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Rotary Club of Ojai
Reminder Newsletter
June 23rd, 2017
 
 
The Beginning of the End:  President Bill ‘The Last Hurrah’  Gilbreth gaveled us to attention for his ultimate regular meeting at 12:08.  The Pledge to our flag was led by Matt Clements, after which President Bill shared the sad news that Deirdre Daly has lost her beloved husband, Sean, after a long battle with lung cancer.  Kay Bliss sent around cards for her fellow Rotarians to express their condolences.  President Bill opined that whatever faith or lack thereof we individually believe, we all are bound together by the universal understanding of life and death and a shared belief of tragedy.  He asked for a moment of silence so we all could ponder upon this and share in Deirdre’s will to remain strong in the coming days.
 
 
The Muddle in the Middle:  Bill thanked Matt Clements, Bill Prather and Bryant Huber for setting up the room and then proceeded on to give credit to Michael ‘new blue badge’ Scar and Fred ‘badgeless’ Coleman.  Matt was on the microphone, Don Reed held down the front desk, while your peerless scribe, A. B. Tharlow took notes.  A mighty cheer was heard for Ginger as it seems the crowd likes building Dagwoods for lunch although most eschewed putting the beets and the lemon bars in with the meat, cheese and mayo.
 
Welcome!  For a second week in a row we welcomed Therese Brown from the Woodland Rotary Club who is moving to Ojai and opening a home for those of us who forget where home is.  Hank Bangser brought Andy Cantwell who will be moving up to become Superintendent of OUSD when Hank retires in August.  Patricia Anderson introduced our speaker, Mark Lewis.  And for the last time Greg Webster and Fred Coleman were our guests.
 
 
 
 
New Members:  Jack Jacobs welcomed them (last antecedents) to come forward along with their respective sponsors Matt Clements (Greg) and Patricia Anderson (Fred).  Fred’s classification is ‘Secondary Education’ and his mentor will be Don Reed.  Greg’s classification is ‘Equipment Rental’ and his mentor will be Marty Pops.
You have received biographies of them previously but some highlights are that Greg Webster is a sixth generation Californian whose training includes certification is diesel mechanics and being a motorcycle hill climber who was not adverse to spending some of his youth in various emergency rooms.  He now owns Greg Rents in Oak View where he has served on the Oak View Council among other civic duties.  He’s your go-to-guy if you need to dig a hole, push a boulder or lift a concrete lizard into place in Libbey Park.  
Fred Coleman grew up in various locations as an Army brat before going on to attend West Point.  He served in Vietnam as a reconnaissance pilot, coming back to start a career in teaching, in which early on he had an epiphany while coaching a gym class soccer match.  This led him on to a lifelong career in secondary teaching and coaching, the last 20 plus years at The Thacher School.  Now retired from teaching, he continues to coach cross country and soccer as well as pick up trash from the Soule Park parking lot on his way into lunch.  Work ethic and community involvement remain strong in these two new Ojai Rotarians, and we welcome them to our club.
 
Announcements:  Remember we will not be meeting for lunch next Friday, June 30, but rather demoting President Bill at Anne and Chad Carper’s, 3396 Thacher Road, from 5:15 to 8:15 p.m.  If you haven’t already responded to the Evite or signed the list, you’re missing a great chance to roast Bill or tell a lawyer joke.
Bill reported that President=Elect Mike Malone will be holding a Club Assembly at his first meeting of the new Rotary year on July 7 and that incoming 5240 District Governor, John Weiss (Morro Bay), will be our guest and speaker on Friday, July 14.
He also reported on the status of the Matilija Pavilion Project.  We have the requisite building permits in hand, two-thirds of the funding is committed, and we expect the OUSD board approval this week.
 
 
 
Confessions:  Pity the fine master for all his prep work and no time to use it as Friday confessions poured forth at Bill swan song meeting.   Your scribe couldn’t keep up, but among other things Ren Adam, Matt Clements, Don Reed and Tony Thacher paid for June weddings some time ago to Victoria, Rhonda, Sue, and Anne.  Jane McCarthy bid us a fond final farewell as she and Dennis are moving on to their new digs in Montana.  Amani Hishmeh paid for a birthday and something about belly dancers?  Frank Finck dug deep referencing about War and Peace that didn’t involve Tolstoy, while Naval Academy grad. Nic Frank couldn’t resist getting in a dig about allowing West Pointers into the club.  Will we see mule or goat on the Soule Park menu at a meeting come November?
 
The Program: 
 
Patricia Anderson was lovely as always in her ability to veer off scrip in praise of our speaker, Mark Lewis, and his accomplishments.  Mark spoke as eloquently as he writes about 2017 being the 100th anniversary of when Edward Drummond Libbey, in the midst of transforming the dusty cow-town of Nordhoff into the Mission Revival style downtown and park we enjoy today, at a valley-wide picnic handed the deed to the post office and the park which now bears his name to the newly-formed Ojai Civic Association.  Starting with the Chicago World’s Fair and the building of the ephemeral White City there in 1893, this was literally part and parcel of the movement and belief that by improving the architecture of cities and the availability of art to the public would improve society as a whole.  For more on the subject you can see Mark’s work in the Spring issue of Bret Bradigan’s Ojai Quarterly, the current  Montectio Magazine or view http://ojaihistory.com/the-meaning-of-ojai-day/  Also as part of Ojai’s Centennial Celebration there will be a free performance entitled “Ojai Reinvented”  that will take place in Libbey Bowl on Sunday, July 2 at 8 p.m.  Bring a picnic and enjoy the wine & beer garden with food available from Deer Xing starting at 6.
 
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