In the beginning...
This past Friday, February 25th, President Betsy Watson called the meeting to order “of her favorite Rotary Club in the whole world” at 12:10 PST, welcoming the club back together in person again.
Betsy thanked our greeter, Sue Gilbreth, Cindy Frings for leading the club in the flag salute as well as confession and finings, and Bill Prather for giving the invocation this week:
Having a thankful heart changes our entire perspective and outlook on life. It’s the best way to experience life even in the mist of the pandemic with its job losses, sickness, and loss of life.
Having a thankful heart changes our entire perspective and our outlook on life.
So, today we give thanks for our many blessings.
We give thanks for our families.
We give thanks for our friends.
We give thanks for our community.
We give thanks for our freedoms; which are too easily taken for granted.
We give thanks for our service to others above ourselves.
We give thanks for our good health as we think about those who are not well.
As we think about those who are lonely, we give thanks for our fellow Rotarians.
And as we hear the news about the damages in communities hit by tornadoes, freezing weather, and fires we give thanks there was not an even greater loss of life.
On this day may love enfold us, may peace dwell within us, and may the joy we receive from being of service to others uplift us; but especially may we be thankful for all that we have and may we have thankful hearts for all who need us.
Betsy also thanked Suzanne Scar for helping on the roving mic, Carl Gross for his photography and publishing skills, and Kevin Davis for writing this week’s newsletter.
There were no visiting Rotarians this week, but there were several guests in attendance including Ojai Historic Preservation Commission’s Brian Aikens.
Also attending was Christine Fenn, marketing director and community liaison of The Gables of Ojai, the first platinum sponsor of this year’s Taste of Ojai (more on that below).
Announcements:
Upcoming programs – Andy Gilman mentioned:
March 11th – Lanny Kaufer of Medicinal Herbs of California and author of new book
We also have upcoming presentations on how to make wine by the folks from Majestic Oaks, an update from the Ojai Valley Conservancy and Help of Ojai.
Rotary Clubs of Ojai Living Treasures Ballots are Out – Dr. Fred Fauvre announced that ballots to nominate an individual for this year’s Living Treasures award are out and were distributed in the February 28th edition of the Ojai Valley News.You can also download a pdf version of the ballot here at https://www.rcolt.org/. The deadline for this year’s nominating ballots to be returned to Dr. Fauvre’s office at 1320 Maricopa Highway, Suite I, OJai, CA 93023 is now extended to April 26th.
The award recognizes individuals in the community for their support and commitment to being of service to others.
It’s time to take down the Winter Wonderland lights! – Community service committee lead, Sue Gilbreth asked for volunteers to meet at the Libbey Park Fountain at 11 am on Monday, February 28th. This past December, members of both of Ojai’s clubs, along with the Ojai Chamber of Commerce, hung lights around Libbey Park. The city has now told us to take them down.
Taste of Ojai – The intrepid Cindy Frings reminded us that our club’s big fundraiser for the year, Taste of Ojai, is coming up fast on Sunday April 10th, 2022 at 2 - 5:30 pm. The early bird special 10% ticket discount online exclusive ends March 1st, when individual ticket prices will go from $67.50 to $75.00.
Taste of Ojai Sponsorships – Bob Davis thanked the Gables of Ojai and the Iguana Hotels of Ojai for each making a $5,000 sponsorship commitment. As of meeting time, the club has secured $28,500, with $10,500 already paid.
Please reach out to either Bob Davis or Cindy Frings if you have any additional sponsor ideas.
Taste of Ojai Publicity – Bret Bradigan, co-chair along with Andy Gilman, and with help from Kevin Davis, Suzanne Scar and Diedre Daly called on all digitally-savvy Rotarians to tap into their own social networks and let people know about this event. So please follow Taste of Ojai on Facebook and on Twitter and re-share our posts to your network.
Taste of Ojai Travel Auction – Suzanne Scar and Bob Davis shared information on this year’s trip for auction: a Turkey Adventure Tour for four people courtesy of Bob Davis. Betsy Watson vouched for this very special opportunity. Bidding will start at $2k per person.
The Rotary Portfolio Project at Matilija MIddle School – Larry Beckett was pleased to announce that The Rotary portfolio project is up and running again, at the school May 26th and 27th. Larry mentioned that the impact on the kids is long lasting and highly recommends it for all, particularly those members who have not participated previously.
The Scholarship Committee – Dave Watson announced that the scholarship committee would meet directly following the conclusion of this meeting to review the plan for the year.
Betsy then thanked and introduced Cindy Frings for this week’s confessions and fining. Remember, you can pay your fines by sending your checks in the mail to RCOEF P.O box 1036, Ojai CA 93024. Be sure to write “FINING” on the check when you send it. We also accept PayPal at https://www.ojairotary.org/sitepage/club-dues-payment.
Wendy announced the birth of her new baby granddaughter, Daphne, born on 2/2/22.
Kathy Yee also chipped in, in honor of her birthday the day before.
Kevin Davis then made a “confession” about his friends and colleagues under attack in Ukraine. Based on his personal experience working hands-on with journalists in the region, Kevin strongly urges Rotary members who are interested and who have the ability to give contribute to the following initiatives to help front-line journalists:
- The Kyiv Independent – Staffed by the former journalists and editors of The Kyiv Post, this is the top English-language news organization actually on the ground in Ukraine. They have both a GoFundMe for one-time donations and a Patreon link for recurring monthly donations to secure funds to help secure and relocate the journalists.
- Hromadske Radio – a local Ukrainian language radio station and web service that is fighting to stay on air has a Patreon link.
- Keep Ukraine’s Media Going Go Fund Me – This fundraiser is aimed at helping media with security, relocate, set-up back offices and continue their operations from neighboring countries.
- Meduza.io – Published by independent Russian journalists both in and outside Russia at great personal risk, Meduza.io is the news from Russia in both English and Russian that is committed to reporting on the war even though they face personal risk and potential legal prosecution. They have a link where you can give support via PayPal.
-
Fining and Confessions
Switching back to lighter fare, Cindy then delved into a dusty old attache case from the last century to find tidbits of arcane Rotary trivia to stump this week’s victims. In the end, Jack Jacobs, Tony Thacher and others all coughed up (rather than identifying a Rotarian in the room who previously worked in a Playboy club in the 70s while in college).
Program: Craig Walker--Historic Preservation Comission
Andy Gilman then introduced our speaker for today, Craig Walker. Craig is a retired educator who has worked in Ojai public schools for over 50 years. Craig grew up in Ojai, graduating from Nordhoff High School in 1966.
He has been interested in Ojai history most of his life and has worked on preserving Ojai’s history for the past 35 years. He served for four years on the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) and recently served on two ad hoc HPC subcommittees to rewrite Ojai’s historic preservation ordinance and to help research the downtown historic district.
Craig thanked Rotary for what it does, and made it clear up front that he is no longer a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and does not speak for them.
“I think we can all agree that Ojai is historic,” said Craig. Yet, preservation doesn’t happen on its own. There are currently 15 properties in the City’s landmark developments and without the City many of these buildings would no longer exist.
Recently the HPC recommended that Ojai designate Downtown Ojai a City Historic District. This is still up for discussion. However, the Ojai Valley News editorial came out against this initiative.
As it turns out, in a highly unusual move, the State of California went ahead on its own and designated Downtown Ojai as part of the State Registry of Historic Places effectively making the issue about whether we residents of Ojai Valley want to have local control or influence over the administration of these areas or not. This was not made clear by the paper in their coverage and editorial on the topic.
Typically, the process starts at the city level and then goes to the state; this allows the city to pass and administrate its own ordinances. This did not happen in this case, as the state recognition came about after CALTRANS submitted reports on the ongoing Active Transportation Program (ATP) project. Without a local historic district designation, said Craig, there is little that the city can do to administer the district locally.
Craig called on the Ojai Valley News to reconsider its position and support a healthy dialogue within the community about this topic. That said, all business owners – whether they be contributing historical properties, or non-contributing properties within the district– will shortly be asked to vote on the ordinance for which Craig encourages a yes vote.
Craig thanked the Rotary Club for the opportunity to come and speak.
Final Thoughts...
At 1:30 pm President Betsy closed the meeting with the following quote from Immanuel Kant:
“The nice thing about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you're doing, someone else does.”
Hope you all have a safe, productive and fulfilling week!
.png)
