11:50-12:10 Greeter/Fun Ambassador: Cindy Frings asked members to show off their Holiday Costumes for fun & prizes. There was a great showing!!!
12:10 to 12:15- Start Meeting
Pledge: Michael Scar
Invocation:
Patricia Anderson -
Consolation by Billy Collins:
How agreeable it is not to be touring Italy this summer,
wandering her cities and ascending her torrid hill towns.
How much better to cruise these local, familiar streets,
fully grasping the meaning of every road sign and billboard
and all the sudden hand gestures of my compatriots.
There are no abbeys here, no crumbling frescoes or famous
domes and there is no need to memorize a succession
of kings or tour the dripping corners of a dungeon.
No need to stand around a sarcophagus, see Napoleon's
little bed on Elba, or view the bones of a saint under glass.
How much better to command the simple precinct of home
than be dwarfed by pillar, arch, and basilica.
Why hide my head in phrase books and wrinkled maps?
Why feed scenery into a hungry, one-eyes camera
eager to eat the world one monument at a time?
Instead of slouching in a café ignorant of the word for ice,
I will head down to the coffee shop and the waitress
known as Dot.
I will slide into the flow of the morning
paper, all language barriers down,
rivers of idiom running freely, eggs over easy on the way.
And after breakfast, I will not have to find someone
willing to photograph me with my arm around the owner.
I will not puzzle over the bill or record in a journal
what I had to eat and how the sun came in the window.
It is enough to climb back into the car
as if it were the great car of English itself
and sounding my loud vernacular horn, speed off
down a road that will never lead to Rome, not even Bologna.
--
Patricia Teague Anderson, MFT
Thank you, Patricia for the invocation, Tara for facilitating our Zoom meeting, Sue & Cindy for being our greeters today and Andy for serving as our Reminder editor.
Visiting Rotarians or guests to introduce?
Marc Whitman introduced guests Paola Lule and Mariam St. James. – Paola described the benefit of receiving the Rotary scholarships for college. She went to UCLA and is now teaching in Istanbul. She expressed her gratitude and heartfelt thanks.
Sandi White, Development Director for Villanova Prep, and Music Director for Nordhoff Bill Wagner.
Husbands, wives, and significant others were in the room today.
12:15 - 12:20 Announcements:
Therese Brown - Upcoming Programs – Dark the next two weeks. Back in January. In January we will be looking at the COVID vaccines, Robin Gerber, and many more programs to come.
Marty Babayco announced guest Nordhoff HS Music Director Bill Wagner and played 4-minute video. Bill has been working at Nordhoff since 1988. He has instilled the love of music in hundreds of students in Ojai, making this ensemble one of the state’s best. Bill’s ensemble has received numerous awards and has is a true professional and inspiration.
Bill spoke about just finishing the semester and is looking forward to 2021 being a better year, hopefully with onsite education. They were not able to have marching band and many other offerings, due to the pandemic. There will be a virtual musical this year entitled The Theory of Relativity, coming out in mid-May. The students are very excited about it. Look for the teasers coming out before May.
Our students have been recording individual soundtracks, these are two of our four numbers coming out for our Holiday video, and you get to see it first! VIDEO PLAYS HERE – Noel and Throw Open Your Shutters. Great video to brighten the holidays!
Worst Pun Ever Winner!!
12:20 – 12:30 - Confessions and Fining – Larry turned 83 today. Dierdre donated in gratitude for her daughter, a healthcare worker, receiving the COVID vaccine. Janet’s aunt is having her 91st birthday. Tara will be performing in Kim Maxwell’s class. Pradeep back from Seattle and yesterday his foundation reached $100,000 in donations and he was able to fund students in India with the revenue.
12:30 – 12:40 - Holiday Outfit Winners Announcements!
Kathy Yee will announce the Jolliest costume – Larry Beckett wins!
Deirdre Daily will announce the most ridiculous costume – Tara Saylor wins!
Cheree Edwards will announce the most glamorous costume – Bob Davis wins!
12:30 – 1:00 Program – L.I.V.E. – Sean Reed
Prior to introducing program Michael to announce that as we watch the program we encourage our members via the Chat function to donate $10 to $20 to the program. The Club will match the individual donations up to $500.00.
Program – Therese to introduce our program – Nordhoff L.I.V.E. Club – Leadership Through International Expeditions. Through international service projects, building leaders through budgeting, planning, and international participation. The club was begun in 2017.
Sean Reed: “It is a privilege to be here. I am also here with Natalie and Emily. I am a junior at Nordhoff. We were not able to go on our trip this year, due to the virus.
Presentation: Activities include fundraising to go on a service trip, engaging in long-term projects and serving these communities abroad. We also learn budgeting and planning skills in the scope of these projects. We learn about different cultures which is very rewarding. The club began with students who were passionate about international service. L.I.V.E. is a student-run program and has a small group of members who fundraise all year. We get together once or twice a week to plan activities.
We have a variety of fundraisers, and with the pandemic we have had to be creative. Past activates have included student performances, silent auctions, a booth at Ojai Day, a (normally) have bake sales at the weekly Farmers’ Market, a garage sale in the spring, and collaboration with business that donation a portion of their sales toward the service trip as well.
We practice in the real world, working for others in need, and through hands-on experiences. It teaches students to be responsible for others around the world. L.I.V.E. is a way to explore the world, being able to provide services to those in need. When L.I.V.E. began, they raised $17,000 for a tribe in Costa Rica installing clean water pipelines. In 2019 we traveled to Thailand, through raising $25,000, constructing new Kindergarten and elementary classrooms. There is much gratitude from the student members about what they get out of the program.
We hope to travel to the Dominican Republic this summer, supporting the project we were not able to accomplish this summer. In two separate areas in the Dominican Republic, we will be working on water infrastructure projects, housing, and sanitation. These are larger projects in coordination with other organizations to fully accomplish these projects, having a lasting impact.
We have faced many obstacles with the pandemic, through the projects and also the fundraising. Thank you for any help in contributing to our efforts. We greatly appreciate it.
Bryant will lead us all into Holiday Tunes! Jingle Bells and Silver Bells!!!!! Thank you Bryant!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL – MAY HAPPINESS, PEACE & JOY BE WITH YOU!
