showed that we are interested in participating, so Pete and Mike will get the brackets ready for us to fill out. March Madness – Here we come!!! Katherine put a couple of things on the tables, including a flyer about the MB City-wide Yard Sale on April 6th. This year there will not be a charge to have your name listed on the map. It is on the same day as our Crab Feed which last year was a good thing; we had several people come to eat crab feed after shopping all day. There will be a lunch workshop at the Inn at Morro Bay entitled “Learn how to Access Capital for your Small Business” tomorrow, March 6th. Pete has tickets for the upcoming Crab Feed; we have two or three tables sold already. We are still looking for larger silent auction items. It will be held on Saturday, April 6th; we’re hoping that those who purchase tickets will fill out their email address so we can send out an email next year to keep them informed about our Crab Feed. Nick was next to talk about our golf tournament being held on Friday, May 10th. We have sponsorship entry forms and participant forms to fill out if you would like to Pay or Play. We need “goodie bag items” to include towels, chap sticks, or anything else that can be put in a bag and given to each golfer. The Car Show is also coming up the first weekend in May; we will need help there as well. Greg Hardcastle and Steve Carnes are working on this event which we are a big benefactor of – we’re hopeful members will sign up to help with registration, information, bbq and/or clean up. Tom R  ost and Dean Sullivan came up to be inducted into our Club. Tom’s wife and friends came up with him for this special ceremony. Welcome to the Club Tom and Dean!! Let’s all make an effort get to know our newest members!!Judy came up to introduce our speaker, Paul Deis. Jude has known Paul since she was new in town and met him while he was painting the library many years ago. He is a full-time advocate of Global Climate Change. He has worked for the City of Morro Bay, the State and the Red Cross managing disasters.  After working in the solar industry for a while, he decided he would rather volunteer his time to something he believes in. He has worked alongside Al Gore on Climate Change. Every day we make several decisions - he wants us to think a little differently as we make decisions concerning the environment. There are more large storms with more warm water and the intensity of the storms is greater than it used to be. Hotter years typically have more fires. Solutions include: Wind energy, solar, and other types of renewable energy; try driving slower, keep air in your tires, and combine errands. In the grocery store, choose the fruit and vegetables that are in the bins, rather than the ones that are in plastic non-reusable bags that will be put in landfills. We need to help other nations thereby making a difference in the world. Thanks to Paul for his informative talk. I’m glad he likes to eat steak!Jamie won the 50/50. Next week we will have craft talks.....come and learn more about two of our members. EC |
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Notes from our February 26th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB FEB. 26, 2019 Invocation: Melissa Flag salute: Matt Franklin and Pete Starlings Guests: Melissa brought two guests today, Tim Cowan and Nick Andregg; John Weiss brought Dean Sullivan and Tom Rost who will both be joining our club soon; and Judy Salamacha introduced her guest, Nahayo who worked at Garden House and is now attending medical school with plans to graduate in May. Last year our Club provided him  with some financial support to use for school. He will be doing his residency next, with a major in Neurology. Rick Catlett and Chief Jody Cox from the MB Police Dept were also among our visitors today.Guest Rotarian: Sherry Sim visiting from Cayucos. We have 14 tentative Club reservations for our Dodger vs Giant game. Dan Costley reported that our board voted to make Teri Bayus an honorary member. Our board voted to have the Club’s portion of each 50/50 drawing go to the Polio Plus Fund. Matt Franklin and Pete Starlings have both paid $250/year to be in a PHF quartet. Today they drew to see who would be the recipient of this year’s Paul Harris and the winner was Matt; he will be awarded a Paul Harris Fellow soon.  Jude called up John Weiss to thank him for being the “fine” master. Pete came up next to give John a little memento in the form of a special name tag. John said he is very thankful for us, and the help we gave him while he was District Governor. Judy introduced our speaker, Police Chief Jody Cox. He says his theory, when he is asked to speak, is “Be Brilliant, Be Brief and Be Gone”. He is from Tulare County and worked in Kings County, has been on a SWAT team and worked his way through all the different divisions including investigations. In 2010, he had the opportunity to come to Morro Bay to see if he would want to join the police dept here, but their son was still in school in Tulare and his wife vetoed the plan. When he was given the opportunity again in 2012, his son was out of school, so his family was ready to make the move, work and hopefully and retire here. He had the role of Acting Chief a couple of times before he had the opportunity to become Chief. When Scott Collins became the City Manager, he felt it was the right time to throw his hat in the ring to become Chief. He feels that Leadership is all about Relationship, and that is something he is committed to and works towards. We do live in “Paradise  ” and he and the rest of his team work to keep it that way. He emphasizes to his officers they need to represent themselves well to everyone as they are working within the community. A “Chief’s Advisory Board” and “Citizens Police Academy” are two programs the Chief is getting started. Neighborhood Cop is another program Jody is working on to maintain the relationships within the community. Thanks to Chief Cox for this informative presentation.50/50 won by Judy S. who gave it to Nahayo to use for his travel back home. There was to be an orientation meeting for Tom and Dean after the general meeting, so they can soon be members of our Club. Next week our program will be Paul Dels whose topic will be Climate Change: Must we Change? Can We Change? Will We Change? |
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Notes from our February 19th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB BULLETIN FEBRUARY 19, 2019 Ken Stilts was our co-host today and called the meeting to order, he said it has been a very long time since he was our President and called a meeting to order. Invocation by: Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag: Dan Costley Guests: Rotarians Bob and Ann Scott, from Cobourg, Ontario; Bruce Howard from the Cambria Club who is also our speaker; Dean Sullivan who is here for the fourth time; “Jude’s Dude”, Gordon, who has retired so he is available to come to Rotary; Jeff Cadwallader, Assistant Vice Principal at MBHS.  Heidi presented a check to Jeff in the amount of $500 to support the Awards Banquet at the High School. Contact Katherine if you would like to go to the Dodgers game; we might be able to take a bus from here. We hope to have over 200 attending District-wide. Mary and Jude went to the Atascadero Rotary Crab Feed and it was a beautifully run affair, except they didn’t do the bread right according to Mary, who admitted she is the “Crabby Crab” eater and wants things done right. Ours will be done right because it will be done at the Pizza Port. Four Way Test....Andrea is handling it and the deadline is April 1st, so we have a little more time than we thought we did. Daniel Bronstein gave an update on the Scouts BSA Troop for Girls he is starting up with help from Doug Riddell. We are the charter organization for this troop. He now has five girls who want to be involved which is the minimum to start a troop. Judy Salamacha said that Opal Singleton has written a new book about Human Trafficking. Her second book is Societal Shift, A World Without Borders and a Home Without Walls. Both available on Amazon and Judy also has a couple of copies. The fines were $10 for each person with a birthday in February. In addition to birthday fines, Mary Leizear for $25; Dan Costley for $20; Steve for $25; Jeff Jones for $20; Jack Keely, $20; Dale Reddell for $50; Ryan for $15; and Mike Shaffran for $20.  John Weiss then introduced our speaker, Bruce Howard who John has known for over 18 years. Judy added that Bruce is in real estate and has lived in Cambria 20+ years. The Cambria Rotary Club, which is 50 years old, was started/sponsored by our Club. Bruce’s first occupation was as a flight attendant, he plays the drums and has sold many different percussion instruments. He is a concert promoter and has been on the radio for several years including years on K-Otter radio. He has promoted and personally knows many performers over the past 20 years. The Fremont Theater is like a theater that most small towns have with a seating capacity of approximately 800. They bring many special events to the Fremont which has been updated but still has its original charm. Bruce was a delightful speaker and we appreciate him taking the time to come to our Rotary Club. 50/50 was won by Ann Scott, our guest who gifted it back to our Polio Plus Fund. Ann and Bob Scott have been all over the world giving out polio doses and tirelessly fundraising to eradicate polio. Bob said only 30 cases were reported last year. Next week we will have Jody Cox, our new Police Chief. He has been Chief for about six months, so he is ready to talk to us about police business - hope to see all MBRC members next week. Jude says “Be the Inspiration” - a quote from MLK and Ghandi.
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Notes from our February 12th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING February 12, 2019 Today’s Co-Host was Tom Hay; he called our meeting to order, asked for guests as well as called on himself to provide today’s Invocation. Invocation was by Tom Pledge to the Flag by Mary who correctly answered the question: “Whose birthday is today”? Tom brought a couple of pictures of beautiful waves in our area...so that we had a visual for our “We Make Waves” cheer. Pete got up and told a joke about swords and flys. Guests today were: Junior Rotarian Stella and Erica Crawford, our speaker and CEO of the Chamber. Our Crab Feed committee met again this morning, it is coming along nicely and will be a good fundraiser. We will start selling tickets the first of March. We still need a few items for the silent auction; if you have a vacation home, or something else that you can donate we would appreciate it. Katherine reported that twelve people have stated that they would like to go to our Dodger/Giant game. The tickets are $75.00 and is on June 20th. Thursday, Feb. 21 between 5-7pm is the Squeaky Wheel Happy Hour at the Inn at Morro Bay. Join your business peers to consider policies, regulations, and projects that affect Morro Bay’s economic development. Melissa reported on the PETS Convention that she attended last weekend in Los Angeles. She said they discussed how to attract Millennials, she feels that you need to be respectful of t  hem and welcoming to them which she said our club really was to her. John again was the fine master so.........Mike W was fined $20; Carla can’t be fined, but her answer was correct; Lorraine was fined $20 and gave a short synopsis of her real estate business; Mike P was fined $10: Tom Hay was fined $20 and gave a short talk about his printing business; Dave was fined $20 and talked about his dry cleaner business and his umpiring; Elsie fined $5; Stella was called on, but her mom stood up in her place and answered for her.  Katherine introduced Erica, the CEO and President of the Morro Bay Chamber who was our speaker today. She opened her own restaurant when she was 27 and has always worked hard at whatever she does. She loves to go to Chamber Conventions to get inspired about more things to do in our community. The trees have been trimmed downtown and are ready to be lit up by the end of this month or in March. The next topic was the Saturday Farmers Market on Main Street. The layout needed to be changed because fear of fire evacuation concerns. After considering the needs of the businesses in the area, they came up with a new layout which seemed to be working, but there were still some concerns, so they decided to opt out of the market as a Chamber Program. This responsibility will very likely to go to someone else, possibly a farmer or vendor who is involved in the market. Melissa asked about music/concerts being brought into the area, which Erica says is being looked at. Thanks to Erica for this presentation on very short notice. Mike Shaffran has purchased a home which is right for the needs of he and his wife, in Templeton. Next week’s program will be Cambria Rotarian, Bruce Howard who will speak about the Historic Fremont Entertainment Center. 50/50 drawing was $18 and was won by Nick. Moment of inspiration....by Jude. |
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Notes from our February 5th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY BULLETIN February 5, 2019 Melissa was the co-host today, so she called the meeting to order with a ring of the bell, and a welcome to all. Invocation by Nick Flag Salute by Andrea GUESTS: Mary brought Ann Byerly from the SLO Monday Rotary Club who had an announcement: Saturday, March 23rd they will be holding their annual Spaghetti Western Fundraiser at the Vets Club in SLO. Buy your tickets on their website - sounds like a fun event and all monies made will go towards high school scholarships for deserving students. Dean Sullivan visited for the second time and brought copies of the first edition of their newspaper, The Estero Bay News; Tom Russ, visiting us for the fourth time; and Interactors  Audrey McClish, Annalise Dempsey and Kinsey Flaghterly were here with Andrea. The Interactors have helped with the Avocado Margarita Festival, the Fall Carnival, Canned Food Drive for SLO, The Human Trafficking Summit, the Women’s Shelter in SLO, as well as many other things - Great Job!! They have several thousand dollars in their account to use when they decide what charity they would like to use it for.Katherine is heading up the Dodgers vs Giants baseball game trip. We will possibly be going by bus or maybe we can see how many cars we will have going. Tomorrow is mock interviews at Cuesta College - Jude is going to be our representative. Judy was introduced and congratulated for receiving the Lillian Dean Award, for all the things she has done in the community as an advocate for Writers. We are thankful she is a vital part of our Club. Congratulations Judy!! Crab Feed Meeting: Pete said if everyone sells 4-l/2 tickets, we will sellout. Start thinking about who you can invite, and if you have something you can offer for our silent auction. All Ideas for making more money on this fundraiser are both invited and appreciated.  Judy introduced our special speaker today, Chris Aho, the Development Director of the 25th Annual SLO Film Festival. The Festival has long been considered to be one of the best independent film festivals in the country. They have 60-70 screeners to watch all the films and narrow those making “the cut” down to 70, which will be shown in Paso, and Morro Bay as well as downtown SLO. Some are as short as 3 minutes and can be up to 30 minutes or longer; also, some are heavy and some have a lighter topic. It starts on March 12 and will be six days of film, wine and fun on the Cinematic Central Coast. There are also special events including the appearance of Katherine Ross and her husband Sam Elliot, with the showing of Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid. They have a special section for youth film makers who will also have a chance to get an award, or have their film viewed. Saturday night they will be giving a Life Time Achievement Award to someone in the film business, who has yet to be named. Their website is www.slofilmfest.org if you are interested in getting tickets or volunteering. Teri Bayus has made a film that will be shown. John Weiss came up to do the fining – ending up fining Judy $10, Melissa $25, Jack Keely answered correctly but was still fined $25, Pete Starlings $10, Nick $10, Mike W and Williams $10. John has thru the month of February to fine us all – be on the lookout. Mike Pond mentioned that Chiara won an international math contest and was awarded $2,500 which she is using for her train trip. It seems Chiara loves math and science.....Good Job, Chiara. Jude’s quote for today was from “64 Ways in 64 Days” - encouraging Peace. Thanks Jude. Next week we will have Craft Talks - one of my favorites, getting to know our members better. See you then. Enjoy the sunshine. |
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Notes from our January 29th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING January 29, 2019 Dan Costley was our co-host and also gave the Invocation Flag salute was led by Kasey Guests: John Weiss brought Dean Sullivan and Tom Ross; Mary Helen and Kathleen, Rotarians from Palm Desert were with us again; and, Mike Pond introduced Ciara who is with a MB host family now. Sherry Sim, Rotarian from the Cayucos Club, also visited today. This morning at 11am, we met with Teri Bayus to debrief and hear from those who were involved in the Lighted Boat Parade. The event went very well and made money too. We will meet next week at 11am to continue planning the Crab Feed. Jude sent out an email with information on upcoming events. Andrea will be going to Del Mar school to talk about the Four Way Test - they need to be read, checked and back to the District Office by March 1st.  June 20th is the Dodger Game trip, we need a coordinator for our Club, so please consider heading this up. The discounted price for the Dodgers vs. Giants game is $75.00. It is a social gather ing for the District so we hope to get a large group. Sherry Sim will take the lead and arrange for a bus to take us there. More about this later. Sherry brought a poster and information about the Cayucos Rotary Masquerade Party on Saturday March 16th. This is always a fun event - definitely worth going to so buy your tickets early as it is always a sellout. Next Ciara came up to collect a donation that had been collected for her.  Chuck and Ken C bought a Paul Harris Fellow Banner with gold badges for everyone who is in the Club who have a PH. Nick said he has given a PH to everyone in his family so it was his desire to give one to a person in our Club. He chose to give it to Katherine Gillen, who “hit the road running” when she joined, and has been involved in many things incl  uding volunteering to be our President in 2021. She said she was overwhelmed with the surprise presentation of the Paul Harris Fellow and she will hang it proudly in her office at the Chamber. John Weiss was again in charge of fines and asked members - ”What is your favorite avenue of service?” Ken S., Lorraine, Don D., Kacey, Dan C, Pete Starlings, Nick, and Chuck were fined for various reasons. Judy introduced our speaker, Dr. Jill Stearns, the President of Cuesta College. She, her husband and both sons are graduates of Cal Poly. Quite a few of our members attended Cuesta College. They are a “Hispanic Serving Institution”, which is a federal designation. They are 53% female and have a rapidly growing segment online. Eight percent of their students already have a bachelor’s degree and are considered “re-careering”. It is a huge savings to go to Cuesta before transferring to a State or UC as out of high school, your first 2 years are paid for. Cuesta tuition used to be based on attendance, but their new funding is performance based, which has been a big benefit to Cuesta. They are offering classes in Geographic Information Systems (G  IS), and culinary courses. They have a “Cougar Pantry” for those who need food which had 18,000 visits last year; accommodating 1100 students in need. Doug brought boxes to be mailed to the troops. 50/50 - $37 won by Mary Helen, our guest from Palm Desert. Next week’s program will be Chris Aho, Development Director, SLO Film Festival. |
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Notes from our January 22nd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING JAN 22, 2019 Meeting called to order by Co-host Nick Inspirational moment.......Katherine Pledge to the Flag.........Tom Hay We put in a call to Rick Grantham who thought it was a wrong number until we shouted: “Who’s House”?!!! RAMS House!! He sounded like he was glad to hear from us. Guests today: Jody from Garden House was with Kasey. Clip board was sent around to remind us about the Mixer at the Best Western tomorrow, the Health Fair at the Community Center on Jan. 26th and The Central Coast Women for Fisheries will be selling Albacore Enchiladas on Feb. 2nd - order from Lori French now. We had a Crab Feed meeting this morning; it will be held on Saturday, April 6th. If we all sell five tickets, we will sell out; tickets are $60.00. We are well on the way of having a successful Crab Feed fundraiser. Jude took our $1,000 to the Coast Guard; she was on tv and we got a lot of publicity and many will be helped. Thanks to everyone who gave to this cause, the board authorized additional funds added to the amount given on Tuesday to bring it up to $1,000. Heidi made an announcement about PRLS training which will be held in Santa Maria or SLO. Michael Shaffran has a special need which he shared with us; he needs to rent a home - if someone has information about a home that will be available soon, please contact him. April 28th is the Bollywood event to benefit Deepa - Save the date and buy your tickets now, they sell out early. More about location etc. next week. Judy Salamacha was given special recognition for all of the work she did for the Human Trafficking Summit. We appreciate all she does. John Weiss was our “Fine Master” for the month… Question of the day was “What is your Favorite Avenue of Service in Rotary?” Steve Carnes was first and was fined $25; Katherine was fined $25; Jack Keely was fined $25. Ryan said Pacific Community Bank is the best and was fined $25. Michael S was next and his favorite is International Service – he was fined $25. Andrea said her favorite is “Youth Services”, she enjoys going to Del Mar and talking to the teachers and kids – yes, she was fined $25. Judy introduced Lynette Sonne from FARMstead Ed and Andrea from Talley Farms Fresh Harvest. Agra-Tourism is growing by leaps and bounds where people from the city can come and see how and where animals and veggies are grown. She pulls veggies to fill a box of goodies from farms within 150 miles, so if she cannot get lettuce here, they may have it in Oxnard. They deliver these boxes to Lemos and Miners here in MB to be picked up by those who have preordered and prepaid. Each box contains fresh salad ingredients, dinner vegetables and sweet tasting fruit - The junior box is $23; the large box is $28. So if you are looking to serve fresh, California grown fruits and vegetables, you will want to look into becoming a member of FreshHarvest at Talley Farms. They put on workshops about pickling, jamming, and peppers and also bring groups to a farm that has llamas and goats. The baby goats will be ready to see/play with in April. We will see how many would like to join us in a fun day at the farm. Very interesting - thanks to Lynette and Andrea for coming off the ranch/farm to enlighten us city folks. They brought a Junior box and a large box of edible goodies as well as a couple of surprise bottles of homemade goodies to add to our raffle prizes, so there were five 50/50 winners who went home with great prizes. See you next week when our speaker will be Dr. Jill Stearns, President of Cuesta College. |
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Notes from our January 15th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING JAN 15, 2019 MEETING called to order by Ken Casida who was today’s co-host INVOCATION by Melissa with a quote by Martin Luther King PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: By Elsie KEN led us in WE MAKE WAVES (3 times with enthusiasm) John Weiss introduced us to his guest, Ron, who spends part time in Morro Bay and part time in Kansas. Clyde Gains Celebration of Life was last Saturday; Jeff said Clyde was remembered by the group, as several of our members were present. Crab Feed coming up on Saturday, April 6th’ Jude is hopeful that everyone will find a place to be of service during this event. Friday, May 10th is the Annual Golf Tournament, here at the Golf Course. Rotary Membership training is being held in Pismo Beach on March 9th; if Don can go and take someone with him, that would be great. District Training will be held on March 16th in Oxnard; Melissa should take her board and Jude will be taking hers. RYLA has six students signed up that are being sponsored by our Club. June 29th is the step down for Sandi Schwartz in Simi Valley. We had a presentation earlier this year from Education Partner with Businesses and they mentioned that they might want some of us to participate in mock interviews with students; the event will be held on February 6th at Cuesta College if anyone would like to participate. We passed the bucket to collect money to buy gift cards to give to the neediest members of the Coast Guard in our area. We collected $224.  Nelson Pamplona educated us about the stock market, since he works at Edward Jones. For the past few years we have been seeing a large increase in the market but it has been going the other way for the past few months. The Border Wall, our relationship with China, natural disasters, and other things are causing the sell off at this time. However, this may be a good time to buy, since prices are low. Bonds might be a good option at this time. He will be meeting with a PG&E client on Friday and hopefully will find out more about what they plan to do about Diablo. The Board will be meeting tomorrow morning here at the View at 7:30. The Four Way Test essay contest will start on February 1st and has to be done on March 1st. Andrea Turnquist is looking forward to meeting with Del Mar teachers and getting that started. Melissa gave a Craft Talk; she has been in Rotary for five years and has a Massage business here in Morro Bay. Her grandpa was a member of MB Rotary, and she grew up here. Melissa has been married since 2012 and has a  child Stella, who is a Jr. Rotarian. She had several questions that she asked and answer herself, so that we could get to know her better. She hates it when someone uses the word “Expecially”, because there is no “X” in the word. So, I’m sure we will be ‘expecially’ sure not to use that word when she is President. Her ideal way to spend a weekend is to go camping and just hangout on the beach, with family and friends. She loves dogs and hates cats. She chooses to be an optimist. She is now the General Manager at the Pizza Port, and still will be doing Massage Therapy. Our “Mystery Guest” was Walter, Jude’s Black lab stuffed animal support dog, who seemed to have a digestion problem. Sometimes Jude “wings it” and sometimes she does “triage”  . She loved being a Librarian and certainly is not the stereotypical librarian as she was known as the “Iron Fist with a Velvet Glove”. She liked being the Reference Person and she loved telling stories to the children. She has lived in Los Osos since 1975. Her husband, Gordon, is getting ready to retire and they are looking forward to being together full time - at least they think they are looking forward to it.Lynn Sonne/Farmstead Education Program and Member, and Tally Farms will be our program next week, with a box of fresh veggies to auction off. John Solu’s wife, Joan was named the Citizen of the Year by the Chamber and Kitzman Culligan Water was named Business of the Year. Congratulations to our Rotarians for making such a difference in Morro Bay!! 50/50 was won by Matt Franklin
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Notes from our January 8th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING January 8, 2019 Invocation by Ken Stilts Pledge to the flag by Doug Riddell The co-host was Jeff Jones; he called the meeting to order and introduced the team who were with the special guest, Eddy, the K9. Dick Mellinger and Gil Igleheart were here with a presentation about Pawsabilities and the New Life K9’s Service Dog program, headed up by Jack Gould. Guests also included Bob Salamacha, Liz Clarke, Claire Grantham and Neil Farrell; it was also nice to have former Rotarians Brian and Kelly Griffith here today.  Co-host Jeff then introduced our President Jude Long who made special introduction of Rick and Claire Grantham, who are moving to Washington very soon. Rick sh  ared his experience of being a cheerleader - it was a Rotary thing - of course. Then Rick led us in WHOSE HOUSE IS IT? RAMS HOUSE!!! (Although I heard a few other teams in there?). They moved here in 1993 and made many friends over the years; including close friends here in our Rotary club. Our Best Wishes to them in this new chapter in their lives....I know of a very active Rotary Club there (whose president is a former Visalian) that will give them a warm welcome. This is Rotary Foundation Month so Jude encouraged us to donate $100 to our own local MB Foundation. Jude introduced Neil Ferrell who is the editor of Bay News which, along with two other local papers, has stopped publication. He is hoping another newspaper will open up again soon. Jeff Jones and Pete Zotovich both thanked him for the work he has done on behalf of the Fire Dept. and the school.  Judy introduced Jack Gould who is with New Life K9s Service Dogs and Pawsabilities for Veterans which helps create awareness of veterans with PTSD. The puppies they buy are taken to the California Men’s Colony where they are trained to become service dogs, by a staff of 24 trainers. They always welcome the help of others by picking up a puppy/  dog on Friday and returning it on Monday, so they can experience life outside the prison. After two years of training, CMC hosts a graduation ceremony to unite the trainer, service dog and veteran. We are encouraged to come to graduation and see what the inmates have been able to do with these K9’s in just two years. It is a very rewarding program for the veteran, the inmate and the K9. Community involvement is critical.50/50 drawing went to Jeff Jones Next week’s program will be craft talks by two of our own Club members.....it’s always interesting to learn more about each other. It’s a Beautiful Day in Morro Bay!! |
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Notes from our December 11th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING NOTES December 11, 2018 President Jude called the meeting to order with an announcement that we have two presentations today - the Morro Bay High School Choir and Michelle Roust with the Winter Bird Festival. Invocation by Nick Pledge to the Flag by Dale Sent around the bucket to collect tips for the wait staff; we’ll be sending it around next week too – bring some extra cash!!! Next was the Morro Bay High School Choir led by Holly Banfield, who coincidentally was a recipient of one of our scholarships. Holly led them in a nice selection of Christmas carols; we even joined in on  the chorus of Jingle Bells and it sounded quite beautiful. We gave them a standing ovation and a check in the amount of $250.Chalk one up for the President for being adaptable when we have a surprise...........two presentations on one day! When Jude wanted to know what record was broken last weekend on the football field; Jeff Jones said there was an attendance record broken in soccer – the original “Futbol”, for which he was fined $20. Actually, it was a football record she was talking about - who knew? Army/Navy game .....Chuck wanted us to know Army won. Pete brought avocados for sale with proceeds going to our MB Rotary Foundation. He also talked with Max and said he is doing great.  Katherine introduced Michelle Roust, who is the Co-chair of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, which is being held on Jan 18 -21. The Brant geese come to MB to eat the eel grass, which is one of the reasons it is a protected area. They fly like geese and honk like geese but they are smaller. Every Martin Luther King weekend, well over 500 birders visit Morro Bay. We are right on the pacific flyway for birds that are passing on to go south and then pass by again on their way home, so it is a great place to have a Festival. Bird Watching is a National pastime; birding can be quite expensive as “good glass” (binoculars) and travel adds up. Many of the Birders will go to Pacific Wildlife to hold a baby bird and see how the birds are cared for. On average, the Bird Festival will attract over 575 people; many of whom are not from this area. The cost for the entire weekend is only $85. The Festival bazaar will be at the Community Center, where there will be a “Birds of Morro Bay” quilt fundraiser, tee shirts, and other works of art. The Festival works exclusively with local business: restaurants, hotels, winery’s, printers, etc. This is a great area for birds since we have small population, and varied grass lands, estuary etc. The Festival website is morrobaybirdfestival.org. Over 500 people have already signed up for next year. International Audubon Society Bird Count is this Saturday. Jack Keely won the 50/50 Jude shared a couple of inspirational quotes. “Remember that your natural state is Joy”. Rudyard Kipling “Delight in the little things”. See you next week with whatever presentation Jude and Judy come up with. |
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Notes from our December 4th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING DECEMBER 4, 2018 Meeting called to order by Jude....WE MAKE WAVES! Invocation by Katherine Gillen Pledge to the Flag led by Mike Pond Guests of Rotarians: Our speaker, Melanie Williams-Mahan Guest Rotarians: Marty and Eric who are members of the SLO Rotary Club. Soon to be member Nelson Pamploma, who will be attending an orientation at Lolos Monday evening. We have been cleared to be at Albertsons to ring the Salvation Army Bell on Thursday for the next three weeks. Matt still has a couple of openings. Jude gave special recognition to Don Doubledee for being Santa. Thank you so much to Don and everyone who has helped with the Lighted Boat Parade. Chief Knuckles mentioned the KSBY stint that we did at the fire station last night. Jude was able to “plug” Rotary and the Lighted Boat Parade. Donations of non-perishable food and unwrapped toys to be used in this community, can be dropped off at the fire station. Jude had to decide whether to fine the people who went to the fire station or fine those who did not. She decided to fine those who were there, which brought in over $100 in $20 fines. Chief Knuckles offered to let us use their pop-up for the hot chocolate, coffee and cookies for the Lighted Boat Parade Saturday evening. Dan commented on a couple of people who came to the Santa House and were so happy to see Santa. We could still use Santa’s helpers to be in the Santa House to engage with people and encourage them to come in for a picture. Received a nice thank you note from the Caroling Cops and Honor Flights; two organizations we provided money to. Bill Pierce said he found more plush toys for the Caroling Cops to give out, so we are good for this year and part of next. The trolley reservations are full and even have a waiting list. He also said he had “5 IOU’s” from several of us.....I paid mine off!! Pete brought avocados to sell with money going to the Rotary Foundation. Kathi had surgery three weeks ago today; send her a greeting. She is doing great but is a bit sore. Birthdays this week......Gary Owens, Lori French, & Casey Watson. Katheri  ne introduced our speaker, Melanie Williams Mayan, the Executive Director of PET, Partners in Equestrian Therapy, located in Atascadero. This organization works with children and adults with disabilities through equine therapy. Sometimes a child who does not communicate at home or school, will be able to communicate with a horse. Also, children in wheelchairs can have a great time on a horse and it gives them self-confidence, and sometimes even the feeling of being able to walk. The horses want to please and that makes them so accessible. The riders all have side walkers who make sure the horse is comfortable with the situation. They also teach the basics of horsemanship, including an “emergency dismount”, in case the horse gets spooked by something. A child who cannot see can learn to trust by riding on the horse. The PET Foundation is always looking for volunteers and financial gifts. They receive grants from the county every year but also need individual donations. They also work with veterans and “at risk” teens. A fun and informative presentation - thanks Katherine for bringing Melanie to us. 50/50 won by: Ken Stilts which he then donated to Melanie Williams, our speaker. Next week’s program will be Michelle Roust whose subject will be “Morro Bay Bird Festival”. Jude’s inspirational quote was, .......well.....inspirational. |
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Notes from our November 26th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING NOV 26, 2018 Jude opened the meeting with......... WE MAKE WAVES Kasey gave the invocation Santa Don led the Pledge to the Flag Guests of Rotarians...Dan brought his lovely wife, Linda, and his mother, Brit Sullivan; John Weiss brought Jeff Heller; Judy introduced Doug Garland, our speaker and Brian Shorts who was with him. Visiting Rotarians: Fred LoBue, who is a member of the Visalia Downtown Rotary. John Weiss announced that while he did not win in his bid for mayor, he is grateful for the support he received from many of us. He also announced the death of Clyde Ganes, a former member of our Rotary Club. Jeff Jones shared a few thoughts about Clyde and how he would come out when there was a fire, to make sure it was safe for the firemen, and also mentioned his great sense of humor. Mike Pond also talked a few minutes about Clyde and his ability to raise funds for Sri Lanka. John Solu met Clyde in 2002 when he was doing a remodel and was “red tagged” by him, but then Clyde came along, on the weekend no less, to help with his project. Jude had worked for him when she first came to Morro Bay in the early 70’s at Thrifty. His Memorial Service will be Jan 12th in at the Paso Robles Fair Grounds, more information to follow. .jpg) Matt said we still have two slots on the 6th and the 13th for Salvation Army bell ringers at Albertsons and all day the 20th is still open. Let Matt know if you are able to help. Bill Pierce said in the aftermath of the Camp fire, there are many animals that need to be taken care of by veterinarians. We passed the bucket and collected $304.00 that will be sent to the appropriate organization to help with these unfortunate little critters. Still looking for a host family for Chiara, from December to February. Dan Costly made announcements about the Lighted Boat Parade and the Santa House. We have made arrangements to use the space where the Off the Hook restaurant used to be for those who want to spend time during the Lighted Boat Parade in a warm and cozy spot. The cost per ticket is $10 which will get you munchies and comfort; there will also be an open bar if you need a little extra boost of warmth. We still need a few more cookies, which we will be selling along with hot choc and coffee. We need help starting at 4pm on Saturday to set up and also need more help to sell cookies etc. on Saturday night. Right now we are a “go”, but if there are heavy winds etc., we will have to cancel. John Lindsey will help us and keep us informed about that. John Weiss will be our announcer. Thanks to Don Doubledee who looks great and will be a great Santa. We also need a helper for Santa every night, because we will be selling picture frames in the Santa House.  Scott Collins said the MB Fire Department will be hosting KSBY’s Seasons of Hope on Monday Dec 3rd. KSBY will be there filming so we hope many of our club members will be there as well. Join them at the station at about 5:45. Douglas Garland was our speaker today with the topic of “The Tall Poppy Syndrome”. Doug was a doctor in Orthopedics specializing in spinal cord injuries. Good envy is if your neighbor gets a new car, and you want to work harder so you can get one too. Bad envy is when your neighbor gets a new car, your desire is to key it. He had a lot to say about TPS in many countries as well as in the U.S.; while the Tall Poppy Syndrome is widely known in other countries, it’s a relatively new concept in the U.S. – even though we probably “live” the syndrome more than anywhere else. The main thought is “life is not always fair”....do your best, follow the Rotary Four Way Test, rejoice with those who rejoice, cry with those who are crying and help those in need. 50/50 was won by Jeff Jones. Jude closed the meeting with Thankful Thoughts Awareness. Be aware of things that are going RIGHT in our lives, from the moment we wake up, if we can see, hear, move, think, etc......then we are truly Blessed. AND ...We live in this wonderful place...check out the waves today!! |
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Notes from our November 6th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING November 6  Meeting opened by President Jude with Bill Pierce leading the WE MAKE WAVES cheer. Invocation by Ken Stilts with a special emphasis on voting and how privileged we are to be in this country Guest Rotarians: Joel Clay the Manager of the View restaurant; Sherry Sim from Cayucos Rotary. Guests of Rotarians: Nelson Pamploma, with Edward Jones here for the third time; Elsie’s friend Cordelia, from Orange County; Melissa’s friend, Jillian Montgomery; Judy’s daughter, Jody; and our speaker, Misty Wycoff, Judy was fined $20 because she was properly dressed in red/white/blue on voting day. Jude informed us of the death of Katherine Gillen’s mom who passed away last week. Our best goes out to Katherine at this difficult time. If you are paying your dues in two payments, the 2nd Installment is due this month. Melissa sent around a clip board signup sheet to open and lock up the Santa House. There will be two more meetings before December 1st. Next week Terri Bayus will be here ....come to the meeting for the Lighted Boat Parade.....it’s kind of a big deal for our club. Next week Chiara is bringing Italian cookies to share for a donation to help with her train trip. I’m sure she would appreciate any help we can give her to make this trip possible. Matt Franklin is in charge of the Salvation Army Bell Ringing signups; come next week prepared to sign up for a one hour shift to ring the bell in front of Albertsons. Our club is responsible for the last Thursday in November and the first two in December. All the money they receive in their bucket here, stays in Morro Bay, so it is a worthwhile thing for us to do. Daniel Bronstein was here to share his vision for Scouting USA. He wants our Club to Charter an all Girl Boy Scout Troop in Morro Bay. There would be a nominal fee ($100.00) and one representative to be the liaison for the Girl’s Scout Troop. Daniel has been a Rotarian for the past 8 years and a Boy Scout for the past 30 years.  Melissa introduced our speaker, Misty Wycoff providing us with an interesting presentation about the Elephant Seals.....”Bachelors and Harems”. Elephant seals can dive a mile down into the sea and can hold their breath 2 hours. There are 3 distinct seasons - (1) breeding and birthing; .mom has 28 days after her pup is born to pump calories into it. There are approx. 5,200 births a year, after the 28 days, she will breed and will go on her migration, leaving her pup behind. The fertilized egg will attach itself to the mom’s uterus, but will not begin to grow for another three months. (2) The molting season, where they lose all their outer covering once a year. It takes about a month to completely molt. (3) Fall Haul Out when young males come in and practice fasting, and strengthen their muscles on land. None of the seals eat or poop etc. while they are on the beach. The wildlife workers implant GPS devices on them to better keep tract of populations, journeys, etc. The beach in our coastal region is the only land they will ever touch; the rest of their life is spent in the ocean. Forty nine percent of babies survive their migration after they leave here. Wonderful presentation!! Thanks Misty!!Honor Flight Program is scheduled for next week. Come to this exciting program just in time for Veterans Day. |
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Notes from our October 30th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Club Meeting October 30, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by: Tom Hay Pledge to our Flag by: Lorraine Guests of Rotarians: Katherine Gillen brought her friend, Amber Clark, who is a new Chamber Member and the Manager of the Masterpiece Hotel. Good to see Rick Grantham, who along with his wife, Claire, and three dogs are moving to Poulsbo, Washington. Claire is recovering from recent back surgery, and Rick has just had hip replacement surgery so they are in great shape to go to Washington where their kids “can take care of them” from now on. Tonight is a social at the Brickhouse BBQ to meet and greet Chiara and celebrate with Jan on her move back to Visalia. Elsie was fined $20 for the “Fake News” in last week’s bulletin, where she stated that Chuck Clarke is a Dodgers fan, but in fact, he is a diehard Boston Red Sox fan. Sorry Chuck. Pete, wearing a Father of the Bride tee shirt, gave a run down of the wedding of his daughter last weekend.  Our speakers, Karen and Claudia with Pacific Wildlife Care thanked us for our gift of lights to them, which was important so the care givers can check on birds without disturbing them. The first animal was Ginger, a female common barn owl. She will have only one or two owlets per year; she eats mice, rats, rabbits etc. It is important that people do not use rat poison since it can be ingested and cause great harm to the birds. They will hunt in an area of 12,000 acres, and they are okay with several of them hunting in one area. The next guest bird was CORAX, a male common raven. They have had him since he was just a baby bird, the only survivor in a nest of four birds that w  as found on the ground. Ravens will call in the big predators to kill the prey and then they can eat off the same animal. Ravens are very smart and can learn to imitate sounds and words. They are wonderful flyers, fun to watch, and they love to do acrobatics. Ravens have a reputation of coming around when there is death, which has been true sometimes in the past – for example, during the black plague, or executions when they came in after a death to do the cleanup. Pacific Wildlife Care is the only wildlife rehabilitation organization in SLO County licensed by US Fish and Wildlife and every year they provide treatment to between 2,000 and 3,000 birds, land mammals, and reptiles that are injured, orphaned, sick or starving. This is always a great presentation!! Thanks to the Wildlife staff for coming and sharing. Claudia closed with a quote from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”. 50/50 drawing won by Heidi. Next week’s speaker will be Daniel Bronstein sharing his vision for the Boy Scouts USA. |
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Notes from our October 23rd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING October 23, 2018 President Jude called the meeting to order.....WE MAKE WAVES!!! Invocation by: Dan Costley Pledge to the flag led by Pete Z. Guests of Rotarians: Lynne Enns was here to give flu shots; Melissa brought her friend, Jillian Montgomery; our Rotary Exchange student Chiara; Steve K brought Fire Marshall Matt Viera. Katherine sent around a signup sheet for the social we are having at Brickhouse BBQ on the 30th of October between 5 and 7 pm. Come meet and greet Chiara and give best wishes to Jan who will be moving to Visalia to open up a candy shop there. Melissa sent around a signup sheet for the open up and lock up of Santa House during the Winterfest, the details on keys etc. will be forthcoming; and Dan C sent around a sponsor signup for the Lighted Boat Parade. He said we will be roofing and painting the House soon. The Lighted Boat Parade is being held on December 1, 2018. Salvation Army Bell Ringing is our other holiday project; Matt Franklin is heading it up. Signups will be for 2 hour shifts at the door of Albertsons; look to sign up soon. .JPG) Steve Carnes came up to say we are slowly getting geared up for the car show next May. He presented Pres Jude a check in the amount of $7,000 for the work our Club did for the car show this year......good job to all who helped!! What a great fund raiser!! Melissa was fined $20 for announcing that she is in charge of sponsorship for the car show next year..........?? Greg Hardcastle was fined $20 because he and Gretchen went to France for two weeks; Tom Hay was fined $20 because he was a fan of both teams that are in the World Series; Chuck was fined $20 because he is a fan of the Dodgers; Jan was fined $20 even though her dad, Glen, played for the Red Sox Organization. Mary was fined $20 because she answered one of Jude’s trivia questions; Tom Hay, it seems, was the most knowledgeable baseball fan in our group. Bill Pierce says his left knee is healing but his rotator cuff is not. He bought a white Ford Edge so was fined $20.....regardless of the number of cup holders. .JPG) Judy came up and introduced our speaker, John Lindsey, who said he is very proud of the efforts of the Morro Bay residents who stepped up to build the Maritime Museum and who want to bring in an aquarium. He started by explaining El Niño, which we have all heard a lot about. The prediction is that we will have above average temperatures as well as above average rainfall for the next year. He believes the jet stream causes the warm water spots in the ocean. He says it looks like there will be lots of rainfall between Halloween and Thanksgiving, which is great for the firemen who desperately need a break..........It has been a long, hard fire season. In order for a hurricane to flourish, the water needs to be over 80 degrees. Someone asked if his job is in jeopardy because Diablo is closing. He said he will be happy to retire in a couple of years, and there is always something to do. The power plant is not needed like it has been in the past because of solar panels, and more efficient uses of electricity. Diablo has furnished 10% of electricity for the state, and 33% for their service area. Chief Knuckles thanked John for always being available to give information when they are out fighting fires. They will be putting in many weather stations in our area. By Monday we might see gale force winds on the coast line. “So there you Go!!”.One more prediction from John...........the Red Sox will win the series. 50/50 was won by Steve Carnes. Next week will be Pacific Wildlife.....always a favorite. Come and see what interesting animal or bird they bring this time. |
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Notes from our October 16th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING October 16, 2018 Meeting brought to order by President Jude......WE MAKE WAVES!! Inspirational Minute by: Melissa Pledge to the Flag led by: Jan Lewis Visiting Rotarians: Daniel Bronstein who has been a member of the Pismo Beach / 5 Citites Club. Guests: Nelson Pamplona from Edward Jones; Erica Crawford, CEO of the MB Chamber of Commerce; Teri Bayus our speaker for today. Cleaning the shed: Three of our hardy female Rotarians cleaned out the shed; stop by the shed and see if there is anything you could use - it will be open after the meeting today. Katherine sent around a signup sheet for the BBQ we will be having on October 30th at Brickhouse Bbq; come any time between 5 and 7pm. We want to welcome Chiara and wish the best to Jan, who is leaving Morro Bay to move to Visalia. Melissa sent around a request for members to unlock and lock up the Santa House after Santa goes home for the night during Morro Bay’s Winterfest. There is also the opportunity for businesses or individuals to sponsor an evening at the Santa House which includes buying toys for the kids for one evening. Chiara would like to stay with the host family in SLO until after Thanksgiving. We will need a host family in Morro Bay after that. Do you know anyone who would enjoy having this young lady with them for the rest of the school year?  Erica awarded our Club $5,000 for the work we did during the Avocado/Margarita Festival. Thank you to everyone who worked... it is a great way for us to make money with only one five hour shift each. Dale Reddell’s birthday was October 14, for which he was fined $20; Jude brought various t-shirts for us to take home if we wanted one...... she got rid of several of them (or should I say, several lucky Rotarians went home with a Christmas Lighted Boat Parade t-shirt).  Teri Bayus was our speaker today and the topic was “Dinner and a Movie”. Teri does many things including writing a food column for the past 17 years; during which time she has had food poisoning 11 times. As a food reviewer, Teri has to be able to eat anything, including bugs, etc., but she has also been sent around the world to eat – a big bonus. Seems like a good job to me!! She says it is a good idea to wait a couple of months before you visit a new restaurant to let them get their menu right, staff informed etc. If you want to be a food column writer, pay special attention to your word count, deadlines, alw  ays double check owners name and address, and ask to tour the kitchen. She always orders appetizers when she reviews a restaurant and likes to take someone else with her to help eat the plates and plates of food. She posts on Yelp, Trip Advisor, dine.com, Chowhound etc. She started a tv show three years ago called Taste Buds which even recently got picked up by Netflix. Teri is a delightful and energetic person and always a good speaker. It would be fun to follow her on her blog...for more about Teri, go to teribayus.com Pick up a box to mail to the troops. Jude had a few quotes about food. Next week is Meteorologist John Lindsay .....”I can be totally wrong and still keep my job”. 50/50 won by Ken Stilts |
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Notes from our Oct 9th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Club Meeting October 9, 2018 President Jude called the meeting to order, and WE MADE WAVES!!! Invocation by Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag by Jack Keely Visiting Rotarians: Gary and Leslie Vilhauer from Danville, CA.; Andrea Lueker, our speaker today, who was a long time member of our Club and is a member of the Pismo Rotary Club. .jpg) Guests of Rotarians: Mike Williams asked Gary Christiansen to join us, and Chuck brought Liz, his lovely wife (and better half) of 62 years. Jude and Judy went to the District Conference in Bakersfield. Jude made a few comments about her football team, how well the quarterback is doing etc. etc.... Tomorrow you are invited to meet at the Rotary Shed at 9:30am to clean it out and possibly have lunch at Mi CASA. Katherine has planned a social at the Brickhouse BBQ on October 30th to greet Chiara, our exchange student. She is enrolled at MBHS, but lives in SLO – for now. That is not a great situation, so we need to find a host family for her in Morro Bay. They don’t have to be a Rotarian, Mike passed out a flyer with the qualifications. Heidi said Master PRLS is coming to Oxnard on October 26-28; you’re able to take all the classes in one weekend. We’re having a Lighted Boat Parade meeting next Tuesday at 11am, prior to our meeting. Doug Riddel was fined $20 for having a birthday; Pete was fined $37.00 for being married 37 years; and, Heidi has been married 30 years, which got her a $30 fine. Don Doubledee was fined $20 after volunteering his birth date; and Mary was fined $20 for having a birthday last week.  Judy introduced Andrea Lueker and told us a couple of things she knew about her that maybe the rest of us did not know. Judy also said our Recreation Dept was greatly improved when she was Morro Bay City Manager. Gary Christiansen, John Weiss, Carla Wixom, and Mike Pond told special little memories about Andrea. Andrea’s talk was about Port San Luis Harbor District, where she works with a 3.6 million dollar budget. The District owns Avila Beach, Avila Pier and the Port San Luis Lighthouse. They have the only active boat yard in the area. People ask about the Avila Pier, but it is expensive to replace and there is an oil plume to deal with as well. The District has plans to build more RV camping, Glamping, slides, harbor operations, and an infinity pool in the Avila Beach area. They are very interested in obtaining some of the property at Diablo Canyon’s 12,000 acres. Morro Bay has to be dredged by order of the Army Corp, so it is paid for by the Fed. Government, that is not true of Port San Luis so that is one of the expenses of the District. Pirates Cove Beach belongs to the San Luis Harbor District but not the parking lot, or the walkway, just the naked beach (lol…). Thanks to Andrea for bringing this interesting and informative presentation about the Harbor District “Where every day Brings a New Adventure”.Jude ended the meeting with “amazing” comments and questions from visitors to our National Parks. Sounds like we need to put more emphasis on Geography classes in school. 50/50 won by Gary Owens. Our speaker next week is Terri Bayus. |
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Notes from our October 2nd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING October 2, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by Katherine Pledge to the Flag by Rich Riedel Welcome back to Chuck who has been missing due to some health issues. We love you Chuck, and are glad to see you back!!! Visiting Rotarians: Steve Peck, formerly from Visalia...now living in Morro Bay Guests of Rotarians: Melissa brought friends, Morgan Wise and Emily; Tom Hay brought his friend, Larry Burke and our speaker, Van Curaza; Nelson Paloma, a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, MB also visited our Club today. A card for Claire Grantham, who had recent back surgery, was passed around. Steve Knuckles announced that the Fire Dept. will be giving free flu shots on Sunday, October 28th from 1–4pm at the Fire Dept.  Scott Collins and Jack Keely were both presented with their yellow badges... a very quick transition for these men - thanks for stepping up and being so active so early in your membership!! In an effort to get a tad bit organized, some of us cleaned out the Rotary cabinet in the meeting room last week; on Wednesday, October 10th we will meet at the storage shed to ruthlessly clean it out; we’re hoping to follow this up with lunch at Mi Casa, the Mexican Restaurant in the same parking lot. Katherine Gillen was formally announced as our President Elect Nominee for the 2020/21 year. Judy Salamacha sent a picture of Nahayo who we helped with medical school expenses. He is now officially a doctor. What a blessing to be able to help others attain their goals. Judy also said she and Jude will be going to the District Conference to learn more about Human Trafficking. Jude had Opal’s very informative book with her to sell at a cost of $16.00. Elsie is making tee shirt dresses to sell in the “Million Kids” Etsy shop. Check it out ....jewelry and other handmade things will be sold to help fund this worthy organization. Vacancy on the Board of Directors - we are in need of an Awards Chair. Please volunteer - Jude will be happy to help you with that. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARY!! A.G. Rotary is having a drawing for a 2017 Ruby Red Mustang; the tickets are $20 with a maximum to sell of 3,000. So far 1800 have been sold......so the odds are pretty good. Tom  Hay introduced our speaker today, Van Curaza. On October 9th thru the 15th we will be welcoming our wounded military heroes to the Central Coast for Operation Surf! Van started by thanking the veterans and first responders. After battling and overcoming addictions in his own life, he was given the opportunity to work with veterans and now has his own organization: ”Amazing Surf Adventures”, which is a non-profit located in Avila Beach. Their mission is to help those in need overcome their challenges through the power of surfing, ocean education, and fellowship. In 2017, they welcomed 15 heroes to the weeklong surf therapy event in Avila Beach and Morro Bay. These veterans come on this all expenses paid “vacation” to learn surfing with world class surf instructors and at the same time, build trust and self confidence. They will be at the Rock in Morro Bay on October 14th and 15th. “Operation Surf helped me realize I’m not disabled, I’m just differently abled” said Martin P., an Operation Surf Family Member. Jude closed with giving Van a “Be the Inspiration” pin. We appreciate his honesty in sharing his life with us. Our speaker next week will be our own Andrea Lueker, be here for her exciting presentation. The 50/50 was won by Doug who presented it to Van for his Operation Surf ventures. Jude beat Gary to the punch and told a great story on herself. It was funny!! See you next week!! |
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Notes from our September 25th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING September 25, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Inspirational Message by Buddha read by Melissa Pledge to the Flag led by Ryan Visiting Rotarians: Ray from Taft; Skip from Lake Oswego, Oregon; and Dan who is from Morro Bay and was a member of the Pismo 5 Cities Club Visitors: John Weiss brought Jeff Heller who is running for City Council, and Kerrigan, a friend of his. Crab Feed meeting was held this morning; we need to pick a date and get it on our calendars. We still need a host family for Chiara, our exchange student from Italy. Katherine said we are planning an evening social at the Brickhouse BBQ; we will be welcoming Chiara and saying a special good bye to Jan – we will keep you posted on the date. President Jude said she had been on vacation and really missed all of us. She talked a little about the Trafficking Summit and Opal. She will have copies of Opal’s book, “Seduced” with her next week if someone would like to buy one. Heidi came late and was fined $20; Ryan reminded us that he works at Pacific Premier Bank and has two children, one born just 2 months ago so we passed the pail to start a fund for her - we collected $109 which will be doubled by Ryan to start a savings account for baby Chloe. On the 9th, Nick is having a Meet and Greet at the restaurant for John Weiss. Nick was fined $20 - why? John fined Gary Owens $10 - why? I guess because they could… Jamie Boucher went to Arizona for their 35th Anniversary. It was hot but they had a good time. Congratulations!! John Weiss was our speaker today....talking about Peace Making within Rotary Clubs. He is the Chairman of this effort within SLO County. Global Violence costs the world over 14 trillion dollars per year. If we can address the basic needs of individuals, including food, water, education, health care, etc., it will reduce violence throughout the world. Ken Stilts has been to Mexico to give dental care to people in villages where they are so grateful for the help. Our District has a micro-lending project primarily with a focus on women, which is a great program to get people jobs so they can become self sufficient. Rotary feeds the hungry, stocks food banks, encourages youth through exchanges, helps local veterans, supports free health clinics, mediates conflicts, and responds to disasters. Our 72 Rotary Clubs have impacted our community in the amount of $3,500,000. Jeff Jones is going to be our new Peace Chair, which goes hand-in-hand with his position in the Fire Service. Rotary, with 1.2 million members and 35,000 clubs worldwide is in the unique position to do what no government has been able to do. Thank you, John, for informing us about another way Rotary is enriching lives around the world. 50/50 won by Dave Owens who passed it on to Ryan for Chloe Katherine Gillian is our new President Elect Nominee for the year of 2019/2020. Tom Hay announced that, in October, wounded veterans will be coming to Morro Bay to surf with Amazing Surf Adventures. He will be our program next Tuesday, speaking on that effort.  Jan Lewis wrote a note of resignation to our Club because she is selling her candy store and moving to Visalia where she will be opening a Sweet Offerings store downtown. Jan, we appreciate all you have done to enrich our club - generously giving of your time, talents and, of course, yummy chocolates. You have been the perfect Mrs. Claus. We will stop in and visit you whenever we are in Visalia. |
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Notes from our September 11th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING SEPT 11th MEETING called to order by President Jude Invocation by Tom Hay especially remembering those in our group who have health issues and also a special prayer for our nation as we remember September 11th. Pledge to the American Flag: Greg Hardcastle....back after having back surgery. Good to see you, Greg!! Welcome back to Gary Englund who has been traveling for a few months. Visiting Rotarians: None today Guests of Rotarians: Firefighters Sam Watson (brand new fulltime Firefighter to Morro Bay) and Michael Kelly (promoted to Engineer Paramedic) brought by Chief Knuckles; Keith Taylor brought by Carla; Jeff Heller brought by John Weiss. Jamie said we provided the Avo/Marg Festival with “just” enough volunteer hours – we made it by 1 hour and so earned our $5,000 - Yea!!! Thanks to all who gave time and energy to this event. Mike Pond gave us an update on Chiara, our exchange student from Italy. This weekend is the Human Trafficking Summit at the Community Center; it’s sold out!!! Also, Friday night is a Meet and Greet at the Inn at Morro Bay from 5:30-7:30pm; its a chance to meet Opal Singleton. We will need help taking things down after the event on Saturday. We are dark next week because the golf course needs the room for an event. There will be a board meeting Wed morning at the View at 7:30. Fining time: $20 each to anyone who wore something Rotary, protested by Nick but alas, it didn’t change the fine; Peter Starlings brought a chair to the Avo/Marg Festival so was asked to stand up and tell us about his trip to Kansas, he was fined $20.   Nick Mendoza was presented with a special Rotary Recognition; Ken Casida was given a pin representing PHF’s - four gems; and, Ryan was presented with his permanent badge. Chief Knuckles and Mike Pond gave our presentation about September 11, 2001. 2996 people died that day; 343 of those were firefighters. An additional 365 fire fighters have died since from effects of that day. Peter Starlings and John Weiss both had family members who were close to being at ‘ground zero” on September 11, 2001. Morro Bay had a prayer time at the center park a couple of days later. It was good for our community to hear from our Fire Chief and others at this time; it was definitely a time of healing. Mike Bonano had moved to Morro Bay from New York ... he lost two co-workers on that day.....and helped our station connect with the firemen in New York. Mike and S  teve were awarded “Be the Inspiration” pins as a thank you for their Thoughts on 9/11.50/50 was won by Greg Hardcastle Remember, next week is DARK......hope to see you on the 25th. |
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Notes from our August 28th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING AUGUST 28, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by Melissa Pledge to the American Flag by Ken Casida Mike introduced our exchange student, Chiara who is from Italy. He is still looking for a local host family and also drivers to take her back to her home in SLO after school. There are still tickets available for the Taste of the Grove, Morro Bay’s Premier Food and Wine Tasting Experience, September 7th, the evening before the Avo/Marg Festival. Katherine mentioned the September Mixer, on Sept. 12th, which will be at the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, at 2988 N. Main St. There will be bbq sliders and pasta salad, beer and wine and a special speaker from the National Estuary program. For those volunteering for the Avo/Marg Festival, you will need to check in at the corner of Harbor and Embarcadero where you will get your tee shirt and further directions. Mike and Jude went to Deepa’s fundraiser Saturday night. The Syrah wine is excellent; if anyone wants to buy a bottle for $30.00 to support Pace Universal, please see Mike. Next week the new DG, Sandi Schwartz, will be here. There will be an informal Board meeting with her at 11:00 to introduce ourselves. Jude still needs someone to play the guitar for 1/2 hour next Tuesday.  Don and Doug brought Jack Keely to the front to bring him into our club. He has been visiting for the past few months and we are very happy to have him join us. He is a charter member of the Los Osos Rotary Club, and has been in this area for 51 years. Jordan Ridge, last year’s outgoing exchange student, came up to share about her year in Germany. She stayed with three host families in three different are  as. She said her host families were very kind and welcoming. She went sailing for a week in the Netherlands, and celebrated Oktoberfest in Germany. She also enjoyed skiing and playing in the snow. It was a very positive experience for Jordan, and she had put together a beautiful and informative presentation. She said she is very thankful to our club for the opportunity to go to Germany and surrounding countries.Si Tenenberg, our special speaker today, was introduced by Doug. Si is responsible for putting together the boxes that Doug brings to Rotary to be mailed to troops overseas. Si has  mailed 20,000 packages (40 to 50 boxes a week), all going to our servicemen and women. He has helped over 400,000 of our combat troops. They also send boxes to the bomb sniffing dogs, and toys and supplies for the Afghani children. We have 50,000 troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Since the end of 2014, when we turned over all the security to the Afghan forces, Taliban strength has grown to 30,000.....we will be there a long time!! We also have 7,000 troops in Africa, which is one of the places the boxes are sent. Thank you Si, for your service to your country and your service to “your boys”. No 50/50 today.....”someone” forgot to bring the tickets. The quote today was one from John McCain who passed away earlier this week. |
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Notes from our August 21st Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING August 21, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by: Melissa Pledge Allegiance to the American Flag led by Doug Riddell Guest Rotarians: Jill Drexhage Guests of Rotarians: Terri Bayus, who is the Coordinator for the Lighted Boat Parade, among other things. There was a Lighted Boat Parade meeting today and there will also be one next week at 11:00. Come and join the committee for this fun event. DDS Check for $1,040.00 received for a Rotary Grant....thanks, Pete. Deepa’s wine event this Saturday.....Mike will be going down and if you can’t go, but would like to support Pace Universal, Mike will bring back the wine for you....it is $30.00/bottle Our new exchange student has arrived from Italy. We hope to have her at a meeting real soon. Jamie said we have about 34 signed up to help with the Avo/Marg Festival......we still need 50 total. If you have signed up, you should have gotten an email telling you where to go, who to see etc. If you have friends or neighbors who would like to help this community effort, sign them up and bring them with you. Contact Jamie (805) 801-7162 Frank Martinez said Hi and would like to come to a meeting if possible. Terri Bayus talked about the Central Coast Writers Conference which will be held at Cuesta College on September 27-29. It is a conference with all levels of writing classes.....cost is $250 for the weekend. Sounds like many exciting classes for those who are interested in writing. Terri’s enthusiasm is contagious! Our speaker, Robert Sachs, was introduced by Michael Shaffran. His main focus is Ayurveda, which is a system of medicine with historic roots in India. Globalized and Modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of alternative medicine. The purpose of this type of medicine is to keep people healthy and happy. We may unhealthy because of Ignorance (lifestyle of coffee drinking etc.), Attachment (we like what we like) or Aggression (push back or stress). Our lifestyle contributes to 90% of how we feel. Exercise and diet are vitally important as well.....different kinds for different body types etc. Detoxification......could change your health. Massage, hydro therapies, and acupuncture are also part of the program. The program points out the strong connections between the mind, body and spirit. Robert and his wife, Melanie, live in Oceano and he has written several books, some of which he brought with him to sell. Next week will be Si Tenenberg, whose focus is what we can do to support our troops. Si is always an interesting speaker and has greatly improved the lives of our military. 50/50 won by Mike Pond and passed on to the staff at the View. Thanks for your generosity, Mike. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi.
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Notes from our August 14th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING AUGUST 14, 2018 President Jude opened our meeting with a “Welcome to Rotary”; our response was “We Make Waves”. Invocation by Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag by John Solu Visiting Rotarians: Mary Ellen and Kathleen from Palm Desert, and it was nice to see Eric Luthi and John Solu whom we have not seen for a while. Guests of Rotarians: Steve Carnes brought Jeff Heller, who has visited Rotary in the past and is now running for MB City Council. Thanks to Katherine for the birthday cake for Max’s mom; it was both beautiful and delicious. Thanks to Chuck for the new laptop computer and accessories; we definitely needed a new one!! We will make sure the 10 year old stuff will be taken to an e-cycle center somewhere. Katherine read a thank you note from SLONOOR for the $500 we gave them. And Matt read a thank you note from Big Brothers/Big Sisters who we supported in the amount of $250. A HUGE thank you to Heidi for the work she does on these grants. Judy spoke about the Human Trafficking Summit which will be held in MB on September 15th. She has posters and she also has tickets to sell. Tomorrow is the Garden House event. Maritime Museum will have its Grand Opening on September 29th. Mike Pond met the new Italian Exchange Student last night. Hope to have her at our meeting next week. Deepa’s wine event at her winery will be on August 25th. Free dinner; it’s a fundraiser through the selling of wine. Call Jamie and sign up for the Avo/Marg Festival if you haven’t already. We are still in need of many more people to work during this event; you can even bring your family and friends to help us out . Max’s family gave our club a gift of $300 and we plan to do something special with it. They made it home safe and sound and are home and doing well.  Ken Casida and Chuck Clarke awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship to Andrea Turnquist, who was chosen from one of the Quartets. Elsie, Lorraine and John were fined $25 each for not giving quick answers in the 5 second test. Actually, it turns out whether we were quick or not, we were still fined.  Liz Moore and Ryan Mammarella were our speakers today. Liz is the MBHS Work-Based Learning Coordinator. Their job is to connect business with education. One of the things they are doing is the “Just 1 Job Fair”. What skills would a student need to be successful at a job interview? Confidence, appearance, how to speak, disclosing who you are, researching the company you are interviewing with are all answers to that question. It’s also important to bring evidence of your knowledge, and communicate well. Seniors probably will not have these skills, so Work Based Learning is very important. Sometimes they ask members in the community to give interviews and then give the student feedback from the interview. Businesses are usually willing to “job shadow” with a student. The Morro Bay High School “Just 1 Fair” is March 19th, 2019. These students are the face of our community’s future. The entire Junior Class at MBHS is being taken to SLO to go to the “Just 1 Fair”. Judy, Steve and Scott were next with the five second test.....they all lost the race, and were fined $25. Next week’s guest is Robert Sachs, Meditation Strategies 4 Happy Living. Better come...we all want to live happy!! 50/50 won by Former Prez Pete. Quote of the Day: “It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.” Ann Landers |
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Notes from our August 7th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING AUGUST 7th Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by: Heidi Pledge to the Flag led by Max Visiting Rotarians: Kathleen and Mary from Palm Desert; Dawn Addis and her family from Los Osos; Leonard with Los Osos Rotary who was peddling raffle tickets; Max with his parents and younger brother; Deepa; and Stella, our Junior Rotarian. Guests of Rotarians: Emily, with Judy S.; the Browns who also work with Judy on Human Trafficking; Bonnie Jones; Judy’s daughter, Jody; Gary Owens brought his son, Mike; Paige who came with Elsie for the second time. John Weiss announced that he has filed papers and plans to run for Mayor. Judy S. and Bonnie Jones will have tickets available for the Human Trafficking Summit today and from now on. We still need help for the Avo/Marg Festival; let Jamie know if you are available to help. We have about 30 volunteers, we need 50. .JPG) Next we gave a birthday gift of a homemade apron to Lawrence, Max’ mom; Katherine G also brought a beautiful cake for her. She said she had never had a cake before; Max’s family spoke in French, translated by Max, thanking our Club so much for everything we have done for his family. They awarded our Club a financial gift to help with all of the things we do. Next Max thanked us very much for all our Club has done for him. Max is a special person, we have all benefited from knowing him and I’m sure we will continue to follow his life. His brother, Clarence is just eight years away from being able to come here as an Exchange Student.  John Weiss introduced Deepa, our very special speaker today. This year’s theme for Rotary International is “Be the Inspiration”. Our world has many problems including poverty and human trafficking. Peace is not just the lack of war. Two million girls are sold each year into human trafficking. On the Central Coast, Human Trafficking is associated with gangs, the hotel industry, and the farming industry. Deepa says if you can get girls into school, you can change the course of a nation. Deepa’s school brings pride, laughter and hope to the girls. They have an After School Enrichment Program. The girls at PACE have an opportunity to write their stories and then act them out in front of the perpetrators. Deepa’s organization has brought in fruit trees, put in sanitation, built roads, and brought in electricity. Why does Deepa have such a passion to help? She wants to Change the Face of Hopelessness and Fear. Deepa is having a fundraiser at her winery with all proceeds going to support her school for girls. We would like to have as many of us as are able go down to Solvang to support Deepa’s efforts. More details next week. We awarded Deepa with a check that will cover expenses for two girls in her school. She also brought, and sold, many beautiful handmade pieces of jewelry. Max leaves about 12 tomorrow. If any of us want to go to the airport to say good bye ....be there at 10:30 in the morning. 50/50 won by Nancy....$26.00......it was passed on to Deepa. Quote for the day. “Your work is to discover the world and then with all your heart, give yourself to it.” Buddha |
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Notes from our July 31st Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING July 31, 2018 .jpg) Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by Michael Shaffran, after which we sang a speedy version of “Happy Birthday” to Michael, our best effort ever!! Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag: Katherine Rotarian Guests: None today Guests of Rotarians: Mike Williams introduced Ron Vasconcellos, from North County Adaptive Sports and Rec; Jordan Ridge who was our Outgoing Rotary Exchange student who spent last year in Germany; Kimberly Perez with Pacific Wildlife Care. Jamie sent around a sign up sheet for the Avo/Marg Festival on September 8th. We need to sign up 50 people for five hour shifts so we will have enough hours to earn our club $5,000. Pete announced that on August 5th, the Zotovich’s and the Kimbrell’s will be hosting a party for Max and his family, who will be going back to France on the 8th of August. We want to get together to give them a good send off. Pete passed around a sign up sheet so he will know how many to prepare for. Bring your own drinks; food will be provided.  Heidi presented a check in the amount of $800.00 to Kimberly from Pacific Wildlife Care. This check will specifically be used for a video camera to monitor the Sea bird section of their facility. The camera will help keep the birds stress free while they are being watched. Jamie was next with tips about the Clubrunner. She explained how to get on the website, how much info is on the site, upcoming events, the bulletin each week, etc. She told us how to get logged in for the few of us who have not ever logged in. We are able to get emails, phone numbers and birthdays from our site; as well as update our own information. We can also sign up to attend and buy tickets for the Human Trafficking Summit on Clubrunner.  Mike Williams introduced Ron Vasconcellos, who graduated from Cal Poly with an Engineering degree. He is now working closely with the Kinesiology Dept at Cal Poly to serve individuals with various special needs. They provide adaptive sports, including swimming, to help with building skills, gain self confidence as well as provide social interactions. This non-profit started in 2010 and has done much to enrich the lives of adults with disabilities. A bocce ball court which is used by Cal Poly as well as the Adaptive Sports participants was entirely built by volunteers. Everyone who works in this program is a volunteer from the top down. Basketball, volleyball, bocce ball, aquatics, line dancing (which has turned out to be a favorite), and broom ball are just a few of the activities that are offered. They now have an average of 18 Cal Poly students who help with their programs. Many of these students, including Tom Hay’s daughter Marissa, go on to have careers in this field. Thank you, Ron, for this informative talk. It’s good to know about the wonderful programs going on in our area. Next week’s program will be Deepa Willingham, speaking about her PACE School and also Human Trafficking. 50/50 was won by Jamie............Well Deserved Be the Inspiration. ”You can do anything, but you can’t do everything; so Choose Carefully” a quote from a Dove candy wrapper. |
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Notes from our July 24th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING JULY 24, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by Melissa Pledge Allegiance to our Flag led by Gary  Guest Rotarians: Nope Guests of Rotarians: Stella, our Junior Rotarian; Joel Erwin, our guest speaker from Cal Trans. Upcoming Events: Garden House, August 15th celebrating Wonder Garden. It is free and will have music and games. Burgers/hot dogs will be available for sale. Avocado/Margarita Festival....passed around signup sheet. Coming up September 8th, opportunities to sell tickets, work the bar, attach bracelets, volunteer check in, kids play area and more. Also, we need to go to surrounding towns and Morro Bay businesses to pass out posters. We get credit for everything we do, and with enough volunteer hours, we will receive $5,000 from working this event Judy also had posters to pass out for SLO County Human Trafficking Summit. You can register on line; Jamie will have more information on registering next week. Deepa will be giving a presentation about this on August 7th. We received a nice thank you note from the Assistance League; with the money they received from our Club, they were able to buy clothes and backpacks for two school children. We sponsored one Veteran to go on the Honor Flight; we also received a thank you note from them for our $1,500 donation. Pete and Kathi took Max to see his parents in San Francisco. Their plane was delayed 7 hours, but he was very excited to see them. They are all in Yosemite now.... There will be a “meet and greet” with Max and his family on August 5th at Pete’s house, 4 - 7pm. Next week Jamie will be showing us all how to use “Clubrunner”. Jude said that Greg Hardcastle has had back fusion surgery and will be home in a body cast for a while. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Greg and Gretchen. .jpg) Gary Owens asked how you get a personalized placemat? The answer is “Come late every week”, so Mike Williams is the special person that gets a special mat. Lots of birthdays....each fined $10.00, including Ken C, Judy, Mike W, Rich Riedel, and Mike Shaffran Nick was fined $20 for not knowing what was going on with the fireworks in Morro Bay by the Cloisters last night.  Michael Shaffran introduced the speaker, Joe Erwin who has been with Cal Trans for the past 13 years. Joe went to Cal Poly and lives in Morro Bay with his wife and two sons. He has worked on the Mud Creek Landslide since May of last year. Fifteen acres of land (5 million cubic yards) went onto the road and into the ocean. The road was built back up on top of the mud slide; literally tons of huge rocks were brought in to stop the erosion. The new roadway has been buttressed with a series of embankments, berms, rocks, netting, culverts ad other stabilizing materials. This will have a 54 million dollar price tag by the time it is finished. Very interesting and of interest to all of us; especially Jan since she has a business in Cambria and has already seen an increase in business.Next week our speaker will be Ron Vasconcellos, North County Adaptive Sports and Rec. 50/50 was drawn by Stella and won by Ken Stilts Exemption was won by Elsie |
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Notes from our July 17th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB July 17, 2018 Meeting called to order by President Jude Invocation by Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag by Steve Carnes Joke by Jude.....camping/bear jokes....very good and funny. Visiting Rotarians: Jill Drexhage from SLO who used to be “one of us” Guests of Rotarians: Paige Wilhite, guest of Elsie; Jack Keely, guest of Doug R (this was his 3rd meeting and will be brought into the Club soon); Jeff Jones brought his wife, June; Mike Pond introduced Jordan Ridge, our outbound exchange student; Allison from Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Ju Ju, Kasey’s dog who helps out at the Garden House; and Stella, our Junior Rotarian. Jude announced new members, Chief Greg Allen and Scott Collins, and thanked them for joining our club. Jude said we had a good board retreat at the home of the Casida’s; our board meetings will be the third Wednesday of every month at the View at 7:30. Jude’s focus for this year will be Human Trafficking and Peace Building (in need of a chairperson for this committee). She said Katherine volunteered to help us with our publicity. As part of Jude’s effort to bring public awareness of all that Rotarians do, she hopes we will wear Rotary apparel whenever we are serving the public. We are still looking for our box of banners which has disappeared. Membership letters announcing our annual fees have been mailed; they are very similar to last year except RI fees went up $5.00; our lunch fees remain the same. Pete gave an update about Max who is now on a train and will be meeting his parents in San Francisco. We hope to have a “meet Max and his parents” social at Pete’s house on the 5th of August. Avocado/Marg Festival is Saturday, September 8th; we are in need of volunteers, if we provide 50 volunteers, we will be paid $5,000. Please sign up!!! A signup sheet was passed and will be passed around for the next few weeks. Mike made an announcement about Deepa...she is having a wine tasting event on August 25 at TRATTORIA GRAPOLLO in Santa Ynez; maybe it can be an August Social?  Mike introduced Jordan Ridge, our outbound student who spent the last school year in Germany. She said the experience was amazing and she will be giving a program at another time. Jordan received one of our $2,000 scholarships awarded to MBHS students. We have another girl arriving in August and we still need a host family. In the meantime, she will be staying in SLO.  Heidi made a presentation to Allison from Big Brothers/Big Sisters in the amount of $250. Allison gave a brief presentation on what they do, including matching older students with elementary school students to meet for an hour a week. Pete was fined $20 for taking his badge home....but he did bring it back. Judy offered to pay his fine by “Paying it forward”, since she was not fined by Pete for the same offense. Geo Pecci, who joined twelve other Americans on an unsanctioned tour to North Korea was our speaker today. Their government is similar to that in Russia, China and Japan. We signed a truce with North Korea; not a peace  agreement, so it is the only nation we are still “at war” with. Kim is the world’s youngest leader. If you visit Korea you will get a blue card, but your passport will not be stamped. Geo did not know until the night before whether he would be allowed to get in. They have all Americans stay in a hotel that is on an island. He talked about the Christian Persecution in North Korea, which is the worst in the entire world. He showed a forbidden picture of himself with two soldiers; they don’t allow pictures of poverty or anything that might be bad publicity. The Korean people are not allowed to get close to Christians who are in the country for fear they may be given a bible. He feels that Clinton and Carter are responsible for North Korea having their nukes. China is the “big brother” for them and they want reunification between North and South Korea. There were talks about the “remains” of our servicemen who are still in North Korea being brought home to be buried in America. 50/50 won by Bill Peirce Next week’s speaker will be Joe Erwin, Project Mgr. Cal Trans - Hwy 1 update. Come and find out what’s going on with Cal Trans. |
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Notes from our July 10th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING July 10, 2018 Meeting was called to order by President Jude dressed in her robe and nightcap. She explained that she was not quite used to the idea of having to get up and get herself ready so early. The Invocation was by Dan Costley Pledge to the flag by Ken Stilts Guests: Linda Costley and Chief Allen were brought by Dan; Stella brought Melissa; Doug introduced Jack Keely who has attended 3 Club meetings; Kasey brought her co-worker Jody. Announcements: Food will be out until 12:15 to accommodate those who come late; we’ll have a special place for Mike Williams so he can always find a seat. Standing Ovations requested for youth visitors, new members, and special speakers. After the meeting ends, make an effort to connect with those who have been up in front speaking, receiving an award or new members. Mike said they had a great time at the Blues Game. Blues won and we had a seating area together.....it was quite warm but fun to be together and cheer on the BLUES. Membership letter has gone out.....if you didn’t get one; let Jude know so that we will have a letter filled out by all members. Board Retreat will be Saturday the 14th at the Casida’s We need someone who will take notes at our 11 board meetings. Sherry Sims, Cayucos Rotary President this year and Monica, also from Cayucos Rotary were here to sell tickets for a chance to win a Street Legal Golf Cart. They are selling 390 tickets at $100.00 each. Pete gave us a few highlights of his “Beemotion” and gave awards to the following members: Michael Shaffran for being the invocation leader, Nick for what he does for International Rotary, and Melissa for being very involved with our youth program. Gary Owens was also recognized for being the Sergeant at Arms for ten years......a job passed on to Mike Pond. Jude gave the Paul Harris Society Award to John Weiss. The box with our MB Rotary Banners has disappeared so if anyone knows where it is ....please let us know. Don said there will be a special orientation for Chief Allen and Jack Keely on Monday night. Today we brought Chief Allen in as a member of our Club. Chief Knuckles introduced Chief Allen who already is so engaged with the community; he is a great addition to our club. Then Chief Allen gave a short synopsis of his life including 35 years on the police force. He loves to go back packing and has three grandchildren he loves to be with. But he said he really loves being engaged with people as he goes about his duties in Morro Bay which will be a great attribute in Rotary as well. We gave him our first standing ovation of the year. Sherry Sims gave a few words about Toronto and why she loves to go to Rotary International Conventions. She said it is very inspiring and she especially liked the speech on literacy by Former First Lady Laura Bush. Jude said we should sign up now to go to the Convention next year in Hamburg. Sounds like a great time to spend with other Rotarians. Next week our program will be presented by Geo Pecci who has been to North Korea several times. Stella pulled the lucky 50/50 winner who was Jack Keely. Jude said Goodbye to Pete, but we will continue to see him at Rotary and all events. Thanks, Pete, for all you did to make your year fun and successful. |
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Notes from our June 26th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING June 26, 2018 Meeting was called to order by Prez Pete - this is Pete's last meeting as our President!!! Thanks for such a wonderful year Pete!!! Invocation by Judy - words of wisdom by Andy Rooney Pledge to the Flag of the USA led by Scott Collins Four Way Test recited by all Joke by Pete....a Rotary joke... Guests of Rotarians: Kasey brought Jody, our Junior Rotarian Stella was here with her mom, Scott Collins, Greg Allen, Doug Garland from Shell Beach, Honor Flight representative Janice House and Kathi Zotovich. Passed around the tip jar for donations to the staff at the View SLO BLUES Baseball game tickets; buy one for $10.00; will be a fun night; Sunday, July 8th Jude is having a good and informative time but is also looking forward to getting back. Jude’s first meeting as President will be July 10th when she will talk about her time in Toronto.  Anyone wanting to help decorate the float for the 4th of July parade; gather in Cayucos on the day before. Pete will send around an informative email in the next day or two. Heidi gave a check in the amount of $1500 to Janice House with Honor Flights. This organization arranges to take veterans to Washington D.C. to see the war memorials at no cost to them. They are in need of guardians to accompany the veterans on this life changing trip. Don D  oubledee introduced Scott Collins, the MB City Manager, who is as of today, a member of our club. He went to Lolos last night for orientation to learn more about what Rotary is and what is expected of him as a member. Scott received a pin and a packet and thanked us for inviting him to join our club. He told us a little about his past history, his job and his family. Pete introduced our program speaker, Bryan Schwartz, who emceed our program today. We played a game of “Hot Seat” with Pete. Pete asked several members questions starting with Steve Knuckles -”where do you see yourself in five years”. Next Scott Collins - “what will it say on your tombstone”. Lorraine’s question was “Why did you join Rotary”? Gary Owens question was “How many years have you been in Rotary?” Now it was time to ask Pete questions starting with his lovely wife, Kathi, whose question to Pete was “What is a little known fact about you that you would like to share”? Mary was next - “Who would you consider to be the boss of your family?” was her question. Scott’s question was “Did you ever get in a fight with one of your students?” Tom Hay had a question as well “what happened to the printing program that used to be in high schools”? Michael Shaffran was next with a question about the Indianapolis 500. Heidi asked “What do you and the Academy Awards have in common?” Don Doubledee asked Pete “How long have you been keeping bees? And how many times have you been stung?” Heidi asked about Pete’s family....in addition to the bees, cats and dogs. Mike asked where he met his wife and where did they go on their first date? Jamie asked Pete “Do you have any Trekkie costumes? I don’t have room for all the answers ......you just had to be there. It was a really fun meeting!!! Jamie won the 50/50....Hope to see everyone on Friday night at the View at 5:30 for Pete’s BEEMOTION. The question is not “who will let me...the question is who can stop me”. |
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Notes from our June 19th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING June 19, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by Michael Shaffran Pledge to the Flag by all Joke by Pete.......how to name our kids ....Very Funny Visiting Rotarians: Joyce & Clyde Ganes and Dannie Tope all from the Paso Robles Rotary Club. Visiting Guests: Judy’s daughter and Kasey’s employee, Jody Assistance League Representative, Charlene Scott Collins brought by Chief Knuckles Brian Schwartz, our special speaker  John Weiss thanked our Club for all the support; he had a fun Step Down, with several of our Club members present. Mike gave him a special thank you and we gave him a standing ovation. He also mentioned several special awards that were given out at the Step Down.  Jude Minute: Mentioned the Chamber Mixer which will be at the View Wednesday evening. She continued with the auction of the honor of throwing out the first pitch at our BLUES game. The bid was at $40.00 last week and since there was not a higher bid, Lorraine got it at that price. This year our Club received the Gold Club of Distinction Award. Mike Williams mentioned his Annual BBQ for Project Surf Camp on Friday, June 29th which will start at noon and goes til 4pm. His goal is to raise $6,000 this year; so come on out and enjoy lunch and buy a bunch of raffle tickets to raise money for a worthy cause. Also on the 29th we will have Pete’s “Beemotion”. A fun evening to thank and razz Pete for his year as our President. If you haven’t signed up, check your calendar and we will give you another chance next week; or email Elsie or Jamie to say you can come!!! Our Rotary Exchange student from Italy will be arriving in August. Mike has the first host family lined up but is looking for others. Also Mike has SLO BLUES Baseball tickets to sell; buy some and enjoy the evening as well as help out our club’s fund raising efforts. Judy mentioned the brick selling fundraising efforts for the Maritime Museum; the deadline to purchase is July 5th for the first set of bricks which will be set in the front of the building.  Heidi presented a check from our Club in the amount of $250 to Charlene with the Assistance League. The Assistance League buys new clothes and shoes for children in this county. The students are able to go to the store and pick out their own clothes. It is an all volunteer organization making a big difference in these kid’s lives. Fines - Judy was recognized for being married 46 years; Chuck Clark was fined for not having the correct answer to a question taken from the Rotarian; Don Doubledee was fined $32; Jamie got her question right; Jeff did not know how many trees were planted this year – 1.2 million and was fined $30; Heidi took Max down to the train station to go on his U.S. trip, but was fined $20 anyway; Bill Pierce was fined $20. Judy introduced our speaker, Brian, Schwartz who has been entertaining at the Wine Seller once a month – along with his Ukulele group. He shared with us the struggles he has gone through in the past few years. He said one of the best things about the Centra .jpg) l Coast is the Community here. When you step up and join things within the community; it becomes much more your home. His recipe for Health and Happiness is writing, yoga/meditation, and Ukulele playing. Surprisingly, there are several groups of Ukulele players here on the Central Coast. He played a couple of songs for us, and will be back next week to put “Pete in the Hot Seat”; it’ll be a fun day, be sure to come.......Pete will ask questions from the Rotarian next week ....so read your Rotarian magazine. Jamie won the 50/50. Enjoy your week.....see you next Tuesday or at the Chamber Mixer on Wednesday evening. |
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Notes from our June 12th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING June 12, 2018 Meeting called to order by: Prez Pete Invocation: Melissa Pledge to the Flag: Katherine Visiting Rotarians: Dan Dow, SLO Rotary Mike Williams gave an announcement about Project Surf Camp fundraiser on June 29th - his annual BBQ Potluck and Blood Drive; it’s being held from noon to 4pm at SLO Sports Therapy. There will be an opportunity to buy raffle tickets to win great prizes. Katherine told us about the June Chamber Mixer - right here at the golf course Wednesday, June 20th from 5:30 - 7:30pm. It will be fun!! And there will be food!! Three individuals have filled out applications to become members of our club...Police Chief Greg Allen, sponsored by Steve Knuckles; City Manager Scott Collins, sponsored by John Weiss; and Jack Keely, sponsored by Doug Riddell. Chuck Clark brought proof concerning his talk last week; although I don’t think anyone accused him of giving us Fake News. .JPG) Jude Minute: We will be selling tickets for the SLO BLUES BASEBALL game - everyone buy a $10 ticket or several - It’ll be a fun night and it’s a fundraiser!! Jude tried to auction of the opportunity to throw the first pitch; she got an offer of $40 - to be continued - bring money with you next week if you want this once in a lifetime opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a BLUES game. Heidi came up to award $250 to Circle of Friends, a non-profit who feeds the homeless and $500 to The Noor Clinic; an organization that gives free medical, dental and vision work for those uninsured and in need. That is just two of the many community grant awards given out by our Club this year. Doug brought boxes that need to be mailed. The square board is back up today so buy a square for $10 for the opportunity to win a PHF. .JPG) Max was our next speaker. He showed slides from the beginning of his journey to the U.S.A. until the present time. He boarded the plane in his blue blazer with no pins on it; now his entire jacket is covered with souvenir tags from everywhere he has been. He has loved his time in the USA with “MumZ and DadZ” and Heidi, Noah and their family. Morro Bay is the “California Dream” and part of that “dream” was going surfing for the first time. He joined the water polo team and the baseball teams at MBHS. We gave him a standing ovation. .JPG) Next, Judy introduced Beth Raub from Victim Witness program. District Attorney, Dan Dow started the SLO Task Force to stop Human Trafficking. There is labor and sex trafficking, which are both financially driven, the average age is between 19 and 21 years old. In SLO County we have had 8 cases that have been prosecuted. Be aware of “Red Flags” that may show up when you go into a business, or if you own a business that deals with the public. Traffickers may pose as spouse, partner, or employer, and they may answer all questions, and confiscate all ID’s etc. Put this number in your phone 888-373-7888; you may need it if you see something you feel needs to be reported. Or call your local Police Dept. and report your suspicions. Join with Rotarians who have taken up the cause, including our own Rotary Club. Plan to come to the Human Trafficking Summit, September 15th at the Morro Bay Community Center. 50/50 won by Don Doubledee Next week’s speaker is Pete Schwartz |
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Notes from our June 5th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING June 5, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag by all of us Recitation of the Four Way Test Joke by the Prez......it was a funny one!! Visiting Rotarian Carolyn Britten from Visalia and, Tom Hay, who we haven’t seen in quite a while, who celebrated his birthday with us. Happy Birthday Tom. .jpg) CELEBRATE ROTARY - John Weiss’s Step Down on June 16th, 10am-1:30pm; tickets are $40; you need to sign up by the 10th. Gary will drive his motor home down if we have a good number of people going. In June we will have the “Jude Minute” where Jude will talk about next year when she will be President. Today it was the “Jude 5 Minutes” and she talked about all the training she has had, so she is well prepared for next year when she will be our President. SLO BLUES BASEBALL TICKETS on sale....$10 each.....see Mike or Pete. This Saturday there will be a social at Pete and Kathi’s home to watch the Belmont Stakes. Come at 1:00....leave at 4:00......munchies will be provided. Pete’s Demotion will be June 29th; we are planning a very fun evening; we passed around the sign-up sheet. The evening will start with social hour at 5:30pm with Mexican food at 6:15. Kasey gave an update on the Garden House fund raiser which was last Sunday. Exemption for next month was awarded to Steve Carnes, so he won’t be fined for his anniversary. Andrea won .jpg) the drawing for the 1st PHF quartet and Nick won the drawing for the second quartet. We will draw again next year for the second PHF awards on both quartets..jpg) Tonight is Awards Night at the High School. We will be awarding five $2,000.00 scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Don was fined $20 for making Pete lose his train of thought.....nice to be able to come up with an excuse, Pete. Max was our featured speaker today but was unable to come due to sickness, so we had talks by a few of our members. Dan gave a quick talk on his time in law enforcement, including being involved in saving the life of a young boy who was choking. His nick name was “Soft Serve”, because he is big, but nice.  Chuck, who was looking very dapper in his classy sear sucker suit coat, told us about a time he was summoned to a Four Star General’s office for a special assignment. He had a meeting at the White House Situation Room with Henry Kissinger and others. Yes, Chuck, you have had a very interesting life!! Ken Stilts told us about a time when he was with the Flying Samaritans and he had to pull a tooth in less than ideal conditions. Dentistry is scary enough in the best of conditions!! Tom drew for the 50/50 and it was won by Greg Hardcastle. Next week will be Beth Raub from the Human Trafficking Task Force. Don’t miss this meeting!! “Do or Do Not....There is No Try”. Quote of the day by Yoda...... Ecasida |
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Notes from our May 29th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Club May 29, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by Dan Costley Pledge to the Flag by Everyone Pete asked all Military Veterans to come forward and we gave them a standing ovation Joke by Pete - Einstein and Taxi Cab Visiting Rotarians: Ruth Ann Visitors: Many visitors today for our hero’s day. Jack Keeley was here again; glad to have him!! June 16....Step down for John Weiss; you can register online. July 8.....SLO Blues Baseball Game; buy your tickets soon; $10 each. June 2....Santa Barbara City College; Leadership Conference. June 3....Garden House; 3-6pm; make reservations. Max....only has a week and a half left at school and then will go on his month long train trip. June 5....Max will be speaking about his time in the U.S.A. Be sure to come to this important meeting. Show your support to Max!! A check in the amount of $100 was presented to Stuart Colletti as a Third Place award for the essay he wrote about the importance of living our lives by the Four Way Test. John Weiss gave a synopsis on what our district has been doing. Yesterday he and Jeff Jones went to the Bakersfield Rotary Club to participate in the placing of the flags for Memorial Day. The “Real” Rosie the Riveter was there. She was the inspiration for the cultural icon of WWII representing the women who worked in factories and shipyards during the war. She said she just “wanted to do her part for our country.” “We Can Do It!” Pete mentioned Dan Costley for his anniversary; Chuck Clark was the speaker at the memorial service at the Los Osos Cemetery and did an excellent job as always. He is an inspiration to all!! Pete asked Melissa a sports question...Nope and a $20 fine. Andrea was fined $20 because she did not know the answer to a Classic Movie question - John Wayne. Pete Starlings was fined $20 because he did not know who has won four Oscars. John Solu was fined $40 because he missed a Betty Davis question. Ryan Sedley missed a Lord of the Rings question and was fined $40. Judy Salamacha was fined $10 because she did not have “the foggiest idea” what the answer was. Jan was fined $20 for giving a correct answer. (I guess you just can’t win at this)  Pete introduced our own District Governor, John Weiss to MC our Hero’s Day. He started with Ruth Ann who was Mary’s guest. Ruth Ann’s passion has been the environment and is now Peace and Civil Rights. She started the “Yes, I Can Peace Builders” movement in Morro Bay. September 21st is International Peace Day in Morro Bay. .jpg) Andrea Turnquist and Carl Bloom (who was her guest and hero) were next. He is the Vice Principal at the Middle School in Los Osos. Janet Gould was also a hero/guest of Andrea, whose children all went to Del Mar. Ms. Gould is the Principal at Del Mar; she started teaching at Del Mar and has been the Principal for eleven years.  An award was given by John Weiss to Gene Appleby who has been a friend of John’s for years and John knows him to be a very generous contributor to the needs of the youth in Morro Bay.  Judy was next with her guest, Bonnie Jones, who is currently involved with feeding the homeless in Morro Bay as well as many other things.  Next Pete honored Bill Pierce for all that he does as our Treasurer as well as all the fact that he works at all of our events.Chuck Clarke was also honored as the public hero for our Club. The meeting closed with the 50/50 drawing won by Nancy. Survey coming out this week.....please take it...it’s the last one!!! “I am not a product of my circumstances; I am a product of my choices”. Ecasida |
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Notes from our May 22nd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING MAY 22, 2018 MEETING called to order by Prez Pete INVOCATION by Nick PLEDGE TO THE FLAG by all FOUR WAY TEST recitation Nick paid $40 in lieu of singing Happy Birthday to all who celebrated May birthdays; gave us a hand instead. Joke by Prez Pete.....May Flowers.....Mayflower Rick and  Claire gave a short synopsis of their recent travels....and what is to come. Visitors: Jack Keely who was a previous Rotarian and might come back to us. Step down for John Weiss June 16th. Max’ birthday was yesterday and was celebrated by Pete and family, Heidi and her family and Chuck and Liz. He will soon be going on his month long train trip with other exchange students. The ever popular Hero’s Program is next week; we have five so far. The MC will be our District Governor, John Weiss. The Garden House fundraiser is scheduled for June 3rd, tickets are $20; reserve yours now. Blues Baseball tickets are available from Mike Pond for the July 8th game. Tickets were given to us and being sold for $10; it’s being used as a small fund raiser for our Club’s Foundation, AND it’s a fun thing to do!! Gary was fined $30 for not knowing the name of the trophy given at the Preakness Stakes; Mike fined $20 for trying to help Gary; Chuck fined $20; Jude cheated so knew an answer - however, she did not know the next answer; Jan fined $20 for giving an incorrect answer; Melissa was asked a racing question and was fined $20, she doesn’t know or care about racing or sports in general - I’m with her!!  Next Rick and Claire asked Rams Trivia - they started by asking Melissa, Nick, Mike, Bill, Mary and others questions and gifting them with prizes pulled out of a bag.....a favorite prize being a pen holder. Then Rick introduced Gabriel Granados, who is the Activity Coordinator for the Veterans Outreach, a group that councils veterans on what is available to help them with mental and physical health issues. They also help veterans transition from combat to home. He started with asking ”What does it mean to be Healthy”? And “Have you or someone you know had substance abuse issues or mental health challenges?” The Veterans Outreach group takes vets surfing, zip lining etc., they also have falcon and equine programs. They have a therapist at their events who they can talk to in an informal setting. They work on improving their emotional well being, and on having fun and socializing with other vets and their families. Their next event is June 15th from 4:30 to 7:30 – “ZIP-LINING in Santa Margarita.” Rick Grantham presented a check to Veterans Outreach in the amount of $1,000. Please try to make the June 5th meeting because Max will be our speaker. We have all benefited from having him with us. Steve Carnes won the 50/50 drawing. THANK YOU TO ALL VETERANS IN OUR CLUB AND THOSE SERVING AT HOME AND AROUND THE WORLD. Ecasida |
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Notes from our May 15th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING MAY 15, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by Judy Pledge to the Flag by Pete Starlings Recitation of the Four Way Test Joke for the day by Pete Guest of Rotarians: Kasey introduced her three guests from the Garden House, once of which was Judy’s daughter, Jody. Jack Keely was also a visitor today. We have a board meeting tomorrow at 7:30am at the View. Nick gave a wrap up on the golf tournament and presented the club with a check in the amount of $10,883.00. We still have to take the expenses out, but it looks like a good fund raiser. Mike said we need someone to host a student from Italy next year. She is a wonderful student and will be a good fit for our club. We would like to have three families step up who would take her into their home for three months. May 29th is our Hero program; think about someone you could bring. Rotary’s May Satisfaction survey is on our tables; only ten of us took it this month. Next month will be the last one, please take a couple of minutes to fill it out when it arrives in your inbox. SLO Blues Baseball tickets will be available next week; the game is Sunday, July 8th @ 4pm. It will be a fun evening. Cost is $10/ticket, be sure to buy a ticket or several tickets and bring friends, family and neighbors. Also, we are hoping to have our PHF board filled out this month. The squares are $10.00 each; when all the squares are sold, we will draw the winner who will be awarded a PHF. Jude thanked John so much for the simplified documents for awards. John talked a little about the Fiesta Foundation evening. We gave a PHF posthumously to the speaker’s mother who raised three children while in an iron lung. Deepa was also given an award and three of the children she has worked with were there to say a few words.  Ken, Don Doubledee and John presented a PHF to Michael Shaffran. Don won the award by picking the winning team in the March Madness and he chose to give his PHF to Michael because of the work he has done. Pete said the format of starting lunch at 11:30 with the meeting at 12:00 is working well. That gives him more time to hand out fines, today starting with Heidi. This week it was questions about racing; no, not NASCAR, Melissa. If we don’t know much about the subject Prez Pete chooses, we will be much smarter after a few questions/fines.  Kasey introduced our speakers this week, two students from Cal Poly, who are also part of the Honors Program. As part of the program, they are required to do community service. Alex chose to work at the Garden House because the Wonder Garden goes well with his major. Ella chose Garden House because her grandma and mother both have dementia. They have incorporated sight, smell and touch into the garden with plantings that are environmentally friendly and non toxic. They learn about brain anatomy and help the residents with their strengths and learn about their weaknesses. The path design in the Garden is a figure eight shape so the residents can walk around outside when they are accompanied by a worker, family member or friend. The City has approved removal of the trees in front of the Garden House to enable the sun to shine in. May 25th is the deadline for buying tickets to the Very Merry Unbirthday Party at the Garden House. The event is being held on June 3rd, tickets are $20.00 with the party starting at 3:00 and dinner being served from 4-6pm. Winner of 50/50 was John Solu who donated it to Garden House. Ecasida |
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Notes from our May 8th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING NOTES MAY 8, 2018 MEETING called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Michael Shaffran Pledge to the Flag led by Prez Pete Four Way Test Recited Joke by Prez Pete Visiting Rotarians: Don Goodpastor from East Fresno Rotary Judy introduced Jim Brescia, Ed.D., the County Superintendent of Schools Rich Reidel brought his wife, Linda Foundation Fiesta was an informative evening with the main speaker being a man whose mother contracted polio when her three children were young. She was in an iron lung for 14 years while she raised her children with the help of four nurses who worked around the clock. June 16th is step down for John in Santa Ynez. Jamie had golf tournament announcements; we have 14 foursomes playing; dinner and awards afterwards. Still need people to help sell raffle tickets after the tournament. Golfers check in at 1:00, golf starts at 2:30; dinner at about 5:00pm. Max got an award for being an “Academic Junior”. His last baseball game is in Santa Ynez on Friday. He and one of the RYLA girls worked at the Car Show on Sunday. Judy said the Maritime Museum had a sneak peek event a week ago and had a good turn-out. They are raising money to complete the exhibit and interior work by selling bricks that will be laid in front of the museum. Let Judy know if you would like to buy a brick. June 3rd is a VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY for Garden House. Dinner is served from 4-6pm with other activities starting at 3pm. Tickets are $20 with all proceeds going to help build the Garden House’s Wonder Garden.  Ken and Mike Pond made a Paul Harris Fellowship presentation to Rich Reidel, who is always willing to help with all of our events, including putting in many, many, many hours on the Santa House. Thank you , Rich!!! Pete drew for a free Paul Harris Fellowship square on the board; it was won by John Solu. Pete told us the story of how the song, “A Spoonful of Sugar” came to be written for the Mary Poppin's movie. Jamie’s birthday is May 15th so she was wished a Happy Birthday and fined $10.00; Heidi paid the fine since it is also her husband’s birthday. Gary Englund and Sarah were fined $20.00 for not knowing the answer to a Kentucky Derby racing question. Eric answered correctly but was still fined $10.00. Jeff Jones fined $20.00 for an incorrect answer.  Dr. Jim Brescia was our speaker, he is the County Superintendent of Schools. There are 80 individual school buildings in our county, with Parkfield being the smallest school with an enrollment of six students. Some of the schools have dormitory facilities for the teachers, which were really practical at one time, but are not used much in today’s world. The mission of the SLO County Partners in Education is to create seamless pathways for career and college readiness. They are very aware of the importance of providing training for students that will lead to jobs after graduation. Thank you, Dr. Brescia for this interesting talk. Jamie won the 50/50.....Happy Birthday!! Have a nice Mother’s Day!! Come back next week. Ecasida |
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Notes from our May 1st Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING MAY 1, 2018 Meeting started promptly at noon....called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Melissa Flag Salute led by: Prez Pete Recitation of the Four Way Test Joke by Prez Pete......we gave him a groan... Visitors: Heidi’s brother was visiting before he leaves for Germany. Melissa introduced the RYLA visitors. This Friday is Foundation Fiesta in Santa Maria; it will be a great program, please plan to come. Register by tomorrow. June 16th is the Step Down for DG John Weiss. Car Show is this weekend; Steve passed around a signup sheet. BBQ preparation is on Friday evening....... Dave needs help at the Community Center; the actual BBQ will be on Saturday. Mike reported on the Bollywood fundraiser where the girls from Deepa’s school spoke. Was a wonderful night; they will be coming to the Foundation Fiesta as well, another reason to attend the Fiesta. Mike reported on the roundabout cleanup; we.had help and it is getting to look beautiful. The Kiwanis Club helped Morro Bay in Bloom so there was a big group of workers. Our group mostly weeded while the others planted flowers etc. Max (sporting a new haircut) has his last home game today. May 29th we will have our Hero’s Day; Mike will be the Rotary host that day.   Ken Casida then presented Paul Harris Fellowships; one to Lorraine in honor of her deceased brother, and the second one went to Jan Lewis for her sister who lives in Tulare and does a lot of volunteering. We drew for our exemption for May and Michael Shaffran was the winner. He wished us all a good season and said he is thankful for Rotary who makes a difference in so many lives. This Saturday is a very special sporting event - Nick was asked what it is (in addition to Cinco de Mayo), he didn’t know and was fined $20. Andrea was asked how many Triple Crown winners have there been? She said four and was fined $20. Mike Williams guessed and was fined $20.00; Jan was fined $20.00 for cheating; Lorraine guessed and was fined $20.00; there have been 12. Pete told us an interesting story about Hasty Transit, a horse won by his mother in law. Chuck was fined $10.00, Dan then answered correctly resulting in no fine. Matt Franklin bragged a little on his son who hit a home run in his baseball game.  Next we heard from the students who went to RYLA. Kinley who had heard of RYLA from friends said it was very impactful on her; the food was good; and, she was very outgoing and darling. Max was next, he said he met people that he got to know very well in just 72hours; he was the leader of his team and was one of nine attendees who won a scholarship. He is researching more things now than he ever thought he would. Isabell was next; she felt so welcomed, even as they were separated she felt so at home; she said she met so many nice people in her group; she feels that she is less shy now than she was when she went, and learned many skills; she said this camp is not cheesy and she is more confident. Mailani was next; she was nervous when she stepped out of the car, but everyone was so welcoming she soon felt very comfortable; she said she could have dreams, but at the same time, she must take steps to make things happen to achieve her dreams and goals. Everyone of the students said this experience changed their lives. Several Rotarians asked questions. These kids all did a great job in speaking to all of us; Congratulations to them for being willing to go to an unfamiliar place to enrich their lives. John said every district has a RYLA. Next week our speaker will be Jim Brescia, SLO Superintendent of Schools. Quote was from Winston Churchill. 50/50 won by Ken Stilts. Ecasida |
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Notes from our April 24th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING APRIL 24, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag by: Pete Recitation of the Four Way Test Joke by Pete.....Men always get the last two words - yes ma’am Guests today: Jeff Eckles introduced by Doug; Andrea introduced her visiting friend, Tammy Cantrell; Don introduced Ryan Sedley who will be joining our club today. May 4th is Foundation Fiesta in Santa Maria June 16th is the Step Down for John in Santa Ynez Car Show is May 3rd,4th, and 5th; a sign up to help sheet was passed around June 29th (a Friday) is the demotion for our Prez Pete...right here at the View Next week, May 1st, we will start our meeting at 12:00 sharp; lunch will be ready at 11:30, so come early and socialize and then we will start the meeting promptly at noon. Tree Planting - We have discussed planting trees, but it takes a long time and alot money to plant a tree here on public land. So, plant a tree on your own property where you can enjoy it for years to come. Dan said that Jack Barrett has written a book and has three more in the making. Weed pulling at the roundabout this Saturday at 9.....please come!! Deepa’s Bollywood event is this Sunday. It is sold out but they can use help setting up and taking down after the event.  Ryan Sedley joined our club today. Don Doubledee welcomed him in to the club with an explanation of what Rotary stands for. Ryan is a banker at Pacific Premier Bank, is married and has one child with one on the way. We welcomed him with a standing ovation. Doug brought boxes to be mailed to the troops. Don Doubledee said he has resigned from the Harbor Festival as Director, but he will continue to be on the board. Max said he really wanted to go to the prom; but his experience at RYLA was life changing; better than 100 proms.  Chuck was our speaker today. His topic: “Dog Sled Racing”. He wanted to stress that mushers love their dog; when they lose a dog, they are heartbroken. The dogs are not all pure huskies; some of them are hounds and other breeds. They are exercised every day and only taken out on the sled some days. During a race, you can drop a dog if you need to, but you cannot add a dog. Every racer has a place to put an injured dog until they come to a place where it can be taken care of. Chuck’s daughter Janet does not raise dogs at this time, but is the Race Marshall. The pictures of the ten foot high snow drifts were beautiful - but looked so cold!! Thank you very much Chuck - we all love you and love to hear about your trips to Alaska. Max has a game tonight at 4:00. 50/50 won by Greg Hardcastle Next week RYLA Ambassadors Ecasida |
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Notes from our April 17th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Meeting Notes April 17, 2018 HAPPY 68TH ANNIVERSARY TO OUR CLUB!!! We sang happy Birthday to us and Chuck blew out the candles on the chocolate cake.  Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Dan Pledge to the Flag: John Weiss Joke by Pete: Appropriate for all, including kids Guest Rotarians: Ruth Ann Angus. Guests of Rotarians: Ryan Sedley who will be a new member soon; John Headding’s wife, Sue; Max; Scott Harp brought Christine who he works with. Congratulations to Sarah Ketchum who became Sarah Santana in a beautiful ceremony over the weekend. John Weiss promoted an upcoming program - Public Heroes, which will be held on May 29th. He also encouraged us to respond to the Rotary Satisfaction Survey that comes out once a month. Board meeting is being held tomorrow morning here at the View at 7:30am. Rotary’s Foundation Fiesta will be May 4th in Santa Maria. John Weiss Step Down will be in Santa Ynez on June 16th with the possibility of a Club Social Wine Tasting after. It’s hoped that many of us will be able to attend. Golf tournament is scheduled for May 11th; we still in need of golfers, sponsors, etc. Car Show will be May 3rd, 4th and 5th. We need more help for that and passed around a sign up sheet. PRLS this next weekend in Bakersfield. Our club pays the fee which is $250.00. Max said he will not be going to Prom (Bummer!) and will also miss two baseball games since he will be at RYLA, but he is sure it will be worth it. He has really loved all the things that have been arranged for him to do. His train trip will be in June.  Andrea introduced the Four Way Test winners from Del Mar School’s fifth grade class. The First, Second and Third place winners read their essays, received their certificates and cash rewards .jpg) and we gave them a standing ovation.Next it was time for the Tall Tales speakers starting with Pete Starlings, who was in Vietnam for a year, as a tank driver. His 21st birthday was spent in Vietnam, laying in the dirt while it rained for 12 hours straight. Sounded like a true story.......Thank you, Pete, for your service!! Mike Pond was next talking about a time when he went fishing, diving and underwater photographing with some of his fireman friends. They saw a fin in the water, so they went out in a canoe to investigate. Mike put on his mask and fins and jumped in to meet what he hoped was not a great white shark....he was 10feet under the water as the shark came toward him wit .jpg) h its mouth wide open. Thankfully it was a whale shark, which he knew would not eat him, so he decided to swim up to him, take a ride as he held onto the fin while he took pictures. He got whacked pretty good by the tail of the shark, and the next day his son told the story in kindergarten.Ruth Ann talked about her trip in a space shuttle. When she got home with her bags she discovered something scurrying around on the floor. It was a little dragon, so she explained the situation to us in Rotary and her hero, Don Doubledee, who got rid of the dragon for her. So, if you see a dragon running around, it is hers and she wants it back. Ruth Ann, I think you won the Tall Tale by default.....yours was the only real Tall Tale. Pete was next telling about living in Southern California when a movie was shot right across the street from him. He says he was holding his daughter on the porch during the filming when she let out a huge cry, forcing them to film the scene over. The movie was “Back to the Future”, with Michael J. Fox. His daughter when she was about five, jumped up on Bill Cosby’s lap to talk to him. Our next program is our very own Chuck Clark. He says he has new slides and new stories for those of us who have heard his program before. 50/50 won by Eric Luthi. “The Best Preparation for Tomorrow is doing your best Today”. See you next week. Ecasida |
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Notes from our April 10th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB NOTES April 10, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation led by Nick Pledge to the Flag led by Pete We recited the Four Way Test Joke by Pete....Lawyer joke.....they are always good Visiting Rotarians: Julie Jenkins from Cambria Guests of Rotarians: Scott Collins, Morro Bay’s City Manager was introduced by John Weiss; Linda Costley introduced by her loving husband, Dan; Sheriff Parkinson introduced by Judy; and, Police Chief Greg Allen also was with us today. Pete read off the names of every one of us who helped with the Crab Feed. We grossed $14,000 on this event....Whohoo!!! Clean up was amazing...we were out of there by 8:30. THANKS to everyone who helped. Mary was fined $10.00 for having a candle lit butter warmer on her table, Katherine was fined $10.00 for her birthday, Ken Stilts was fined $53 for his 53rd anniversary. He said if he had it to do all over again, he would marry the same girl. Sweet!! John Weiss announced the District Foundation Fiesta being held on May 4th in Santa Maria. It will be an informative meeting about the Foundation. One of the speakers will be a man whose mother raised him and his siblings while she was in an iron lung. Greg Hardcastle sent around the signup sheet for the Car Show....help is still needed. Max has a baseball game this Friday at 4:00. PRLS announcement made by Heidi....Melissa and Jude have graduated. Next Tuesday is our clubs anniversary....April 17th. Come next week for a special anniversary celebration. Golf Tournament forms are on the tables. They still need help on that day......May 11th. Also Jamie had posters for the golf tournament. Come out and join us. March Satisfaction Survey is out.... 20% response this month, would like to see more of us fill it out each month.....only takes a minute. Next week we will have our 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of the Four Way Test here to read their papers. Pete had some “fine” questions about the Augusta golf course. A wrong answer cost some $10.00. FYI: The winner of the first golf tournament in 1934 at Augusta was awarded $1,500. The entire prize fund was $5,000.  Judy introduced our Sheriff, Ian Parkinson. He started his law enforcement career in 1984 in Morro Bay before moving onto the City of San Luis Obispo; throughout his career, he has served in almost every position. He will be participating in the Human Trafficking Seminar in September at the Morro Bay Community Center.The County will be building a new dispatch center out on Hwy 1. MB fire/police calls now go through the central dispatch. There are two types of human trafficking - labor and sex. The labor side goes unreported because most of the victims are here illegally. The sex industry has grown in the past years and is run primarily by gangs. Everyone needs to be on the alert for trafficking, even in a small town like Morro Bay. Most of the sex trafficking victims are U.S. citizens averaging 16 years old. They will bring in $150 - 180 thousand dollars per year for their pimp. In 2014 we had gang members from Fresno bring in two girls 15 and 17; they branded them and used them for sex. One of them was able to get a cell phone and called for help; SLO police were able to rescue them. A task force was formed in 2014 including hospital staff, CAPSLO, Women’s Shelter, and other organizations. The mission of the Task Force is to prevent and combat Human Trafficking through education, law enforcement, etc. We look to law enforcement to solve our crime problems, but the situation begins way before the problem is discovered by the police. Ian meets with school administration members quite often and says the tide has turned and they are very supportive of all the efforts being done. Thanks to Ian for taking the time to bring this informative talk to our group, he said that he is very proud of Rotary for getting involved in combating these labor and sex crimes. Doug brought boxes to mail. Next week Four Way Test winners will be here to read their essays. 50/50 drawing won by Jeff Jones “It’s really hard to be a good LEADER, it’s really, really hard to be a good FOLLOWER. “ Enjoy the beauty of our area.....See you next week. ECasida |
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Notes from our April 3rd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING APRIL 3, 2018 Meeting brought to order by Prez Pete Invocation: Judy Pledge to the Flag: Jamie Joke: Given to Pete by Kathi....Google joke......Funny, but we really liked Dave Owen’s punch line better. Guest Rotarians: None today Guests of Rotarians: Nick introduced Ryan Sedley, from Pacific Premier Bank, Judy introduced John Headding, who was our speaker, and Judy’s daughter, Jody, was introduced by Kasey. Crab Feed this Saturday. We will start setting up at 1:00...still need to sell more tickets. Santa Maria Rotary Club bought ten tickets and gave six to our Morro Bay Fire Dept. There are many kinds of crab, but our Crab Feed will feature Dungeness crab. Pete will be on the radio this afternoon to talk about the crab feed. March Madness is over ...............Villanova won which means Don Doubledee won the PHF; Pete was 2nd and John Weiss was 3rd. Mike took Max up to see the Warriors game....he had a great time; his seat was great, four rows back from the floor; he even had his picture shown on the big screen. Thanks to Dan for setting up this trip. Car Show coming up in four weeks....still need help that weekend. The Bbq will be at Community Center this year.....not the church. Signup sheet passed around. Foundation Fiesta is May 4 in Santa Maria......plan to go. April 17 is Tall Tales day; a meeting to come with a story to tell....It’s an opportunity for Rotarians to tell “Fake News” and get away with it. Right now we have three speakers but can use a few more. May 1st our RYLA kids will be here.....they will be having lunch with us and then tell us what they got out of being at RYLA. Jeff Jones announced that Mike Pond is now 61; biggest question of the day - should he go fishing and catch 61 fish or bike 61 miles? He chose to go biking; his birthday was April 1st. Exception for the month was Chuck Clarke but since he will be out of town for two weeks in April, he sold it to Ken Stilts for $10.00. Doug brought boxes for the troops...they need to be mailed.  Judy introduced our speaker, John Headding, who is a pharmacist and also is on the MB City Council. His subject was the opioid crisis. Opioids can be very helpful in reducing physical pain and can also cause great sorrow. A person has to continue taking more pills to get the same effect. In 2002, there were 2,000 deaths from drug abuse in the United States; in 2016 the death count rose to 40,000. Heroin is the cheapest street drug out there. With a prescription, a person can purchase 200 Vicodin with a $5.00 co-pay........they can then be sold for $50.00 each. Seventy percent of the people who are on opioids keep taking them not because they are in pain but because otherwise they will go into withdrawal. There are many more regulations today on doctors, pharmacists, etc. John has a 1935 prescription book, all written in by hand.....arthritis was even helped way back then with heroin, so it is nothing new. Sheriff Ian Parkinson will be our speaker next week. Vision without action is merely a dream.....sell those tickets!! See you all on Saturday.... Ecasida |
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Notes from our March 27th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING NOTES March 27, 2018 Meeting brought to order by: Mike Pond taking Prez Pete’s place for the day. Invocation: Melissa Davis Pledge to the Flag by: Mike We sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” Guest Rotarians: None today Guests of Rotarians: Brent Haugen from the Central Coast State Parks Assn. was introduced by Nick; Brent gave us a Quick Quiz...how many of us have visited a local state park? All hands were raised. The Association likes to connect people with nature through education; and they would like us to partner with them in their upcoming Wild and Scenic Film Festival. Sponsorship levels start at $250.00. Mike asked a few questions related to Baseball’s upcoming Opening Day; Jamie answered them and received a free lunch. March is Rotary Foundation Month; if you have $100.00 (more or less) to give, it would be put to good use. The Crab Feed is coming up on April 7th. If you have sold tickets, please turn in your money to Jamie; we could use a few more “runners” to bring food to the tables. The Golf Tournament is coming up May 11th; we still need sponsors, golfers and volunteers. The Car Show is also coming up the first weekend in May; there are a lot of opportunities to step up and help; registration, cruise night barricade duty, information, bbq and clean up. Contact Greg Hardcastle if you’re available to help!! The Four Way Test papers are being judged; we will present checks to the winners at an upcoming meeting; the winner needs to be turned in to District by April 1. Chuck made an award of a new badge to Judy because she lost her old one. Chuck was the Fine Master for the day – he asked questions from the latest Rotarian Magazine. Questions were mostly about the bicyclists who rode for Po  lio....Don D and Mike Pond were each fined $10.00. Then Chuck went on to ask questions that are on the California Drivers Test....Ken Stilts answered correctly, subsequently Mike Williams, Jamie, Dave Owens (who missed a moped question), Gary Owens and Heidi were each fined $10.00. None of us want to take that test – it was scary how little we knew.Mary Leizear introduced the speaker, Roger Jump who volunteers with Lifewater International, Headquartered in SLO. One in every 11 people in the world do not have access to clean/safe water; and, 1,600 people die every day from causes relating to unclean water. Their acronym – WASH; W = Water, A = Access, S = Sanitation, and H = Hygiene. Lifewater is a Christian non-profit and works mainly in Asia and Africa focusing on sustainability. Roger has been involved in helping people in other countries get clean water for about five years. They start with families to teach them how important clean water is to the life of their love  d ones. They teach them to take care of their own water wells. They also give lessons on Disease Transmission and Prevention. As of October 9, 2,578 families have been certified, through education, as “Healthy Homes”; Lifewater has placed 23 wells, and 10 school latrines, all serving 18,468 people. If you want more information, you can Google “Lifewater International” or go to “Lifewater.org.”Next meeting’s speaker will be our own member, John Headding, speaking on health care. 50/50 won by Don Doubledee. Happy Easter....See you all next week. ECasida |
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Notes from our March 20th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY NOTES March 20, 2018 MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Prez Pete INVOCATION BY: Michael Shaffran PLEDGE TO OUR FLAG: Pete JOKE: Submitted by Chuck, told by Pete, reminded us of Art.......it was funny in a gross kind of way. Guests of Rotarians: Nick brought Ryan Sedley from Pacific Premier Bank, who gave us a check in the amount of $1,000 as a sponsor of the Golf Tournament. Thank you Ryan!! Judy introduced our speaker, Dr. Eric Prater, Superintendent of SLCUSD. Mike was fined $10.00 for thinking that Chief Knuckles was a visitor. Chief Knuckles talked a little about the upcoming storm. It is predicted that we could have 3½ inches of rain in 3 days. Be very careful about walking through mud and water and look out for downed power lines. Crab Feed tickets are available; we need to sell 250 tickets and still need help. See Jamie for yours to sell or purchase. Also Jamie passed around a sign-up sheet for help and providing desserts. It is a new event for us and we want it to be great!! Greg passed around sign-up sheet to help with the Car Show the first weekend in May. There are opportunities to help with Cruise Night barricade patrol, Thursday and Friday, registration, Saturday and Sunday Information Booth, Saturday Bbq, and Sunday clean up. Some of us went to the SLO Film Festival to watch Max’s film being shown on the big screen. It was fun to see Max’s film, followed by dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. April 17th is Tall Tales day, followed by the RYLA group on May 1st. Hero’s day is coming up on May 29th so keep that in mind and bring a hero. March Madness is still going and many of us have been shot out of the competition. Pete still has three brackets to sell if someone wants to buy a bracket for $20.00.....they could be winners. John Solu introduced Jeff Heller who has been very involved with the Morro Bay sewer/water 218 Vote issue. He educated us about the 218 voting process; the letters from the City regarding this should show up sometime after May 1st. Every parcel in the City of MB is entitled to one vote.  Pete introduced our speaker, Dr. Eric Prater, the San Luis Coastal Superintendent of Schools. Los Osos has recently been recognized as being one of the top 22 middle schools in the state. Their leadership group will be traveling to Washington D.C. to be recognized. Del Mar and Teach Elementary were nominated for awards as well. Morro Bay High School earned a National Blue Ribbon School award when Prez Pete was there as Principal. There are 7500 students in our district. Shootings and mental health are top priority these days....everyone is on edge. Measure D is what enabled us to build the new pool, which is being used every day to its fullest capacity. There are 58 girls in water polo and over 70 in swimming. In another two years we will have a fabulous track and field area including a new and improved snack shack. SLO High will have 1500 students next year because of developing areas; however, the coastal area schools are decreasing in population. Thanks to Dr. Prater for taking time to come and share with us. Lori donated some rock crab claws for the 50/50. Ken Stilts was the first winner and he took the money; second winner was Gary Englund and third winner was David Owens – both of whom will have crab for dinner tonight. Roger Jump from Lifewater International will be our speaker next week. “Greatness is not a function of circumstance.....but of conscious choice and discipline.” Jim Collins Enjoy the rain....be careful....see you next week. ECasida |
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Notes from our March 13th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING March 13, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Ken Stilts Pledge Allegiance was led by: Pete We recited the 4 Way Test Joke by Prez Pete: it was short and we got it. Visiting Rotarians: Gail Tannehill, who is the incoming President elect of the Paso Robles Rotary Club. Guests of our Rotarians: Our speaker, Kevin Hauber, was a guest of Michael Shaffran. Wednesday March 14th we will be meeting at 5:30 to go to Max’s film at the Downtown Center Cinema Theater in SLO. Max was the producer, director and writer of this movie. His film was chosen as one of many. Afterwards we will go to the California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Jamie has tickets for the Crab Feed....we would like everyone to sell 4. It is being held on Saturday, April 7 with doors opening at 5pm and dinner served at 5:30. We sent around the signup sheet as we will need lots of help selling tickets and working the event. Golf Tournament coming up Friday, May 11...still need golfers, sponsors and help. Take a flyer to put up in a business. Sign up to help or golf!! Fill out a NCAA Tournament Bracket to possibly win a PHF. The tournament starts Thursday so we need to get this completed today. Melissa and Jude went to the District Training for club leaders, officers etc. There will be another one on the 24th of March in Bakersfield. It’s free...just register. Mike Pond is going so you would be in good company. Bill Pierce received an email from Direct Relief thanking us for the donation for Montecito....they were VERY appreciative. Greg Hardcastle said the Car Show is being held the first weekend in May; the 3rd – 6th. They also need help with registration, bbq, information booth and Cruise Night; he sent around a signup sheet. Mike Pond said we will be going to the Blues Game again this summer. That is a fun event and by selling 100 tickets we will add $1,000 to our income for this year. Dave Owens’ daughter will graduate from Redlands University with a 3.95 GPA. Her major is in Speech Therapy with a goal of becoming a bilingual speech therapist. She was inspired to pursue this field after working many summers at Camp Hapitok. .jpg) April 20th - Chuck will be showing his famous sled dog presentation. He just got back from Alaska where it was soooooo cold!!Michael introduced our speaker, Kevin Hauber, who graduated from Cal Poly and is now working with Green Building. He is an expert in Real Estate Transactions with energy concerns. The state government put out goals that are supposed to be met by cities and counties at their own expense. Existing buildings will require energy efficiency updates and water efficiency at the same time. By 2020, new buildings or newly remodeled buildings will be required to have 0% energy created by non “green” methods. So where will the money come from? He has many things that can be done to help with this very expensive project......grants and rebates are just two possibilities. Solar leases get recorded on your property so if you sell, you need to be aware that it does not increase your property value. However, if you buy your solar system, it will add to your property value. 50/50 went to Nick...Happy Saint Patrick’s Day......See you next week. ECasida |
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Notes from our March 6th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB BULLETIN MARCH 6, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by Dan Flag Salute by Pete We recited the 4 Way Test Jokes by Prez Pete....Bank Robber and Teacher jokes Visiting Rotarians: Sherry Sims from Cayucos; Lisa from SLO Rotary visiting to announce their upcoming Spaghetti Western event which is being held on March 24th 5:30-8:00 at the Vets Hall in SLO. Tickets are $25.00...children under 12 eat free. Guests of Rotarians: Glad to have Police Chief Greg Allen visiting along with Max, our foreign exchange student, as well as Heidi’s mom. John Weiss introduced Ryan from Pacific Premier Bank and our Jr. Rotarian, Stella, was also with us today. Rick Grantham said he was so glad to see John Weiss looking healthy....and also glad to have the hard working police chief with us. John Weiss talked a few minutes about what is going on around the district and also encouraged us to attend the District Training in Oxnard this weekend; there will be just 2 morning classes including the initial Basic PRLS class. We are very thankful to have the Police Chief and the Fire Chief as sponsors of the Sept. 15th conference on Human Trafficking which will be held at the Morro Bay Community Center. Deepa will be having her fund raising event this year on April 28 at the Terra Mia Vineyards. Tickets will be $100.00. Save the Date!! She will be at the Morro Bay Sunset Rotary meeting Thursday night. Pete and the board is encouraging everyone to give $100.00 to our Morro Bay Foundation during the month of March this year. We want to build up our cash balance to enable our account to grow every year. CRAB FEED is being held on April 7th. We need everyone to sell tickets as well as participate that evening. A Sign-up sheet was passed around. GOLF TOURNAMENT also coming up on May 11th. We need sponsors, golfers and workers for that day. Sign up on the sign-up sheet please. NCAA March Madness is coming - next week we will be able to sign up and choose a bracket for $20.00. Winner will get a PHF. Max brought us up to date with what is going on in his life, including good grades. He wanted to thank everyone with helping him go to the Warriors game....his favorite team for a long time. He entered his film in the SLO Film Festival and it will be showing at the Fremont Theater in downtown SLO on the 14th. Let’s all go to show support for our Max and also to see what his creative mind has done. We will meet at 5:00; go to watch the film and have dinner. A fun evening with friends.......join your club at this social event!!  Our speakers today were Doris Diel and Sandra Hansen, mother and daughter bee keepers. They have been learning about and raising bees for ten years after being concerned about the amount of bees that are dying every year. The bee hive has an elaborate hierarchy starting with the Queen Bee, who the other bees will always follow. Ninety percent of the bees are “worker” bees, are female and do most of the work. And then there are the male “drone” bees who make up the other 10%. In the winter there will be 20-30,000 bees in a hive....in the summer up to 80,000. When the Queen Bee gets old, the worker bees will feed royal jelly to a new hatchling to develop a new Queen. We are losing many bees because of pesticides they drink from blossoms and even more bees are dying from a mite from Asia that attaches itself to a bee and takes its life. Very interesting talk.....we would love to have them back. Keep Jack Barrett in your thoughts and prayers as he may need emergency surgery. Don Doubledee won the 50/50 JOIN US FOR THE MARCH SOCIAL.....MAX’ FILM AND DINNER.
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Notes from our February 27th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING FEB. 27, 2018 MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Prez Pete INVOCATION BY: Heidi PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: Prez Pete JOKE: Plumber joke......uh, we didn’t get it. WE RECITED THE FOUR WAY TEST. Visiting Rotarians: Not today Guests of Rotarians: Dan brought his wife Linda and Mother, Brit. Judy introduced our speaker, Hershel Parker and his wife, Heddy Richter. Judy also brought her friend Karen Clinton. Fire Marshall, Matt Veira was brought by Chief Knuckles. Melissa brought Jr. Rotarian Stella. Tom Kelly, a friend of our speaker, was here to visit as well. Pete gave a short presentation on Human Trafficking; we will be helping put on the Human Trafficking Summit on September 15th at the Community Center. He also and announced our President Elect Nominee for 2019/2020 will be Melissa Davis and our President Elect Nominee Designate for 2020/21 will be Lou Dubnow. The Board approved a donation of $1,000 to be given to Monticeto to help with relief in the wake of the fire and mudslides, and $150 to be given to Ecuador for the planting of trees. We have declared January as our special Rotary Giving Month in an effort to give to our own Rotary Foundation. This year we will emphasize extra gifts be given to the Morro Bay Foundation in March with a goal of $100/person for those who can/want to give this gift. MBHS’s Crab Feed is sold out. Ours is coming up on April 7th and we will all need to sell tickets, to make this fund raiser a great event. We will have a signup sheet next week for help to set up, run the bar, be a food runner, sell desserts, sell 50/50 tickets, take down and other duties. Ken Casida was fined $10.00 for each year of marriage....$80.00...... $13.00 less than our marriage license!! Satisfaction survey was on the tables, we came in at a +47 this month with 13% responding. Mostly positive comments.....it’s good to have feedback so we all know where we can improve the club. We are considering picking a Monday night to feed the homeless at the Vets Hall. It would be good to do it once to see if it is something we want to do on a regular basis. Melissa announced that Stella won first place with a drawing she made and entered in the Estero Bay Women’s Club Contest. We have two Master PRLS graduates - Jude and Melissa; a worthwhile weekend for both of these future presidents.  Our speaker was Hershel Parker, a Morro Bay resident and world authority on Herman Melville and more. Although he is an expert on Melville and Moby Dick, he also loves ancestry. He has researched his own family and found many interesting facts and has even accumulated 3200 documents about his ancestry. You can find almost anything you want to know online. If you research wills, land transfers, military pension applications and records, newspaper articles, affidavits, tombstones etc., it is possible to find many historical facts. Fold3 is an excellent source for military records. It was an honor to have Hershel and his wife and friends with us today. Enjoy the week....next week’s speakers will be mom and daughter bee keepers. 50/50 won by Steve Carnes Ecasida |
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Notes from our February 20th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Club Notes February 20, 2018  Meeting called to order by Nick (sporting his Presidential tie) in Prez Pete’s absence Invocation was given by: Ken Stilts Pledge to the Flag by: Nick Visiting Rotarians: Not today Guests brought by Rotarians: Dan Costly brought his wife, Linda and his mother, Brit. Lori French brought her husband, Jeff also known as “The Old Man of the Sea”. Jeremy, the Pastor of the North Church was here to suggest we might want to partner with them to feed the homeless; maybe switch off with them every other month; to be decided by the board. Doug placed emails on our tables from the vets who have received our boxes.....he brought two boxes with him to be mailed. Heidi said Max entered his film in the SLO film festival and it is showing March 14th at the Downtown Cinemas. She passed around a sign-up sheet for those who want to see his film so she can get tickets. That could be a fun social night with dinner included. On March 23rd, Max will be going up to San Francisco with the San Ramon Rotary group for a Warrior’s basketball game. Max is on the Morro Bay JV baseball team, we will pick a night to go to a game to support him. Gary collected a dollar fine from everyone not wearing a Rotary pin. Doug R is driving a brand new car which got him fined $10.00.  Jude introduced our speakers..... our own Lori French and husband Jeff. Last year their family went to the Boston Seafood Show, which is the largest in the country. She brought crab pots, handmade by her husband, which have 4-l/4 inch escape doors for the small crab and fish that swim through the door into the pot. The pots are 36 to 42 inches across. There are four crab boats out of Morro Bay now. The crab that are caught have to be 6-1/2 inches in size and have to be measured before they are even taken into the boat. They are only allowed to take male crab. They fish in water from 50 feet to 400 feet deep. Each boat has a tier number to represent how many crab pots they are allowed to have in the water. According to Lori, this has been a season of “you name it, it happened”....quality, weather, etc. Lori’s family has normally fished in the Bodega Bay Area, but this year they are here. There are 550 crab licenses issued in the USA each year. Thanks to Lori and Jeff for their interesting presentation. Enjoy the weekend....see you next week. ECasida
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Notes from our February 13th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING February 13, 2018 Invocation: Melissa Pledge to the Flag: Jeff Jones Joke: Pete....Dr. Geezer and Dr. Young Visiting Rotarians: Not today Guests of Rotarians: Judy brought Bonnie Jones Thanks to Pete and Kathi for hosting our social on Saturday night. We had good food and an interesting presentation about our Sri Lanka Pre-school Project by Hans Dahlin and his wife. It is fun to get together and visit with those you may not sit with during our club time. We are planning another social for sometime in May. March Madness is coming up with an opportunity for anyone to pick a bracket for $20.00. At the end of the NCAA tournament, whoever happened to rack up the most points based on their picks, will be awarded a Paul Harris.  Pete Starlings & Katherine Gillen received their yellow badges today. Two great additions to our Club - keep inviting your friends, they will be glad you did. There will be an Electronic Waste Recycle event at the Los Osos Methodist Church on Feb. 24 from 9am to 1pm. Bring printers, phones, VCRs, Stereos, Fax machines etc. to be recycled. Next Tuesday after our Club Meeting, we will have a Crab Feed meeting that might last for an hour or two to finalize our plans for the event. If you are interested in helping....Please stay for this meeting. The Morro Bay High School Crab Feed is March 3rd; we will start promoting ours on March 4th. If each of us sells five tickets, we will sell out. We will have five weeks to sell the tickets. Doug brought four boxes to be shipped to veterans overseas. The cost is a little under $17.00; you can either take a box, or just give Doug the money, and he will take the box to the post office. May 11th is the Golf Tournament....start thinking about businesses you know who would want to be a sponsor, donate raffle prizes or provide golf goodie bag items. Jan donated a coupon from Sweet Offerings for chocolate covered strawberries........Heidi bought it for $20.00. Thanks, Jan. Jude went to PETS on the weekend....she is very grateful for the opportunity. Her husband also went and enjoyed it. Dale won the free lunch and Judy used her exemption to encourage everyone to pick up a Bay News because she wrote an article about the Shell Shop. Pete and Lou discussed family members who work for WINC ...a huge wine company. Chuck is off to Alaska next week where it is minus 8 at night. He loves it!! Sara was in Cancun for six days for an Edward Jones event. Fines: Heidi’s birthday...$10.00, Ken fined $10.00 but Pete paid it...Steve fined $10.00. Our speaker was Chief Knuckles who said this summer was the busiest the fire department has ever had.....they spent 87 days on assignment. Our Mutual Aid system is the best in California. The Command System and the Coordination with law enforcement were good decisions that helped evacuate people and fight the fire. What went wrong? Mother Nature.....mainly high winds and low humidity. Northern California Fires involved 11,000 firefighters. The Thomas Fire involved 10,500 firefighters. Morro Bay participated with five engines and 22 personnel as part of the Strike Team. This year they were able to use a Military Drone to spot the fires....instead of a helicopter. The cost was $1500/hour, but well worth it. There will not be voluntary evacuation anymore.....only mandatory. Thank you Chief and our wonderful Morro Bay Fire Department!! John Weiss said “Celebrate Rotary” is our District 5240 theme for this year. John was scheduled to be in Monticeto on the day of the mudslide. We have over 3,000 members in our District so we are able to help in these California disasters. Six hours after the mudslide, there were two pages filled with the names of Rotarians willing to give a room in their home to someone needing a place to stay. Several Rotarians were impacted by the fire and mudslide but they have a good attitude and their motto is “The Best Days are Still Ahead”.  Thanks to Kathi and Pete for bringing a Valentine Rose for everyone who attended the meeting today. Next week’s speaker will be Lori French....talking about commercial fishing on the central coast...especially crab fishing. You won’t want to miss this craft talk!! ECasida |
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Notes from our February 6th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Club February 6, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation: Michael Shaffron Pledge: Scott Harp We then read through the Four Way Test and greeted our friends Joke: Pete....police officer joke. Guest Rotarians: Sherry Sims, Cayucos Rotary Guest of Rotarians: Mike S. brought Stephan from France who enjoyed visiting with Max. Janice House with the Honor Flight Program who came with our speaker, Greg McGill; Rick Grantham brought friend and travel-mate, John Gajdos, another Honor Flight volunteer; Kasey brought Tony, a friend who will be going on an Honor Flight. Mike P said there was progress with the roundabout, with a special thanks to Katherine who came out to help!!! Katherine brought info about the Mardi Gras Mixer at Fitness Works on Wednesday, February 7.....5:30-7:30. Come for DINNER/SOCIAL time at Pete and Kathi’s house on Saturday the 10th. We will start at 5:30 with wine and snacks, then a short presentation by Hans about the pre-school in Siri Lanka which our club has supported. Next we will have dinner with meats prepared by Brickhouse BBQ. For those who want to stay later, we have a couple of games planned. Heidi said Master PURLS will be in Santa Maria the weekend of Feb 23-25. Max said he visited Hearst Castle and also he is very pleased that his movie will be in the SLO Film Festival. Also he loves baseball, and the MB baseball team is looking for sponsors. Pete is putting out a challenge to our club ....let’s get 10 new members, 10 PHF and 5 new bequests to Rotary in this year. Arbor Day is April 27......we are considering planting trees in Morro Bay or the Montecito area in honor of this national holiday. Next meeting we will consider approving Melissa for our 2019/20 President after Jude and Lou for our 2020 /21 President after Melissa. Nick said we have set Friday, May 11th for our 9 hole golf tournament; we will be looking for sponsors, golfers and golfer bag goodies. Other activities our club is involved with are The Crab Feed on April 7, The Kite Festival on April 28 & 29th, and the Car Show on May 4, 5,and 6. SAVE THE DATES for these fun and important events!!!! Judy won the exemption .....she said she would like to see some of us at the Human Trafficking conference at Oxnard. Football questions by Pete....Dave fined $20.00, Rick $10.00, Steve Carnes $10.00, Judy $10.00 paid by Rick, John $30.00, Ken Stilts for $30.00  Judy introduced Honor Flight Program speaker, Greg Mcgill (also with the Kern Co Fire Dept) and Janice House, Honor Flight volunteer extraordinaire. He originally went on an Honor Flight as a guardian and was so impressed with the organization; he felt that we should have a chapter here. As of this date, 200 veterans from SLO County have gone to Washington D.C. to see their memorials at no cost to them. Honor Flight was started in 2005 and there are now 135 HUBS in the U.S. The top priority goes to WWII veterans and any other veteran with a terminal disease. Any veteran who served in the military is eligible. It is a busy three days for the vets starting with a 6am departure on Day #1. The second day they visit Memorials honoring the veterans who served during WWII, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War. They also visit the Lincoln, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Memorials. The third day they return home. Wheelchairs are provided for all vets and they are given priority everywhere they go. So far 150,000 vets have gone on the Honor Flights. Greg has been on seven flights and he knows how Honor Flights change lives. Our next week’s speakers will be Chief Knuckles and John Weiss speaking on the Montecito Fires. Inspirational quote of the day was by Warren Buffet. Doug brought boxes to be mailed. Ecasida |
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Notes from our January 30th Rotary Meeting
MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING JANUARY 30, 2018
Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Ken Stilts Flag Salute led by: Carla Wixom Joke: by Pete..... “Ali Oop” Guest Rotarian: Ruth Ann Angus Guests of Rotarians: Rachel Pass from the Estuary Program Lisa Babb was here for the second time Carla brought Nancy Johnson and Jeff Eckles Judy brought Bertha Tyler and our speaker Scott Collins Chamber “Living Treasure”, Lori French was with us and has $10.00 tickets for the Central Coast Women of Fisheries enchilada dinner on February 3 at the Community Center. She says she will use the tiara for good and not evil. Mike Pond announced a social at Prez Pete’s house on Saturday, February 10th. Cost is $10.00/person for a tri tip, chicken etc. dinner and a special speaker, Hans Dahlin. Bring your special person and come and enjoy an evening with friends and food. Saturday, Feb. 3 Mutts for the Bay program...Rachel Pass said last year 371,000 bags were taken from the dispensers. She had a photo of our Rotary dispenser near the Rock. The Estuary Program is grateful to our Club for our contribution toward the Mutt Mitts. Heidi told about the PRLS classes in Santa Maria . Andrea gave out packets with essays on the Four Way Test to be read by volunteers. Each packet had 46 essays. Cayucos Rotary has reserved a table for our club at the Masquerade Ball on March 17. Cost is $75.00....hands were raised and our table was filled. It will be a fun evening!! John Weiss....thanked us for our support, and announced several events coming up. Rotary Club of Santa Monica has donated $10,000 to help with the Thomas Fire devastation. Trees are $45.00 if our club or individuals want to contribute. We may want to plant a tree for everyone in our club. Melissa is selling Girl Scout Cookies on behalf of our Jr. Rotarian Stella......pay her now ...or pay her later. She was fined herself $10.00 for this ad… Free Lunch went to #63...Nancy. Fines...super bowl questions.....Jamie fined $10.00, Steve Carnes fined $20.00, Don fined $10.00, Mike $10.00, Steve $10.00, Dan fined $10.00, Heidi not fined, Jude not fined, Guest Speaker was Morro Bay’s new City Manager, Scott Collins. Interviewed in September, he has had a good feeling about all his interactions with the people in this community. He is still learning and listening to community members. Hope is the bond in any community. The WRF is of course, top priority. Financial concerns are on the top of the list too because of past spending. Many people want our town to stay just like it is, but we also have to keep up with what is going on around us. Lori mentioned the needs for commercial fishermen. Melissa said she installed a rain water system six years ago to hook up a gray water system but apparently it is against the law in Morro Bay - will this change? Mike asked about the off shore wind farm. Jamie asked if the City is planning to terminate their contract with State Water. John asked about the sewer project and the fact that all meetings have been recorded and we are all concerned about the cost of it. Is it possible to connect with Cayucos? Scott said, “No, they are moving ahead without us”. Carla asked about the Embarcadero area leases that have been taken over by the City - City Council decided to go out with a broker team to try and figure out what to do with the area. 50/50 won by Mike Pond.....donated it to the Interact Club. Pete’s thought for today was from Budda. “What you think, you will become”. Someone at our table said that’s not true because she has been thinking young and thin and it’s not happening. Next week’s speaker will be talking about the Honor Flights Program. See you next week. Ecasida |
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Notes from our January 23rd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING JANUARY 23, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Dan Pledge to flag: Katherine Joke: Pete....Many small jokes....fun and funny!! Guest Rotarians: Ruth Ann Angus; it was also nice to have Bryan Griffiths and Lori French with us today. Guest of Rotarians: Andrea brought her husband, Mike, to celebrate their 4th anniversary. Sarah brought Antonio Reyes who is her new assistant. Lisa Babb came because she has recently moved here and wants to get busy in our community. We will have a Club Social at Pete’s house on Saturday, February 10th starting at 5:30. Our special guest will be Hans Dahlin, who with the help of our Club has sponsored pre schools in Sri Lanka. It will be a great time to get together for food, fellowship and fun; significant others are more than welcome to join us. Cost is $10.00....food will be from Brickhouse BBQ.....come and learn about another thing our Club has done to help others. Jude announced Book Sales at the MB library on Jan. 27, May 19 and Sept. 29th. There is also a book store at the library with proceeds going to Friends of the Library. All proceeds from the book sale will be used in our own library. Lori is selling tickets for the Women for Fisheries Smoked Albacore Enchilada sale. Heidi said PRLS is coming up in Santa Maria the weekend of February 23-25. The cost is $250.00 which the Club will pay, and anyone can take some of the classes if the entire weekend is too much OR all of the classes and get your Master PRLS certification. Roundabout cleanup at 9:00 on the 3rd......come one...come all!! Andrea is working on the Four Way Test and will be in touch with her readers soon.  Our Guest Speaker today was Wade Nomura, a Past District Governor and member of the Carpentaria Club. He met the Board before the meeting to go over some of the details of the PHF. He spoke on the Rotary Foundation, which is the organization that uses our funds to do much good around the globe. The main focus for Wade is Water and Sanitation, Basic Education, Disease Prevention, Community and Economic Development, Child and Maternal Health, Rotary Scholars, and Vocational Training Team. We have Sister Districts with Clubs in Korea (2) and Mexico and Sister Clubs in Mexico, Chile, Bangladesh, etc., so you have friends everywhere. Polio Plus.....including corrective surgeries, Immunization Days. Ways to Participate: Benefactor...$1,000.00 donation per year Bequest Society....Designate Rotary Foundation in your will/trust. Presidents Theme Annual Fund......Ties and scarves designed by the current RI president. Andrea’s husband, Mike, won the 50/50 Mary brought to my attention that the very interesting Mind Walks Lecture Series is happening on Mondays at the Inn at Morro Bay. January 29th will be about The Geological Diversity of SLO County. Next week’s speaker will be the new City Manager in Morro Bay.... Enjoy your week......see you soon. Ecasida |
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Notes from our January 16th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING JANUARY 16, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete Invocation by: Nick Pledge of Allegiance: Heidi Song: Auld Lang Syne Joke: Pete....Lady Airplane pilot.... Guest Rotarians: Kathryn and Mary Helen from Palm Desert Guests of Rotarians: Rich Reidel brought his wife Linda, to celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary, and to keep from being fined. Heidi introduced our speaker, Tom Potter Claire Grantham was here with Rick Kathrine Gillen who works at the Chamber was brought here for the last time by Lou as today she is being  inducted into the Club. Don welcomed her with a packet of info, a MB Rotary pin, and her Red Badge. She spoke for a few minutesand was welcomed by all of us with a standing ovation. Welcome Katherine and thank you, Lou, for bringing her to our Club. Roundabout cleanup February 3 at 9:00am. Satisfaction Survey Results ...printed out on the table. Our satisfaction score was +82. Please take a couple of minutes to fill these out when they come to your email box. Jeff Jones said many members of our fire department have been in Montecito since the tragic mudslide. It is a traumatic experience for them; Jeff asks us to keep them in our thoughts and prayers. Heidi wants everyone to know about Master PRLS Weekend in Santa Maria Feb 23 - Feb 25. Cost is $250.00 for the weekend of classes. You can register online. Great opportunity to take the classes reasonably close to home.  Heidi introduced Tom Potter, of CAPSLO. This organization finds housing for homeless vets. They will pay the security deposit so that they can get into a home, give them temporary financial assistance, rental agreement education and other necessary services. It is important to get the vet housed first and then they can work on other issues, such as mental health, PTSD and other issues. This program is a short term program, up to 9 months. They will paint a unit or whatever else might need to be done to keep a landlord happy. Rich Reidel won the 50/50 and then donated it to Max for his train trip. Max received $200 from our donation jar last week. Next week’s speaker will be Wade Namura. Enjoy your week......see you soon. Ecasida
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Notes from our January 9th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING January 9th, 2018 Meeting called to order by Prez Pete.....nice to have him back!! Invocation: Judy Flag Salute: Pete Song: Row, Row, Row your boat – rumor has it, the MBHS Baseball players were impressed. Joke: Pete....Three legged Chicken in the road... Guests: Heidi introduced Max who is now staying with them Judy: Bonnie Jones, today’s speaker Melissa: Teri Meyer Lou: Kathrine Gillen, soon to be our newest MB Rotarian Sean, the MBHS Baseball coach and 2 of the team members were here to sell $50.00 tickets for their Annual Crab Feed at the Community Center on March 3rd. They are also selling advertisements on the banner. We need a couple of Rotarians to read and grade the Four Way Tests. Several hands went up, so that little problem was solved in a hurry. Thank you to those who volunteered. Heidi and Max gave a brief summary of his stay here. Max thanked us for his cash Christmas present with which he bought a baseball glove. He also bought new pants and new shirts so he is ready for the season. If anyone wants to go to San Francisco and walk the Golden Gate Bridge with Max, he would love to do that. Max has made a movie which is now on You-Tube; go to “The E.N.D.” on You-Tube, you will see a picture of Max and the 25 minute video he made. He is also really interested in watching a launch at Vandenburg so if anyone is interested in going, he would love to go along. If you are going anywhere fun in the next six weeks, Max would love to go with you. Nick made an announcement about the monthly Chamber mixer which is being held on Wednesday, January 10th at 5:30 at Rabobank. The Fire and Ice Ball will be at the MB Community Center from 5:30-9:00pm on Friday, January 26th. It is an evening of Community Awards hosted by the Chamber. Jude and Matt co-chaired the Salvation Army Bell Ringing volunteers at Albertsons. They said it was a successful endeavor and thanked all who participated. Our Crab Feed will be announced, advertised and tickets sold after the high school crab feed is either sold out or over. It will be very simple this year... Chuck Clarke’s birthday was January 5th and fined $10.00. Mary said “Mind Walks” have started at 10:15am at the Inn at Morro Bay on Mondays during the winter months. Jan Lewis said she had a date with Kareem Abdul Jabbar in 1977. Her question from Pete was...”What is the first country to celebrate New Year’s Eve every year?” New Zealand....Jan fined $10.00 in spite of who she knows. Pete Starlings was fined $20.00 for not knowing the answer to his question. What country has the most people celebrating NYE. Rio de Janeiro ......2,000,000 people gather. Bonnie Jones has been involved in projects to help the homeless since they moved to Morro Bay. She helped start Estero Bay Alliance for Care (EBAC), who now in their fifth year, have served over 100,000 meals to those in need. They want to keep people from becoming homeless if possible as well as help those in need in our community. They serve the community dinner at the Vets Hall on Monday nights between 5 and 6:30. They serve approximately 85 people every Monday evening. Who comes? Families, seniors, homeless, and anyone else in need. They are asking for help one night a month or more. The food would be cooked in our homes and then brought to the Vets Hall. There are many organizations that help each week. We’ll be talking about this at our upcoming Board Meeting. John Solu won the $37.00 50/50 and added it to the jar we passed around to contribute to Max for his 30 day train trip in the summer around the U.S.A. Enjoy the weekend.....See you all next week for time with friends and interesting speakers. ECasida
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Notes from our December 19th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING  DEC. 19, 2017 MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY MIKE POND filling in for Pete Invocation was individual silent meditations. Pledge by Mike Shaffran Joke by Mike, and we sang a Christmas song Jan Lewis auctioned off pieces of Eggnog fudge with money going into the stocking we passed around for a “thank you” gift for the servers. Anyone know which Rotary President said - ”the squirrels must be hungry......all the nuts are here tonight”. Our own Rick Grantham at a Council meeting when he thought the mike was off. John Weiss got up and spoke for a few minutes about our district and how our clubs are doing many great things. Santa Barbara Club is upbeat although some members have lost their homes in the fire. Andrea talked about her new Honda Pilot and was fined per cup holder......maximum being $25.00. Melissa said she just emailed the kids who signed up for RYLA – it’s a great group of kids. .JPG) Still need bell ringers for Salvation Army on Thursday. Those who have been involved say it is a great experience. Lorraine will be a grandmother in June. Dan said his wife, Linda, became a grandmother for the first time on Friday. Gary said his wife stood up in church and announced that they have a room in the back of their home if someone from Santa Barbara needs a place to stay until things get better down south. They had a couple, who went back home yesterday, take them up on this kind offer. Mike and Jeff gave us a few hints on fire fighting..... Judy mentioned how much fun the Winterfest 12 Days was; especially the Santa Crawl. Special Christmas Memories from some of our Members: Judy: When her kids were middle school age, her dad was housebound and couldn’t tolerate the noise and confusion of having the whole family visit, so, they went to Pizza Hut, and had a lovely time. The server was wonderful so they left him a $20.00 tip, making his Christmas Very Merry. Dan: When he lived in Truckee he put up 62,000 Christmas lights; in Morro Bay he has downsized to 16,000 lights. He talked about ministering to the homeless when he was with the Sheriff’s Dept. in Truckee where there were 33 homeless people living outside in the cold, cold weather. Andrea: When she was very young, she was allowed to sit on her dads lap and drive their Camaro down Candy Cane Lane at Christmas Time. Her grandmother would make fudge and almond rocha which Andrea has since tried to make, but now will just go to Jan’s Sweet Offerings. Jude: In the late 70s she went to Illinois on Christmas Eve where they went out for dinner in the Amish Community. They ate dinner with an Amish family who had no electricity, so they enjoyed their meal by the light from oil lamps. Everything was cooked in cast iron on wood stoves. The chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls etc. were all made in their own home, and she believes is the best she has ever tasted. Jude shared with us a photo of her and her siblings taken in the 50’s. They were all crying - very funny, Jude. She brought her own original felt stocking, and felt tree skirt. Christmas Eve they would hear sleigh bells, which are still used by her cat to let the family know she wants out. She got a doll named Sally which was a very special doll. Chuck: His family still loves to go to their cabin “Oak Hollow” in Cayucos for Christmas. Every year they have a theme; one year it was “the species cat”. One year, their youngest grandchild cried and said she never wanted to leave; she still feels that way. Chuck and Liz have a big family and as many of them as can, still love to gather for Christmas at ”Oak Hollow”. Ken Stilts: One Christmas Eve at 10:30 Ken had an emergency phone call. It was someone needing a crown to be cemented back on. He went to his office, cleaned out the tooth and cemented the crown back on. The patient was so thankful and wanted to pay him, but Ken said he needed to go to the office anyway because he was hiding two surf boards there and needed to get them home before Christmas morning. Gary: When he and Marlene were first married, they were stationed in Maine, where it was 40 below zero, but at Christmas time they would still cut their own tree. Marlene decorated it with blue lights, blue bulbs and angel hair; it was beautiful. On Christmas they left for a couple of days and when they got home the tree was a skeleton with lights and angel hair, it had dried out so much. When he went to school in Montana, they did the same thing, going through deep snow to get a tree. One time the neighbor boy got stuck in a snow bank, and Gary plucked him out. Crab feed meeting at 11:00 on January 9th. April 7th is the tentative date for the Crab Feed. The City wants to move our Santa House sometime after the 1st of the year, so we will get over there and get everything tied down. 50/50 won by Ken Stilts....$12.00...Merry Christmas, Ken!!  The stocking of tips for the staff at the View added up to $230.00. Thanks to the staff for their service over the last year. Board meeting tomorrow here at the View at 7:30am. Today’s meeting was very interesting and fun getting to know some of our members a little better. If you missed it, you missed a good thing!!! We will be dark on Dec. 26 and Jan 2. MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all....See you next year ECasida |
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Notes from our December 12th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING DECEMBER 12, 2017 MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY PREZ PETE Invocation by Nick Pledge by Prez Pete Joke by Prez Pete....PHD....Pizza Home Delivery Guest of Rotarian Lou - Katherine from Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce, who has visited the Club three times. Sarah announced that her kids foundation, Mini Santas, have found a local family to support. January is Rotary Foundation Month; we’re going to brainstorm how to entice members to support our Foundation - a nice idea is to donate $100.00 to Morro Bay Rotary Foundation that month. Dan received a round of applause for the Lighted Boat Parade as did Jan for receiving the PHF last week. Dan received and read a letter from Morro Bay Coast Guard thanking us for our support. Tonight is the last night of the Winter Festival so Santa is going back to the North Pole. After that, we will need to get the decorations out of the Santa House. Dan will send out an email concerning this. Our 1st Annual Crab Feed will be Saturday, April 7th.....come join us before our December 19th regular meeting to help get this event planned. This will be a major fundraiser so we will need to sell tickets after the first of the year. Tickets will be $55.00; with the hopes that each Rotarian in our Club will be able to sell five tickets. We will also need cookies or cakes to sell and/or auction off that night. We will have a bar with wine or beer and a 50/50 drawing as well. Pawsabilities for Veterans is holding a movie day at the Inn at Morro Bay on Thursday December 28th at 11 and 3 pm. Bring the family, a pillow and a blanket and come enjoy “101 Dalmatians”. Holly Banfield, the Choir Director at MBHS brought the Morro Bay Choir for our annual Christmas Carol  program. We sang along as the choir led us in Jingle Bells....... quite an improvement o ver last week!!! We then presented the Choir with a check for $250 to help them in their efforts. Holly was a recipient of one of our graduating senior scholarships...now she has come back to Morro Bay to work at our high school. That is our Foundation dollars being put to good use!!The 50/50 drawing was won by: Jude Next week we need club members to talk about Christmas traditions in their family. Any volunteers? Let’s keep Pete in our thoughts and prayers as he goes in for surgery on Friday. Also remember John Weiss who is doing very well after his surgery. Meeting adjourned… Enjoy your week...see you next week to enjoy stories from our own club members. |
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Notes from our December 5th Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Meeting December 5, 2017 Prez Pete called meeting to order Invocation by Ken Stilts Flag Salute by new member Lou Dubnow Song: A monotone version of Jingle Bells Joke by Pete (I’ve heard it before, but still don’t remember it) Guests of the Club today: Lorraine brought her son in law, Max Marple Judy’s guest was Bonnie Jones Mike Shaffran’s guest was our speaker, Paul Grafton Lou Dubnow introduced, Katherine Gillen from the Chamber Doug brought boxes to send to the troops Matt Franklin announced we still have openings on Dec. 14 and 21 for Salvation Army Bell Ringing at Albertsons. We signed cards for Nancy whose brother passed away and Dan whose step father passed. Our thoughts are with them both at this difficult time. Lighted Boat Parade  : Our amazing team of Rotary carpenters, painters and decorators put the Santa House together in two days!!! Saturday night was wonderful, we were not in our usual location and did not sell as much hot chocolate and cookies as we usually do but it was fun and rewarding to see all the families who very much enjoyed our efforts on the Santa House. Santa Ken also went on Sund ay, and had a good visit with our Rotarian crew but we didn’t see many kids. Santa (not Ken) will be there every night through the 12th and I think will be busier as the word gets out that we have a Santa House and the pictures are free.The Crab Feed committee met today to make a few decisions about how we want to move forward with our first event effort. Morro Bay Watch sent a letter of thanks for the $500.00 we donated to the Caroling Cops for their purchase of toys. Judy is requesting members step forward to give a short talk on their favorite Christmas traditions. Please let her know if that is something you would like to do as this will be part of our December 19th Rotary program. Melissa is interviewing applicants for RYLA tomorrow at 9:30 at the high school; she invited anyone interested to join her and help out with this. Ken Casida drew the name to receive a PHF from the board; Jan Lewis was the big winner. Then we drew to see who would get the first PHF from a completed quartet; Lorraine was its lucky winner. We then sang Happy Birthday to Gary Owens who missed this question: What color are the berries on the mistletoe tree? White was the correct answer; Gary was fined $10.00. Jeff Jones was then asked and fined for his wrong answer to: When does the Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas. Answer: January 7th; Jeff was fined $20.00. Where did Saint Nickolas come from? Turkey No one knew - many were fined for being wrong. Michael Shaffran introduced our speaker, Paul Graffton, who is a Naturalist working at Camp KEEP which stands for Kern Environ  mental Education Program. Kids come from the Bakersfield area to the camp Mon - Fri. One camp is located at Montana de Oro; the other camp is located in Cambria. They offer the camp during school year with 120 students participating per week. The camp’s curriculum gets the students out on the trails; exploring creeks, tide pools, and sand dunes; hike; find fossils; see elephant seals; enjoy camp fires and more. The kids come down to Morro Rock and look at the peregrine falcons and the otters. The program has been very beneficial in bringing kids from Kern County over to the ocean to be introduced to this wonderful area full of sea animals etc. Next week’s program will be the Morro Bay High School Choir under the leadership of Holly Banfield. Lastly, Prez Pete announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer and will be undergoing surgery at UCLA on Dec. 15th. He plans to be there just a couple of days and will return to Rotary at the first of next year. Our thoughts and prayers are with Pete, Kathi and their family at this time. Meeting adjourned ....E.Casida |
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Notes from our November 14, 2017 Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING November 14, 2017 Prez Pete called our meeting to order Invocation: Judy Pledge: Keith George Joke: Pete....... Good to have John Weiss back today. Reported on his trip to Reno.....had a nurse with him most of the time, so he was well taken care of. He is feeling well in spite of two recent surgeries. Visiting Rotarians: Patricia from out of state, Ruth Ann Angus from MB Rotary Club Sunset Guests of Rotarians: Teri Bayus - the Lighted Boat Parade Coordinator, Lorraine’s son-in-law Max Marple, friend of Rotary - Keith Taylor. It was great to see Rotarian, Keith George (who was one of our clubs funniest presidents). Carla won the free lunch; Mike Pond won a square on the PHF Board. Jude and Matt are sharing the responsibility of getting Salvation Army Bell Ringers starting on Thursday November 30th, at Albertsons. Please sign up for an hour or two. Ruth Ann talked about Peace Builders. John Dear will be speaking at St. Timothy Church Hall in Morro Bay on November 16, at 7:00. Terri Bayus talked about the 12 Days of Christmas. December 3rd is our special day when we will have Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Elves, and we will sell cookies, hot choc and coffee. We need volunteers to supply the cookies and also to pour hot chocolate. It will be a great event this year with the Santa House and all the decorations. There will be a special event every day during the 12 days....some especially for children. Welcome back to Stev  e Carnes after having knee surgery. He presented our Club with a check in the amount of $6,500.00 for the car show. Thanks to Steve, Greg and others who work this event. A special thanks to Dave Owens for heading up the bbq.  Cara Crye, CEO of Farm Supply was our speaker. Cara is a 4th Generation Morro Bay resident. She attended MBHS when Pete was Principal. She moved out of MB for a while and has just recently come back. Her personal view is that we are very lucky to be in this area....I’m sure we all agree with that!! The Top Ten Value Crops in SLO County are wine grapes, strawberries, avocados, broccoli, cattle and calves, vegetable transplants, cut flowers, head lettuce, cauliflower, and lemons. She suggests we buy local as much as we can, or even grow our own. Farmers have an ethical way of living and are for the most part, honest, hard working, and good stewards of the land. Backyard chickens are becoming very popular just to have the experience....not to make money. Her first job was working at the Morro Bay Farm Supply store, where she learned invaluable lessons on work ethics and hard work. Those have obviously paid off as she now runs the company. Her parents are neighbors of Prez Petes. Next week is dark.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! COME BACK ON THE 28th..... our speaker will be Glenn Silloway speaking on Morro Bay’s military history. ECasida |
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Notes from our November 8th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING NOVEMBER 8, 2017 Invocation by Michael Shaffran Pledge by Rick Grantham Song was “Smile”....nice to have Steve Carnes back with his wonderful singing voice. Glad you are better, Steve. Joke - Pete.....something about a dog Visiting Rotarians: None today, but lots of Guests of Rotarians including: Chief Greg Allen, Commander Jody Cox, and Sergeant Tony Mosqueda of the Morro Bay Police Department; Susan and Jim Callahan, friends of Elsie and Ken; also Claire Grantham, friend and wife of Rick. And Lou Dubnow still a visitor, was also in attendance, he is soon to be a member of the club. Max was also with us in his Rotary jacket decorated with items commemorating all the places he has visited. If you want to talk to him, he would love to talk to you as his English is great if your French is not so good. Next Pete asked all the veterans to stand and we gave them a round of applause in Thanks for Their Service. Lighted Boat Parade needs our help on the 26th of November at 10:00am. The Shed is being delivered to the Chamber building where we will put it together and paint it. Bring a hammer and paint brush and come help, contact Dan Costley if you have any questions. Next week we will also pass around a sheet to sign up to provide cookies for us to sell at the Lighted Boat Parade event. John Weiss had surgery last Thursday. Yesterday he was able to walk a mile around the hospital corridor and will be checking out tonight, going straight to a Rotary conference. One of his nurses at the hospital is a Rotarian and will be traveling with him. Board meeting next Wednesday morning here at the clubhouse @ 730am. Still have the PHF Board up to buy a square for $10.00.....when full, we will pick a number and that person will get a Paul Harris Fellow. Jude gave an announcement about Every Rotarian Every Year and the Paul Harris Society. Flyers were placed on the tables for more information. The Rotary Foundation ranked third in CNBC’s annual list of “Top 10 Charities Changing the World”.  Jude won a square on the board because Pete drew her number; hopefully will be a weekly event. Nancy Castle gave a little information on the Thanksgiving dinner to be served at the Senior Center. They really need help and also monetary donations. If you have any questions or want to help, call Nancy at 805-441-5770. Ken Stilts won the “exemption”. He turned 76 today and has been in Rotary 47 years. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEN!! Mike Williams won the free lunch. Rick Grantham, who couldn’t resist throwing out some football jabs, then introduced our speaker, Captain Bob Christenson and his friend, Dale Johnson, who was the Captain’s driver today.  Captain Christenson graduated from Annapolis in 1957. In his time in the Navy he spent time on destroyers, diesel submarines, and amphibious ships. He and his wife, Mary, live in San Luis Obispo and have three sons who are all Lutheran pastors. He was in Vietnam during the evacuation and said it was not our finest hour. North Vietnam did not honor the treaty of the Paris Peace Accords and started to go south. So, our plan was to evacuate the embassy by airplane or ship. However, the north shelled the airport....so that was not possible. Helicopters were taken wherever they could be found, loaded with people and left Vietnam as soon as they could. They flew over the ship that Captain Christenson was on, wanting to land, so they did accommodate them, but then had to get rid of the helicopters so more could land. They tried pushing them over the side, but that really didn’t work, so a pilots had to take them out a few feet, jump out, and then swim to the ship as the helicopter crash landed into the ocean. The pictures of the helicopters crashing into the ocean were quite interesting and scary. Captain Christianson’s tips for people in a position of leadership are - Know your job, show appreciation, and hold people accountable. Doug brought packages to be mailed to veterans all over the world. If you take a box to USPS, you don’t have to sign off, it has been done. Next week our speaker will be Cara Crye, CEO of Farm Supply. Her talk will be about agriculture in our county. 50/50 won by Ken Stilts. Join us Friday night at the Siren for a fundraiser for “Pawsabilities for Veterans”. Two local bands will be playing at 5-8pm and 9-12. We will be going to hear the 5-8pm band. Thought of the day is “The two most important days of your life are ...the day you were born and the day you find out why.” Mark Twain Remember Veterans Day....November 11th....Thank a Veteran!! ECasida |
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Notes from our October 31st Rotary Meeting MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING Oct. 31, 2017 Invocation: Melissa Flag Salute: Megan Joke: Pete Visiting Rotarians: Dick Mellinger is a Member of Passport Rotary, but he also wanted to talk about “Pawsabilities For Veterans”. This organization buys puppies, trains them and when they are ready, gives them to soldiers with PTSD. They will have a fund raiser featuring two local bands on November 10th from 5 to midnight at the Siren. Guests of Rotarians: Scott Harp, guest of new member, Peter S; and Lou Dubnow, guest of Andrea Dan Costley: announcement about help needed for the new Santa House. We need spare pieces of lumber and red or white paint. We can use decorations if you have extra at your home, and we will need help on Nov 18 and 19 to get the Santa House put together, painted and decorated. Contact Dan if you’re available. We will be receiving a check in the amount of $5,900 because of the hours we put in working at the Avocado/Margarita Festival. Good Job!! And Thanks to those who put in those hours....it means we had enough hours to be paid 10% of the gate. Get geared up for next year!!! Pete updated us on Max... he went to LA this weekend with Pete and Kathi and also went to Disneyland with a friend. This weekend he is going to Hollywood with friends. He has a water polo play-off game tonight at 5:00pm. Kudos to all those who dressed up for Halloween!!!  Pete had a few Halloween questions for the group: Gary Englund was asked - What do you call a single vampire” Batchelor. Mike Williams was asked - Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? No guts. Sarah Ketchum - Why are cemeteries noisy? All the coffin Halloween is the day before what celebration? All Saints Day? Chuck missed it and was fined. We have a couple of new members coming in so there will be an Orientation at 5:30 on the 9th at Lolo’s – please feel free to join us. Presentation today was on Rotary International Foundation and Rotary Club of Morro Bay Foundation.  Chuck was the first speaker. There are many programs that the Rotary International Foundation supports and of all the money Rotary receives, 91% is spent directly on these programs. The money in the Morro Bay Rotary Foundation only comes from our club. The Board of the Foundation consists of six past presidents whose mission is to provide college scholarships. Our Foundation has given a total of $148,250 to 115 students. The board independently goes through the applications to determine who the scholarships should go to. Need, service, scholarship, activities, and intangibles are what they are scored on. This year Chuck gave a perfect score to one individual who is blind....he said it was very rewarding to see her come up to receive her scholarship. .JPG) Sarah was next and she spoke about a plan to give to Morro Bay Rotary Foundation. Donating a stock that might not be doing well is a good idea since you can deduct your loss as well as 50% of the value of the stock. Talk to your CPA about what is the most efficient way to leave money to your family or to a charity.  Ken gave some of the history of Rotary....There are four ways to receive a PHF..... 1) Donate $1,000; 2) Join a Paul Harris quartet; 3) Buy one or more squares on the PHF board; 4) Participate in our March Madness Brackets. Kasey thanked those who came to Garden House BBQ Luau. The fundraiser raised approx $4,500. Nine bags of weeds were taken out of the roundabout by Mike and Pete. Heidi won the 50/50 Next week’s program will be USN Captain Bob Christenson speaking on “The Evacuation of Saigon”. Sounds like a great program especially since Veterans Day is Nov. 11. ECasida |
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Notes from our October 24th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB October 24, 2017 Welcome by Pete Invocation by Ken Stilts Flag salute by Mike Pond Guests: Peter Starlings, Lou Dubnow, Scott Harp, and Teresa, a high school exchange student who is living with Melissa and Joel.  Peter Starlings, who was sponsored by Lorraine, was inducted into the club, and received his temporary badge. Don led an orientation at Lolo’s on Monday night, so Peter could learn more about what it means to be a Rotary member. Glad to have you Peter. We need a new President Elect Nominee......anyone interested in possibly being our president in two years, please see Pete. Chuck (wearing the shirt he bought in Hawaii on his honeymoon) brought his bride, Liz. They are celebrating 61 years of marriage. Dan brought a bottle of Kelsey Winery wine “The Alma” he received at the Maritime Museum event, which he auctioned off for $55.00. Enjoy, Carla. Next week we will be starting the “PHF Board”, the winner of which will receive a Paul Harris Fellow. A square can be bought for $10.00. When all squares have been sold, a number will be drawn to determine the winner. Thursday night will be roundabout cleanup at 5:00; please show up and help clean up the gateway to our lovely city. We took up a collection for National Polio Day. Birthdays.....Mary Leizear and Dale Redell. Nick and Becky Mendoza visited Paris, Florence, Rome and many other places on their vacation to Europe. A trip Nick had promised to Becky years ago. Nick was asked a baseball question and knew the answer so didn’t have to pay his fine. Chief Knuckles brought pamphlets on Health Screenings etc. being held at the Morro Bay Fire Station on Sunday, Oct. 29th. Guest speaker today was Ann Kitajama, who is with the Morro B  ay National Estuary Program. She said there are 28 national estuary programs. Morro Bay’s Estuary consists of 2300 acres, and the Morro Bay Watershed has 48,000 acres. The Program monitors the waters of the estuary and the creeks that drain into it to see if they are healthy enough to support wildlife. Thenitrate status in the watershed creeks is also monitored to ensure that the water is not too heavy on nitrates because that can stimulate algae growth, which may consume too much oxygen. Volunteers collect samples and conduct analysis monthly at eight bay-shoreline sites to determine if bay waters are safe for swimming. Ann thanked our club for supporting the Mitts for the Bay program. There are 27 dispensers in the Bay area, with about 358,600 bags taken each year. The $29.00 50/50 was won by Mike Pond. Next week Ken Casida and Chuck Clarke will be talking about the Rotary Foundation and the MB Foundation. Come and learn more about this important program in Rotary. |
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Notes from our October 17th Rotary MeetingROTARY MEETING October 17, 2017 President Pete called meeting to order Invocation by Dan Costley Pledge to the American Flag: Pete Song: Take me out to the Ball Game Joke: By Prez Pete ”Where did we come from?” Guests of Rotarians: Andrea invited Lou Dubnow, a Sales Associate with Coldwell Banker. Judy introduced our speaker, Kenneth Foran and his wife, Gretchen. An update on a few of our members: Seneca is doing well and has joined the Morro Bay Sunset Club, Syd Symington is doing narration for audio books in a studio in his home, and Sid Bennett and his wife are busy taking care of each other. Steve Carnes will be out for a few weeks with knee replacement surgery.  Andrea Turnquist was given her yellow badge!!! She has has proven to be quite the active member!!! Thanks Andrea!! Pete passed out an email about a Rotary Tour of New Zealand which will be in April of next year. They had a successful tour in 2017 and would like to do it again with Rotarians from California and Texas. The survey has come to us via email again. The results of the last survey were a +65 satisfaction result. We had 13% participation and would like to have more than that, so please take a couple of minutes to fill it out next month and make a comment if you would like. Judy said the Maritime Museum has finished most of the requirements from the City and will soon be breaking ground . They will be having a celebration aboard the Chablis Friday night for the 1542 Club. Dan and Linda will be going to represent our Club. Congratulations to Chuck and Liz who have been married 61 years. Wow!! You are an inspiration to all of us!! Pete had lots of baseball questions to ask members and guests. Lou batted 1000% on his questions, Mike Williams not so good and Ken Casida was fined $20.00 for his incorrect answer. .JPG) Our speaker today, Kenneth Foran is a World Master Model Builder, who creates scratch built models including horse drawn vehicles, aircrafts, boats and automobiles. He has built a detailed model of the abalone diving boat “Dirty Dozen” which will have its home in the Maritime Museum. The boat, which was too badly deteriorated to save, was to be destroyed in June of 2016 so Judy contacted Kenneth to ask him if he could make a model of the “Dirty Dozen”. He agreed to do it and the day before it was to be torn apart, he spent two hours measuring and photographing the boat so he could make an identical model. He brought the model to Rotary in complete detail, including nets, abalone, men, and divers helmet, so we could enjoy getting a closer look. It was amazing; and we are so thankful we will be able to have it displayed in the Maritime Museum. Kenneth said he has been interested in making models since he was 10 years old. He has written a book on the art of model making, and has instructive videos as well. It was a fascinating program……Thanks to Judy for bringing the Forans. We passed around a tin and collected $145.00 to help with the Santa Rosa fire relief efforts. Nancy won the 50/50 Next week’s program will be Ann Kitajama with the National Estuary Program. Her topic will be the “Health of the Bay”. Come join your Rotary friends for this program. |
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Notes from our October 11, 2017 Rotary MeetingMorro Bay Rotary Club Meeting October 11, 2017 Invocation by: Michael Shaffron Pledge to the Flag: Don Doubledee Song: The Rotary Song Joke: Pete, a pharmacist/hiccups joke The Swimming Pool is now officially open at Morro Bay High School. Max will have his first water polo match tomorrow at 4:30. Pete read an email about a tour to Australia/New Zealand with Rotarians from California and Texas. Will find out more later and provide additional information, sounds like a fun trip. Guests of Rotarians: Angel Ortiz, Lieutenant Colonel Commander, Camp San Luis Obispo. Andrea brought her friend, Lou for the second time, and Lorraine brought Pete Starlings. Megan brought her daughter, Lilly. Heidi made an announcement about PRLS. Melissa has the exemption this month and took advantage of it by encouraging us to have massage for body pain instead of taking drugs. Support our local Rotarians. The District Conference was last weekend. Pete said Max had a good time, Max is quite the dancer. John Weiss said there were over 300 in attendance on Saturday night. There are 72 clubs in the District. Don Doubledee celebrated his birthday at the Harbor Festival last weekend and was fined $20.00.  Angel Ortiz thanked our club for the $5,000.00 we donated to Puerto Rico to help with hurricane relief. He said that floods, fires, earthquakes and riots are the four huge problems currently happening in this state. Camp San Luis helps in all these unfortunate events. The National Guard is being used in Puerto Rico along with FEMA resources. He said the fires in California are devastating and we need to remember to pray for all those involved. .jpg) Casey Watson from Garden House gave a Craft Talk. Garden House, built in 1998, was started because of the vision of two ladies who saw the need for care for individuals with dementia. It is an assisted living residence and started with just five residents. Now they have 15 residents and employ 22 staff members. Most residents now are veterans or spouses of veterans. Resources available to the residents include Podiatrists, beauticians, entertainers, exercise classes etc. Typically, residents will stay 2-1/2 years. Students at Cuesta and Cal Poly come to work and learn. It is a non-profit and fortunately they have several families who like to help Garden House financially and other ways. Grade school kids come and read to the residents. They will be having a luau fundraiser Sunday afternoon from 3:00 - 7:00 at a cost of $20.00. You can either take dinner out or stay and eat there. A master model builder will be our program next week. Matt won the 50/50 It’s a Beautiful Day in Morro Bay…..Enjoy. Ecasida
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Notes from our September 12th & 19th Rotary MeetingsMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING September 12, 2017 Morro Bay Fire Station We had a wonderful lunch provided by Meredith of the Brickhouse BBQ followed by an informative talk by Fire Marshall, Matt Vierra. Those who wanted to, were given a tour of the facility. Jude then gave a short presentation about the Morro Bay Library. Jude is a retired librarian and is now a member of the Friends of the Library. We walked across the street and were given a tour of the library. ******************************************************************* MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING September 19, 2017 Mike Pond opened our meeting in Prez Pete’s absence. Meet and Great time, find out something new about the people at your table. It was Matt Franklin‘s birthday, he was fined $20.00. Invocation by Michael Shaffron Flag salute by Jan Lewis Guests of Rotarians: Claire Grantham who will be giving flu shots at our October 3rd meeting. Lorraine’s guest, Peter Starling. Judy announced that the Garden House is having a fund raiser on October 15th with lots of food, music, and good times!! Doug brought boxes for vets…. $17.35 each box…. Very much appreciated by veterans receiving them. District Conference is coming up…..we have a good representation of attending members from our club. Bill Peirce made announcement about Shelter Boxes for people affected by the recent Hurricanes. If you want to help hurricane victims, it is a good organization. Email or call Bill with your thoughts about what you would like to do to help with hurricane relief. Dan is still working on having a pancake breakfast to raise funds for the relief efforts as well. Interact Club Rush is Thursday at 12:20 at the high school….we had several volunteers step up to be there since Melissa is not going to be able to attend. Fines: Chuck for having his picture in a magazine was fined $20.00; Every LBP committee member who didn’t show for meeting today was fined $5.00; Rick Grantham had HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the jumbo-tron at the Rams game, and Claire for sitting with Eric Dickerson on a train was fined $35.00; Nick is going to Europe for 3 weeks was fined $10.00; Jamie for having golf clubs in her car was fined $10.00. .JPG) Craft talk by Mary Leizear - introduced by Rick Grantham… Mary started dog sitting when she was still working, so when she retired she had a side job. She was concerned that she would become a “little old lady with no money who can’t go anywhere” so dog sitting has been a great way for her to earn vacation money and meet wonderful people and dogs/cats. When she sits for Rick and Claire’s family, Rick makes sure there is food in the refrigerator. She loves to travel so it helps pay for her many wonderful trips.  Mike Pond was the next speaker providing information as John’s Assistant District Governor. The hierarchy is there are four Executive Assistant Governors, then there is the Assistant District Governor, a Club’s President is next and then the Club’s members. Mike said he enjoys seeing what is going on in each of the ten clubs he oversees. He makes sure each club makes goals for the year and then works to accomplish them. He is also a troubleshooter for the clubs. He has Club 11 meetings with all ten club presidents and himself which has been very beneficial. He also drives John around and introduces him at meetings - one time when it was 119 degrees out!! The Assistant District Governors and the Executive District Governors select the District Governor Elect. 50/50 won by Andrea Turnquist. See you next week. ECasida |
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Notes from our September 5th Rotary MeetingROTARY MEETING SEPTEMBER 5 Invocation by Dan Costley Flag Salute by Nancy Song was “ROTARY” Pete’s Joke ….. a sad one about a poor old mule Guests of Rotarians: Lorraine’s friend….Peter Starling John Solu brought his wife, Joni Visiting Rotarians: Irene and Bill Wells from San Diego Barbara Hinckle from Fresno Pete said Max is doing great in school and all other aspects of his life. His first water polo match is coming soon. He eats a lot and Loves desserts. Next week we will be at the Fire Station ….Jamie passed around the sign-up sheet. You can choose chicken, tri tip or salad. Doug brought boxes to send to our troops…..it costs $17.35 to send, and is very appreciated by those who receive them. Each box contains special items requested by a veteran. John Weiss will be doing a speech at Rotaract tonight at 6:00 in SLO we are all encouraged to attend. The Avocado/Margarita Festival is this weekend. If you signed up, you should have received an email by now to let you know where to go and who to connect with on Saturday. If you haven’t, contact Jamie immediately. Along with our help, Dan will be organizing a pancake breakfast on the September 16th to raise money for the Hurricane Harvey Relief efforts. It will be at St. Josephs Hall …..start serving at 8:00am. Pancake batter has been donated by Carla’s Kitchen. Come, help, eat and donate to the cause. Judy introduced our speaker today….Glenn Silloway who is the President of the Historical Society….  |
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Notes from our August 29th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING AUGUST 29, 2017 Invocation by Nick Flag Salute by Pete Joke by Pete Song….”Smile” Guests of Rotarians: Lorraine’s friend…..Peter Starling Judy’s daughter, Jodie who moved over here from Bakersfield and is now working at The Garden House. Teri Bayus who has been hired by the City to help with the Lighted Boat Parade. Another meeting with Lighted Boat Parade committee is set for next Tuesday, Sept 5ht before Rotary at 11:00. We can donate to help Houston through our own Rotary Foundation. Dan brought a check from Linda in the amount of $100.00 as a kick off for our Club’s Hurricane Relief Fund. We all need to be careful that we donate to an organization where our money is put to the best use….…Rotary is a good place to give any donation. We will NOT be meeting at the View on September 12th…..We will instead be at the Fire Department, with Chief Knuckles as our speaker. We need signups to know how many sandwiches to buy at Brickhouse Bbq. We will also have chips, cookies and drinks. The cost will be $10.00 like an ordinary meeting. After eating, we will go across the street to visit the library. We are booked for programs through December; if you know someone who would be a good speaker for a meeting, please let Pete or Judy know.  Judy introduced Erica Crawford, Executive Director of the MB Chamber of Commerce. Their newly revised website will be coming together in October which will prove to be more informative. They also run the Visitors Center who gives great customer service to visitors in our community. They also organize and maintain the Main Street Farmers Market. Erica also encouraged all local business owners to get in touch with her, she’d love to hear people’s concerns, ideas, as well as get to know them. |
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Notes from our August 22nd Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING AUGUST 22, 2017 Meeting called to order by President Pete Invocation by Michael Shaffron Pledge of Allegiance: Jude Song: “Take me out to the Ballgame” Joke: Pete Guests of Rotarians: Claire Grantham Guest Rotarians: Sherry Sims who made an announcement about the pancake breakfast in Cayucos on Labor Day; Chef Dan will be doing the cooking; sausages are donated by Dorn’s. Ruth Ann who introduced our special speaker - Dr. Raffy Dorian. Janice Peters who made an announcement about the plays at the Episcopal Church, By the Sea Productions; 2 classic thrillers will be performed September 1-3. Gary Dove and Jim Quesenberry from the Los Osos Club were here to announce their Family Fun Fair “Old Goats and Little Kids”. It is an Annual Event celebrating Grandparent’s Day, September 10 at the South Bay Community Center in Los Osos. Admission Free!!! Mike Pond said he has injured his shoulder, so if someone else could head up the roundabout cleaning, that would be good, otherwise we will wait until Mike is ready to come back. We had several volunteers, so we will clean up this coming Saturday.  |
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Notes from our August 15th Rotary MeetingMORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING…..August 15, 2017 Meeting called to order by President Pete Invocation by: Michael Shaffron Pledge Allegiance to the Flag by: Gary England Joke By: Pete Song: The Rotary Song… (we are getting better… I think) Guest Rotarians: Julie Jenkins from Cambria, Ruth Ann from MB Sunset, and our good friend, Deepa. Guests of Rotarians: Melissa brought Stella and Teresa, an exchange student from Spain who is staying with Melissa while she is attending her sophomore year of high school. Heidi’s son Noah was with us again, Linda brought Dan and Pete introduced Max, our Rotary exchange student from France. John Weiss thanked everyone for the cards and well wishes. He said he is doing much better after having major surgery… May have additional medical needs, will know more later. A special thanks to Deepa who has helped by driving him around. Jamie passed around the sign-up sheet for the Margarita Festival. She also has posters that need to be put up in local businesses if you know anyone who can use one. Heidi made an announcement about PRLS…. Introduction to PRLS will be in Santa Maria on Sept. 22 from 2:30 - 4:30. Board meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30 at the View. Mike said there is another roundabout cleanup on August 26 at 9am. Please remember that date and come to help. Pete drew several badge numbers to give away a free lunch, but the owners of the numbers were absent.
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Notes from our August 8th Rotary MeetingCall to order by President Pete Invocation: Jude Pledge to our Flag: Megan Song: Smile……led by Steve Joke: Pete Guests: Claire and two of the Grantham’s grandsons… Our New Police Chief, Greg Allen... Carla‘s daughter, Brooke… Lorraine’s friend, Pete… Dan’s wife, Linda
Rich updated us on John….he is doing well expecting results from tests soon. Looking for visitors…… feel free to drop by, but please call first. Max comes tomorrow at 2:50pm SLO Airport…….come to airport if able….Pete will be updating us on his arrival time. |
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Notes from our August 1st Rotary MeetingSORRY THIS IS SO LATE…..TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ROTARY MEETING…August 1,2017……. Invocation: Ken Stilts Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: Matt Franklin Song: Take Me Out to the Ball Game Joke: Pete Visiting Rotarians: Mary Helen and Kathleen from Palm Desert… Heidi’s son, Noah… Claire Grantham… Linda Costly… Lorraine’s friend, Pete Starlings… Matt Vierra, new MB Fire Marshall…. Fines: Dan for $10.00, Birthday fines, Ken, Mike, Judy and Jude… Mike and Kens to be paid by Pete since he forgot them. John Weiss is out of the hospital…. Had an eight pound mass removed…. Please call before coming to visit…. He will need lots of rest. Jill was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow from the Club. Heidi received a pin, Ken Stilts, who gave Heidi her PHF, received a pin.
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WELCOME MAX - OUR ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENTPete, Kathi, Mike and Chuck were on hand to welcome Max to San Luis Obispo... We look forward to getting to know Max over the course of his school year!!!  |
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Club Bulletin - July 25th MB RotaryROTARY MEETING……JULY 25, 2017
Our Club Meeting was called to order by President Pete. Invocation by Melissa Davis Pledge to the Flag by Forrest Joke by Pete Song was R-O-T-A-R-Y……. We didn’t really know the song but it seemed to be the melody of the Mickey Mouse song. I think we could do better next time. |
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Congratulations Mike W on your Paul Harris Service Fellow.jpg) Congrats to Mike Williams on receiving a Paul Harris Service Fellow presented by our very own DG John Weiss. Mike works tirelessly to fundraise for Project Surf Camp, a local non-profit that provides beach and surfing access to disabled and at risk youth and their families. This year Mike and his crew presented PSC with over $5,000. Mike is also one of the first to volunteer for all of our Club's fundraising efforts. Thanks for all you do on behalf of our Club Mike!!!
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Club Bulletin for June 16, 2015 |
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Club Bulletin for June 2, 2015 |
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Bulletin May 19th 2015 |
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Club Bulletin May 12th 2015 |
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MB Club Bulletin April 14th 2015 |
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Copy of Club Bulletins March 31st and April 7th |
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BULLETIN - FEBRUARY 3, 2015
Bulletin – February 3, 2015 WEATHER PRESIDENT NICKS TIE COLOR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE INVOCATION SONG VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS PAUL HARRIS QUARTET AND PRESENTATIONS EXEMPTION CLUB BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS QUOTE OF THE MEETING UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS FINING PAUL HARRIS BOARD DRAWING PROGRAM CLOSING |
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BULLETIN - JANUARY 27, 2015Rotary Club of Morro Bay SONG VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS NEW MEMBER INDUCTION PAUL HARRIS QUARTET AND PRESENTATIONS EXEMPTION CLUB BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS QUOTE OF THE MEETING UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS FINING and PROGRAM PAUL HARRIS BOARD DRAWING PROGRAM CLOSING |
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Bulletin - January 20, 2015Rotary Club of Morro Bay Bulletin – January 20, 2015 WEATHER PRESIDENT NICKS TIE COLOR INVOCATION SONG VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS NEW MEMBER INDUCTION PAUL HARRIS QUARTET AND PRESENTATIONS EXEMPTION CLUB BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS QUOTE OF THE MEETING
UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS January 23, 2015, Chamber Installation Dinner PROGRAM Judy introduced Len Gentieu and his wife Midge. Len and Midge own the Pappagallo Motor Yacht in the harbor. Len has recently finished a book entitled Chasing the Heat which follows his very interesting and diverse cooking career. Len shared that there are 3 things that he stresses in the book and those are: 1. The importance of being persistent. Len shared that the book started when they landed (sailed into) Morro Bay after a difficult voyage of 19 hours. He said that he was greeted at the dock by one of the City fathers in a none too welcoming manner – however, since that time he has gotten to be friends with this, so far, unnamed resident. Len shared a story from his Army days in Korea, when he was asked to cook for a high ranking official, he told a hilarious account of cooking meat and vegetables on a saber and everything going well, until……..things didn’t go well and he had to put out a large fire with a bottle of seltzer. Afterward he told us that one of high ranking staffers came to the Len’s “hooch” (read home) and Len thought that it was for discipline, but it turned out the he was complimented on his efforts. Len shared that moment was his finest in the Army, where he learned what true leadership was. CLOSING |
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A little of this and a little of that... worth a read...Morning, As this Rotary year winds down, I just wanted to say thanks to Elsie, Judy and Don for helping me get out as many bulletins as we could this year!!! Couldn't have done it without you... What a treat it was to see Frank Martinez last week... I can honestly say that you have been greatly missed Frank and I for one hope we are able to see more of you in the coming months/year!!! For those of you who weren't able to be there - we finally were able to hear the end of Frank's Craft Talk - I think anyway, truth be told, I think if given the opportunity, Frank has plenty more stories he could tell - some of them even appropriate... and yes, Frank sounded great and looked even better!!! DEMOTION: Prez David's Demotion is still scheduled for Wednesday, June 25th @ St. Tim's beginning at 530pm... Please contact Jamie if you plan on attending and haven't rsvp'd... and yes, can always use some help - again, contact Jamie if you have some spare time that afternoon... PROJECT SURF CAMP - Saturday, August 2nd @ Coleman Beach... arriving at 8am; go thru an orientation; dress the kids in their wet suits; warm-up; and then get in the water with kids (for those of you who don't have a wet suit, they have some you can borrow)... please contact Jamie if you are able to attend!!! Friends and family are also welcome to come and help!!! Programs that I wasn't able to write up but wanted to acknowledge - got to listen to Hal Abrams talk about the "birthing" of a local radio station - 97.3 Estero Bay Community Radio... Fellow Rotarians Judy Salamacha, Amy Christey, and Steve Knuckles either have programs or speak on a pretty regular basis... They were at the Music Fest yesterday and kept us entertained in between sets... Way to go Hal and team!!! We were treated to our annual FFA BBQ while we listened to Andy, Ayla, Bailey, Keely and Holly talk about their amazing and life changing experiences at this year's RYLA Conference. They all expressed their appreciation to Rotary for helping to make their experience possible. Ron Rasmussen told us all about the Elfin Forest Natural Area - its history, its flora and its fauna... having once lived at the end of 15th Street and calling the Elfin Forest my front yard, I can attest to its beauty!! Leigh Livick told us all about her trip to Nepal as an ambassador for Hand in Nepal; an organization we have sponsored over the years... its always heartwarming to hear how others are helping children worldwide and how we were able to play a part in making that happen... Leigh - you inspire us!! During our Craft Talk - we also got to know Maria O'Reilly better... talk about involved - she not only is a member of Rotary, she is also current President of the Quota Club, is a member of the Estero Bay Newcombers, and an avid quilter (Claire Grantham - are you listening??) That's it for this article - please keep reading about our incredibly successful Golf Tournament with special thanks to John Weiss and Dan Costely for all their hard work!! and also read an article written by Elsie about the Assistance League - I missed that program and from what I can tell - I missed out on learning about an amazing organization... later... j |
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Another Sucessful Rotary Golf Extravaganza!!!.jpg)
What a perfect day for the 6th Annual Morro Bay Rotary and EcoRotary Golf Extravaganza!! 13 Teams took to the course at 815am with a shot gun start; played a round of enjoyable and for many, competitive golf, finishing with a wonderful breakfast and Awards Ceremony. Fellow Morro Bay Rotarians Ken Casida (and son-in-law), Steve Carnes (and wife), Heidi Kimbrell (and son), John Weiss, Jamie Boucher (and husband and son), Gregg Kauffman, Nick Mendoza, Ken Stilts (and sons) all took part in the tourney. None of this could have taken place without all the help from John Weiss (sponsor and raffle prize getter extraordinaire), Dan Costley (who was also able to procure sponsors, a golf club, and gift certificates as well as was responsible for getting a Los Osos and a Cayucos team to enter). Let us not forget Chuck Clarke, Bill Peirce, Jeff Jones, Jude Long, Don Doubledee, Sid Symington, Nancy Ford and Dan's better half - Linda for all the help morning of!!! The Mendoza / Sela / Galvez / Martinez Team (yes - our that would be Nick Mendoza's team) dethroned the 3-time champion (that would be the "yours truly team") to take home the 1st Place Trophy, they were followed by the Holdstock & Friends Team in 2nd with the John Weiss / Tobin / Tobin / Tobin / Candella team taking 3rd... (the Bouchers were not only dethroned but shut out...) Long Drive went to Deanna Richards from the Los Osos Rotary Team (yes, she out drove all the guys - and if she hadn't, then Rita Carnes would have won - also outdriving all the guys). Closest to the Pin honors went to Ken Stilts, Jr... It was a wonderful day, supporting our many causes - none of which could have been done without all the help and support - so THANKS TO ALL!!! |
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The Assistance League doing their Part for ChildrenOur April 29th meeting was called to order by Prez Dave who also presented the weekly joke. We collected a few fines by asking questions from the new Rotarian magazine. Guests included Gail Stoneburg with the Assistance League and a fellow Rotarian from Los Osos. Announcements: PRLS is being held at Upper Crust in SLO on June 21st; contact Heidi K if you are interested. ROUNDABOUT CLEANUP TOMORROW....Wednesday April 30th… contact Mike P for details or heck, just show up – you’ll be welcomed with open arms!!!. CAR SHOW on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. We need more people to work the booths, set up and clean up, etc – this is a fundraiser for Rotary and an event that we’ve helped at for years – if available, please volunteer to help. The GOLF TOURNAMENT is scheduled for May 10th at Sea Pines. We need more participants and would appreciate it if some Rotarians would pay for a high school golf team member to play. Right now we have nine teams... Fivesomes... $55.00/ person Gary Owens said he needs help to cut meat Friday night for the Car Show BBQ PROJECT SURF CAMP coming up on Saturday, August 2nd – an amazing experience that we hope you’ll take part in!!!. Gail Stoneburg, a member of the Assistance League, was the speaker for today. The Assistance League is a non-profit organization with no paid staff. She says that 43% of the children in MORRO BAY schools are below the poverty line which means that a family of four makes $24,000/year or less. The Assistance League was able to provide 1560 children with enough clothes for the school year as well as provide them with a hygiene kit. Since 1995, 22,000 children have been clothed by the Assistance League. They have concentrated their efforts on Kindergarten through 6th grade but recently have included middle schoolers. Next school year they have plans to include high schoolers. No one else in the county is doing this. Last year a teacher at MBHS began collecting clothes for high schoolers and also provided space for the clothes to be stored until they could be distributed. She knew there were at least 11 high schoolers in desperate need. Next year, the Assistance League plans to take the entire program retail shopping. At this time they have a bungalow to service the kids with financial needs but next year, unfortunately they won’t have that facility so they are going to retail stores to buy clearance items - Kohls and Old Navy have generously offered to help out. Each high schooler will be given $150.00 to spend on sale items in these two stores. A member of the Assistance League goes with them. For some, it could be their first ever shopping experience. Why new clothes? It gives the child self-confidence which helps them concentrate on their grades. There is a special program for children with more severe needs and/or are homeless. These recipients are selected by school counselors. Even though our economy is improving, there are still many families in our area with needs. The Assistance League has less than 100 members in SLO who do their own fund raising and give as many as 15,000 volunteer hours back to the community. They write 20 to 30 grants each year and end up receiving about half of them. They are holding a fundraising event on October 18th; it is a Fashion Show and Luncheon. In order to fund their program, they need $70.00 for each K through 6th grade child, and $100.00 for middle schoolers and high schoolers. They will clothe 1500 children each year. The highest numbers of children below the poverty line are in Oceano and Morro Bay with 226 children living below poverty line at our very own Del Mar Elementary School. Mike Pond reported on a RYLA trip. .. 250 students in total attended. He had lunch with the group from MBHS..........Good time was had by all. Meet at MBHS next week. Come and bring a guest. FFA will be serving lunch.
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6th Annual MB Rotary / Eco Rotary Golf Tournament.jpg)
Join us for a fun filled Golf Tournament at Sea Pines Golf Course on Saturday, May 10th... check in at 730am; shot gun start at 815am; best ball format... Bring a 4'some or come solo and we'll team you up... everybody will have the privilege of golfing with a MBHS student athlete - its always a fun time!! Afterwards there will be awards, raffles, and a breakfast buffet... Entry fee is $55/player; entries are due by Wednesday, May 7th... Hope to see you there!!! Not a golfer - feel free to sponsor a MBHS Golfer for $55; a T-shirt sponsor for $100; a Tee sponsor for $250... not into that but have "goodies" to fill the golfer goodie bags with?? We'll take them!!! Contact Jamie, John or Dan... Thanks for listening... contact one of us for an entry / sponsor form!!! (or you can download it from our MB Rotary Clubrunner site!!!) Jamie B, John W and Dan C |
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COMPUTERS 4 YOUTH.jpg)
So what can you do with computers you no longer have a use for?? Maybe they’re a bit too slow for your liking?? Or you’ve purchased something a bit more sleek and fancy?? Contact Ken Stilts – he can pick them up from you (or you can bring them to him) and he will help find them (or at least some of their parts) a happy home!!!
David Glauflan (sorry Dave, I’m sure I butchered your name) spoke on the Computers 4 Youth Program. There are countless computerless homes in our County – many families unable to afford to purchase one. They take in computers and either rebuilds, or dismantles them for parts, and then are able to give them to deserving children. Their mission is to collect, repair, and distribute older technology computers to school age children, families and other in need of a computer with limited means to purchase a new one. Their organization has grown to over 25 volunteers who selflessly give their time to this project each week. Each member has a different job – there are “give away” people, “rebuild the computer” people, “loaders and unloaders” and even “parts harvesters.” To date they have recycled over 4000 computers!!! If you can’t find Ken, you can take your computer to the Exploration Station facility at 867 Ramona Ave., Grover Beach, Wednesdays – Fridays from noon – 5pm and Saturdays from 10am-5pm. Does the computer have to be working you ask?? Heck no!!! As an e-waste facility, they can use parts of some and use as replacement parts in other. In fact, they will also take speakers, keyboards, and desk tops. What a great way to be environmentally conscience and a help to others at the same time!!! |
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A WALK TO DEFEAT ALS.jpg)
It was Bring a Guest to Rotary Day – thanks to those of who did just that!!! We are still looking for 2 homes (3 months a piece) to house our Exchange Student – Carol has stepped up for the first 3 months… The Ribbon Cutting for our local radio station – 97.3 FM was held on Saturday, March 29th; come to find out we have celebrities in our midst!!! Judy Salamacha, Mike Pond, Amy Christey, Steve Knuckles and Eric Endersby are all “mic’d up” and doing radio spots!! Tune in – I’m sure they’re great!!! On a somber note, Honorary Rotarian Bill Yates passed away; his services are being held on Friday, April 25th from 1-4pm at the Veteran’s Hall. Many of our members shared heartfelt stories about Bill – it did my heart good!!!
We were treated to a special presentation by Julie Himot, the Regional Director of Signature Events of the ALS Association, Golden West Chapter. ALS was brought to the forefront when baseball legend, Lou Gehrig contracted the disease. ALS is a progressive, neurodegenerative muscular disease that affects 1 in 800 men and 1 in 1000 women over the age of 40 – it doesn’t discriminate. The ALS Association, with the help of its many volunteers is leading the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy while also empowering people with ALS and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support. Their ultimate vision? To create a world without ALS!!! And they vow to keep going until they find a cure… their focus is providing those with ALS and their families Collaborative Care which in turn allows for the best quality of life possible. In order for their success, they turn to community for help in fundraising efforts. They are holding a Walk to Defeat ALS April 12th – and there are many ways to make a difference… you can join the team, walk and solicit donations or you can donate to a team member… I am proud to say that our Club, in honor of Dan Reddell, was a big part of Dan’s Crusaders!!! At press, the team has raised $6,716… Team members included Rotarian Debra Garcia, Carol Furtado, Mike Pond, Doug Riddell, Dale Reddell, Dan Reddell, and yours truly… Those donating included all team members as well as Andrea Klipfel, John Weiss, Elsie & Ken Casida, Gregg Kaufman, Matt Franklin, John Headding, Jude Long, Chuck Clarke and the Club itself. I know that many of you were unable to attend but were there in spirit and for that, I know Dan is grateful!!! |
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We have a new member – thanks to Rick Grantham having a friend and that friend actually wanting to rejoin our wonderful club, we welcomed Bryan Griffiths to the fold on March 11th!! Please make sure to search Bryan out and greet him with open arms!!!
Heidi Kimbrall was in attendance and able to present Amy Burton, a representative from Del Mar PTA with a check for $250. Amy graciously received the check on behalf of the PTA and thanked each and every one of us as the money will greatly help in their efforts to promote their students’ well-being!!!
We currently have 2 Paul Harris Fellow Quartets going on: Jamie B, Sarah K., Jennifer R, and Mike P Gary O, Carol F, Dan C, and Chuck C a drawing was held and the lucky 2014 PHF winners were Jamie B and Carol F; Ken has asked each of us to select our PHF recipient so that they can be awarded!!!
Our program featured the National Estuary Program, especially their program Save the Bay… the NEP’s focus is to bring citizens, local government, non-profit organizations, agencies and landowners together through collaboration and partnership to protect and restore the Morro Bay Estuary. It is one of 28 NEPs nationwide and are vitally important to our climate, environment and economy. It is our duty to protect the estuary for our community, fishing, tourism, and recreational opportunities. This can be done through restoration and conservation (returning functionality to ecosystems); understanding and monitoring (assessing conditions within the estuary and watershed); and, education, outreach and stewardship (cultivating stewardship) efforts. They presented a program – Every Drop Counts – and encouraged us all to take the Clean Water Pledge: conserve water, keep trash in the can, pick up after a pet, and watch your drains – it’s that easy!!! They finished up their program by announcing the 11 Save the Bay events… Black Hill Hike, Bay Health and Science presentations, Family Event, Talkin’ Trash with Mike di Milo, Splashes of Light Art Reception, On-water Tour of Estuary and Aquaculture, Bay-friendly Gardening Presentation, DogFest 2014, and Discover Creek Insects Up Close. Dates and event descriptions can be found on their website: mbnep.org |
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TAYLOR NEWTON & THE GUERRILLA GARDNERSNote from a fan… Taylor Newton was recognized for his contributions to Morro Bay during the 2010 decade by MB 50th and I wrote the first of several columns about the honorees (“By the Bay” by Judy Salamacha - Tribune - Feb. 17 www.sanluisobispo.com). It’s been years since I did my first report about this young community advocate. I have always been impressed that he saw an issue… kids who had dropped out of school or from life as they didn’t want to live it and terrorizing our downtown shoppers on their skateboards and harassing our MB police or maybe being harassed… and instead of crying like most of us, Taylor created a solution… and when it worked he continued to develop opportunities – a win/win for the youth and our community. His story is hardly finished. We should all be so motivated and passionate to create solutions to the problems we complain about. My favorite quote from the column by Taylor: “Everybody has value. We teach our members that when they pay their dues, they can participate in their community. We’re not here to change society, but how to get through life by making one’s space livable. We’re fighting against drug abuse, violence, profiling, and the revolving cycle of imprisonment.” As he presented to Rotary, I enjoyed table-talk and he said I had heard it all so didn’t need to take notes. Good things I did. I discovered a few more insights when he presented at Rotary: · Guerrilla Gardeners (GGC) have 60+ members, ages 15-103 with average age 20-30; · GGC logo represents the anarchy vs. order symbolic of the evolution of society; · Sobriety is a choice – GGC does not demand a sober lifestyle, accept on the job representing GGC…drink on the job and go home to wait for another day; · Gardening/urban forestry is the basic tool to beautify the community and provide purpose to a life that might have gone sideways; · Jade Park near the boat ramp, not intended as a city park, but has been GGC beautified; · St. Timothy’s Catholic Church, one of many community partners where GGC provides gardening maintenance, is also the site of the nursery where seeds are planted, plants are potted, and public purchases provide growth for community and individuals’ gardens… yes you can buy plants there… weekdays… 10-3 or 4pm….look for the onsite forest; · Why did Guerrilla Gardening Club start? It was a grass-roots community action that needed to happen; · GGC provides zero-waste programs for groups’ events…. ”We have the tools to pick up the trash… We don’t mind getting dirty or working among drunk people and we can handle people looking down on us for picking up trash because we are united and support each other;” (maybe my second favorite insightful Taylor Newton quote!) · GGC provides food, shelter and work for members to sustain life; · GGC needs food, shelter and work to encourage members to sustain their new lifestyle; · GGC is tied into local resources who might have jobs for laborers; · Most people have labor shops… clean-up, pick-up, weed-whacking, whatever - GGC members can help; · Dylan Barker, GGC member, is proud of GGC and Taylor Newton is proud and trusting of Dylan Barker; · Surprise! Surprise! Taylor can’t say no · No surprise! He was smart enough to turn daily business operations over to Jenni Randolf Newton…Call her if you want to schedule GGC for a project. You can contact GGC at: http:/www.mbggc.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/MorroBayGuerrillaGardeningClub "Time will always justify a man (woman) who means to do right." Colonel Thomas Baker |
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Those joining us on February 11th were treated to friends from Zoo to You… joining the party was Mike Ponds’ guest, Senaca Jacobson; John Weiss’s guest, Gil Ayers; and new member - Deborah Garcia’s guest, Christy from the Chamber. Melanie brought us lots of cuddles from Zoo to You…. Zoo to You rescues wild animals from the wild, from stupid people who buy through the illegal pet trade industry and discover why they call their “pet” a wild animal, or other zoos who need placement for the animal for some reason. Every creature has value and purpose and Zoo to You takes these creatures and socializes them in an effort to educate us about their species and let them enjoy the rest of their days in a protective and loving environment. We humans might take heed! They have 250 rescued animals that are available to see Saturdays and Sundays at a 3pm tour… they ask you to call ahead 805.391-0604 or email at zootoyou@zootoyou.com that you are coming. Melanie brought 3 wonderful creatures to share with us… Niles, a 10 year old tiny screech owl, is missing one eye. He looks like a tiny stuffed toy. Owls are helpful to eat rodents. Their predators are raptors. It’s a myth their heads turn 360 degrees. But they can turn them 270 degrees! They are nocturnal and you do need to watch your little kittens and tiny dogs around them. Melanie has a new candidate for King of the Jungle -- the African Crested Porcupine. It’s only the size of a Cocker Spaniel but their quills are deadly to wild animals such as the lion. When cornered, they back into other animals and stick them deep… and since the animals don’t have thumbs to pull them out, they rub them in deeper and they get infected. Warning!! Their Tail rattles! Oh yeah, and they like bananas… Did you know marsupial means pouch? Cassidy Hop-Along is an 8 month Red Kangaroo Joey from a Texas zoo. Australia doesn’t worry about kangaroos being endangered…they carry fertile eggs in their pouch and with the right conditions will birth another one, and another, and another, and… I think you get my drift… Zoo to You means to protect the unprotected and socialize them so they are comfortable enough to go to the public and educate us… soon they will have an events’ center… I think May 3rd is their Cheese and Chocolate Extravaganza… their spring fundraiser… Hey, Rotarians, we could have a party there!!
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Meet Elsie and Kasey!!!
Craft Talks is always a popular meeting at the Club... so much so that John Headding brought Gene Tripp, Rick Grantham brought Bryan Griffiths and Dan Costley brought Paul Vincent to share in the day... Enjoy getting to meet Elsie Casida and Kasey Watson... Elsie was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. She moved to Visalia, CA with her 3 teenage kids and opened up a restaurant serving breakfast and lunch only calling it Valhalla Restaurant and Gift Shop. She, I’m sure with the help of her kids, ran her restaurant for 30 years. Over that span of time, Elsie made many, many wonderful friends. One day at the restaurant, she met a guy named Ken, he asked her out and on October 30th, they went on their first date. They were married 3 months later. The Casida’s moved to Morro Bay a year and a half ago. Elsie sold her restaurant to her daughter; it’s nice to be able to keep it in the family!! Elsie is also quite the seamstress (which we were able to see firsthand as she made the Santa and Mrs. Claus outfits for the Lighted Boat Parade which were spectacular!!!). As a fundraiser for her grandson’s scholarship fund, who very sadly lost his life at much too early of an age, Elsie began making aprons with 100% of the proceeds donated to the fund. When it was all said and done, Elsie had made over 500 aprons meaning that almost $20,000 was contributed to that account. What a special gift she was able to give!! Elsie wasn’t a huge fan of retirement, she as kinda bored and wanted more. That was to our club’s advantage as she and Ken visited, became members and are now incredibly active, pitching in for pretty much everything. I know that the Fish Fry, the Lighted Boat Parade, Evening with Heart, and the Valentine’s Day Social wouldn’t have been as successful without her/their help!!! To top it off, Elsie has said that she will kick-start her apron making venture for anybody interested in ordering one… and yes, with all proceeds going to Rotary. Welcome Elsie and thanks so much for both your energy and generosity!!!
Kasey is a 5th generation Californian growing up in Bakersfield, going to Garces High School and then Long Beach State. She returned to Bakersfield where she worked as a graphic artist at KGET, Bakersfield. She is sooooo not bored as she is trying to juggle being a mom, a wife and a business owner. She met her husband when she was 19 years old. She has 3 children – Ben is 20 and goes to Point Loma University where he double majors in Finance and Accounting; Joe is 15 and plays baseball at Arroyo Grande High School; and, Lilly is 9 and a State Champion baton twirler. Kasey purchased and runs Garden House, a Morro Bay care facility specializing in Alzheimer’s and other Dementia care. At Garden House, Kasey introduced Mneme Therapy which is brain based art therapy for those with cognitive disabilities. The result of this is mind boggling. The art work produced by these residents is inspiring!!! But even more important, the increase in the quality of life for the residents is unparalleled as it allows them to feel accomplished, happy, and most importantly allows them moments of clarity that can carry throughout the entire day. For anybody interested, they have produced a calendar which they sell as a fundraiser. Evening with Heart was blessed to have been the recipient of 8 or 9 pieces of art for the silent auction – this writer wasn’t fortunate to have won one but will be contacting Garden House as they will also sell also sell them to the public. Kasey, thanks for making our Rotary Club your home!!
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Potential Rotary Leadership Seminars Registration - PRLS
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2014 Evening with Heart Fundraising event last Saturday at the MB Community CenterOur 4th Annual Evening with Heart fundraising event held last Saturday at the Morro Bay Community Center was sold out with great FUN and great community participation. In addition to a wonderful dinner, live entertainment, silent and live auctions, there was lots of bonding with friends. Once again Zest it Up is prepared an amazing meal featuring your choice of chicken or steak! The Morro Bay High School Interact Club served and Rotaract and Rotarians worked together to clean-up. We can't thank all of our many sponsors enough for their great support of our event. Once again this is our biggest fundraising event of the year which makes it possible to be generous with our many community non-profits and partners, both locally and internationally.
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2014 Rotary Golf Extravaganza will be Saturday May 10th!
Last year, our Rotary Golf broke record participation with over 60 golfers! Major Sponsors included Rabobank, the Morro Bay Power Plant, Vanir Construction, The Bay News, Fennacy Law, Brickhouse BBQ, Morro Bay Garbage, Sierra Vista Hospital, Hay Printing, George - CYR Attorneys, Chuck Clarke, ASAP Reprographics, Bayshore Realty, and Dale Reddell plus many more! Again this
year, 1st place was the Boucher Team with a 9 hole score of 25, 2nd was the Rabobank group, and 3rd to Holdstock and Williams group all scored 26. Closest to the pin at 6" was Gary Holdstock. Longest Drive was our own Mike Williams! Pictured above, an eagle shot by our own Gregg Kaufman (of course mulligans may have assisted, but for a charity golf tournament, purchased mulligans are a great thing!). |
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Celebrating the membership of the Rotary Club of Morro BayCommunity Service like Lost at Sea, Round About Clean-ups and Project Surf Camp!
On Tuesday November 12th, we came together to celebrate what is right in Rotary. We started with Club Service and our special club meeting for Bob Ransom in 2010 which we had at Casa De Flores
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EDUCATIUS INTERNATIONAL - OFFERING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE WORLDPrez David opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer and our favorite Morro Bay Rotary song. Our guest speaker, David Ho was introduced.
Jamie B and Carol F were asked to come forward so they could be presented with a check from Craig S in the amount of $1,200 which was our “take” of the beer sales at the Avocado/Margarita Festival. Thanks to all the Rotarians who worked at this event!!
We have several upcoming events including the Halloween Party on the 26th. Costumes required, prizes awarded and as always – food and beverages will be a-plenty. Rick G said he needs help with decorating for our Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner. And let us not forget, the Lighted Boat Parade is also coming up!!
The Rotary District Conference is being held on October 18-20 here in SLO. On the 19th we need lots of help with the cleanup at the beach. Paddle boats and kayaks are being donated to help with the efforts. Promises to be fun - hope you can be there!!! Elsie’s fast food quiz brought in $100 in fines – Bill P thanks you!!!.
Our speaker was David Ho who is the local Coordinator for Educatius International. He lives in SLO, is getting his business degree through Cal Poly and is a volleyball coach at San Luis Obispo High School.
Educatius International allows for students from around the world to study in the USA. They currently have students in 200 schools in 20 states. San Luis Obispo County is the most recent addition to their allowable areas of study. The students come mostly from Europe, Asia and South America, are from affluent families and have very high academics.
This program provides a wonderful opportunity to expose teens, ages 14-18, from around the world to a foreign environment. They come here on F1 Visas and stay a full year. The host family is compensated for their stay - $650/month and is paid by the student’s families. Host families are carefully screened before they can accept a student. David stated that the MBHS staff has been one of the best he has ever worked with =- kudos to Dan A!!!.
The local program started in May of 2012 with 12 students and now boasts 18 students. The host families are very diverse - single, married, empty nesters, and/or retired. The kids are totally involved in school and community. There are 10 students at Morro Bay High School - 5 from Brazil, 1 from Norway, 1 from Italy and three from other countries.
David said he recently received a letter from a student from Russia who was in this program. He said he had an unforgettable experience camping, attending church, and learning responsibility. He said his host family was nice, he vastly improved his English and he hopes to return to the USA soon. |
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MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE!!!.png)
So glad to have come today!!! We were led by Dale R in the flag salute, Sarah K gave the invocation, Sid S led us in song (which we continue to get better at by the way), Art read us a joke – I think we even laughed… We were thrilled to have Deepa Willingham as an honored guest as well Mike Griffen, a fellow Rotarian from Cambria. Guests joining us included Sharon Rowley, guest of Sarah K; father Dick and daughter Melissa, guests of John W; Derek Reidel, son of Rich R; and guest speaker, Pat Crowe. Announcements for the day – Sarah K announced that upcoming Halloween Party being held on Saturday, October 26th @ Gary O’s place. There will be a costume contest – WITH PRIZES – will be a potluck, and promises to be tons of fun!! Bruce H asked for help at the upcoming Harbor Festival. Rotary mans the ticket booth and we not only get the satisfaction of helping out but we also get a “chunk of change” as well!!! The next meeting for the Lighted Boat Parade will be held on Tuesday, October 1st at 1pm – promises to be short. PRLS is being held in Santa Maria on Saturday, October 12th – Adv PRLS 2 and October 26th – PRLS 5. Sign up with Heidi K if interested!! Mike Griffen announced the Rotary Club of Cambria’s upcoming fundraiser hoping to garner some interest!! It is being held on Saturday, October 12th, it is their major fundraiser of the year, and will have a silent and live auction, dinner, wine, etc… The District Conference is being held in San Luis Obispo this year. Dates are October 18, 19 and 20th. You can register on the District website. Dan A announced the drubbing of SLO by MBHS in football last Friday eve. And last but not least, Sarah K presented Sharon Rowley, of CCWFF, with a check for their portion of the Fish Fry event.
Pat Crowe, a local volunteer for the Make a Wish Foundation spoke about her role in their organization as well provided a testimonial to the miracles the organization provides. Pat began by playing a short video, capturing the stories of Evan, Victoria, Frankie and Micah’s wishes for a small piece of normalcy and happiness. When going through applications from kids for Make a Wish, it’s their goal to answer one of the following: I wish… I want to meet… I want to go… I want to have… and/or I want to be… Make a Wish Foundations’ Mission Statement is “grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.” The Foundation was begun in 1980 in Phoenix, Az with a wish made by a boy named Chris, afflicted with Leukemia, who wanted “be a police officer to catch bad guys”. This initial granted wish has grown into something more than anybody could have ever imagined. To date, they have granted 205,687 wishes to children of all ages and of all afflictions. They attempt to make these wishes, “family events” as they incorporate parents and/or siblings into the celebration. Pat’s job is to actually go into family homes and interview them. She is touched on a daily basis as she has the opportunity of making a child’s deepest wish come true – I don’t know about the rest of you but that is truly amazing!!! Obviously this can be a very emotional journey but the rewards so very much outweigh any hint of sadness that this can sometimes bring. I for one was incredibly touched by both Pat and by Make a Wish… I need to get myself retired so that I can start giving back to these types of organizations who do so much good for so many!!! Thanks for sharing this with us Pat!!! |
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President Elect Don Hudson, filling in admirably might I add, rang the bell promptly at 12:00; he asked Jude L to say the invocation. Jude read some inspirational quotes from Paul Harris; Syd Symington led us in the invocation and then led us in singing the Morro Bay Rotary song; the club then wished Jude Long a very Happy Birthday by serenading her with the birthday song.
Dr. Art Fenderson asked for Guest and Guest Rotarians which included Elsie Casida’s friends from Indian Wells who were checking out our club , Dr. Ken Stilts introduced his wife Sandra and Sarah K introduced her husband Adam, who we now know actually exists. Visiting Rotarians were Carla Wixom from Eco Rotary, Bill James from Woodland Sunrise Club and John W introduced our special guest and program speaker, former club member Kelly Vandervual from Pacific Wildlife Care. Dan Andrus was inducted into the club by Membership Chairman Don D and Pete Z his sponsor. Dan is the Principal of Morro Bay High School. He told us it was a natural for him to join Rotary as Rotary has such a positive presence at the High school with scholarships, RYLA and the Interact Club. PE Don attempted some humor by telling us a story about some thieves breaking into his shed. He called the Police who told him there was no one available to help. He called back and told them that he had shot the intruders in his shed. The Police responded immediately with emergency crews and ambulance and arrested the thieves. When asked why he told them he had shot them, but hadn’t, he responded that they had also told him no one was available but they showed up ASAP when they thought someone had been shot. This got minimal laughs and it was probably a good thing our Police Chief wasn’t in attendance. PE Don called on Mike P to tell us about one of his “Rotary Moments”. Mike reminded us of the Rotary meeting held for Bob Ransom at the hospital to keep his attendance record intact. Mike also said the community service events such as the Roundabout Clean-Ups also gave him warm Rotary Moments. John W helped draw for the exemption which was won by Doug Riddell. Doug offered to auction it, but got no takers so held on to it. Our weekly fines were helped along by Dan C, Judy S, Jennifer R, and Eric L ($50) and Dale R.
Carol F reminded the volunteers to show up for the Avocado Festival and told us there was still a spot to help pour beer. Sarah K told us how successful the Fish Fry had been and gave kudos to the many Rotarians who helped. She told us that it looked like we had made almost $5,000 including about $900 from the raffle. Doug Riddell encouraged members to mail boxes to our troops overseas. The boxes are all ready to mail and can be picked up at Bayshore Realty and Rabobank and cost $14.85 to mail them off. John W introduced Kelly Vandenhuval again as our program for the day. Kelly is representing Pacific Wildlife Care which she has been a member of since it started many years ago with only 6 volunteers. They now have over 200 people who help rescue and care for injured or abandoned wildlife. She told us that they are sanctioned by the California Fish and Game Department. They do not take bears, deer or mountain lions since they are large predators. Fish and game handles them directly.
Kelly brought a visitor. A Red Tailed Hawk named Denali. He’s a 2 ½ year old hawk they’ve had since he was young. She explained that the majority of the animals they get are rehabilitated and released. She did tell us that many, almost 25%, are not releasable due to one problem or another. Denali has cataracts on his eyes, a fairly rare condition, that makes him unsuitable to release. He has become a pet that Kelly keeps in a Fish and Game approved shelter on her ranch. She uses him to teach and share at various clubs and schools for education. He is around chickens and so has learned to mimic the chicken’s clucking. One of the problems they find are that people use lead ammunition to shot rodents and may also wound a bird with it. When predators eat the dead or wounded rodents they can die from lead poison.
Kelly announced a couple of events they are having to support PWC including “Soupabration” at Cambria’s Camp Ocean Pines on Sunday, October 20th from 2-5 pm they will have Soup Tasting and Gourmet foods with Celebrity Judges, Wine Tasting and a Silent Auction. For information or tickets call 805-927-3357 or go to www.soupabration.com. After which she fielded a flock of questions from the Club. John W and Don H presented Kelly with a check from our club to support PWC. Thank you Kelly for your wonderful story. One of Elsie Casida’s guests won the 50/50 drawing and donated the money back to the club. PE Don rang the bell to close the meeting right on time. |
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What a wonderful meeting – we started out with Dan C providing our invocation, we then sang (better than last week, probably not as well as next week) our very own Rotary song led by Syd S, and then, led by Rick G, paid tribute to our flag. Our weekly Rotary Moment was presented via “the web” by RI President, Don Burton who encouraged us all to bring in new members!!! It’s important to welcome “newbies”, making sure they know they are valued as well as know their club cares about them and their needs… Guests were plentiful!!! We were joined by Los Osos Rotarians, Marge VanBuerden and Dick Pacoan as well as Eco Rotarian Trina Dougherty who we were able to present a check for their co-sponsorship of our Annual Golf Tournament. We were being visited and “checked out” by Joyce and Skip – I think we did ourselves proud!!! As always – we find ourselves busier than ever… Announcements included: ~help with the upcoming Fish Fry!!! ~purchase/sell Fish Fry tickets and raffle tickets!!! ~Fish Fry is looking for dessert makers – please bake and bring to St. Tim’s on Saturday prior to 11am!!! ~help with upcoming Avocado/Margarita Festival!!! ~Marge from Los Osos announced their Annual Grandparent’s Day being held September 8th at Baywood Elementary School!!! ~Rick Grantham announced it was time to start thinking about the Annual Rotary/POA Thanksgiving Day Dinner – they could really use some help with decorating!!! ~The first of many Rotary Lighted Boat Parade meetings is being held on Monday, September 9th at 5pm at the Harbor Festival Office – ALL are welcome!!! ~the Cayucos Rotary Club is sponsoring a Pancake Feed benefitting education on Monday, September 2nd at Cayucos Elementary School from 9-11am!!! ~There will be an Eve with Heart meeting on Tuesday, September 3rd at 11am, prior to our regular meeting – again – ALL are welcome!!! ~soon to be Eagle Scout, Mark Olson talked about his upcoming project – building a garden area for the Special Education area at MBHS and is looking for donations to help defray costs – we presented him with over $130 in cash!!! ~ WHEW!!!... Our program for the afternoon was presented in tandem by Rotaract President Maggie McGraw and President Elect Madeline Stringham… I thought we were a busy club – they made us look like slackers (then again, they’re a “tad bit younger”). They started out their year with 6+ members and by year-end, they boasted 45+ members!!! Formed in 2010, their mission foundation consists of Responsibility, Leadership, High Ethical Standards, and Promoting International Understanding and Peace. Their biggest focus is on friendship – making people feel welcome… They are a club of “do’ers” - here is just a smattering of what they did just last year: ~Kids Spree – taking underprivileged kids school shopping at Kohls; ~Noor Clinic – the biggest bake sale ever provided braces to deserving kids; ~Coats for Kids Drive which last year provide 800 coats to needy kids; ~Laguna Lake Project where they partnered with the Rotary Clubs of SLO and helped to rebuild the Laguna Lake Fitness Course; ~World Bicycle Relief which provided over 60 bicycles to rural Africa which in turn helps women and children get to school; ~Traveled to Mexico to help build homes for families; ~5 Cities / Pismo Beach Summer Sizzle where they volunteered to provide most of the muscle setting up, serving, bartending, cleaning for this Rotary Event; and I could go on… they reiterated that they couldn't do this without the help of their sponsoring Rotary Clubs and thanked us profusely!!!
We had some time for fines - Elsie C asked some really fun questions of various club members to which all were stumped!!! Who knew that the heaviest women athlete was 448 lbs?? or that the oldest competing gymnast was 86 years old?? or that the tallest Mohican (cone head for those visual learners) was 44 inches tall?? or that the tallest living horse stood 20 hands?? Needless to say, Bing, Judy S, Andrea K and Carol F were all relieved of $20 each... And last but not least, John H, after meeting all his obligations, was presented his grown up badge!!! |
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Frank Ortiz and the Sri Lanka ProjectPresident David opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance led by our guest Frank Ortiz, the invocation by Jude and new Rotary song led by Syd. Our visitors were Frank and Scotty Ortiz from Santa Maria, and Loretta Butts from Atascadero.
Dave was the jokester as well as the person who assessed the fines, which brought us money from twelve members – the Mad Lib (remember those), was not as funny as hoped for… An "A" for effort tho!! Chuck Clark was presented a beautiful basket full of goodies in appreciation of his 17 years of service as Club Treasurer. We are still looking for volunteers for the Fish Fry and the Margarita Festival .... Signup clip boards were passed around...... Again… Frank Ortiz, our guest speaker, started by saying he is very involved with a Rotary-sponsored project in Sri Lanka. There are six areas of focus in the project. Of the six, he prefers Basic Education and Literacy because these areas are a worldwide problem and can really make a difference in the quality of life in every country. Sri Lanka, which was devastated by the tsunami in 2004, is just south of India and has a population of 20 million. There are 14,000 preschools and 400,000 preschoolers, but many, too many, about 25% of the teachers are untrained. In 2011, the Rotary Club of Morro Bay partnered with a Club in Colombo, the major City in Sri Lanka, to provide a model preschool in a rural area of Sri Lanka. Mr Ortiz, who visited there in 2013 said the primary focus used to be the children in preschool, but now the focus is to make sure the teachers are trained correctly, which will ultimately help the children most. Fifty-four Rotary Clubs partnered to raise $160,000 which will pay for the education and training of 1,000 teachers who go to school 7 hours a week for one year. Those teachers will impact approximately 20,000 children. Those who choose to go to the teacher’s school, sign a Promissory note to pay the fees back if they do not complete the class. So for them, it is definitely a lifelong commitment to the local culture. Our Rotary Club gave $58,118 to this project in 2005, $10,000 in 2011 and $4,234 in 2012, which proves that "Together we can do Great Things." Next week’s program will be the about the SLO Rotaract Program. Next Wednesday there will be an Interact meeting for our local High School Club from 12:20 to 1:00 at Morro Bay High School. |
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CRAFT TALKS - MEET ANDREA KLIPFEL AND SYD SYMINGTONPresident David rang the bell right on time to start the meeting. Ken S. offered the invocation and Michael W. led the club in the flag salute.
Sid S. introduced the Club to a new Morro Bay Rotary song. We sang it, but we need to practice this one more.
Visiting Rotarians were Mary Helen Kelp from Palm Desert and Al Heilly from Indian Wells. Sarah Ketchum introduced her guest, Sandra Cade from Paso Robles Edward Jones.
President David told a joke about a fisherman. A couple people actually laughed.
John W. told us about Grover Beach’s new Eco Rotary Club that he is helping to form. John was fined because it was in the SLO City News and the Tribune and he didn’t mention Morro Bay Rotary.
Our hard working new member Sarah K. announced that the Fish Fry ticket money was due. She reminded everyone that they need to sign up to help. Andrea K. circulated the Dessert list for the Fish Fry asking Rotarians to provide desserts for the event.
Carol F. reminded us of the Avocado and Margarita Festival. We have many Rotarians volunteering to work the beer booth. She also told us the Morro Bay High School Cheerleaders were helping at the main gate and will get a percentage of the income.
President David asked Mike P. what he was thankful for. He said, among many things, he was thankful for his Rotary Friends. David said that’ll be $20. He also asked Dale R., Chuck C., Stanley C., Bill P. and “Gary “Dad” the same question and extracted $20 from each.
John Weiss introduced the Program for the day which was “Craft Talks” by Andrea Klipfel and Syd Symington.
Andrea told us that she and John W’s wife, Christine, both grew up in Dorchester Mass. near Boston. She moved with her parents to Bakersfield where she went to Bakersfield West High School. She met her husband Kevin in Bakersfield. He attended Cal State Bakersfield. Later, they moved to the Bay Area where Kevin worked as a tech for Innovac. She was in the finance department where she worked with consultants. While there she honed her public relations skills. She moved to a small startup Internet Company named Yahoo in 1997. She was their Director of Investor Relations. Her projects included the annual report, which she shared a copy with us. She also had “Headstones” for her work with the Direct Stock Purchase Program and Merger Acquisitions.
To improve their quality of life they moved to Seattle and she went to work for Microsoft. She started on September 10 2001 the day before 9-11. She told us she had to fly to New York for a meeting shortly after. She shared her experience with the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster. After a short time, a small firm that was trying to hire her named Edward Jones. She decided to try them and she became an investment counselor. She liked this job because it gave her a chance to do independent research. She switched to working for Merrill Lynch for a short while, but returned to Edward Jones when an opportunity opened in Morro Bay.
Recently she and her husband Kevin started their own company. They located in Paso Robles because there was a commercial location there in an old Wachovia Bank building. The space was ideal for their needs and included internet hookups. They are having their Grand Opening on August 1st offering a tri tip bbq.
Next John introduced Syd Symington. Syd told us he had nothing in common with Andrea, except occasional headstones.
He was born the third child in his family in St Louis, Mo. He amused us inferring that he had a bit of a wild youth. His parents were public service role models. He was in Dorchester near where Andrea was born and worked on a video at the JFK Library there. His college education was in theater and he performed in Cabarets. He married his first wife and moved to Connecticut. While there he worked running lights in the theater. He had an opportunity to visit Camarillo, California as a lighting consultant on a show there. He had a lifestyle awakening and became a live-at-home dad or “house mom” as he referred to it. Unfortunately, his marriage didn’t last and his wife took over the family mom role and he joined the church, went to divinity school and eventually to theology school. He did some preaching and counseling at hospitals where he was encouraged to become ordained. In Geneseo, New York he joined Rotary and became involved in the community. He liked Rotary because it was an opportunity to mix with “cool interesting, like minded people.” Through his connections he accepted the call to lead the congregation here in Morro Bay at St Peter’s Episcopal Church. He invited us to join them Sunday mornings.
Following the Program President David told us that Andrea, Sarah, Marie and Carol all received their PRLS certificates which he distributed. |
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Meet our New District Governor - Jack McClanahanOur meeting was called to order by President David. We had the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the prayer and we sang "America", led by John W. Ken C. told a joke and Art introduced guests including the Assistant District Governor from Cambria and the Governor from Ojai. Another visitor was Dan Andrus, the Principal of Morro Bay High School who I understand will be one of us VERY soon.
Andrea K. shared what Rotary means to her. About a year and a half ago she attended a Rotary Peace Conference at the Carter Center. The discussion centered around how to make political and economic changes in the Sudan. She was very impressed with the things Rotary is able to do with the financial and physical support of its members.
Master PRLS .......Dan C. went to this meeting and said it was great. Don H. said Master PRLS 4 will be held on Saturday August 17th.
Bruce H. and Sarah K. reported on the fishing trip.... Those in attendance caught their limit and had all had a great time........Nancy G. caught the biggest fish. Sarah said there are still 3 spots available on the placemat. We need total participation in the Fish Fry event ......PLEASE sell dinner tickets and buy and sell raffle tickets.
Amy C. reminded us that the Police Dept is holding their Police Night Out from 5:00 - 7:00 tonight. Hot dogs for all!!
Carol will need 100 volunteers for the Margarita Festival. Rotary will receive 10% of proceeds of the beer booth.
Governor Jack McClanahan was our speaker. He recounted how Paul Harris had moved to Chicago and was looking to make new friends. Those relationships started as friendships, which led to having meetings which ultimately organized into Rotary including projects to help the community, with the idea that members should bring someone into Rotary who they can work with.
In 1987 Jack and his wife went to the Rotary Convention in Munich. A workshop put on by the Rotary Club of Duarte allowed the first women join their group. The club was then expelled from Rotary. The case was taken to the Supreme Court and it ruled against Rotary after which there was a large influx of women with new ideas making the clubs stronger and added energy to the programs. The Ojai Club lost one man because of the decision to include women, but he has since come back and I'm sure realizes the value of including everyone in Rotary Clubs.
Worldwide Rotary membership is 17-18% women, USA female membership is 25%, and our clubs here on the Central Coast have 30% female membership. Today many people have home businesses. Not a business title. But they still represent the same goals in the community. Jack believes we should focus on getting more female members.
When it became the goal of the Rotary Clubs to eradicate polio, it was believed it would take $120 million dollars to buy enough vaccine to reach this goal. The clubs have actually raised $240 million. It was thought Polio had been eradicated, but there has been a reported outbreak in Somalia and Pakistan which needs to be isolated and contained. It is now believed Polio will be completely eradicated by 2014.
Bill Gates has given $475 million toward Polio eradication. In addition to that, he will give another $70 million if Rotary can give $35 million. The goal for this district to give is 1% or $350,000. |
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The First Tee Program - Teaching Kids the Values of Life.jpg){kind=logo}
Had a wonderful meeting today!!! We began with P-Prez Nancy leading us in the flag salute (and she remembered all the words too), which was followed by a wonderful invocation by Jude, John led us in a rendition of Happy B-day to Rich R. and Gary Setting and we ended with a Dr. Art “joke”… We were pleased to have past member and visiting Rotarian Dani Tope among us; Rich Reidel brought his son Derrick and John Weiss introduced our speaker for the day, Gary Setting. As far as announcements went – Carol Furtado, on behalf of Heidi Kimbrall, announced that there was a Master PRLS Class for anybody interested coming up this Saturday, contact Carol or Heidi if interested; Sarah Ketchum continued her enthusiastic support of our Annual Fish Fry, we’re getting down to the wire and she is hopeful that tickets are being sold; the first (of many) Evening with Heart meetings was held and superstar fundraiser Meredith Fennacy is excited for what is on the horizon, the next organizational meeting is being held on Tuesday, Sept 3rd at 11am (prior to our regular meeting); Jamie Boucher offered up the opportunity to help out the Avocado Margarita Festival by selling/pouring beer, her “clip board” made the rounds with GREAT success; Rick Grantham announced that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and he will be starting to organize everybody for the annual Turkey Day meal; and, Nancy Guthrie hoped that people would join her in the Lighted Boat Parade meeting being held this Thursday, August 1st at 2pm at the Chamber office. Fines have begun in full force – it seems like $20 is both the maximum and minimum fine to date. Maybe Prez David realizes that ATM’s only spit out $20’s? We all got to learn about baseball umpiring rules (as Prez David sees them anyway – I might have squabbled about a few if I’d been called upon to answer his ?’s – as I wasn’t, I let it go)
John Weiss introduced Gary Setting, the afternoon’s speaker. Gary works with The First Tee Program at Sea Pines Golf Resort and Golf Course (a business that his family has owned since 1979 and he since 2006). The First Tee Program aspires to become the world’s largest youth development program, quite a goal!! The Central Coast boasts 14 different courses from Paso to Nipomo that all participate in the program and all who focus on youth development. They run 4 sessions a year for 8 weeks each and try to instill 9 core values to the kids: Courtesy, Respect, Perseverance, Honesty, Integrity, Confidence, Responsibility, Judgment and Sportsmanship. First Tee has recently added 9 Healthy Habits: Physical – energy, play and safety; Emotional – vision, mind and family; and, Social – family, school and community. During their sessions, they discuss these core values and the kids talk about how they can utilize them today at the golf course but more importantly, in life. It was great to hear that no child is turned away as there are scholarships to help those unable to afford to participate. Gary ended his session by stating “First Tee is Little League, Only Better!!!” For us golfers, we can appreciate the work that Gary and First Tee is doing locally to help our kids grow up with the kinds of values that will help them now and far into the future!!! |
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Rotary Club of Morro Bay Meets Project Surf Camp.jpg)
And the winner is..... EVERYBODY!!!! I can tell you from personal experience that this is probably one of the single most positive experiences that a person can have... granted - you may have to climb out of your comfort zone a tad bit (or for some of us - a whole lot)... but once and if you do - you will be so glad you did... so our crew shows up for the most part, bright eyed and bushy tailed at 8am... a big thanks to Doug Riddell, Mike Pond (and Michelle and Nikki Subler), Rob Livick, Andrea Lueker, Amy Christey, Sarah Ketchum (and Amber and Nephi Derbitge), Nancy Guthrie, John Weiss (and 4 members of the Tobin family), David Owens (and Dex) and Dan Costley for sharing the morning with us... We get our orientation speech - pretty much tag teamed from PSC stars Matt and Caleb with a few additional comments from John and William... then the kids show up - we get to put their wet suits on them and us (much tougher than it sounds) and which creates lots of laughs... then onto the beach where we get our stretching in, in anticipation of getting wet... we team up with our surfing kids and hit the water... some go right in - some can already surf - some need a bit of hand holding - some want to build sand castles - but ALL experienced the time of their lives... Here's what a few of us had to say about our day... Sarah Ketchum - "Adie became my friend instantly, it was awesome seeing her scared then a second later laughing as she stood on the board. I will definitely participate next year." Jamie Boucher - Nothing better than to see a child laughing and knowing that you played a big a part in their happiness... it was my second year but definitely not my last." Amy Christey - "Project Surf Camp was amazing! Thank you campers, PSC and Morro Bay Rotary volunteers." David Owens - "Volunteers for Project Surf Camp wth Rotary. Awesome time! and "Fantastic time! My son Dex loved it!" Mike Pond - "My daughter and I had an awesome time at Project Surf Camp. The campers confidence and ability grew throughout the day. The joy of riding a wave beamed from huge smiles and many high fives. If I weren't injured I'd do it all over again. It was a great day out serving with my fellow Rotarians." A special shout out to the Fennacy clan as they provided us with a scrumptious lunch of gourmet hot dogs, chips, fruit, and lots of candy!!!!! |
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A Special Family's thoughts on Special Olympics.jpg)
President Dave Owens opened the meeting with the invocation (thanks Sid), Pledge of Allegiance led by our speaker - Kristen Arias, and a new Rotary song led by Sid, Art told a "blond" joke and visitors were introduced, including our special guest speakers, Patty and Kristen Arias. Pete Zotovich shared his Rotary Moment..... He was always impressed with the things that the Rotary Club does, including all they did for Morro Bay High School where he was Vice Principal and especially the eradication of polio. His father in law, Walter Dorn (brother to Morro Bay's ex-Mayor Warren Dorn), had perfect attendance during the 56 years he was in Rotary, so Pete always heard about what a wonderful organization Rotary is. When he became Principal at Morro Bay, he knew this would be the club he would want to join. Heidi encouraged those who haven't been, to go to Basic PRLS in Santa Maria this Saturday. There are three Rotarians signed up to go at this time; contact her if you are interested. Sarah updated us on the Fish Fry to be held on Saturday, August 31st. Both Dinner and Raffle Tickets are available for sale...... Contact Sarah to get some. Jamie gave a report on Surf Camp, which was a great event enjoyed by all participants, despite injuries to a couple of our First Responder club members. The first meeting for Evening with Heart Event next year will be next Tuesday at 11:00am, right before the club meeting. Amy said the Morro Bay Police Dept will be helping with Surf Camp on Friday, August 9th at 8:15am and welcomes anybody interested in joining them. Also, on August 6th the MBPD and Neighborhood Watch will be hosting their First Annual National Night Out 2013 at the Police Dept, 850 Morro Bay Blvd from 5:00 to 7:00. Food, games, Open House Tours, etc... come join in on the fun. Bruce said he still has more room for those who would like to help catch fish for the Fish Fry. The fishing trip will be next Wednesday, August 31st at 7:30am; meet at Virg's, 1169 Market. David found various reasons for fining the following Club Members: Jamie Boucher (for not warning against possible injury at PSC), John Weiss (for never having worn a wetsuit before), Amy Christey and Mike Pond (for being the "injured"), Chuck Clarke (for having good karma), Ken Casida (but Elsie has to pay), Jude Long (for being too good at awards) and Ken Stilts (for his used computer program for schools). Man oh man, I have a feeling we're going to make some $$ this year!!! Ken Stilts needs previously used computers to recycle for schools etc. John Weiss said Interact Club is coming up and he needs volunteers. Today's program was mom and Special Olympics Coach Patty and her daughter, Kristen Arias. Kristen, 25 years old, has been a participant in Special Olympics for 15 years and has won several medals, including gold, in many sports. Kristen said she enjoys the contact sports best, especially floor hockey, and being an athlete has helped her grow in many ways. She is thankful to have the support of family as well as many members of the community who train/coach these athletes. There are 750 athletes in SLO County. Special Olympics is a year- round program that depends entirely on members of the community for financial support to buy uniforms, equipment, traveling expenses etc. Patty recalled her favorite Special Olympics moment - her team had not won a game or even made a goal in a big Floor Hockey Tournament being held down in San Diego. She went to the coach of the team they were playing in their last game and asked if he would allow her girls to just make one goal. He put the girls who had previously been on the bench in the next game and not only was Kristen's team was able to make a goal, they won the game. They were so excited to have achieved this victory..... They meet each challenge with Joy and Enthusiasm as values that will help them in life are passed on by their coaches and others. |
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Our Amazing Elephant Seals.jpg)
President David welcomed Dr. Art back and told a joke for him that was thumbed down with many requesting Dr. Art, Dr. Art, Dr. Art….jokester will change next week! Sid has his daughter Eve visiting all the way from Singapore! President David zapped a couple fines....and revealed how we could avoid major fining...don't pay our dues then he doesn't know who/how much to fine....HOWEVER, we will also not be able to operate....What to do? What to do? Pay up guys and gals. Fish fries coming up at the end of July at Sid's Church...fine!! and for MB Rotary on August 31st at St. Tim’s with the Fishery ladies...want to go fishing? Bruce Harwood has a bit a room left on his July 31st trip... Principal Dan Andrus has seen the light with so much support at MB High School for students, including the largest club on campus (Interact with 50 kids) being started by Rotarians, he hopes to become one of us. Kids today…they want leadership to show them the way to service above self…well, maybe they are still learning the “above self” ethic! Rotary Moment by Michael Williams: Invited 11 years ago by Frances and Forest Martin, he was instantly hooked because he recognized a social network that helped the community. He quickly realized business, social and fund raising support for activities important to his clients and his community was a direction he wanted to pursue…with Rotary. Case in point his annual barbecue that started as a client thank you with 25 people and now raises funds for MS and Project Surf Camp and a new cause each year with over 200 community players attending…most Rotarians donating and attending. Life is good with Rotary fellowship for Michael Williams…even when he is late to the party. A former patient of Mike’s, Dale Moody provided the lively discussion and facts about the Elephant Seals’ Rookeries at Piedras Blancas. Dale has been a docent for 4 years once he healed from a shoulder injury sliding down a slippery slope counting Elephant Seals. And he said he wants us to believe he has his doctorate? Fast Facts on Elephant Seals: · Central Coast is one of few rookeries with close up and personal visuals of the life cycle of the Elephant Seal; · Migratory Seals are currently molting and resting after returning from Alaska. They are not eating…so not defecating; · Males will make two trips a year to Alaska…live 14-15 years and gathers up and supports a harem of 40-50 females; · Web Cam shows it all…even makes the noise; · 5,000 pups were born last year…80% will NOT make it…sharks and orcas are their natural enemies so when they go back to Alaska they stay up for 3-4 minutes then dive to 1000 feet and stay out of harm’s way. While at the Rookery the heavy kelp helps the pups survive until ocean touring; · 1990s Rookery reborn…Elephant Seal nearly disappeared for their oil; · Females spend 10 months at sea without landfall…2 months they birth and briefly care then with child again and out to sea again. December/January birthing time; and · There are 17-18 rookeries in California but Piedras Blancas is a treasure we need to treasure. Hear more from Dale on Sundays at the Piedras Blancas Rookery…He has a million stories and facts… And if I got any of them wrong…I tend to have dyslectic hearing. |
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Rotary Visits Camp Hapitok.jpg)
Yes, the vote is in! Morro Bay Rotary’s annual visit to Camp Hapitok is the best meeting of the year. And this year was special because it was personal. Kudos to all who attended. We had a great showing and with lunch and donation we donated $2,300 in support of Camp Hapitok. It was also a nice tribute to our new president, David and his family. They have been involved in Camp Hapitok forever. Why? Because Camp Hapitok gives children with hearing or speech challenges the chance to be among their peers and with teen peers who are dedicated to making their summer the best ever – 4-5 weeks to learn or improve skills, build their self-esteem and independence away from their protectors at home. Congrats to Gary, Marlene, Dawn, Super Nova, President David’s sister and President David, aka Suds. They picked a good one to serve because Camp Hapitok is all about service above self. At Camp you must have a camper name like Sled Dog, Big Bear, Falling Rock, Trojan Horse, Race Car Girl and Suds. A camper and his/her TIGR (Therapy Individual Goal Reinforcer) greeted us and led us to the flag pole for pre-lunch announcements, which mainly consisted of our camper practicing verbal communication in public. Soda Pop was my camper and Waterfall was his TIGR. It was his first year, her second Mission is the Camp Hapitok’s director. She started at Camp Hapitok 26 years ago as a TIGR. Her day-job is working at IBM. Mission wanted the campers and TIGRs to experience a Rotary Meeting. Don Hudson did the flag salute; Sid offered the invocation, and John provided the comic relief by sharing how three MBPD officers saw lights on late at Morro Bay Pharmacy and grilled him on who he was and why there post store hours. What else can you do when you own a pharmacy and your 4th of July guests get sick? Good thing he sells surgical tape and salve to help heal the handcuff diggings! Mission led the program introducing three of her TIGRs, who shared why they gave up their summers to volunteer at Camp Hapitok. With a tear Mission explained how proud she was of her 11 years watching “13 year olds grow from goofy teens to responsible community citizens with a purpose in life.” Becoming a TIGR is a competitive process. They had 100 applicants for 28 positions in 2013. Stone applied 4 years ago when his brother was hesitant to leave the family and come to 4-5 weeks of camp. They go home weekends. The experience brought more joy to him that he anticipated. He loves seeing the campers “grow and open up and bond” to the TIGRs and their fellow campers. Eagle is a 3rd year TIGR had two uncles who were campers. He is proud one no longer needs his hearing aids. He marveled at the difference the intense support given to the campers changes their lives and attitudes. SuperNova, (aka President David’s daughter), was a shy kid until she became a TIGR. She now knows how to “put herself out there” and can talk to crowds…like our Rotary Group. The program helped her as much as it helped her campers over years. Mission explained other groups will come out to camp and donate to Camp Hapitok, but Morro Bay Rotary has been the largest and longest contributor. It takes $100,000 to run camp each year, but the difference it makes in the lives of the campers and their TIGRs is priceless. |
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Our Public Heroes.jpg)
Tuesday was a very inspiring and humbling day for me... I seem to have been in a funk lately, not sure why - maybe just a bit tired and burned out... truth be told, almost didn't make it to Rotary... shame on me - what a selfish mistake that would have been!!! Our meeting was such a special treat!!! First I want to thank all of you and especially you Gregg Kaufman for making me feel so loved and so appreciated!!! I feel like "I'm wired" to do what I do... I truly love being that "indian" that people can turn to when they need help!!! (bless all you "chief's" out there - I don't know how you do it) and today was just that shot of adrenalin I needed to pick myself up from the mat and get back out there!!! So again, you'll all never know how wonderful today made me feel - all I can say is thanks from the bottom of my heart!!! That leads me to today's program and a thank you to John Weiss for introducing this inspirational Hero Hour to us. For those of you who may have missed it - here's a recap that's worth the read... John Weiss was proud to recognize John Kersten - an elementary school teacher at Monarch Grove who loves what he does... he loves seeing the light bulb go off in a child's head after they've struggled to understand a concept... all he wants is to be able to see kids succeed - at all levels... he teaches, he's coached, he's a father (to 3 wonderful sons), he's a husband (to a wonderful woman), he's a mentor, and he's incredibly humble... I understand he plays a mean game of basketball too... Thanks John for what you do... Judy Salamacha and Jude Long were proud to recognize Linnea Thomas - owner of our local bookstore and wedding chapel - Coalesce Bookstore & Garden Chapel... we have been privileged to have Coalesce in Morro Bay for almost 40 years... Linnea has so much love for Morro Bay and we for her!!! She is host to so many wonderful events... She believes in the power of books to change lives... As a testament to Coalesce, while box stores have seemingly "taken over", Coalesce thrives because of the "Service Above Self" attitude that permeates in all that Linnea does... Thanks Linnea for what you do... Steve Knuckles was proud to recognize Father Ed - as a past Morro Bay Citizen of the Year, we shouldn't be surprised at how Father Ed really helped out the Fire Department in their time of need when follow Rotarian Graham Pask passed away so unexpectedly... he always has the right words, does the right things, has a wonderful sense of humor, and has the ability to be real... the Fire Department as well as the rest of us say Thanks for what you do... Kasey Watson was proud to recognize Vilma Balcita - is one of the Lead Aides at the Garden House... She is dedicated to providing everything to the Residents from overseeing household and Resident care, to managing medications, to administering first aid, to working directly with families, home health and hospice agencies, to cooking most of the meals... she brings her fun loving and kind-hearted attitude to work everyday, she even sings and dances for the Residents which they adore. Vilma is also a Rotarian from the Philippines who daily demonstrates the Rotary Service Above Self... Thanks Vilma for what you do... Matt Franklin was proud to recognize Mrs. Harper - 1st grade teacher at Del Mar Elementary who has made a difference in h is son, Colton Franklin's life!! Fellow Rotarian and Father, Matt Franklin can't thank Mrs. Harper enough for the time and effort given to Colton... he is so thankful for Del Mar and the wonderful teachers that are there... Thanks Mrs. Harper for what you do... Dan Reddell was proud to recognize Ken Vesterfelt - words that fellow Rotarian and Police Chief Amy Christey used to describe Ken are "inspiring", "works tirelessly", "fun", "friendly" and I could go on... Ken is a giver of himself, pure and simple... and he's somebody who doesn't consider himself as a hero, instead he says we should be looking to young cancer patients - his real hero's... or those who wear the uniform with pride - also his hero's... Thanks Ken for what you do... Dan Reddell was proud to recognize Si Tenenberg - is a unique individual who actually says that our very own Dan Reddell is his hero for helping him deliver over 10,000 care packages to the men and women in Afghanistan over the years... He is so pleased to see Morro Bay play such a vital and passionate role in trying to help our troops - a mission that he holds so dear... he promises to continue this as long as we have men and women in harms way... Thanks Si for what you do... Mary Leizear was proud to recognize Diane Moore - has maintained the Mutt Mitt Program for the last 7 years... she works tirelessly to ensure that this program continues, as it is vital to our City's and eco-system's well being... she is honored to be thought of as a public hero and wanted to thank Rotary for all we do to help her keep this program going... Thanks Diane for what you do... Dan Costley and Chuck Clarke were proud to recognize Bill Houston - a Military Chaplain with the Navy for so very many years... has seen so much, has been through so much... and as such, has helped our troops through so much!!! He continues in his efforts stateside volunteering most recently with the Cayucos Lost at Sea Memorial. He wanted to reiterate the efforts being made by Si - the troops overseas appreciate the care packages that get sent more than we can ever know!!! Thanks Bill for what you do... Gary Owens was proud to recognize his wife Marlene Owens - Gary's wife for almost 56 years and is such an amazing person!!! She works tirelessly on her many, many projects including Camp Hapitok (since 1977 no less) and Quota Club in all capacities from Indian to Chief to the Chief of Chiefs... she's an incredible wife, mother, grandmother and friend... Thanks Marlene for what you do... Bryan Millard was proud to recognize his wife Monica Millard - an RN at Sierra Vista for the last 12 years and an inspiration to nurses as well as those aspiring to be nurses... she not only cares for her patients but realizes how important it is to comfort them as well... she hopes to impart that knowledge to our future nursing corp as she will also be teaching at Cuesta this fall in their nursing program... LUCKY students!!! Thanks Monica for what you do... John Weiss was proud to recognize Jack Smith - an avid skateboarder and local business owner (go see our local Skateboard Museum) spends much of his time raising money for a variety of very worthy causes, his most recent being Skateboarding Across the Country (literally) to raise money and awareness for Alzheimers. He gives of himself so unselfishly for the betterment of others - something we can and should all aspire to... I was left today with a sense of gratitude for all those doing so much for others and it made me realize that we can all do a bit more... spend a bit more time... be a bit more positive... be a bit more proactive to those in need... just be a bit better of a person tomorrow than we were today... and above all else - continue to appreciate service above self!!! thanks for listening... |
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PROJECT SURF CAMP.jpg)
We hope you can join us on Saturday, July 20th at Coleman Park - 8:00am - along with Project Surf Camp Counselors - enriching the lives of youngsters who are so deserving of some fun and excitement!!! You can dawn a wetsuit (don't have to own one borrow one from PSC) and help the kids out in the water... you can help with the bbq... I/we promise you don't have to know how to surf (I didn't and still don't) - just have to be ready to have some fun!!!
Please bring yourself/wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends/kids/grandkids/nieces/nephews/etc... all are welcome!!!
It promises to be a life changer!!!
See you there!!! jamie l, andrea l, amy c |
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Doing it Right! Mike's Picnic Retirement Party.jpg)
On Saturday May 25th, our community came together to honor fellow Rotarian and retired Fire Chief Mike Pond and his lovely family. Not long ago, while Mike was still Chief, I remember his first meeting in July of 2010. Mike had a bagpipe player and a formal entrance featuring his sponsor Jeff Jones (who incidentally was Club President when I joined back in 2001).
While Mike was Club President, he was a great support to me and to all the members of our club. During Mike’s year he completed a comprehensive 5 year strategic plan. By his side during Mike's year was his wife Andrea. When Mike was Club President, it was like we got two for one with his wife. Actually, it was like four for one in some cases. When we cleaned the Round About, his entire family would often come and pull weeds.
During Mike's year as Club President, he supported the chartering of the Interact Club at Morro Bay High School and the Eco club. Mike worked closely with Los Osos Club President Dick Pacaoan on co-chartering these clubs. It seems he had a hand in starting the Fish Fry which continues today.
I believe that our District Governor Deepa Willingham thought of him as as the best Club President. Mike even dressed her in a fire-fighter’s suit which was precious. Mike’s support for Eco-Rotary included working at Dairy Creek on the Zero Waste Golf Course. It included recruiting students at Club Rush.
Rotary has the 4 way test which we all know by heart: Is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, and will it be beneficial to all concerned. Of course, Mike had to one-up that with his 3 way test which went something like is it fun, will we get caught, etc... Mike and Andrea found our Rotary flags and took the time to hang them up for our club meetings.
Mike’s leadership meant making the club stretch. If we added 10 members, 10 Paul Harris Fellows, and 10 somethings, Mike would jump out of a plane (with a parachute). Well, we added the new members and Paul Harris fellows, don’t recall that we got the other 10. Of course, I don’t think Andrea was too keen on Mike jumping anyway...!
During Mike’s year, our club had an exchange with his daughter and a gal from France. Today Mike continues to support Rotary Youth Exchanges. All in all, it was a good year!
Thanks Mike for your Service Above Self! And thank to your family for supporting you and our club efforts!
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RYLA changing one life at a time!.jpg)
Once again, local Rotary clubs lead the way for our youth by sponsoring high school students to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). It was again a great event and a recent club program. Each participant's life is transformed for the better as they learn life long skills on leadership, public speaking, diversity, problem solving, and many othe important skills. Pictured is this years team of students that attended from Morro Bay High School.
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Remembering Rotarian Graham Pask
A tribute to Graham Pask We lost one of our wonderful members on Thursday March 21st. Graham Pask died in his sleep. His funeral service was a tribute to an amazing family man and community leader. Over 300 friends, family members, and co-workers attended St. Timothy’s Catholic Church on Kennedy Way in Morro Bay. At our Rotary meeting March 26th several members expressed fond memories of Graham. Recently retired Morro Bay Fire Chief Mike Pond said that Graham was a fire fighter reserve member for 17 years. He often thought there was a zip line straight from Graham’s house in North Morro Bay on Nutmeg to the driver’s seat of the fire engine at Station One on Harbor Street. As soon as the tones sounded, Graham was on his way to help. Current Fire Chief Steve Knuckles said that Graham was the liaison to the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation for the past 17 years. He spent a lot of time going to schools, educating children and helping with foundation activities. Graham also had a very busy full-time job with Symantec, which took a lot of time and effort. To his three children, he was the very best father any child could have. Dan Costley reminisced about the incident when his friend, Linda, asked Graham to help with her cat. Without a moment’s hesitation, he figured out how to get her cat out of a tree. Bill Peirce lived a half a block from Graham and watched for him to go by at Mach 2 whenever the scanner lit up with a fire or rescue call. Bill bought a lot of cookies from Graham’s kids as they raised money for community events. He will be missed by many, many people. Former Fire Chief Jeff Jones hired Graham in 1994 as a reserve fire fighter for about $5 per hour. Morro Bay has two fire stations, but fire fighters always felt Fire Station Number Three was Graham’s house on Nutmeg. Graham always backed his car into his driveway to shave seconds off his response time to Fire Station Number One. Jeff’s daughters always babysat Graham’s kids and are friends to this day. Of course, his children’s activities continue the tradition of giving back to their community. His son, Austin, just completed a service project to install a new entry sign for the fire department. Meredith Fennacy received a Facebook posting from a total stranger in Hawaii who saw the obituary on her site and wanted to comment that Graham was his second father. Stanley Craig is also a reserve fire fighter and said that it takes thousands of hours of commitment to serve as a reserve to the city, and Graham made a huge contribution to all of us. John Weiss noted that Graham’s daughter, Courtney, was a member of the high school interact club and also went to RYLA. The tradition of service certainly continues with the children. Steve Knuckles thanked us for offering to help with Graham’s service, as his fire fighters are pretty “tapped out” from the pain of losing Graham and preparing for his funeral. John and Meredith Fennacy lead preparations and food following the service at the fire department. What a wonderful celebration of the life of fellow Rotarian Graham Pask! |
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Don't Miss What's Coming Up!Important Events Coming Up! Christmas Social - Friday November 30th, 5:00pm till ? at Nancy's House, come visit with friends. 753 Piney Way MB. Appetizer, Drinks and Desserts will be served
Saturday, February 9th - Evening with Heart @ the Morro Bay Community Center
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PROJECT SURF CAMP
I bet not many of you knew that we had such a wonderful organization located right in our own back yard!!! Project Surf Camp is local 501(c)3 Non-Profit group serving the needs of kids with special needs via access to the ocean, to surfing and to interaction with others. Began by John Taylor, Project Surf Camp was started 5-6 years ago, and allows kids with special needs the chance to surf, to interact with the ocean, to foster independence, to build social skills and to improve physical fitness. Their philosophy of "exposure builds acceptance" is fostered by their instructors (all volunteers by the way), many of which are specialist interventionalists who know how to work with the needs of the campers. It also promotes family leisure activity as the program is open to brothers, sisters, cousins or even good family friends. PSC is all about community, they worked with 260 campers last year and hope to increase on those numbers next year. Their needs include campers (obvious #1), volunteers (that can be US!!!!), funding and equipment (especially wet suits). Its this writers goal to have Rotary out there in force next year - we can make a difference in these kids lives!!!
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Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation
Stop, Drop and Roll - if there was any message that Fire Captain Steve Knuckles would have us take away from this day - that would be it. Steve has been involved with the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation for many years. This Foundation serves those who have been burned, and their families, and puts on programs including Support Groups and Special Events. Thru this Foundation, these kids are exposed to "regular things", those things that we all take for granted. They get to go on Surfing Trips, Ski Trips, Angel Flight trips, Athletic Events, Family Get-a-ways, and the most popular - Champ Camp where "kids just get to be kids". Those interested in helping out by donating, sponsoring kids or volunteering their time, please visit their website at www.aarbf.org. A special thanks to Steve for sharing his passion with us. Another special thanks goes out to Rotary member Doug Riddell who donated his 50/50 winnings to the Foundation that day!!!
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911 - We must always remember!!!
We are so very fortunate to have incredible Police and Fire Department's in Morro Bay!! They not only are here to protect and serve, they know that at any minute, they could be called into a life and death situation. So 11 years after September 11, 2001, we were honored to have Fire Chief Mike Pond, Captain Steve Knuckles and Police Chief Mike Lewis take us back a few years to remind us of the rescuers on that somber day and to make sure we continue to keep them and their families in our hearts and prayers. I found out that we have a sister station - by City Resolution 23-02 we became associated with Station 16, Ladder Truck 7 of New York City who lost 6 firefighters and members of their family that day. Yes, that day was tragic but it was also the day where America stood tall and proud in response to the devastating events - and where America accomplished its largest and most sucessful rescue efforts ever - saving literally thousands.
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District Governor Frank Ortiz
We met our newest District Governor, Frank Ortiz, a retired Fire Chief out of Santa Maria. A die-hard San Francisco Giants Fan - Frank has many goals for District 5240 for this coming year!!! He feels that Rotary is the greatest Service Organization on the Planet - bar none!!! He truly believes in Peace thru Service and firmly believes that we have the opportunity - today - to impact PEACE!!! Our genuine efforts of lending a helpful hand is what makes us so very special. He went on to stress the importance of being the best club that we can be. We need to make efforts to bring in new members, he stressed the value in what our club does, he stressed being relevant to our community and he stressed getting our name out there - let the community know what we do and what we stand for. I am sure that through his leadership, District 5240 is in wonderful hands!!!
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Meet the MBPD's newest addition - Xello the Wonder Dog!!!
WOW - I never realized how amazing these K9 Dogs can be!!! Officer Stephanie Pipan introduced Rotary to Xello - the K9 Dog that is the newest member of our local police force. What a beautiful animal. Stephanie told her story of meeting Xello, choosing Xello, training with Xello and now, being able to call Xello her 24/7 partner. Xello is a German Shepherd - who duh - only spoke and took commands in German - so Stephanie had to learn some German in order to work with him. He is playful and yet is very focused on his mission - catching the bad guy!!! Not surprisingly that often happens via intimidation - when suspects get a look at Xello, they all too often turn themselves in - no one really wants to see him "in action". We however were treated to what happens if somebody "runs" - courageously, Bryan Millard wore the arm protection while Stephanie yelled "attack" (or something like that, this writer can't remember the actual command)... Xello ran and jumped at Bryan and wouldn't let go... It was a very convincing exhibition!!! Soon Xello will also begin training in narcotics detection. Congratulations to Morro Bay and to Stephanie for this wonderful program!!!
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Girl Scouts of America
Girls Scouts are alive and well in Morro Bay!!! Belinda Reyna and 3 of her brightest members, Lillian, Amanda and Zoe delighted us with a presentation of their trip to Georgia, home of the organization's National Headquarters. Girl Scouts, an ALL INCLUSIVE gathering strives to help each member find and follow their own unique leadership path. Membership builds courage, confidence and character which makes this world a better place!!! (sounds familiar doesn't it??!!!) Each of these girls were tasked with earning $1,000 each in order to make this trip a reality. There, they were able to study girl scout history which they truly enjoyed!!! Upcoming goals for the troop include attending the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Bash, attend Kaleidoscope Camp, receive babysitting certification and planning for their camp out. What a wonderful group of girls, led by marvelous volunteer leaders... I think I witnessed future Interact members!!!
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Master PRLS Series Coming to Santa Maria Inn
Master PRLS 4 - Situational Leadership - Santa Maria Inn
An all day event/class acquainting students/attendees with the skills and tools necessary to assess team member's skills, fit the right people into the right jobs, and define the leasdership principles required in order to manage any team effectively. Please contact Heidi Kimbrell to register. heidi@centralcoastlending.com |
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Rotary Year 2012
Welcome to the 2012 Rotary Year under the leadership of Nancy Guthrie!!! As is the Rotary Way - do what you can to remain active!!! Do what you can to help with our ongoing activities!!! Do what you can to engage in your fellow Rotarian's lives!!! And do what you can to make a difference!!! We've already welcomed a new member - Carol Furtado... are hoping Dan Costley will be transferring in soon... and by all accounts, Alan Tognazzini will be joining our ranks as well!!! We are starting another Paul Harris Fellow Board - $10/sqaure.... We've got the Fish Fry, the Avacado Margarita Fest and the Harbor Fest all coming up... We've already had a couple of Round-a-Bout cleanups... and don't forget to start making plans for our Halloween Party as well as our Christmas Party!!! What a great start to the year!!! Thanks to all for what you do to make this club what it is...
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President's Social
For those of you who weren't able to attend - YOU MISSED OUT!!!!!!!!!!! What a great evening!!! Nancy made incredible food!!! Dave Owens bbq'd... Bruce bartended (loved the margaritas Bruce!!)... Don D brought the music (and some even kareokee'd)... Nancy and Art won for Best Hawaiian Shirts... The Ping Pong Tourney was a hit!!! Ken Stilts, John Weiss, Mike and Andrea Pond, your's truly, Rich Reidel, and Gregg Kaufman participated... The stories are true - Gregg Kaufman is quite the competitor taking home the trophy and title of Best Morro Bay Rotary Ping Ponger of 2012... start practicing now folks - Ping Pong 2013 isn't too far away... the warm and fuzzy story of the night was the the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow to Frank Martinez... this was a surprise to Frank who was visibly moved by the gesture... quite a special moment!!!!! and quite a special night!!!
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Our Very Own Club Members Hard At Work
August 7th's meeting provided a glimpse of the Board's various ventures in their respective roles... ~~We'd like to take a look at sponsoring the Lighted Boat Parade starting in 2013!!! ~~October 2012 is Vocational Services Month - please contact Heidi if you have a business that would like to come in and talk about what they do... and PERLS is coming to our Area - Master PRLS 1 (8/18), 2 (10/6), 3 (8/18), 4 (9/15) and 5 (11/3) are all being taught at the Santa Maria Inn, are all paid for by the Club and all promise to be of benefit to you both personally and professionally!!! ~~Public Relations, led by Amanda, is hoping to create an effective campaign thru the media to promote our Morro Bay Club in a positive light - let the public see what we are doing and what kind of difference we are making... ~~Fundraising, led by Meredith, is already busy with the annual Evening With Heart event, they are looking towards the Fish Fry, Avocado Margarita Fest, and the Harbor Fest too... Get out there and help!!! ~~International, led by Nick, is hoping, along with Clubs from groups 10, 11 and 12, to raise over $40,000 in order to fund 16 more preschools in Sri Lanka... ~~Awards, led by Jude, continues to emphasize participation in as many programs, projects, and community events as possible - we ROCK by the way!!! ~~Membership, led by Don D., has a goal of bringing in members through a new program called Ignite. We should all be looking at encouraging those we know, that we feel would make good Rotary members, to give us a look!!!
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Rotaractors Making a Difference!!!
What were we all doing in our early to mid 20's?? Probably not as much, nor making as much of a difference in our world, as our local Rotaract Club!!! Rotaract provides young professionals the opportunity ~to create a brighter future via local and international projects; ~for social and fellowship opportunities; and, ~for professional development. Rotaract fosters leadership, promotes high ethical standards and promotes International PEACE. Members Eric Wright and Megan Sullivan gave us an update on the local and international projects that the SLO Rotaract Club are undertaking. "In their spare time" they are serving breakfast at Prado Day Center, they mentor at-risk youth, participate in clean-up days at parks; Kids Spree thru United Way and more. They also take charge of the local Coats for Kids Drive as well as World Bicycle Relief who to date have provided 61 bicycles - sustainable transportation - to those living in Africa. They have so much to be proud of and we, as their sponsors, should be incredibly impressed!!! Keep up the good work!!!
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California's History of Law Enforcement
We were treated by Manny Silva, Sergeant at our very own Morro Bay Police Department to a history lesson on the origin of law enforcement on the Central Coast of California. Manny took us back 154 years when California was inundated by outlaws looking to take advantage of the gold rush. Of special note was the Jack Powers Gang, a hyper violent gang who's motto "if you're dead, you don't tell any tales", created fear in residents of SLO County. Then came Walter Murray, an attorney, who led a vigilant committee to rid the county of the gang thru community involvement and assistance. Murray's efforts along with those of the committee members, and after many violent battles to the death, pacified San Luis Obispo. This effort reflected a communities duty to eachother to preserve their fortunes and lives. This was the birth of law enforcement in SLO County.
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Master PRLS Series Coming to Santa Maria Inn
Master PRLS 3 - Facilitation Skills - Saturday August 18th
Master PRLS 3 - Facilitation Skills - Santa Maria Inn An all day event/class acquainting students/attendees with the skills and tools necessary to conduct effective goal setting and problem solving group meetings. Please contact Heidi Kimbrell to register. heidi@centralcoastlending.com |
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THANKS BILL!!!
For those fortunate enough to attend this year's President Demotion, we were treated to a wonderful evening of stories, laughs and even an original musical performance honoring our outgoing President - Bill Peirce. We even got to double dip as we also said good-bye (and Welcome Back) to Eco-Rotary's outgoing President, John Weiss... Mike Pond, Nancy Guthrie and an assortment of "helper-bee's" made it an evening to remember!!! Loved the "be-dazzled" radios, the variety of suspenders worn by all, the recycled awards and the decorated emergency vest that Bill wore with pride... Congratulations to Bill on a job well done... and Congratulations to Nancy Guthrie as she was named Morro Bay's Rotarian of the Year... We all look forward to 2012/13 with enthusiasm to see what we, as the Rotary Club of Morro Bay, can accomplish!!!
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What have you done to be of service lately??2012 has been a great year for Morro Bay Rotary!! Round-a-Bout Clean-ups... PRLS... Socials... Golf Tournament... Evening with Heart... March Madness... and soon to be the Fish Fry... Morro Bay Car Show... 4th of July... Harbor Fest... MBHS Scholarships... etc... etc... etc... Hope you are all able to do what you can for the cause!!! Such a wonderful way to keep connected with your City, with your Club and with those we serve!! 2012 has brought WONDERFUL SPEAKERS!!! We've learned a lot about our members through craft talks... Matt Franklin, Meredith and John Fennacy, Rick Grantham, Mike Shaffron - what lives we've all led... It is always gratifying to hear the roads we've all taken - the places we've all lived - the people we've met along the way - and most importantly, the lives we've changed!!!! We met Woody and his wife who work with PROJECT LIFESAVER, a volunteer search and rescue program aimed at helping those with dementia/alzheimers by giving those in the program transmitters should they go missing. They have helped over 385 clients over the years and boast a 100% success rate... San Luis Ambulance educated us in the increasing technology of being in the Emergency Medical Service profession. New monitors, high tech computer equipment so that interfacing with the hospitals can be done quickly, auto-pulse which aides in the performance of CPR... all more efficient which means we are in great hands - should we need the help!! The Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce - which has always been in great hands under the leadership of our very own Craig Schmidt - is doing the best to BUILD A BETTER MORRO BAY!!! Their hope is to promote community, create a strong local economy, provide a network of opportunities and be an advocate for business!! Shannon McQuat is the Marketing & Outreach Coordinator for TRANSITIONS, a mental health advocate organizaton who provide support services for those living with mental health issues and their families thru the SLO Hotline, SLO the STIGMA, Housing programs, Employment programs, Growing Grounds Farm, Family Services and much, much more... Needless to say there's always lots to learn... lots to do... and many ways to help!!! That's it for now - talk soon... jamie |
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Mary's Medical Mission to Cuba
We were lucky to be able to hear about and this time see thru pictures, Mary's most recent trip - this time to Cuba via Key West, Florida... she found Cuba very clean but at the same time very shabby as they don't have the money to keep up appearances... she also noted that there is a big push to rehabilitate the larger, more historical buildings figuring that the safer and nicer those buildings are, the more tourists may come bringing more money to the area as they depend heavily on tourism for their economy... the government even owns the local restaurants and hotels because they can ensure that toursits are properly taken care of... she found the people incredibly friendly and in fact observed that there is no racism in Cuba - everybody is equal... she also noticed that there is no decent transportation system which she felt is one of their biggest problems... the most bizarre fact was that most everyone owned a song bird who they then enter into competitions for the "best song bird" - seemed like a weird hobby for people who are so impoverished... we look forward to Mary's next trip so that we can live vicariously thru her stories and pictures...
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Kelli Calloway - Rotary's very own Ambassadorial Scholar
We were treated to a talk by Kelli Calloway, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Visalia and sponsored by Rotary Club 5230 who visited Queensland/Brisbane, Australia and stayed for 11 months. The Ambassadorial Scholar Program is one of Rotary's oldest and best known programs that promotes information and good will by studying abroad; promotes service above self as Ambassadors of Goodwill; and, develops humanitarian leaders by participating in Rotary Service Projects. As a Rotary Ambassador, Kelli received her Master's Degree in International Public Health. She learned about Rotary through her many travels, through Australia's District Conferences, Inbound and Outbound Scholar orientations and Rotary related research. She served as an Ambassador of Goodwill by interacting daily with the host country, attending workshops and seminars, attending Interact and Rotaract meetings as well as giving many presentations. She represented Service about Self as she volunteered her time helping with flood disaster relief efforts, ran a shelter-box fundraiser as well as ran Project NOW (Nurturing our Women). She also went to the Soloman Island where she put her efforts into education, literacy and safe drinking water. Kelli looks forward to a life long affiliation with Rotary!!! Kelli - we salute you and your efforts!!!
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Changing the world... One school at a time...
I for one was incredibly impressed with the Story of HANDS IN NEPAL - a local organization run almost exclusively by a local family living in Santa Margarita - the Chaffins... Jan Sprague-Chaffin - spoke to us about her son - Danny... Young Mr. Daniel Chaffin, a college student trying to find his place in the world - knew he wanted to make a difference... at the encouragement of his parents, he went on-line, did some research on those in need and decided that he was purchasing a ticket to Nepal... there he volunteered his time for a year where he worked in an orphanage and lived with a local family. He witnessed first hand the issues facing these impoverished, at-risk children. After a year back home, he decided he wanted to return so took the semester off, figuring that the money he saved by not attending school for a semester could actually build a school in Nepal which he, his family and the local villagers then went on to build. Since then, they have built 2 schools and are planning even more... all it took was a dream and desire to do the work - the rest (along with a whole lot of time, hard work, and generous donations) "was cake"... they encourage anybody interested in learning about HANDS IN NEPAL and the work they are doing/planning or even better, making a tax deductible donation - please visit their website - www.handsinnepal.org .
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Symposium to End Poverty Sustainably STEPS
I didn't get to go this year thanks to the flu! But 13 of our club members rode down in Gary Englund's RV bus to Santa Barbara and took part in STEPS. As you know this has to do with poverty. Now I can speak to poverty because I know first hand what it's like to be poor. As an organization we pay a lot of attention to the extreme poverty that is evident in third world countries and we should. But poverty here in our country is on the increase -- even here in our own county. The number of homeless people continues to rise and these are not just the mentally ill and alcoholic. Many of these people are ordinary people like you and me who have fallen on hard times. I live every day with the realization of how close I am personally to joining their ranks. Oddly enough there is little assistance for someone like me since government programs that do any kind of help, such as food stamps, are not available to someone in my bracket. I am one of those people who don't have enough income to truly live a poverty free life and but have too much according to the powers that be to get any help. Why am I writing this to you? As Rotary members I feel we need to do more right here in our own back yard. Yes, I know we donate clothing and warm coats and some food items every year at Christmas time. It's not enough. Are we really looking at the causes of this situation? Are we talking to our government representatives? Are we saying anything to the business community about jobs? Are we doing anything to foster more jobs? Are we even discussing this? Or do we just want to sweep it under the rug. I'd like to see us take STEPS to solving poverty in our own town, in our own county, in our own country. Think about it and let me know your thoughts. Ruth Ann, a member of the Invisible Poor |
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GET ON THE BUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Cee Cee Lane, Regional Coordinator of the local chapter of "GET ON THE BUS" enlightened us about their wonderful program. Established in 1999, this program reunites children with their incarcerated parent. Its ALL about these kids, who have done nothing wrong and yet are "serving time" for their parent's mistakes. Studies show that this program has been a visible motivator for both parent and child - the prisoners continue to maintain good behavior so that they are able to see their children... the kids are just thrilled to be able to spend quality with their parent - even for just the day... its a memory that lasts a lifetime!!! Like all non-profits, this program could use your financial help - if not, then your time or treasures are always appreciated!!! Contact Cee Cee to see how you might be able to be of service.
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CHRISTMAS AT THE CASTLE
Our favorite Castle employee, Victoria, regaled us with more interesting stories of the Hearst family last Tuesday... the Hearst family, who loved Christmas, ensured that their decorations would be second to none... boasting over 100 wreaths of all sizes, hundreds and hundreds of poinsettias, Christmas trees and spectacular holiday colors - Hearst Castle should be on everybody's "to do" list this holiday season. Having changed their tours, you can now take a guided tour and then spend countless hours on a self guided "walk-around" the gardens for as long as you'd like... |
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A Special Paul Harris Fellow
At our 11-29 meeting Arby and Rob Kitzman awarded Wayne Bickford with a Paul Harris Fellow. Wayne is Arby's father-in-law and as he told us, was like a father to him since Arby lost his Dad a year after getting married to Wayne's daughter. Wayne did an awful lot of things for this community over the years and this award does only a bit to give back to one of our pioneer Morro Bay people.
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Enjoying the Bird at Morro Bay Community Center
Didn't cook this year (well, didn't cook last year either), but I did enjoy the heaping portions of turkey and all the fisings at the Thanksgiving Dinner put on by the Morro Bay Police Department and Rotary. Yummy! They fed 500 people at the center and delivered 100 meals to folks at home. What a great event and what a great group for putting this on. It made my Thanksgiving Day!
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A Social at Morro Bay Wine Seller
If you didn't come, then you missed it -- the nice social gathering we held at the Morro Bay Wine Seller in Marina Square on the Embarcadero. Those of us who came enjoyed a nice selection of wines poured by Vicki and a great spread. Lots of chit-chat, mucnhing, and wine, wine, wine -- also, lots of fun! There are more photos in the photo section of this web site -- take a look. |
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PARENT'S MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Ron and Ruth Vasconcelios, established the North County Adaptive Sports and Recreation Program, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide special needs children and adults the opportunity to interact in a variety of activities. They partner with many organizations which include the City of Atascadero, Kennedy Club Fitness, the Knights of Columbus, and Cal Poly in providing aquatics programs, team sports programs as well as educational opportunities. They currently boast 53 enrolled and most nights can see between 30-40 participants playing basketball, volleyball, bocce ball, kick ball, swimming or even their newest class - line dancing. Their goal, thru participation in these many activities, is to improve self esteem, self awareness but most importantly, to HAVE FUN!!! Their most recent endeavor is to build permanent Bocce Ball courts at Colony Park - they are confident that this dream will soon become a reality. They encourage anybody and everybody to join them - in fact, for those of you looking for something to do this or any Thursday night - join them in Atascadero at Colony Park from 5:30-7:00pm - you won't regret it!!!
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Tsunami 101
TSU - HARBOR; NAMI - WAVE = TSUMANI... Weather Expert, and fellow Rotarian, John Lindsey gave us an abbreviated version of harbor wave action and the impacts they could have on land. He explained that there are 3 types of ocean waves - 1) wind generated waves; 2) tidal cycle waves; and, 3) tsunamis (or seismic sea waves). The wave length (measured crest to crest) tells us which kind of wave we are seeing. In a worst case scenario, seismic action creates the swells, then based on the wave length - the longer the wave length, the more the wave continues to surge - you can determine the height of a tsunami and very possibly what damage it has the potential to do. Well, at least John can do that... us?? not so much...
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Morro Bay Singers!No one can accuse the Morro Bay club of being shy. At a recent meeting a number of our illustrious members serenaded us with their amazing rendition of Petula Clark's "Downtown" via a Karaoke machine. I have to say that using the machine really did help the quality of our singing. However, I hope we go back to sterling renditions of "God Bless America" soon. I took a little video of the fools performing at the front of the room and I am sure much to their dismay, posted it on You Tube. |
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OUR HEART IS FOR THE CHILDREN
Unbeknownst to this Rotarian, we have a group of humanitarians working for the kids of our area. Director Jim Davis gave us a glimpse of God's Havens for Children, a non-profit, christian based, organization who are dedicated to recruiting, screening, training, organizing and supervising adult mentors and volunteers in our community in their efforts to provide foster services and youth mentoring opportunities to needy kids in this county. They firmly believe that by investing time into the life of a young person, the door is opened for that young person to achieve the confidence necessary to flourish. We can all help - while being a foster parent or youth mentor may not be for you - their needs are many... you can help by volunteering, providing gifts for the children (birthdays or christmas), donation of canned goods and meals, or financial donations for special situations. They also sponsor fundraisers throughout the year - visit their website at www.ghfci.org or feel free to stop by their offices located at 895 Napa, Ste A-2 to learn more about how you can help!!
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News of our Estuary
Adriane Harris, Director of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program, gave us a snapshot of "State of our Estuary". As one of only 28 nationally recognized Estuaries, we are easily one of the smallest but also probably the most pristine. Their mission is to Protect and Restore the Morro Bay Estuary and Watershed for People and Wildlife. In order to achieve this, they strive to protect habitat and water quality; to understand through monitoring and research; to restore habitat and water quality; and to educate the community to become empowered. As such, they have a very strong volunteer corp - over 100 strong - who monitor water quality studies which then tell us how the health of our local streams are - anything that impacts the streams by definition, impacts the Estuary. Their offices are located upstairs in the Marina Square where the Estuary Nature Center also calls home. There, locals and visitors alike can visit and learn all about our local and national Estuary system. They encourage anybody interested in registering for their mailing list, in their many volunteer opportunities or learning about the water quality of our Estuary to visit their website: www.mbnep.org .
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Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County - CAPSLO
Allen Reese is the Director of Development of CAPSLO. CAPSLO was founded as part of the War on Poverty back in the mid-60s, with the Head Start Program being their initial project. Since its inception, CAPSLO is now providing services to low income, seniors, and those dealing with daily challenges. In addition to Head Start, programs include an Adult Day Services Center, Energy Services, a Senior Home Repair Program, a Utility Assistance Program, Senior Health Screening, and Forty Wonderful - Health Screening for Women. He implored us to call or email him with questions or to refer anyone you may know who may be in need of these services. CAPSLO 544-4355, ext# 120 or areese@capslo.org . For the more personal approach, you can also contact our very own Rick Grantham who currently serves on the CAPSLO Board of Directors.
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Rotary Artifact Donated to Area Business
Self-proclaimed auction addict Don Hudson surprised Nancy Guthrie with a Rotary International sign that she had been coveting for some time. Her plans are to hang said sign on the side of her business building for all to see. Don bid $100 in order to obtain the sign which he has since learned he can take as a tax deduction. (thanks George!!)
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Financial Craft Talk
George Ross completely dumbfounded us with his wealth of information on how to get around paying the government more than you ever wanted to! Just kidding! He actually gave us, in 20 minutes, a lot of valuable information about cash donations, investments, stocks, vehicles, proper documentation and more in regards to filing your income taxes. For example, if you decide to donate your auto, your boat or your plane (!) to a deserving organization, you can only get the value of what they auction it for. Also, if items are valued at more than $5000 they must be appraised by a qualified appraiser. But most importantly, if you want to keep yourself from being audited, make sure you keep a well
documented paper trail including digital photos, receipts, and the value of your
credentialed professional time for volunteer work. For for most of us, keep your donation amount low in order to avoid trouble or if you are unsure, see a qualifed, certified, professional tax person.
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Conductor Martinez
At the Pops by the Sea event held in Avila Beach over Labor Day weekend, Frank Martinez was given the thrill of a lifetime... he was surprised by his kids and asked to conduct the Symphony Orchestra in a rousing rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever. The Pop's concert along with Frank's family raised over $11,500 which is then donated to central coast public schools for music education. Frank was humbled, however upon attending the following Rotary meeting he regained his usual flair for the dramatic in telling us about his experience. To quote him he said, "I thought that song would NEVER end!"
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PRLS Series Coming to Santa Maria Inn
To All Club Members: Please make a note on your calendars – PRLS (Potential Rotary Leadership Seminars) Classes are coming to Upcoming Schedule*:
August 13th, 2011 Master PRLS 3 Santa Maria Inn August 27th, 2011 Master PRLS 4 Santa Maria Inn September 17th, 2011 Master PRLS 1 Santa Maria Inn September 24th, 2011 Master PRLS 2 Santa Maria Inn October 8th, 2011 Master PRLS 5 Santa Maria Inn |
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Latest News & Announcements...
Nancy Guthrie - PHF pinned! Nancy brought her husband Dan for their 5th Anniversary and was pinned on June 14th with a Paul Harris Fellowship by Eric Luthi. Good going Nancy! 50/50 Drawing Winner - Dan Costley from local Cayucos Rotary Club is 1 of 3 winners of the 50/50 Drawing. Dan received $600. Good job Dan! Paul Harris Fellow Recognition - Our newest Paul Harris Fellow donation was recieved by Chase Mendoza on 6/7/2011. Chase is the son of Becky and Nick Mendoza of Morro Bay Rotary. Jim Sanders recieved his 2nd Paul Harris Fellowship on 6/7/2011. Yellow Badge Recipient - Our very own Jamie Boucher has stepped up to a Yellow Badge! Congratulations Jamie! Hapitok Camp Day - July 8th at 12pm-1pm. Camp Hapitok is sponsored by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education to provide an intensive educational program to elementary age children with communication disabilities. Come have a fun and help children in need! See Gary Owens for more information and sign up sheet. Annual Fish Fry Fundraiser - Saturday, August 20th from 11am-7pm. Once again we will be co-hosting the fish fry fundraiser with the ladies of the CCWF. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS for set-up, clean up and DONATIONS for this event! See Bill Pierce for details.
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Eco-Rotary Charter planned for June 23rd!!!
An exciting Eco-Rotary Charter Night is being planned for the Morro Bay Golf Course on Thursday June 23rd. Social will start at 5:30 and meeting at 6:00 PM and finished by 7 PM. Come check it out and celebrate our district's newest club and the first Eco-Rotary club on the West Coast! It counts as a make-up AND you may learn something about our environment. District Governor Deepa Willingham will be among our honored participants. She has requested that all Charter Members will receive Sam Greene pins! Deepa is inviting all 70+ clubs to attend so we could have quite a bit of celebration support! Meetings are scheduled on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. Service Above Self. For additional information, please contact John Weiss at 805-748-9615.
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Rotary International NewsEvery Rotarian, Every Year (EREY) Help The Rotary Foundation make a lasting difference...
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District 5240 News
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What's Happening – Upcoming Events:WHAT'S HAPPENING Annual Fish Fry Fundraiser: Saturday August 20, 2011 - 2:00pm to 7:00pm, held at the Morro Bay Veteran's Building: 209 Surf St., Morro Bay. Ticket prices: Adults $10, Kids 8 and under $5. Get with Nancy Guthrie to sell tickets for the fundraiser. Tickets are also available at: Morro Bay Fire Dept.: 715 Harbor St. Central Coast Sportsfishing: 725 Embarcadero Coast Electronics: Quintana and Kennedy Way August 25 at 6 PM - Club Social at Mi Casa Restaurant on Morro Bay Blvd. September 25 Sunday - 2011 Hunger Walk at St. Timothy's Catholic Church - starts at 1 PM and the Walk at 2 PM. Proceeds from this fundraiser are shared 75% with SLO County Food Bank that serves over 40,000 people in our county, and 25% CARE for hungry people in our world. How can you help? Go to www.slofoodbank.org and click on "Hunger Walk" and follow the instructions to be a sponsor. |
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Tuesday July 5th 5:30 PM President Mike's Demotion
Hard to believe that it has been one year! Please comeTuesday July 5th for President Mike's demotion. Hail to the Chief! The Demotion Committee has been working on the entertainment which promises to be very, well ENTERTAINING! Did we mention Gary Ryan? It will be a PARTY to remember! |
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Welcome to New Member
At our luncheon meeting of August 30th, Rotary Club of Morro Bay welcomed new member Matt Franklin. Nick Mendoza sponsored Matt who is in the property management business with his father Jack Franklin. Matt is a long time member of service clubs and looks forward to his
time with us. Make sure you introduce yourself to Matt next time you
see him.We wish Matt welcome and hope he will enjoy being in our club.
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Survivors! by Ruth Ann Angus
On August 2nd we were privileged to hear from an awesome teenager who
took a devastating time in her life and did something positive with it.
Melinda Marchiano was 13 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. A
12.5 cm tumor was lodged around her trachea making breathing difficult
for her. This mass contained blood vessels and nerve endings and was
painful. But at the time neither she nor her doctors knew that it was
there. After an agonizing time searching for the cause as to why she
felt so ill, a simple X-ray finally showed the mass. But finding that it
was cancer was a revelation for her.
Young people in their teens are often victims of this type of cancer, but Melinda was rather young to have come down with this. She endured months of chemotherapy having five separate types of chemo drugs pumped into her frail body. This along with many medications that cancer patients must endure in order to boost their immune systems while fighting their disease took a toll on her. She certainly did not enjoy her first year as a teenager. Fourteen days of intense radiation followed the chemo. While she thought that the end of treatment would mean the end of feeling horrible, she found out that this is far from the case. A terrible eating disorder began as well as other after effects of the cancer treatments. It was a long and difficult struggle for a girl who loved to dance and yearned to be out on the stage with her contemporaries, on pointe, in her ballet shoes. What did she do with all of this? She wrote. Melinda wrote and wrote and detailed every nuance of her cancer journey. The eventual outcome of this journaling was a full-fledged book, her memoir,entitled "Grace." I had the pleasure of speaking at the Relay For Life along with Melinda and I am proud to say that we both had a good story to tell. As far as we know we have beaten our cancers. Her PET scan and x-Rays no longer show the mass or any cancer cells in her body. I, too, have been given a clean bill of health. Today, August 9th, is the four year anniversary of my breast cancer surgery. I have been reading Melinda's book and am horribly reliving my cancer journey. Although we had different types of cancer and we are about 50+ years difference in age, our cancer experiences are eerily the same. Melinda did not leave out anything -- the pain and misery of the Neupegen shots that were to help us with our immune system and blood counts, all the medications besides the chemo, the nausea, the vomiting, the pain all over our bodies, the dizziness, and the never ending fatigue, one of the after effects I am left with apparently for the rest of my life. Melinda is young and hopefully will outgrow these things. She conquered her eating disorder and now appears as a beautiful, healthy young woman. Survivors. That is what they call anyone who has come out of battling cancer and is still living. I never related to that terminology nor could I accept myself as a survivor for these past four years. And although my oncologist feels that my type of cancer, which was supposed to return in a year according to statistics and has not, is gone for good, I remain skeptical and cautious. Why? Because there is NO CURE FOR CANCER. Until medical science knows why certain peoples' immune systems are incapable of destroying rogue cells in our bodies, we cannot use the word cure. Chemotherapy is only a treatment. It is not a cure. This is why I participate each year since my cancer recovery in Relay For Life with the American Cancer Society to raise money to go towards cancer research. My humble thank you to everyone who donated, raised funds, and participated in this year's Relay For Life. You can be assured that you have contributed to a cause that will continue to bring newer and better treatments for cancer victims and hopefully find that elusive cure so that we will never again lose anyone to this awful disease. Melinda and I are proud to be SURVIVORS! |
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Rotary Club of Morro Bay charters new Eco-Rotary of Morro Bay
On the evening of June 23 representatives from Rotary clubs from Morro Bay, Grover Beach, Cambria, and Los Osos as well as district Governor Deepa Willingham gathered to welcome and officially charter the new Eco-Rotary Club of Morro Bay. This new Rotary club is only the third ecologically oriented club in the world and will be a pace setter for new clubs to follow. Already they have two environmental projects in the works. The club is off to a great start and with John Weiss as President is sure to grow and accomplish much. District Governer Deepa spoke to the group explaining what Rotary is all about and telling them about the late Sam Greene and how he first got involved with Rotary. Our club enjoyed hearing from Sam back in April at our 60th Anniversary. It's our great loss that Sam has gone to his heavenly reward. To commemorate this new accomplishment of establishing Eco-Rotary, Deepa told the group that they would be receiving a special pin this night. It was the Sam Greene membership pin and she cautioned the new members not to give it away, or sell it, or lose it, because these are the only ones that exist. Presidents Dick Pacaoan of the Los Osos Rotary and President Mike Pond of the Morro Bay Rotary gave welcome speeches. Then New President John Weiss introduced all of the Charter Members. There followed the pinning ceremony and presentation of gifts. Eco-Rotary is a wonderful way for local people to do something environmentally positive for their community. The club is also perfect for folks who cannot make a luncheon or breakfast meeting as this club will meet every second and fourth Thursday at 5:30 P.M. at the Morro Bay Golf Course. Watch the news regarding this group because it is without a doubt that you will be hearing about good things from them. Photos of the Charter night are posted in the Photo section of this web site. |
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Poverty Conference Report
Rotary International Future Vision - Symposium to Eliminate Poverty Sustainably
A Report by Ruth Ann Angus It's tough for me to do an all day event that starts in the wee hours of the morning and goes until evening. Since cancer, my energy level is truly compromised. However, I am very glad I attended what we refer to as the Poverty Conference. About 400 people came to the Santa Maria Fair Park on Saturday, January 29th. You met Julius Achon last week at our meeting and heard his story. He was our first speaker and truly touched our hearts. It's difficult for us to really comprehend what it must be like to live in the kind of poverty he spoke about, not to mention the strife caused by continual warfare in these regions. The fact that a person can endure being abducted at age 12 into an abusive military and still come out of that experience with the will to do good for others is amazing. Julius told us about finding 11 orphaned children that he didn't hesitate to bring to his home and have his family care for them. This when his family was living on less than $2 a day. He has since set up the Uganda Children's Fund to continue helping children in his country. His talk set the mood for the rest of our day. As attendees at the conference we all picked workshop sessions to attend. There were six sessions, but time constraints made it only possible to choose two. Mine were Basic Education and Literacy and Economic & Community Development. I am convinced that education is the major key in assisting third world countries to crawl their way up out of poverty. Furthermore, I am convinced that it is imperative to educate girls. When we educate a boy, he leaves his home area and goes out into the world. When we educate a girl, she stays home and improves the living situation. There is much to consider in attempting to bring education to many of these countries. It is not just book learning that is necessary, but food and health services have to be provided. Many children do not live past age five. We are talking about countries in Africa, Afghanistan, and India where the most extreme poverty exists Some of you are familiar with our District Governor Deepa Willingham's organization PACE Universal that has built a school in a rural town in India primarily for girls. There are 170 girls attending and 180 are on the waiting list. These children desire education. The organization is now realizing that they need to extend schools in other areas; they need to also educate boys; they need to help adults learn to read and write; they need to provide vocational training for adults. It is a lot to do, but inch by inch they are going forward. Deepa confided in me that she is intending to fulfill a desire of my heart and that is a school for girls in Afghanistan. She has meetings already planned to begin this process. One of our goals for our club was to fund schooling for a child in a Muslim country. This was my suggestion at our Strategic Planning meeting a couple of years ago and is still on the table for us to accomplish. Supplying as little as $300 a year can buy books, pencils, paper and other school supplies for more than one student in Afghanistan. I also spoke with Deepa about the possibility of Rotary funding secondary education or college education in the United States for young women from Afghanistan as well as doing the school project she has in mind. It is something she and I will have further discussion about. There was so much more that we all learned at this conference -- Maternal and Child Health, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Water and Sanitation, and Peace and Conflict Resolution. It seems overwhelming, but many of our clubs are working on these projects in conjunction with Rotary clubs around the world. I left the conference boosted with the knowledge that we CAN make a difference and these are real projects that even a small club like Morro Bay Rotary can accomplish. It is the reason that I belong to Rotary because in spite of illness and my own relative poverty, I still want to give back to humanity what I can. In comparison, I have so much when they have so little. |
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Welcome New Member
We welcomed new member Morro Bay Police Commander Bryan Millard to our club on September 21st. Police Chief Tim Olivas sponsored Bryan. Bryan looks forward to participating in all the fun events we have here at Morro Bay Rotary.
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MBHS Club Rush 2010
Morro Bay High School students signed up in droves during Club Rush! Over 70 students signed up during this event which was held on Thursday September 9th in the school courtyard. Rotarians present included Morro Bay President Mike Pond, Los Osos President Dick Pacaoan, John Weiss, Nancy Guthrie, Nick Mendoza, Don Doubledee, Don Hudson, Andrea Klipfel, Judy Salamacha, and Andrea Pond.... Our Faculty Advisor Bruce Badrigan was also there encouraging the students to participate.
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Exciting News on Interact at Morro Bay High School
The Rotary Clubs of Morro Bay and Los Osos are working to sponsor an Interact Club at Morro Bay High School. Interacters are between 12 and 18 years of age. World-wide there are over 6,000 Interactor Clubs and over 150,000 Interactors in over 100 countries!
Teacher extrordinaire Bruce Badrigan is the Faculty Advisor, Shirley Hulin is the Los Osos Rotary Club representative, and John Weiss is the representative for the Rotary Club of Morro Bay. So far, 90 students have expressed an interest in Interact. We anticipate, to charter the Interact Club of Morro Bay High School on Tuesday November 2nd! District Governor Deepa Willingham and Club President of Calcutta (India) will be among many honored guests. More news to follow on this special celebration! Incoming club officers were elected: Darek Mendoza-President; Courtney Pask-Vice President; Laura Clark-Treasurer; Rebecca Radke-Secretary; and President Elect-Rose Badrigan. Congratulations to all! |
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Rotary is About Membership!
Rotary is about Membership. For Rotary to do its work in our communities, we need new members to grow AND we need to retain those already. Seminars were hosted in our district to share ideas about membership. Our own Don Hudson, a newer member, was on a panel to discuss what attracted him to Rotary and what changes are recommended. A wealth of information is on our District website including our recent KSBY story on honoring Rotarian Bob Ransom.
Best practices include involving newer members while listening to those with experience. Community projects are a big reason people are attracted to Rotary. Welcome new members to participate socially. Invite others you like to have FUN with to participate in Rotary projects. Don Doubledee has assembled handbags for new members filled with items from our members business. Rotarians are not only good for the community, they're good for business! So network and have FUN! President Mike Pond's goal for his year is a net gain of ten. We've added some and lost some. Let's make it happen by making our current members feel appreciated while introducing Rotary to community minded leaders. Together we will grow and have FUN, of course! |
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Rotary Exchange Student
We were recently introduced to our Rotary Exchange Student Joao from Brazil who is staying with Nancy Guthrie while he attends Morro Bay High School. Joao passed around a colorful booklet about his country and promised to give us a program on where he comes from and his experience as an exchange student soon. We welcome him to our country and to our Rotary Club.
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Rotary Youth ExchangeOn August 17th our regular luncheon meeting was delighted to hear from Michelle Pond and Rotary Youth Exchange student from France, Agathe! We learned the proper pronunciation of her name and found out that she actually lives in the Brittany section of France. The people in Brittany are descended from a group of people who settled in the area long ago and are not directly related to the rest of the population of the country. They speak a separate language too, although Agathe didn't give us any examples of that and greeted us in traditional French - Bonjour! |
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Rotaract Coats for Kids
The Rotaract Club of San Luis Obispo is organizing a "Coats for Kids" drive from August through October 2010. Similar to "Toys for Tots," coat collection stations will be set up
throughout SLO at local schools, banks, churches and high traffic
businesses to collect old jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts and coats. In Morro Bay, you can donate coats at Coast Electronics/RadioShack in Morro Bay located at 510 Quintana Road. |
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Two New Members!
Graham Pask
and Ambrè Amers were welcomed as new members to our club by sponsors Mike Pond
and John Weiss. Pins and plaques and congratulations were handed out to them by
District Governor Deepa Willingham. Both new members have agreed
to get started in the club as new bulletin writers next month!
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Who Is This Governor?
Deepa spoke
about her mother and father and how as a small child she learned from them that
no human being is beneath anyone else - some people just happen to be born
poor. As an Indian family they were well aware in their lives of the caste
system in India, however, she said she and her siblings regarded an elderly
couple associated with the family as "grandparents" regardless of their
standing within the caste system. This training by her parents is obviously a
good part of the reason that Deepa sees all people on the same level as
herself. No one is any better, nor any less. |
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We Relay Once Again
It's nearly upon us - our second year doing Relay For
Life to help raise funds to fight cancer with the American Cancer Society. I
know you've been hearing from us in these past few weeks about the Relay, but
reinforcing how important this event is can't happen too often.
Personally I would like to thank everyone who has
contributed and those of you who are planning to come out and walk with
us. As a two year cancer survivor I am
heartened by your support. Rotary accomplishes many things, not the least of
them raising money for causes like this one. I am proud that we support so many
fine community projects and even extend our efforts to aid for foreign
countries. Who would think that a few people from a small area on the Central
Coast of California could accomplish so much? |
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DG Deepa Willingham's Rotary Car!
You have to see it to believe it! Our District Governor Deepa Willingham has outfitted her new Mercedes to reflect her passion for Rotary! Deepa is an inspiring lady who visited the Rotary Club of Morro Bay on Tuesday August 10th. Among Rotary's goals is to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. Deepa is also passionate about elimnating extreme poverty. She is doing something about it, too!
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District 5240 Membership Seminars
Membership and PR Seminars are great opportunities to grow in Rotary! Seminar costs are paid for by our club which includes breakfast, meeting rooms, and speakers. Attend either Bakersfield on Saturday August 21st or Santa Barbara on Saturday August 28th. Meetings start at 8:30 AM and finish at 12:30 PM. Home hosting can be arranged for Friday night. Questions may be directed to Past President John Weiss 805-748-9615.
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Lois Martinez
Lois
Margaret Martinez, 82, resident of San Luis Obispo for 46 years, died Tuesday,
July 13, 2010. In recent years, despite surgeries and declining health, Lois
maintained a robust travel schedule to stay in touch with her family around
California and visit her favorite vacation spot, Avalon on Catalina Island.
Lois Martinez was
well-known throughout the San Luis Obispo area for support of schools, foreign
student exchange programs, local arts and music, but especially support for the
foundation and development of Cuesta Community College.
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Hail to the Chief!
Hail to the Chief!
President Mike Pond's first meeting was exciting and moving! Mike arranged for a talented bagpipe player and started the meeting in a most impressive fashion. A procession began with a bagpipe player playing, the American flag carried by Police Chief Olivas and Fireman's axes by Chief Jeff Jones and Firefighter Graham Paske, followed by our new (Chief) Club President, Mike Pond. Mike proceeded to teach us our new Rotary three way test, something about fun, hard work, and fellowship... We will all have a great Rotary year! Mike's wife Andrea helped with the hard work for our first meeting. Many of the collected Rotary Club Flags were proudly hung around the room. I understand we have hundreds and hundreds of these special momentos. Each representing a special experience by one of our club members. We learned the words to "Hail to the Chief" Obviously some thought went in to adapting the song to include the inspiration to participate and support our club for the greater good of our community. |
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PRLS Classes make Great Rotary Moments!
Please make a note on your calendars – PRLS (Potential Rotary Leadership Seminars) Classes are fantastic Rotary moment opportunities! These lectures broadly cover the desired skills our leaders should have to effectively plan, organize, manage, promote, present orally, and lead in .........
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Community Giving to a Community Treasure
Police Chief Tim Olivas announce the work done for Grace Poletti.
Instead of rebuilding her stairs to the upstairs unit, he and his
volunteers repaired the downstairs bathroom so she could use the
downstairs. The work was paid for by donation, including $350 from our
Rotary Club.
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Another New Member!
Andrea Lueker joined President John to
induct Interim Public Service Director Rob Livick. Andrea said she has
enjoyed working with Rob very much and is sure he will be a good
Rotarian. Rob is the 14th member inducted in to our club! Rob brings a good sense of humor and community. Welcome Rob #3!
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Interact Informational Meeting at MBHS
An Informational meeting regarding the interest by the students to form an Interact Club was explored on Thursday May 27th. A dozen students and Rotraians from Morro Bay and Los Osos were present. Fortunately, teacher Bruce Badrigan made himself available to be the new club's Faculty Advisor. Each Interact Club is comprised of students 14-18 years of age. There are over 250,000 Interactors in over 120 countries. Each Interact Club picks it own leaders and projects to work towards. If interested in more information, please contact John Weiss at 805-748-9615.
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Another New Member!
On Tuesday May 25th, Rob Kitzman of Culligan Water was inducted in to our club. Rob was sponsored by his father Arby who has been active in Morro Bay for many years. Arby also asked his sponsor, Chuck Clarke, to come up for the
presentation as well. Rob has been with Culligan for 16 years and took over the
business to allow Arby to walk off into the sunset of retirement (fat chance).
Rob is married to Tracy (21 years) and has three children, Annie, Ryan, and Tyler. He realized that
the Morro Bay Rotary Club was something he wanted to get involved with after
watching his dad's commitment to community service through our club for many
years. The Rotary Club of Morro Bay welcomes the Rob Kitzman family to our family!
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MBHS Students share their RYLA experiences!
Stuart McElhinney introduced three of the four high school students who attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards in Ojai by both our club and the Los Osos club. The four students were Marissa Hay of Mission Prep High School, Rebecca Radke and Dan Moskowitz of Morro Bay High and Laura Clark, also of MBHS who couldn't be here due to her competing in CIF for swimming. Laura is pictured here who was able to attend the program in Los Osos (absent Rebecca Radke from photo).
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Rotarians at Work Day Saturday April 24th
The Rotary Coastal Clubs of Cayucos Seaside, Los Osos and Morro Bay came together at the Morro Strand State Beach Park to work on a Sand Dunes Restoration Project for Rotarians at Work Day. Under the guidance of California State Parks staffers Jodi Isaacs, John Sayers and Park volunteer Lauren Danner, the 22 volunteers put on their boots and gloves to pull out dead non-native European beach grass on the dunes. This grass was planted many years ago to stabilize the dunes and it has helped create unnaturally large, tall and steep dunes not characteristic to the area. Perched and balanced on the tall dunes, Rotarians worked to eradicate the beach grass. The cleared space will allow more room for native plants and animals and benefit endangered species like the Snowy Plovers and the Morro Shoulderband snail thus restoring the dune community to a natural functioning ecosystem. Rotary volunteers enjoyed the perfect weather, had fun working and left feeling accomplished and informed after coming together for this truly "grassroots" project for the betterment of our beautiful Coastal area. Thanks to Dan Costley, Daudi Kaliisa, John Weiss, Jude Long and all of the volunteers who participated.
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60th Anniversary Photos
Some of the photos that I took are now on this site. Check out Photos on the Home Page.
Ruth Ann |
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60th Anniversary Letter
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
John Kenny President, 2009–10 Fax 847.866.3390 17 April 2010 To the members of the Rotary Club of Morro Bay Dear Fellow Rotarians, Congratulations to all of you as you celebrate your club's 60th anniversary. Sixty years ago, your club's charter members felt that Rotary's ideal of service to the community was worthy and credible, and for this reason they laid the foundation for a Rotary club in Morro Bay. |
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Pacific Wildlife Care
Dave Klinzman was first to represent Pacific Wildlife Care. He said
that they have cared for close to 5,000 animals since their location was
opened in Morro Bay behind the Power plant. Their mission is twofold:
1. Public outreach and education. 2. Capture, rehabilitate and
release wildlife back into nature. They are funded solely by private
donations and membership subscriptions.
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Thou Shalt Not Procrastinate!
Debbie Spalding introduced Dr. Patricia Gordon, who earned her Ph.D. in
education at USC. She was director of the CSUSB Career Center for eight
years. She authored a weekly Career Connection article for several
newspapers and taught graduate level courses at various universities.
She has appeared on numerous television productions and on several
occasions has been invited to provide topical expertise for television.
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Caring Callers Program of march 16, 2010
Wilshire Community Services
Suzanne is the Program Director for Caring Callers, which is one of the
programs offered under the umbrella of the Wilshire Community Services
program. The services provided are focused on prevention and early
intervention services for older adults. The purpose and main goal is
to insure that are seniors remain safe and are not taken advantage of.
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Oxnard District Assembly
Mary Leizear, Mike Pond, Jude Long, John Weiss, and Nancy Guthrie attended the District Assembly in Oxnard. In the picture attached, President-Elect Mike Pond was explaining to President-Elect Nominee Jude Long how important it is to sell 50/50 Raffle tickets. Jude was pondering how she was personally going to sell 100 tickets by May 29th.
Many dignitaries were in attendance including Sam Greens and Deepa Willingham. From the stars, special speaker was Isaiah Washington who starred as Dr. Burke on Grey's Anatomy. Isaiah is passionate about his work particularly in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
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Bob Ransom's 61+ Year of Perfect Attendance intact
The Rotary Club of Morro Bay honored one of its regular visitors when we learned that Bob Ransom was hospitalized with pneumonia and was going to end his 61+ year streak of Perfect Attendance. In all, seventeen attended this special set of two club meetings held at Bayside Care Center. It was a moving experience for all, especially Bob and Virginia who were so appreciative. KSBY also arrived to record this event which aired on Friday March 19th.
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SLO Rotaract Charter Night March 13th, 2010
Saturday March 13th, 2010 marks the Charter night for our county's second Rotaract and first off-campus. Headed by Domic Tartaglia and sixteen others, tonight was historic. Rotarians included all seven club Presidents from the club sponsors; District Governor Luz Maria Ortiz, District Governor Elect Deepa Willingham; District Governor Nominee Wade Namura; and Brenda Cressey, Zone 26 Foundation Coordinator.
Rotaract clubs are comprised of qualified young adults 18-30. There are over 7,000 clubs worldwide in 163 countries. The projects Rotaracts are involved in are world changing! For additional information, please contact Dominic Tartaglia at 459-0839. |
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Words from an Author
Mr. Snider is the author of 3 books: Sigourney's Quest; The Separatist;
and his new book, "The Hypnotist. He talked about his newest book that
focuses on San Francisco in 1906. Back then, the city was divided into
the high society life of Knob Hill, the rat infested tenements, and the
crime infested alleyways of Chinatown.
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We Donate to Little League
Community Giving
Mike Williams presented a check for $250 to Mike Burton/Little League and said that the league now has 4 minor league teams and 6 major league teams in Morro Bay and Cambria. |
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Another New Member-Wow!
Club Member Induction
Rob Schultz was inducted into our club and was introduced by his Sponsor Bill Peirce. Bill so eloquently stated, "What am I saying?" Bill went on to say that Rob needs no introduction because he is active in our community. In reality, high words of praise and respect. Rob was a former member of one of the SLO Rotary clubs years ago. He is currently the City of Morro Bay City Attorney and has been on staff for the past 6 years. He formerly worked in Orange County for 15 years representing many cities in the county. We welcome Rob into our club! |
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The Weather Man
John Lindsey was born in Santa Rosa, spent 4 years in the Navy, attended
Cal Poly, currently works at the Diablo Power Plant and writes column
for the Tribune. He's married and has two children, Chloe and Sean.
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All About Dredging
Our speaker for the February 16th meeting, Nick Tietje of AIS, told us all we want to know about the current dredging project at Morro Bay. he was introduced by Mike Pond.
The program has been funded primarily with stimulus monies. Nick is really pleased to work in Morro Bay, because he generally has to travel elsewhere. His family has been in the county for more than 55 years. |
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The Rotary Foundation
Brenda Cressey is the current "Rotary International Discussion Lady and
was a keynote speaker at the 2009 Rotary International Assembly. She is
the recipient of the RI "Service Above Self" award. Her dream is to
end polio.
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The Morro Rockers Blues Band
The club was given a special musical treat (or was it a trick?) by
The Morro Rockers Blues Bank, aka Gary (Englund) and the Pimps at our recent luncheon meeting. (Mike
Pond; John DeRohan; Rick Grantham and Roger Marlin) They sang an
original composed by Gary Englund called "The Membership Song."
Songbooks were distributed on the tables and they contained that old favorite "No EMail No More," a tribute to Morro Bay entitled "Get Dressed Baby" that apparently is sung to the tune of "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," and "the Rotary Row Row Row You Boat Song," and not the least, but the last, "The Rotary Submarine Song" that goes to one of those obscure Beatles tunes -- you know the one. The best part of the songbook was the photo gallery with pics of these nutty guys in what appears to be definitely better days! Can you guess who was who in those photos?
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Jude's Peace Pole
Jude was asked what did she want/need for her pending retirement after
35 years from the Library system. She said peace on earth...our
Jude!!....so they worked with the city to site a Peace Pole (including
Paw print talk!! love it...she has that other side of her that comes
out when you least expect it). This picture taken by a friend
there...I didn't have my camera...go figure!!....shows Jude with her
hand over her heart pleased by the unveiling of the Peace Pole now
sited at the entrance to our library.
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A Great Marketing Program
At our January 5th meeting Dean Mignola gave us some ways to show our appreciation to our business contacts. His idea is just to "send a card." A simple thank you card or a card letting someone know you have a referral for them were just a couple of ways he suggested would help our businesses grow. You can check out more at his web site www.newsworthycards.com or www.sendoutcards.com.
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A Noble Salute
On January 5th at our meeting we were treated to a noble salute to our country when Bill Yates saved us from having to sing and played his guitar instead. What a treat! Maybe he'll do that for us again!
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Caroling Cops
Man it was nice to have Hank Roth come visit us at our December 15th meeting. We miss him! He was congratulated by us for his involvement with the Morro Bay Caroling Cops that have been spreading Christmas cheer throughout Morro Bay neighborhoods every year since 1986 with a check for $250 to help keep this fun activity program going.
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Round About Clean-ups are Great Community Service!
Monthly Clean-ups are typically scheduled on Saturdays.
Saturday November 20th, Club President Mike Pond's daughter Michelle Pond was the first official Interactor to help out at our monthly clean-up. The threat of rain kept others away. Other MBHS workers have included Interact Club President Darek Mendoza. More to follow! For Rotarians interested in volunteering, please see Fire Chief and President Mike Pond for the appropriate paperwork. The Rotary Club of Morro Bay is now the organization responsible for making sure the new Round About at Morro Bay Boulevard and Quintana is looking clean and sparkly. Mike Wilcox came and instructed us on using the brightly colored orange vests for safety sake while performing maintenance chores and showed us the nice new signage that will be erected at the site showing the Rotary symbol. Unfortunately a vehicle ran over our Rotary sign. Hopefully a new replacement will be in place soon! Take advantage of a great opportunity to work side by side with fellow Rotarians and Interactors while having FUN making a difference for our City's gateway! |
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Another New Member
Kellie Adams sponsored Shannon Nelson as our most recent new member at our December 15th meeting. Shannon is a cancer survivor who is involved in helping businesses locally. She moved here with her husband from Orange County sooner than they had formerly expected to. After her battle with cancer both she and her husband realized that dealing with the rat race in Southern California wasn't a life worth living. She hopes to be active in our community assistance efforts.
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New Paul Harris Fellow
At our December 15th meeting, Chungsam Doh informed the club that perennial visiting Rotarian from Ramona, Bob Ransom had won in the Paul Harris Fellow drawing. Bob chose to give the award to his wife, Virginia, who informed the club that she actually was involved with Rotary in her teen years as a pianist for her local club. She also filled us in about Bob's dedication to Rotary that went above and beyond the call during the time he had his gall bladder removed. Bob has not missed a meeting in 61 years!
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Food Bank Donation
After an informative presentation about the Coalition of San Luis Obispo County Food Bank by Cathy Enns, President John presented Cathy with our donation of $250 to help assist with this worthy program that helps feed many county residents.
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Welcome New Members
Rotary Club of Morro Bay welcomed Diana Hanauer of The Inn at Morro Bay and Patrick Bietz of Top Dog Coffee Shop into membership on December 1, 2009. Diana was sponsored by Chamber of Commerce President, Pete Candela, and Patrick was sponsored by City Councilperson, Rick Grantham.
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Welcome New Members
Stanley Craig, sponsored by John
Solu was inducted into the Morro Bay Rotary Club on October 27, 2009. Stanley is a Real Estate
Professional and is eager to pitch in and support our club and community.
Welcome Stanley!
Thanks to Nick Mendoza who is doing a great job as Membership Chair! |
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Welcome New Members
Tony
Ventimiglio, sponsored by Andrea Klipfel was also inducted into the Morro Bay Rotary Club on October 27, 2009. Tony is a mortgage manager and is eager to be involved in our club's activities. Welcome Tony!
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New Life for the Power Plant
Tom Fee of Ecobon discussed a
proposal for the reuse of the Morro Bay Power PLant at the Morro Bay
Rotary meeting of November 3rd. He stated that his
company is a sustainable company focused on green building practices. They provided a proposal on an adaptive-use
project for the Morro Bay Power Plant facility.
They had done several use studies, including Industrial, Hotel/Condo,
Residential, and Shopping/Retail. They
also studied the impact of 'moth-balling' the facility, which is more expensive
and labor intensive than any of the other options.
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GSE from Bangladesh
Morro Bay Rotary was pleased to welcome members of the GSE team from Bangladesh at their last meeting. We all enjoyed meeting the group and seeing the video about life in Bangladesh. Please check out the photo page for more photos.
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Harbor Festival 2009
Rotary was in charge of ticket sales at the Harbor Festival Check out the rest of the photos at the Photo page accessed from the Home page.
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Rick's Party
Check it out -- photos under the Photo section on the Home page of Rick Grantham's recent gathering. Art and Mary, What a magical couple and host to our next potluck social in December!
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Post Polio
Mary Leizear introduced Astrid Gallagher, a friend and fellow board
member of Heritage Shared. Mary explained that Astrid suffers from
post-polio syndrome, a condition most of us are completely unfamiliar
with. Astrid is confined to a wheelchair and is progressively losing
more and more muscle function.
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Rotary at Business Expo 2009
The Rotary Club of Morro Bay manned and displayed Rotary club information at the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce 2009 Business Expo. Providing information on Rotary and the Four-Way test, many attendees were impressed with the work Rotary does locally and internationally.
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Raffle Drawing at the Harbor Festival
The Rotary Club of Morro Bay in conjunction with our Foundation had a 50/50 Drawing to benefit local charities. The drawing was held at this year's Harbor Festival. Over 6,000 $20 tickets were purchased, with a resultant prize of over $7,000! The lucky winner was Chris Dorn, owner of Dorn's Restaurant in Morro Bay! Congratulations Chris!
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The National Estuary Program
Ruth Ann introduced Shari Sullivan, who worked at the Bay News for
several years and is now the outreach coordinator for the Morro Bay
National Estuary Program. She has a background in biology.
Shari explained that an estuary is where fresh and salt water meet and mingle. The entirety of Morro Bay itself is considered estuary, not just the back bay. An estuary is generally protected by a land mass. Estuaries are productive ecosystems and fish nurseries. Our estuary is home to 150 species of birds and 24 endangered species. Our estuary is part of the Morro Bay watershed, which extends to the tops of the Santa Lucia and Irish Hills mountains and encompasses the California Mens Colony on Highway 1 and the Warden Ranch on Los Osos Valley Road. All creeks and rainfall throughout the watershed drain into our estuary, so there is ongoing work to reduce pollutant sources throughout the entire area. Shari urged us to visit the MBNEP visitor center at Marina Square on the Embarcadero, where there are many displays and photos showing the work being done throughout our watershed and estuary. There are many volunteers putting in thousands of hours to ensure the survival of our beautiful estuary. We also need to keep in mind that all our plastics, motor oil and other discarded trash and dog poop run downhill into the bay, and those things are huge sources of pollution. On Saturday, September 19, the NEP will participate in Coastal Cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon. On Saturday, October 3, volunteers will help with San Luis Obispo County Creek Cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon. Shari said the NEP also partners with Audubon and SWAP to perform projects in our area. If you are interested in volunteering, please call Shari at 772-3834 or email her at ssullivan@mbnep.org. |
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Liz Werhane & GSE Trip to Thailand
Deepa introduced us to Liz Werhane who is an Internal Communications
Manager for the software company, Citrix/Online. Liz was a Rotaract
member and went on a GSE trip to Thailand. She showed us her Power
Point presentation about her trip.
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Chuck's Craft Talk
Chuck's Craft Talk
Chuck Clarke had a wonderful uncle who taught him many skills and instilled in him a confidence that he could accomplish whatever he wanted. Chuck won a scholarship to West Point but failed his Army physical because of poor eyesight. |
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Jude's Craft Talk
Jude's Craft Talk
Jude Sanner Long uses her maiden name to honor her family. She was born in Mattoon, IL, where two railroads intersect, one of which is the City of New Orleans. Arlo Guthrie sang about that train. Jude grew up in a wonderful family, and her dad was a polio survivor. She graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a major in library science and a teaching degree. She taught grades 1, 3 5 and 6. |
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Follow-Up on Clean-Up
Community Cleanup
David Owens presented President John with a box of mostly unmentionables from our Saturday cleanup efforts. President John also managed to find several pairs of pants. David Owens continued picking up trash toward Atascadero, as it is everywhere. |
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One More New Member: Brian Rozario
New Member Induction
President John Weiss was joined by John Lemons to induct Brian Rozario into our club. John Lemons expressed his pleasure at being able to provide the pathway for his friend to join our club. Brian's uncle-in-law, Pat Nagano, was a charter member of the Morro Bay Rotary club. Brian said he moved to Morro Bay nine years ago and owns a local bar. He appreciates John's encouragement and is happily looking forward to being a member of our club. |
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Rotary Bike Path Clean-up
Saturday's community project was a
success and it was fun, too! Over 20 showed up at 8AM on a nice Saturday
morning to help clean up our community.
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District Governor Visit
Luz Maria Ortiz-Smith was born and raised in Celaya, Mexico. She
attended Ohio State University and now works at her husband's insurance
agency as business administrator.
Luz Maria started in Rotary in 1992 as a charter member of the Rotary Club of Celaya Nat-Tha-Hi, an all female club. Soon the new club sought a partnership with Santa Barbara Sunrise to fund a grant for cataract surgeries in Celaya. Luz Maria and E. Russell Smith met during the project and have now been married for 14 years. Luz Maria and E. Russell are Rotary Benefactors, Bequest Society Members and Major Donors. |
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New Member Induction: Nancy Guthrie
New Member Induction
President John Weiss was joined by DG Luz Maria and Dan Reddell to induct Nancy Guthrie into our club. We all appreciate the hard work that goes into bringing a new member into the fold. Dan will do a good job in mentoring Nancy so she understands our mission and our involvement in our community. DG Luz Maria pinned Nancy, which is quite an honor, and one she will doubtless remember for a long time. Dan said that Nancy has been his friend and neighbor for many years, and that her family has owned the corner of Morro Bay Boulevard and Piney Way since 1947, when he was born. Dan said he is pleased to bring her into the club, so she can share her knowledge and experience with us. Nancy said she moved to Morro Bay full time 13 years ago and now owns her own business, Bay Ink & Toner with her family. She looks forward to getting to know all of us. |
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New Member Induction: Bill Peirce
President John had the pleasure of inducting his longtime friend and
employee, Bill Peirce, into our club. President John said that Bill
fits all the qualifications for becoming a good and honorable Rotarian,
as he is a leader in our community and has accomplished a great deal
over the years.
Bill said it is a pleasure to become a member of our club. He considered the possibility in the past, but he was busy as a politician and did not really have the time. Now that he is finally out of public office, he is happy to join us. |
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Donations Needed for Homeless Shelters
The Community Action Partnership (formerly EOC) is asking for donations to help the homeless at the Prado Day Center and the Maxime Lewis Homeless Shelter. Please see the list below and bring an item every week to our Rotary meetings on Tuesday. Thanks for your help. Donations for Prado Day Center and The Maxine Lewis Homeless Shelter Blankets Socks, underwear Money for summer camp sponsorships Healthy children's snacks Cereal and other breakfast items Paper goods Hotel-sized toiletries Sunscreen Feminine hygiene products Laundry detergent Stamps Peanut butter and jelly Coffee and creamer Adult backpacks Towels Pillow cases For information contact Homeless Services Director Dee Torres at dtorres@ecoslo.org or 805-786-0617. |
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A Successful Relay For Life
Morro Bay Rotary participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life on Saturday and Sunday, August 1st and 2nd. This was the first Relay held in Morro Bay and was quite successful. We raised $11,000, had 12 teams walking the Relay, with Rotary as one of them, and Rotary raised over $1000. Ruth Ann Angus was honored to walk in the Survivor's Lap and be awarded her Relay Medal. Hopes for next year are to involve all the coastal Rotaries and have more community participation. Photos on our Photo page.
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Relay Is Upon Us
Relay For Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society is Saturday, August 1st from 10 AM to Sunday, August 2nd at 10 AM. We have 13 people participating who will walk the walk to help raise funds for research to find a cure for cancer. At this writing we have raised $946 towards our $1000 goal and we will probably exceed that. Ruth Ann wants to thank everyone who has donated and who will be participating and will make this one of Morro Bay Rotary's best community projects!
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A Wonderful Time at Camp Hapitok
We all had great fun with the kids at Camp Hapitok singing songs, doing our exercises (!) and best of all presenting a big fat check to help support this incredible camp. Look for more photos under the Photo section of this web site.
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Camp Hapitok
We will meet at Camp Hapitok on Tuesday, July 28, at noon for our annual gathering with the campers.
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More on Relay For Life
The Relay is coming up soon. Thanks to those who have signed up to walk. We still need to raise the rest of our donation and more participants. You can call me to reserve a time at 772-5757 or e-mail me at candidcow@charter.net. There are time slots open for Saturday afternoon, evening and for the wee hours of the night, if you are so inclined. Each participant is supposed to try to raise $100, but any amount will help. Relay is Saturday, August 1, to Sunday, August 2 at 10 a.m. So
far I have raised $451. We are pledged to
donate $1000. Let's make this a successful community project. Thanks again to everyone who has donated and signed up to walk!
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International News
Clyde Ganes introduced Eric Parkinson, an attorney in San Luis Obispo.
Eric is a longtime friend of Clyde's and he is involved in a project to
help orphaned children in Sri Lanka.
To that end, Eric formed a nonprofit called VeAhavta, You Shall Love, which has expanded to include child care, medical care, day care and elder care in Sri Lanka. Clyde feels that Eric "embodies the spirit of Service above Self." Eric became involved in Sri Lanka some years ago. He started off fundraising $20,000 to help an acquaintance start an orphanage. Somehow that morphed into buying property for $235,000 on the beach in Sri Lanka. The orphanage took over an abandoned hotel property, which was just perfect. There were 109 children there, but now there are 68. He has been able to open a day care center for the children of working parents, and he has opened a care home for destitute elders so they can die in dignity. That facility opened in 2005. Please see his website at www.you-shall-love.org. For information, call Eric at 542-9357. |
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Relay For Life
Hello Everyone,
I am sending this special bulletin to clarify how the Relay for Life event works. First of all, thank you to everyone who donated into my luminaria bags at the meeting on Tuesday. That raised over $140! So far I have raised nearly $400 as my participation in this event. Relay For Life is a fundraiser. What this means is that every participant is required to raise some funds. The amount per participant is usually $100. Our club's pledge for this event is $1000. With the nearly $400 I have already raised we are well on our way to that goal. So those of you who are planning to walk the walk with me at the high school need to raise some funds. It does not have to be $100 this time since we have relatively little time to do that. So, any amount will suffice! Even $10! |
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Birmingham Report
President John presented a power point program on his trip to the international convention in Birmingham, England. He and Christine and Rotarius had a wonderful time and learned a great deal.
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Dan's Demotion Dinner
President Dan's Demotion Party
We all gathered at President Dan Reddell's Caccia House for a grand party. We started with wine and soft drinks and splendid guitar music, thanks to John Nordhus and Paul Johnson. George Leage and his crew from the Harbor Hut grilled skewers of chicken, beef and shrimp, which were accompanied by pasta salad loaded with crab and shrimp. Dessert featured gorgeous cheesecakes. |
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All About the Library
Jude Long introduced her distinguished guests, Bob Alberti and Horace
Morana from the Library Foundation. It is obvious that she appreciates
their hard work and ongoing efforts to keep the library open and to add
more programs as well.
Our club has donated 10 percent of the total funds needed to keep the library's Summer Reading Program active. Please see the events section of our webpage for the summer activities program for kids and adults alike. Bob Alberti noted there are 15 branches of the San Luis Obispo County Library, all the way from San Miguel and Nipomo to Morro Bay and Simmler. Our library reflects our population of grandparents, unemployed folks, children and tourists, all looking for different types of information. Each library reflects its own community. Libraries are particularly important when there is high unemployment, as they provide numerous resources to help people look for jobs or to increase skills in an ever-changing technological environment. Many people have not been able to continue to pay for telephone and internet service, so free internet access is ever more important. Horace Morana's family is from Argentina and moved to Lincoln Heights when he was a youngster. He quickly discovered the local library as a latchkey kid and has loved libraries ever since. The foundation conducts advocacy, fundraising and program activities to support and strengthen public libraries countywide. The foundation sponsors the annual Central Coast Book and Author Festival, which will be held October 4 at Mission Plaza. To encourage children to attend, there will be a special appearance by Spiderman. The library raises money by holding special events, utilizing a targeted campaign, encouraging annual giving, finding grants and prom |
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2009 Scholarship Winners
Seven students win scholarships from Rotary Foundation.
After intense competition, seven Morro Bay High School seniors were chosen by the Morro Bay Rotary Foundation Board to receive $1,000 scholarships toward their college educations. The students are: Caitlin Morris, Janaiah Lundblade, Ryan Thorp, Matthew Irons, Lorna Porter, Laura Robinett, Sydney Williams. |
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Dues Are Due!
Members please click on More to read our new President's letter regarding Dues! Otherwise go to Stories.
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Rotary Retreat 2009 Part 6
Ah, but enough about Chuck Clarke, it was time to get down to business so we could get the heck out of there before it got dark and we killed ourselves trying to get down that road! On to serious business and what the retreat was all about. We were facilitated by a group of guys from our district who did an incredible job working us through an exercise that aided is us in developing a 5-year goal plan for our club. I have to tell you I have sat through many a planning session for businesses, governments, and environmental non-profits and this method is the best one I have ever encountered. So I offer you here our results. Please click on Stories on the heading above and then click on Part 6 to read the 5-year goals. Your comments and suggestions will be welcomed. All of the photos of the retreat are on the Photo page. | ||||
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Attention - Rotary Club of Morro Bay! PRLS stands for Potential Rotary Leadership Seminars and is a series of classes/seminars offered to Rotarians. These classes function in teaching/assisting us with our Public Speaking, Meeting Facilitation/Leadership, Project Planning/Management, etc. These classes have been found useful, both within Rotary itself, as well as in our Personal or Business arenas. 
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We celebrated our Public Heroes!.jpg)
