The low winter sun lit up the faces of the eager civic warriors as the Friday meeting of the Rotary Club of Ojai commenced at noon at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Dave Brubaker was the first human hurdle, deftly separating us from our Rotary Christmas Party funds (Ojai Art Center, December 15th).

Not far behind was Dr. Dave Watson, with his amiable manner greeting one and all. The room was masterfully adorned by Kelley Rasmussen and Bill Prather. 

Kathy Yee led us in the flag salute, while Bret Bradigan invoked the meeting with a Rotary inspirational message and a brief anecdote about Helen Keller.

Visiting Rotarians included Jack McClenahan, past district governor and Tuesday Rotary club frenemy Kern Lewis.

Guests? We had a few, as follows:
Arnie Friedman, Carrie Switzer, Alicia Journey, Dawn Damianos, Irelyn and Tula Turner (Tessa’s granddaughters) and their parents.

Prez Wendy thanked all of the above, plus the Rotary reminder editor Randy Roth and your humble scribe “Big Bret” Bradigan. Plus Jayne Cruise for the delicious noodles and meatballs with trimmings. Yum!

Announcements:
Kathy Yee shared a poignant story about a young family in China Lake, in the Mojave Desert in 1953, in which the son and father came down with an illness that turned out to be polio. It took a year for their recovery, and Kathy was shipped off to her grandparents. She told it well, as this account cannot do it justice, with suspense and a twist ending that left the crowd with a powerful shock and a lasting message. It is within our power to exterminate this dread disease through our collective efforts at Rotary.

• Service Above Self Award: Taundra Roddick introduced Tula Turner, a student at Topa Topa Elementary, as December’s winner of this prestigious award. Her parents were on hand to share in the moment, and her principal, Mrs. Damianos, on behalf of her teacher, told us about Tula’s impressive activities and accomplishments, including on campus and at Poco Farms, making her the clear winner and a role model for all other students, with her compassion and caring approach. 
 

• Meetings Update: To clarify confusion around meeting dates, Wendy told us there will be three meetings in December - the 6th (today), the 13th and 20th. The holiday party will be the 15th, and then two weeks we will be dark, resuming regular scheduling on January 10th.

• New Member Induction: Gary Liptak, sponsored by Ren Adam, comes to us from a club in New Hampshire, with an impressive résumé and history of civic engagements. Membership Co-Chair Sue Gilbreth gave the preamble to membership and the obligations and opportunities it entails, while co-chair Bill Prather joined in. Gary was presented with his membership packet, including his Blue Badge, dues, information and club flag.

• Museum Moment: Wendy took us through a slide show of photos of the brilliant newly reopened Playhouse Theater and its interactions since 1914!

• Fining: Kelley Rasmussen extracted lucre with vigor, first from confessions from the following:
- Ren Adam turned 81, Marilyn Mosely Gordanier for an event in Virginia in which local Rotarians helped her graduate 16 girls into or from her leadership program. Then Bob Davis challenged others to donate to Pradeep Kapadia’s or Leslie Clark’s scholarship programs in Africa, which compared to Thacher School’s $80,000 tuition could educate hundreds of deserving students into a better life.

Kelley, an insurance agent, then turned toward Medicare-related questions, such as the years various additions and plans were added and some background on this vital social safety net program that began with LBJ in 1965. She fooled very few people, with Randy Roth, Mike Weaver, Fred Farkhani displaying impressive knowledge.

PROGRAM:

Andy Gilman, Ojai’s newest mayor and club member, took the mike to talk about his plans and all the briefings with city staff and other government agencies as he prepares for his two-year term. Among his priorities are:
- Proper functioning of the council, including the newly adopted Code of Ethics, and his hope and plans to change the “procedures and culture” of the council, to make it more accessible and responsible. “More conversations and less lectures,” is how characterized it.

He said the city has stopped the campsite proposal at Soule Park, after hearing the objections of many citizens. “That’s off the table,” he said. 

He learned that Ventura County has committed to 50 percent of the sustaining funding for the homeless encampment at City Hall, once the current grant expires. 

Other goals are fewer closed sessions, strategies for the city’s budget surplus, more support for local nonprofits, especially those that fulfill city aims and missions, working with OUSD’s new board, OVLC’s Rewild project, the new hotel and playhouse theater, hospital expansion and more.

Planning and educating about fire safety and property hardening against the inevitable wildfires that afflict the area are also on the docket. He is also tracking demographic trends, tourism, diversifying the economy, arts, traffic and infrastructure issues.

Andy took a few questions, relating to the bike lanes on Maricopa Highway and Oak View, children issues around park and recreation programs like the dance classes, adding town halls around issues, and others. He received a warm round of applause and well wishes.


RECOMMENDATIONS
Wendy said Barry Verga recommended Renee Di Resta’s newest, “Invisible Rulers,” about social media influencers spreading disinformation and misinformation, while Fern Barishman recommended the podcast and Youtube channel “Diary of the CEO” for its “deep dives into all kinds of information. Medical, financial and emotional, absolutely fascinating and educational. Some of the most brilliant minds out there!”

With that, we gathered up our belongings and headed into the warm winter afternoon.