In the beginning...
This Friday, September 22nd, Co-President Bill Prather called the meeting to order where we welcomed a packed room of Rotarians and guests.
Inspiration by Leslie Bouché
Leslie reminded us that all too often we focused on our differences rather than our similarities. Peace comes when we recognize our oneness. Leslie closed with a short poem by Danna Faulds, We can never be strangers:
Everything, everything, every little thing is unique at its surface and indistinguishable at its core. I want to remember this today, the oneness underlying our differences and the truth that we can never really be strangers, even if we never laid eyes on each other before.
Announcements
Bill presented the Rotarian of the Month award to “the Rotarian who has brought peace back to our Rotary Club”. And added “she is truly an example of this year’s Rotary theme, Let’s Have Fun”. Cheree Edwards is September’s Rotarian of the Month!
Rick Ledbetter from Boy Scout Troop 504 gave us an overview of funds donated by our club which have been used for items such as merit badges, class for eagle scouts and camping, rank advancements and even a troop flag replacement. Rick expressed his appreciation for the donations received from Rotary.
Don Reed asked for as many volunteers as possible to help with the Youth Service program for 7th and 8th grade students, focusing on mathematics and language arts (only one skill needed!). It will be 2-3pm on Thursday and Friday afternoons. The first training program for tutors will be on Thu/Fri, October 3/4.
On Sunday we had a wonderful Beach party with Ojai West at Larry Wilde’s beach house. Thanks to Larry and Dennis Guernsey for hosting the party. And a big thank you to Carl Gross, Lillian Talley and Tara Saylor for organizing and getting the critical food and drinks!
On Thursday, we unveiled a Peace Pole at the Gables for International Day of Peace. Thankyou Cheree Edwards and the Peace Committee for the event and to Christine Fenn for hosting our board meeting and the Peace Day event at the Gables.
And thanks to Stephen Adams for the great photos!!
On September 29, Tara Saylor is organizing a family pot-luck dinner for our fifth Friday meeting. Meet from 5pm to dark at the picnic tables at Sarzotti Park. Contact Tara if you missed the sign-up sheet.
Our October 6 meeting will be at Kent Hall, behind City Hall with the District Governor Marta Brown attending so we are hoping for a strong attendance. Marta’s presentation is rumored to be very good.
Historical Moment by Bret Bradigan
Bret Bradigan had previously talked about Alexander the Great, a great man with a lot of pronounced feminine characteristics.
This week he talked about a great woman with masculine characteristics, Caterina Sforza, born 1463, daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. The Duke was an early proponent of humanism and believed women should get the same education as men. Caterina learned martial arts, swordplay, hand to hand combat, and equine training. She especially loved artillery training and ballistics.
She was not only great in battle, but also as a ruler invested in arts, education and infrastructure. She was an amazing scientist in Florence whose writings in 1500 on cosmetics, medicine and alchemy were used during the two following centuries.
Confessions and Fining by Tara Saylor
Marty Pops celebrated his 66th wedding anniversary with a long limerick he wrote.
Tara reminded us about the Upper Ojai Search and Rescue fundraiser at Boccali’s on October 1. Tara joined Upper Ojai SAR last January and talked about their great work including rescuing 13 people already in 2023. Also, Congrats to Tara who will be the new development manager at The CREW.
Andy Gilman announced his Agora brown bag lunch on the first Tuesday from 12-1 of every month. Next meeting is on October 3rd including the hospital, OVLC, City Council, Forest Service. Also, a personal project for Andy is restoring the Pine Campground which was damaged at the drought and Thomas Fire. Andy will be looking for volunteers to plant pines in the near future.
Terry Beckett celebrated his 84th birthday on September 17, Happy Birthday Terry!
For Fining, Tara called on two members for a one minute inspirational Rotary story. Larry Beckett told us about Bob Skanky’s Matrone project in Niger reducing maternal mortality rates.
Kevin Davis told us about a Rotarian he met in a Parisian airport, where they had nothing in common but they had everything in common, which is they were both trying to make their communities a little better.
Program: Pam Davis
Introduction by Jack Jacobs: Pam Davis has over 30 years of experience in high school teaching and college counseling, including 8 years as the Director of Life Planning at Vistamar School in El Segundo, California.
She has shepherded hundreds of students through the college admissions process and connected professionally with myriad college admissions officers over the years. Since 2022, she has served as a Senior Research Associate for Level All, an up-and-coming educational technology company creating content designed to improve the outcomes of high school and college students across the U.S.
As part of that effort, she recently wrote a guide entitled “Inside the College Admissions Business” as well as guides to the college essay, the college interview, and building a smart college list. Pam holds a BA in English/Creative Writing from Stanford University, and a PhD in English from Brown University.
Before sharing her slides, Pam presented her philosophy in college counseling - the goal is not just getting into college, but getting out of college, having made the most of it, having had experiences there that set you up for the future you want.
Pam has worked to combat the stress around college admission and the misconception that some colleges are golden tickets to a great life. She shared three stories from her experience attending a Harvard summer institute on college admissions where she participated in a mock committee meeting with the dean of admissions. One through six rating scale. Ones were for students with uncommon strengths, truly rare, Twos were for the kids that most colleges would put at the top of their admit tile. Twos had the potential to graduate from Harvard, magna cum laude and who boast substantial schoolwide regional or state recognition, major contribution, and leadership.
Yale Professor William Derschwitz argues that students at elite colleges are driven by the wrong things and arrive on campus driven by mis-education of the American elite. Families enter the game without knowing the rules that colleges are playing by. One thing is happening and something entirely different is going on on the basketball court, but the colleges are actually playing basketball but the kids are playing football. Pam aims to break the stranglehold that elite college admissions has on our imaginations and on our aspirations.
Final Thought from Bill
Education breeds Confidence, Confidence breeds Hope, Hope breeds Peace
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