“The Club with the biggest heart”
In the beginning…
On a warm summer day, Co-President Carl Gross invited Ojai Rotarians to join for fellowship and service. Tony Thacher led the Pledge of Allegiance and Catherine Lee gave the Inspirational Moment. Carl thanked all those whose efforts made the meeting possible.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Carl welcomed our visitors PDG Jack McClenahan from Ojai Rotary West, Alex Freeman, Benny Varga, our speaker aleCol. Keith Nightengale, and Carl’s daughter Taundra Roddick.
Avenue of Service--Vocational Service
Carl is making an effort to familiarize Rotarians with all of the activities and programs that Rotary conducts through its avenues of service. This week, Carl asked Larry Beckett to describe the programs under the umbrella of Vocational Service. Larry gave a quick overview of our club’s support of:
- The Fred Klapp award
- The Paul Harris award
- Boy Scouts
- The revived Portfolio Program
Fining with Dr. Dave Watson
Dr. Dave extracted confessions and dollars:
- Al West is 90!
- Bob Davis told an inscrutable joke about Fred Klapp
- Cheree and Don Edwards celebrated their 43rd!
- Janet Campbell celebrated her Rotary Anniversary
- Christine Golden described the effort to preserve the
Chumash engravings in Cluff Vista park
Program: Col. Keith Nightengale
Col. Nightengale returned to the Club to give an update on “how Ukraine is tapping the US arsenal”. The Colonel gave a sobering assessment and accounting of how the US assistance to Ukraine is depleting our inventory of military supplies in order to help Ukraine continue its fight to remain independent. The Colonel distributed a detailed listing of all of the supplies provided, but he focused his comments on a few key areas. The following were the comments I found most interesting and disturbing:
- “…our military industrial base is straining to meet the demand…”
- “…Ukraine is firing up to 7000 155mm shells per day, while out single factory is able to produce only 250 shells per day…”
- “…much of the equipment delivered to Ukraine is not standardized and compatible, but the Ukrainians have been ingenious in integrating various components into the fight…”
- “…our military industrial base now consists of 6 major vendors…”
- “…our naval industrial base now consists of only 3 shipyards…”
- “…our military is dependent upon chips and technology that are only available outside the US…”
- “…if the US has to come to the aid of Taiwan, our supply of ships and materials will be quickly depleted…”
All in all, the Colonel assessment is pretty grim. He foresees that the likely long-term outcome in Ukraine is a stalemate.
Final Thoughts...
Carl left us with these final thoughts from Albert Schweizer:
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve”.
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