Events

Often among our favorite programs, Get Acquainted Talks are an opportunity for club members to get to know each other. We typically split the talk between a new member and a veteran of the club. 

Lifelong learning doesn't end with retirement — it often begins a new chapter. Join us as we welcome representatives from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at CSU Channel Islands, who will introduce a vibrant educational program created for adults age 50 and better. OLLI offers university-level courses, lectures, and discussions with no exams or grades — just the opportunity to keep your mind active, explore new subjects, and connect with fellow lifelong learners.

For many Rotarians, the mission of OLLI is a natural fit. Rotary's commitment to service, curiosity, and personal growth extends well beyond our professional lives, and OLLI provides an engaging way to continue learning while building community. Whether you're interested in history, science, literature, current events, or the arts, you'll discover how this remarkable local resource can enrich your life long after your formal education has ended.

On June 27, 2023, Reed Christy’s life changed in an instant when he was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle. The crash left him with catastrophic injuries, including the loss of his right leg above the knee, and began a long and difficult road of surgeries, rehabilitation and recovery.

But Reed’s story is ultimately less about what happened to him than about how he chose to live afterward. A longtime health, fitness and human-performance professional, Reed now speaks about resilience, gratitude and the discipline of being fully present — lessons forged not in theory, but through an experience that forced him to reconsider what truly deserves our attention.

Join the Rotary Club of Ojai on Friday, September 25, for an inspiring and deeply personal conversation about surviving sudden change, rebuilding a life and discovering how much of that life can be found simply by paying attention to the moment we’re in.

Please join us as we welcome District 5240 Governor Margarida Eidson for one of the most important Rotary meetings of the year.

A member of the Rotary Club of Ventura East since 2017, Margarida has quickly distinguished herself as a dynamic leader at both the club and district levels. She served as Club President in 2020–2021 and again during the final quarter of 2023 before taking on a series of key district leadership roles: Youth Services Director (2021–2022), Assistant Governor (2022–2023), Chief of Staff (2023–2024), and now District Governor for the 2026–2027 Rotary year.

Professionally, Margarida is president of Eidson Management, Inc., providing bookkeeping, financial analysis, marketing, and human resources services to a diverse portfolio of clients. Her company also manages the Poinsettia Pavilion, Ventura's well-known nonprofit community event center. Beyond Rotary, she serves as Treasurer of the Ventura Police Community Foundation and has dedicated countless hours to community service throughout Ventura County.

Originally from Portugal, Margarida is also a former professional ballet dancer, the proud mother of four sons, and someone who believes service should be balanced with family, fun, and creativity.

Five Things You May Not Know About Margarida

• 🇵🇹 She was born and raised in Portugal.
• 🩰 She was a professional ballet dancer.
• 🌊 Every summer, she and her four sons celebrate the end of Junior Lifeguards by swimming around the Ventura Pier together.
• 🧶 She enjoys knitting and crocheting to relax.
• ⛺ During her sons' Boy Scout years, she spent many summers camping alongside them at Scout camps.

Come hear District Governor Margarida Eidson share her vision for Rotary, celebrate the accomplishments of our district, and inspire us for the year ahead. This is a meeting every Rotarian will want to attend.

Jordan Kear is an expert on the Ojai groundwater basin and among other duties is a consultant to the City of Ojai.  He will give us an update on from where our water comes, where it is stored and where it goes.. 

https://www.keargroundwater.com/

The Rotary Club of Ojai welcomes Dan Pingaro, the newly appointed executive director of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, as our featured speaker on Friday, October 16. Pingaro brings more than 25 years of experience in conservation, environmental policy, nonprofit leadership and philanthropy. A Southern California native, he began his career in natural-resource management and environmental planning with the Hoopa Valley Tribal Government, spent a decade with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency working on Tribal, water and ocean programs, and later led organizations including Sailors for the Sea, the Laguna Beach Community Foundation and the Ocean Institute in Dana Point.

Pingaro arrives at an important moment for one of Ojai’s most consequential civic organizations. OVLC has just completed its $7.5 million Land + Legacy Campaign and is taking on stewardship of Rancho Cañada Larga, the largest conservation project in its history, while continuing to protect and restore the preserves, trails and wildlife corridors that define the Ojai Valley. Come meet Dan, hear what drew him to Ojai, and learn how he sees the Conservancy building on nearly four decades of community-supported land protection in the years ahead.

November is Rotary Foundation Month and here's what your International Service Committee is able to do by leveraging your contributions to TRF.

“Each of us has a unique experience and relationship with California,” said California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick. “It is a place of bounty of innovation, opportunity, and progress, as well as difficulty and violence, challenges, and areas of need. Poetry can be a bridge to personal and societal change, and it can show us new ways of seeing ourselves and the world around us.”

From the foothills of Santa Barbara to the remote Himalayan communities of northeastern India, the Odiyana Institute is putting the Buddhist principles of wisdom and compassion into practice. Our guest, Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teacher and founder of the institute, will share his remarkable journey and the vision behind the Odiyana Health and Education Project. The initiative brings healthcare, education and opportunity to underserved communities in India's Assam and Arunachal Pradesh regions. Learn how the Rotary Club of Ojai's partnership is helping transform that vision into reality — and how service can bridge cultures, continents and faiths.

Nordhoff High School's L.I.V.E. team (Leadership through International Volunteer Expeditions) joins us to share how Ojai students are changing lives — including their own — through service projects around the globe. From Laos and Peru to Tanzania, these young ambassadors are building bridges across cultures, developing leadership skills and putting service above self into action. They'll also bring delicious homemade baked goods for a lively fundraising auction to support their upcoming international expeditions. Come ready to be inspired, bid generously and satisfy your sweet tooth for a great cause!

Why do promising conversations, projects and partnerships stall — even when everyone involved knows their stuff?

Join the Rotary Club of Ojai on January 15 for a lively presentation by Ojai’s John Patterson, co-founder of Influential U and co-author of High TQ: Why It Matters More Than Expertise. Patterson explores Transactional Intelligence—the ability to recognize and navigate the human exchanges that turn good intentions into results.

From workplace frustrations to community projects, discover why expertise alone may leave us stuck — and how clearer agreements, curiosity and follow-through can help us move forward together.

Bring your questions, meet your neighbors and see what Rotary is all about. Guests are welcome!

John Krist is a Ventura County journalist and author who now travels the Western U.S. and beyond chronicling the natjural history of the area and those who have peopled it.  He will be speaking on two of the main routes of the great migration to our western shores: The Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail.  More of his travels and family lore can be found at:  https://johnkrist.substack.com/