The Rotary Club of
Ojai
 

Ojai Rotary Reminder Newsletter
August 23rd, 2019

Bill Gilbreth, Editor

August is Membership and Extension Month 
Are you an established professional who wants to make positive changes in your community and the world? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. 
Our 1.2 million-member organization started with the vision of one man—Paul P. Harris. The Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905 as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.
 
In the Beginning…
 
 
 
            President Cheree gaveled the meeting to order and welcomed everyone at 12:10 – and brought the meeting to a close an hour and twenty minutes later.
 
 
 
 
 
            Janet Campbell lead us in a flag salute and Brian Berman gave the Invocation. President Deirdre then recessed the meeting for lunch, after asking that we escort our guests to the buffet table.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Appreciation…
 
            When she resumed the meeting, at approximately 12:30, President Deirdre invited us to continue with lunch while she thanked Bill Prather and Fred Coleman for setup, Wendy Barker and yours truly for serving as Greeters, Janet for the flag salute, Brian for the invocation, Bret Bradigan for chaperoning the roving mike, Carl Gross for being such a wonderful photographer and editor, your obedient servant as the Reminder Editor, and – most of all – Ginger, for our lunch and her continued good cheer.
 
Welcomes…
 
            President Deirdre then welcomed our guests - including special guests, our speakers and their families, and several board members of Impact the Outcome.
 
Announcements…
 
            President Cheree began by wishing a happy birthday, and presenting birthday cupcakes, to the following gaggle of Rotarians:
 
Bret Bradigan
Leslie Clark
Matt Clements
Sheila Cluff
Bryant Huber
Alex Kim
John Lyon
Don Reed
Dean Vaidnais
Al West
Larry Wilde
 
Then we all sang Happy Birthday while Bret, et. al, blew out all the candles.
 
            President Cheree announced that the Hiking Club would meet at the Land Conservancy base camp at 7:30 oh dark hundred this coming Sunday morning - for another try at the summit?
 
 
 
            Bob Davis stripped down for action (by revealing his familiar Polio Plus tee shirt under a bold plaid cowboy shirt), announced the progress that has been made, and asked everyone to fill out a form - then being circulated - to let him know the status of this year’s Polio Plus pledges and contributions. (An effort to play a short Polio Plus Video failed because of technical problems.)
 
           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
President Cheree then continued with the following additional announcements:
 
  • The club’s board of directors will meet at 8:00 next Friday morning at the Gables. The District Governor will be present; President Cheree again invited all interested Rotarians to join the board meeting.
  • There will be no luncheon meeting next week, August 30th. Instead, starting @ 5:30 that evening, there will be a joint meeting with Rotary West and a Spaghetti Western @ Boccali’s – with the District Governor. Our own Dewayne Boccali has threatened to sing.
 
 
 
Cartoon...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fining…
 
            Our characteristically enthusiastic Christine Golden took the podium as Fine Master – to less than thunderous applause – and befuddled most of our experts with a series of questions concerning basketball. (Good job, Christine; it was fun and, with the opening confessions, raised money for our various service projects – which is what fining is all about.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Program…Impact the Outcome
 
            Sandy Buechley introduced the two accomplished young men that were today’s speakers:
  • Robert Stratton – an Ojai Valley native, currently studying at Ventura College with plans to transfer to CSU Channel Islands – and, as we learned from his remarks, a very busy and effective young man. (Not surprisingly, because he is Sandy’s grandson!)
  • Atticus Reyes – who moved to Ojai from Los Angeles when he was 14 years old and who has now graduated from CSU Channel Islands and has been accepted into the Capital Fellows State Senate program – after serving as CSUI Student Government President.
 
            In a thoroughly enjoyable tag team-type presentation we rapidly learned from the speakers that, in addition to coaching various teams at Nordhoff High School and elsewhere, they joined in their efforts to bring together young people in the Ojai Valley. Robert did so by founding a non-profit called “Impact the Outcome”, recruiting Atticus and others on the board, and organizing a series of highly successful tournaments – starting with the “Hoops for Hope” tournament Robert organized to raise funds for a young man’s battle against cancer. All together they have already raised over $18,000 in a little over a year and helped people focus on the inequities of homelessness.
 
            Half of the Impact the Outcome board of directors attended the meeting to further support Robert’s and Atticus’s ongoing efforts. They have already gained lots of public support, but are reaching out for more. Interested volunteers, sponsors and donors can reach them on the web by emailing Robert@ImpactTheOutcome.org
 
Access their website by clicking here
 
Closing….
 
 
President Deirdre warmly thanked Robert and Atticus, presented them with our traditional Speaker’s gift of Ojai’s Pixie Tangerines, and gaveled the meeting to a close at 1:30 with the following remarks:
 
            “During the early 70’s, when UCLA head coach John Wooden was at the peak of his career, my little brother attended the John Wooden Basketball Camp each summer at Cal Lutheran College, near where we lived. My family were big John Wooden fans – and, in closing, I’d like to share a quote and one of Coach Wooden’s fundamental principles:
           
“The goal in life is just the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing – in marriage, at your job, in the community, for your country. Make the effort to contribute in whatever way you can.
 
You may do it materially or with time, ideas, or work. Making the effort to     contribute is what counts. The effort is what counts in everything."
 
Or, as my brother Jon’s favorite “Woodenism” so aptly states:
 
"It takes 10 hands to score a basket."
 
 
                                                                                    Wm J. G.
 
 

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