In the beginning…
Co-president Carl Gross gaveled the meeting to order around noon of a lovely early fall day. Al West led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and Tony Thacher quoted California’s Poet for inspiration.
Announcements
The Beach Party was a great success! More to follow. Many thanks to Lillian Talley and Tara Saylor for stepping up to make this a truly fun social with our cohorts from Ojai Rotary West.
Tara Saylor is organizing a pot-luck dinner for Sept. 29
The Rotary District Conference is scheduled for 10/21 and 10/22 in Bakersfield. This is a great opportunity to meet, network, learn, and just have a great time!!
Carl encourages Rotarians to avail themselves of vaccinations after consulting with their physician. Flu, a modified CoVid, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are now available.
Cheree Edwards has received her Peace Pole which will be installed at the Gables. There will be a special Peace Day Celebration at the Gables tomorrow at 10 AM.
The Rotary Reader program will resume after several years of dormancy. Volunteers are needed.
Fining by Larry Beckett
Larry did his best to baffle his audience and take their money by asking truly esoteric and remote questions, such as “what was in the first frozen dinner”? Larry’s questions produced both laughter and money!
Program: James Robie
Wendy Barker introduced a fellow-artist as today’s speaker: James Robie. James stressed from the outset that his life can be explained by three words: “luck, fortune, blessing”. James came from a family of skilled craftsmen: stonecutters and metalsmiths, and he took his family’s tradition of precise skills and applied it to his life long passion for art in various forms: painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, etc.
James showed pictures of work he had done for his various clients as well as work he did for his own enjoyment. For many years, he followed a rigorous schedule: work from 8 to 5, dinner with his wife, and then time in his private studio until 2 am. He lived on 4 hours of sleep per night.
Rotarians were pleased to gain some insights into the creative life of a really accomplished artist. He told amusing stories about navigating the academic bureaucracies of UCLA and Yale Universities. Mr. Robie was met with sincere appreciation for his talk.
For a brief video of his creative process, click here.
Final Thought from Carl:
"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."
Henry David Thoreau
.png)
