Before the beginning…
Greeter/Funbassador – Bob “el Sombrero” Davis led the “Bring Your Best Hat Day”. Bob stole the show with a cornucopia of chapeaus from the furthest corners of the world.
The beginning…
Rotary Zoomers gathered on a fair June day to engage in fun, fellowship, and frivolity. President Cheree opened the meeting as President of the “Best Rotary Club I know!” The Pledge of Allegiance was ably led by Bill Prather.
Cindy Frings delivered a heartfelt and insightful Invocation:
What if 2020 isn’t cancelled?
What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?
A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw
That it finally forces us to grow.
A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us
from our ignorant slumber.
A year we finally accept the need for change.
Declare change. Work for change. Become the change.
A year we finally band together, instead of
Pushing each other farther apart.
2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather
The most important year of them all.
Thanks to Bill, Cindy, Tara Saylor (Zoom Techie par excellence), Bob Davis (funbassador), and yours truly as Reminder Editor.
Visitors:
A hearty welcome to Susan Kapadia and Renee Mandala!
Announcements:
Bill Gilbreth shared upcoming meetings for the rest of this Rotary year:
June 12th—Dr. Marty Pops—The Race for a CoVid vaccine.
June 19th—Colin Jones—My Father’s war in Burma
June 26th—President Cheree’s Demotion Party
Fifth Friday a great success.
We had a great 5th Friday of May scavenger hunt. We converged on Boccali’s for the best takeout food around, including strawberry shortcake. Once home and having gorged on Egg Plant Parm, Antipasti, and Lasagna with suitable beverages, Betsy Watson hosted a scavenger hunt. Michael and Suzanne (Team Scar) took the prize with Dr. Fred and Shirlee Fauvre, Ian Maclean, Bill and Sue Gilbreth, and Kathy Yee a close second. Thanks to Dewayne and Marilyn for the great chow and Dewayne’s serenade.
Don Reed announced the Educational Foundation meeting on Zoom for this coming Tuesday. All are invited. Contact Don for the password access.
Rotary International and District 5240 are making their meetings virtual
This is a great opportunity to hear world class speakers and take in the depth and breadth of Rotary International.
Fining and confessions
Colin Jones led the extraction team for fines and confessions:
Mike Weaver announced his and Susan’s 52nd anniversary of wedded bliss! they gave generously to the Foundation Scholarship Fund.
Haady Lashkari proudly announced that the Certificate of Occupancy has been granted, allowing patients to move into the new Continuing Care Center behind the hospital. Move in will take place this month.
Leslie Bouche thanked the Club for their generosity in providing sorely needed emergency food funding for the people around the Prashanti School community.
Thank you to Janet Mahon Campbell, Don Reed, and the entire Scholarship committee for all your hard work, and for putting together one of the best Scholarship programs we’ve ever had!
This past month our Club Board has submitted all the good work our club has done over the year to the District. I’d like to thank our TRF Chair Nathan Kaehler and our Polio Plus Chair Bob Davis for helping take us it over top with our Polio Plus Donations this year!
Our TRF Chair Nathan Kaehler talked to us for a few minutes about the Rotary Foundation and shared a video: To view the video, go to: https://youtu.be/rhXp8ZGkfwk for a brief history of the Rotary Foundation. We were a little short of our TRF goal and, after Nathan’s talk, the goal was reached.
Bill Weirick was awarded his Paul Harris +1. Congratulations, Bill!
Community Grant Recipients, Renee Mandala (Secure Beginnings) and Susan Kapadia (Ojai Cares)
Betsy Watson introduced the community grant awardees.
Susan Kapadia with CARES (Cancer Awareness Resources Education Support) reported on using the funds to purchase demonstration materials and hire a part- time RN to oversee their program. For more information, go to: https://ojaicares.org/
Renee Mandala is the executive director of Secure Beginnings. Their mission is to nurture healthy relationships for families with children 0-5 through classes, groups, and programs supported by educators and professionals in this field. They have developed a diaper bank with 14,000 distributed to needy families. To this end they have a parent leadership program and a program for Latinos. For more information, go to: https://securebeginnings.org/.
Congratulations to Renee and Susan for providing help and support for those patients, parents, and children of our community.
The Program: Water Project—Bryant Huber and Tara Saylor
Kay Bliss introduced our own Bryant and Tara who reported on our Water Reclamation Project.
Tara, through her many contacts with local environmental groups and Bryant’s tech savvy reported on the programs at Matilija Middle School and Miners Oaks School. The programs have slowed due to the CoVid closures, but installation and educational programs are ongoing. The Aqualonis Cloud Fisher and Warka Tower were two of the structures that will extract water from the air. Bryant also reported on water reclamation and storage.
Thank-You, Tara and Bryant on showing us the cutting edge technology for future water management and for educating our youth on the importance and means of achieving this goal.
Final Thoughts...
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
