Bob Davis led us in the flag salute

Randy Roth leads the Inspirational Moment

25 years ago, Sept. 11, 2001, unimaginable violence was visited upon thousands of New Yorkers. While I spent a lot of time working in Manhattan, by luck and happenstance, I was not in New York on 9/11. No, by bitter coincidence, I was at another place where violence and cruelty had been visited upon millions of Jews; 25 years ago today I was not in New York, I was in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, Poland. So 25 years ago today I spent the day walking among the barracks where Jews were housed, walking among the ovens where Jews were burned, walking where unimaginable cruelty and violence were visited upon innocent men, women and children. I spent the entire day there trying to understand the whys and wherefores, trying to find the words which would shed light on the darkness, but there were no satisfactory words. Words are poor, weak and pathetic things when confronting monstrous cruelty and depravity.  After my day at Auschwitz, I returned to my hotel in Krakow and there I learned about what had happened in New York. Again, I tried to understand and find the right words, but words are poor, weak and pathetic things when you try to explain shocking cruelty and depravity visited upon the innocent.

Randy quotes Elie Wiesel: 

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”

Visitors

There were no visiting Rotarians 

Other visitors included

Paul Rosenbloom was introduced by Colin Hurren

Lydia Johnson was introduced by Patricia Gates

Thanks to: 

 Chef Ray for the meal

Sue Gilbreth and others as Set Up Crew

Kathy Yee for acting as Greeter

Bob Davis for the Flag salute 

Rod Owen as Roving Mike

Fern Barishman filling in for Dave Brubaker as Treasurer

Announcements

Betsy Watson promoted the Taste of Ojai Auction. 

• There will be limited online auction, please make a gift to the auction this year.
• The auction committee is especially hoping for a vacation house for a week or a long weekend

Think about what you’ve got to share

• Kelly Rasmussen reminded us to give blood at the blood mobile, parked outside the meeting room
• The New Member Social will take place on Monday at Soule Park from 5-7 pm at the breezeway between the restaurant and the golf shop
• The International Service committee will meet on Wednesday at 8am at the museum
• The Rotary Board meeting will take place on  Thursday at 8 AM
• Patricia Gates, the TRF chair will send out a donation form.
• TRF requests $150 a year for the Rotary Foundation
• $100 will go to the general annual fund, and $50 is ear marked for Polio Plus (which has a  2:1 matching campaign with the Gates Foundation)
• Checks are preferred, given directly to Patricia, and written out to TRF. This facilitates easier bookkeeping.  This is a discretionary donation and is 100% tax deductible
• Barry Verga tells us the investment committee Rotary Education Foundation will take place monthly on second Wednesday
• Amy Warlick informs us that the Peace Committee will take place on September 22 at Tessa Turner’s house on Del Oro at 5 pm

Programs – Bret Bradigan

• 9-18: Shaina Salin-Rakowski, MES will present about the OLLI senior education at Channel Islands University
• 9-25: Reed Christy, recently interviewed on Bret Bradigan’s podcast “Talk of the Town,” will come speak on September, about his brush with tragedy and how it helped him focus on mindful presence.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reed-christy-the-life-you-notice-is-the-life-you-have/id1508230947?i=1000788854703

• October 2 our club will host the district governor Margarida Eidson

Fining was led by Christine Golden 

Confessions were first: 

• Leah Hecker confessed that Amy Warlick sent an unprompted message on the Rotary woman’s  Whatsapp Rotary thread, requesting pomegranates for the Taste of Ojai center pieces, thus securing her decorations role for another year. So Leah donated $20 in her name
• Amy Warlick donated $50 because she and Bill are back in town after a trip to West Michigan over the summer
• Larry Beckett was away in the Grand Tetons, remembering Uncle Jack Huyler
• Jack Jacobs donated because of his birthday and wedding anniversary and because I threw a balled up napkin at him and hit him squarely in the forehead during the last meeting (to help him stay awake) ☺
• Rod Owen celebrated his 4^th grandchild and reminded us of the  Friends of Family Shelter dinner at Boccali’s from 4-7 pm
• Don Reed shared that his grandson ran in a marathon in Bay area, with 1335 participants, He came in 5^th ( each mile was under 6 minutes) 2 hrs 35 minutes

Christine Golden – Fining 

Christine was a new principal at Matilija during 9/11

She started her fining with a quoted poem “The Peace of Wild Things” by the late Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Craft Talks by Dana White and Polly Hawkins

They have lived over 140 years (if you count both of them) 

From Missouri to Texas to Ojai with a few detours

Dana and Polly met 9 years ago, when Polly hired Dana as a Landscape Architect 

Equines:  

Polly was born in Saint Louis Missouri where she and her siblings raised donkeys. Hers was named Moonbeam

Dana White was born in Texas and moved to Ojai when she was 11, and had a horse named Bluebell

Dana loves to drive, Polly likes safety

Polly graduated as an Architecture from North Carolina University, where she earned the National Trust Award 

Dana got her BS in landscape architecture at UC Berkeley , she started by working on large urban projects before she found her true love working on personal homes

Transformed landscapes

Polly has 3 children, a son and daughter in LA and another child in Brazil

Dana has one daughter raised in Ojai that now lives in Kentucky

Both prioritized family when making life choices, including where to live. 

Both put family at center of their lives while balancing careers. Polly started her career in Evanston Illinois

Challenges, Successes & Would we do it again? 

Polly glad that Dana accepted her as a landscape architect client

Both had pet squirrels

Polly had 4 flying squirrels in a large cage in the basement, that later escaped into the house! It took awhile to catch them and set them free, in the meantime hilarity ensued. 

Dana’s mom adopted a squirrel, Patrick, who lived a quiet life until Dana’s mom decided to brush his squirrel teeth with human toothpaste, which may have led to Patrick’s early demise

Polly’s hobbies include baking, sewing,  keeping bees, and farming eggs. 

Dana enjoys a more creative approach to cooking, which makes baking unavailable, she enjoys traveling and exploring and NY times games 

They both are satisfied with their life choices and would do it all again. 

66 and 74 (Polly) have learned a few things, including the importance of curiosity and sharing knowledge. 

Why Rotary? 

Dana realizes that Ojai has helped her professionally and is looking forward to giving back.  

Polly recognizes Rotary as a place to build community.  

Kelley ends the meeting with the famous proverb 

“If you are healthy you have 1,001 problems. If you are not, you have 1 problem.”

You are invited to visit us at an upcoming meeting.