President Betsy called the meeting to order.
Jack Jacobs asked us to remember to be kind and gentle with each other before leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Bryant Huber read an original poem for our invocation. “When the Power Went Out” reminded us of last December’s power outage. It didn’t only focus on the unfortunate things, but also reminded us how it brought families and neighbors together:
When the power went out
The food all went bad
We were forced to buy take-out
My neighbors got mad.
When the power went out
The AC stopped humming
The heat wave was numbing
My children were grumbling
When the power went out
We all could agree
On the three worst letters in the alphabet
S, C, and E.
When the power went out
We cried, "It's insanity!"
No Netflix, no Hulu
My God! The humanity
But when the power went out
We all came outside
The night sky was a canvas
And the stars filled our eyes
When the power went out
There was silence supreme
We played cards lit by candles
And it felt like a dream.
When the power went out
We read books and sang songs
The kids played with flashlights
And we picnicked on our lawns.
When the power went out
We laughed and we cried.
We shared and we listened
Over beer and fine wines.
When the power went out
And the lights had all died
Just for a moment
We were never more alive.
President Betsy thanked Bill Prather and Andy Gilman for setting up our room, our greeter Fern Barishman, Deirdre Daly for working the desk, Bryant Huber for his original poem, Jack Jacobs for leading the Pledge, Cindy Frings for fining, Reminder editor Wendy Barker, Carl Gross our wonderful photographer and Jayne for the delicious lunch.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
We had one visiting Rotarian, Michael Pulitzer of the Tri-Town Rotary Club in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He is a new winter resident of the valley.
There were lots of guests including Fred Favre’s special guest, his daughter Renee. Joyce West, Catherine Lee’s special guest Rebecca, special guest Cindy Weiss, Sheila on zoom, Wes Hall a guest of Theresa Brown and Greg Webster who arrived early and helped set up (what a nice guy) and Randy Roth’s special guest Doug Parker. Colin Jones was joined by his wife Cindy, son Connor and a number of friends. How wonderful to have so many guests!
On this day in history
President Betsy shared that on this day in 1967, Sweden switched to driving on the right side of the road. It reminds Betsy that change is hard, but we are resilient. That’s a good reminder for us all.
Announcements
A big thank you to our party planners, Kathy Yee, Sue Gilbreth and Cindy Frings for a job well done; they received a round of applause in appreciation. And, of course, to Larry Wilde and Dennis Guernsey for sharing their fabulous beach retreat.
Andy Gilman quickly shared upcoming speaker information. It was a bit too quick for this reporter to get it all down, but rest assured we have some great speakers lined up including Tiffany Morse next week to discuss what’s happening in our local schools. Other upcoming programs include Rock Tree Sky, the Maricopa road project by Bill Weirick, and the future of agriculture. See below for a link to our calendar.
Volunteers are needed Saturday morning, September 18 at Poinsettia Pavilion to help Ventura Rotary Club with the Rise for Hunger project. This is an in-person project with safe, social distancing rules in effect to get prepackaged, non-perishable foods packed for emergency situations. The goal is to pack 10,000 meals that day. President Betsy will send an email out about this project. The meals will be sent to Haiti.
New Member Induction: Michelle Sherman
Cherree Edwards and Greg Webster inducted new member Michelle Sherman. She is sponsored by Sue Gilbreth, who shared some information about Michelle. Although Michelle is a relative newcomer to the Ojai Valley, moving here in 2018. But she has been a regular visitor for over fifteen years.
After thirty years as a litigation attorney, in house attorney and assistant district attorney, she will teach law, communications and public relations part time.
Michelle cares deeply about community. She serves on the grants committee of the Ojai Women’s Fund, Music Festival’s BRAVO committee and is a volunteer usher at Santa Barbara Bowl. Her “fan club” did the wave, and gave her flowers. What a way to be welcomed into the club! Deirdre Daly is her mentor and represented Michelle with her red badge.
Fining and Confessions: Cindy Frings
Cindy Frings was our fine master.
Confessions:
Al West & Joyce are celebrating 67 years of marriage!
Catherine Lee is retired now, but still has chicken and duck eggs available. Additionally, Catherine told us she talked to a party guest only to find out they literally grew up next door to each other in Encino. What a small world!
Dierdre needs another guest room for the Music Festival.
Bob Davis reported wonderful news received last week from Rotary International about Polio in Afghanistan and the region after the Taliban has taken over. The Taliban is committed to helping eradicate polio and there has been only ONE reported case of Polio this year and it was in Pakistan.
Fining
The fining questions were all about the craft talk given a year ago by Cindy, Kathy Yee, and Sue Gilbreth. To see this Oscar worthy film noir, click here. Bret Bradigan, Jack Jacob, Bob Davis and Carl Gross failed to adequately remember and had to pay up, while Colin Jones got his question correct.
The Program: Memories of My Father
Colin Jones was our speaker. A twenty-year member of our club, Colin dug deep into his father’s diary to share his father’s experience during World War II. Colin found his father’s war diaries about five years after he died. He read excerpts from the diary in the voice of his father, a working class Welshman. It is the story of one man’s journey through love and war.
Known as Eddie, Colin’s father was born in January 1923. Between the ages of 18 and 22 Eddie served as a private in the British Army. A member of a small group, they spent time in Durban, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Burma, Mombasa, Zambia and the Belgian Congo.
He witnessed horrific events including the torpedo bombing of a submarine with mass casualties. He received language lessons so he could train African soldiers. He was part of the Battle of Burma, fought by one million men over 800 miles. His unit lived in tents for eight months after the battle. After the war he was awarded the Burma Star.
Eddie’s injuries and illness were recorded in the diary, including having malaria five times, dengue fever and other diseases too. But beyond the physical ailments and the life of a soldier, the diary also highlighted the relationship between his father and mother. Colin found out a secret – that his mother had been engaged to another soldier. Her fiancé died during the Normandy Beach invasion.
Colin realized that he knew the family of her dead fiancé, as the two families had spent quite a bit of time together over the years. It was tough for her father to learn of her engagement while he was overseas. But as the diary recorded, he was so happy when Margaret agreed to his marriage proposal. The last diary entry, in 1946, simply reads “Wed.” Margaret and Eddie Jones enjoyed 64 happy years of marriage together. Thank you, Colin for sharing this personal and moving story, taken from the pages of your father’s war diary.
Final Thoughts...
President Betsy closed the meeting with a quote in honor of Labor Day, by Dr. Martin Luther King:
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
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