In the Beginning…
Ojai Rotary members and their guests telecongregated on Zoom in fellowship and fun. We were greeted by the beaming countenance of Patricia Anderson, making us feel warm and welcome.
President Michael Scar opened the session with Larry Wilde leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Al West gave a heartfelt Invocation. President Michael thanked Larry for the Pledge, Al for the Invocation, Patricia as our greeter, Terry Beckett for sending out the Zoom link each week, and Carl Gross as Reminder Editor.
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Visiting Rotarians and Guests:
Good to see Honorary Member, Dr. Bob Skankey, beaming in from his Airstream somewhere in the Southwest.
We welcomed Ara Guzelimian, Artistic and Executive Director of the Ojai Music Festival.
Bret Bradigan introduced Kevin Davis, business practice consultant. Welcome to all!
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Upcoming Programs
Therese Brown reviewed the lineup of upcoming programs. Many thanks to Therese and her crew, who provide consistently timely and engaging programs this year.
April 16th—Leslie Clark, author of Nomadgirl-My Saharan Odyssey, A Memoir and Ojai Rotary Honorary Rotarian.
April 23rd—Wade Nomura. Past District Governor and Rotary Technical Coordinator-Creating Destiny
April 30th—Fifth Friday will be celebrated on May 6th with a social at the Topa Mountain Winery. Contact Cindy Fring for details. Try to car pool.
May 7th—Kathy Nolan, Landscape Architect
Announcements:
Bob Davis pitched Polio Plus with an update. There was good and bad news: The good news: we have a good chance of eradicating Polio within 2 years at a cost of a dollar a dose. The bad news: we are short of the $50 million dollar goal for this year and 3 women volunteers were killed by ISIS.
Please consider giving a donation to Polio Plus and let us put this scourge behind us.
Catherine Lee reminded us of her upcoming Affordable Art and Bake Sale on April 25th at her ranch. Proceeds to go to Ojai Rotary Scholarships. She needs help with the baking and needs a chairperson to help her.
Mike Weaver invited all members to the Educational Foundation Zoom Meeting on April 14th at 1 PM. 
Please contact Mike for details. There is a new website for the Educational Foundation. Check it out. Go to: https://ojairotaryedfoundation.org/
Jane Spiller’s daughter is walking as we read this. She is in a 3-day walkathon supporting CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). CASA ensures that children and youth in the foster care system have both a voice and the services they need for a stable future. Contact Jane regarding details.
Mike Malone is working on a new site to meet once the CoVid restrictions are lifted. Suggested sites include the Methodist Church across from Nordhoff and the Woman’s Club. More to follow.
Bill Weirick reported plans for a memorial to Paul Blatz at Libbey Bowl. More information to follow.
Fred Fauvre reported a good response with many nominations for the 2021-22 Living Treasures. Ballots may be obtained online https://www.rcolt.org. Deadline for submission 4/12.
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Rotary Cartoon
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Confessions and Fining: Christine Golden
Confessions were flying off the wall!
Tara Saylor announced the Art Auction Fundraiser supporting Art for Global Regeneration.
Click here for more information. Auction begins April 16th - April 18th closing bids on the 18th at noon.
Marty and Kay announced that their son, Tyson and daughter in law, Megan have accepted a ministerial assignment in Grand Junction, Colorado. Tyson and Megan have been associate pastors at Ojai Presbyterian Church. Marty and Kay will be booking many trips to see them and their grandchild.
Dr. Tiffany Morse proudly announced that all the children will back in school, starting April 12th.
Fining centered around cookies:
Deirdre Daly could not recall that cookies were invented in 7th century Iran with the availability of sugar.
Bret (Get em right) Bradigan correctly guessed that the word cookie came from the Dutch Koekje.
Wendy Barker could not come up with the purchaser of 12,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to be distributed to our troops in the Middle East. That would be Bruce Willis at the suggestion of his daughter.
Mike Malone could not tell us that the size of the first chocolate cookies were that of a quarter.
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The Program: Ara Guzelimian—Artistic and Executive Director, Ojai Music Festival.
Cheree Edwards introduced Ara Guzelimian.
Guzelimian became Dean and Provost of The Juilliard School in 2006. Previously, he worked at Carnegie Hall as Artistic Advisor and Senior Director, from 1998 to 2006. During that time he played a key role in the launch of Zankel Hall in 2003 as well as hosting and producing the Making Music composer series there.[2][3][4]--
He was appointed to by the Artistic Director of the Artistic Director of the 75th Ojai Music Festival from June 10 to 13, 2021. (Source: Wikipedia)
Having last spoke to our Club in 1990, he was happy to be back, thanking Ojai Rotary for their support over the years of the Ojai Music Festival. He recalled fond memories of Wheeler Hot Springs with a post-soak meal at Landucci’s, sharing cooking tips with Alan Hooker from the Ranch House and experiencing the “unlikely miracle which only could occur in Ojai.”
This will be the 75th anniversary. Greats like Stravinsky, Aaron Copeland, and Pierre Boulez have graced the stage of the Libbey Bowl, drawn by the community imbued in the Arts. They often had to contend with no backstage facilities.
One of the biggest cultural events on the Central and South Coasts is coming back this year, after being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 safety concerns.
The Ojai Music Festival is planning to celebrate its 75th anniversary with in-person concerts, and other events.
The festival was unable to hold its traditional series of events last year because of the pandemic. Because of COVID-19 concerns, this year's events are being pushed back later in the year. The festival normally takes place in June, but is being shifted to September in the hopes that safety concerns will have eased enough that the need for social distancing requirements will be eased.
Festival Artistic and Executive Director Ara Guzelimian says despite the shift in the timing of the festival, all of the major artists involved in the event have agreed to still take part.
The Festival will kick off its 75th annual event with a number of events this summer.
Thanks, Ara for your presentation and your efforts in bringing the Ojai Music Festival back to us music lovers. Deirdre Daly put a pitch in for housing Festival performers and the chance to form long lasting friendships.
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Closing Quote
“Go into the world and do well and most importantly do good”
Minor Myers Jr.
Be safe and have a great week!
Born in 
