Our 1.4 million-member organization started with the vision of one man—Paul P. Harris. The Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905 as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.
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Meeting of December 5, 2025
Another Friday, another gathering of the finest Rotary Club we know — and fortunately, the only one that meets in this particular room, which greatly improves our odds. President Sue Gilbreth brought us to order at 12:05, reminding us once again that Rotary is powered by service, fellowship, and the ability to find parking on short notice.
Opening Ceremonies
We begin, as all great institutions do, with ritual and reverence:
Pledge of 
Allegiance — led by Al West, whose booming clarity ensures even the forks stand at attention.
Inspirational Moment —
from Tony Thacher, who cued up the original gangsters of Rotary, with Paul Harris leading an AI-generated rap extolling the virtues of the Rotary Foundation. Would have put Slim Shady to shame with its inspirational message. Note: You should create an account with YouTube to see the video.
Click here to enjoy this masterwerk!
At 12:08, Al West’s son was invited to the head of the lunch line — as is only right — while the rest of us practice patience, good manners, and the time-honored Rotary art of hovering politely near the buffet. The only guest
Thank-Yous & Meeting Crew
At 12:25, we acknowledge the crack team that makes each meeting run like a Swiss watch — assuming the Swiss drank plenty of coffee and believed strongly in Service Above Self.
- Sgt-at-Arms: Dave Watson
- Set-Up Crew: Janet Campbell, Bill Prather, Dave Watson
- Greeter: Kathy Yee
- Flag Salute: Al West
- Inspirational Moment: Tony “Rap Master" Thacher
- Reporter: Bret Bradigan (trying his best to keep the facts straight and the prose legible)
- Roving Mic: Bill Prather
- Fining: Kelley Rasmussen (brace yourselves)
- Treasurer: Dave Brubaker
- Lunch: Courtesy of Jayne Cruise, who keeps our Fridays delicious with an enchilada casserole and salad. Plus an especially delectable assortment of dessert cakes and pies.
As always, we are grateful for this whole ensemble. Without them, our meetings would devolve into charming but directionless conversations about the weather.
Announcements — 12:28
Holiday Party
Janet Mahon remind us that the Holiday Party is coming up:
Wednesday, December 17 at 5:30 PM
El Roblar Hotel, 122 E Ojai Avenue
There will be dinner, drinks, dessert, and music — in other words, all the major food groups. And, lo and behold, it was fully sold out and paid up.
Adopt-A-Family Service Project
Betsy will share details about how we can brighten the holidays for local families who could use a little extra Rotary cheer. Any donations must be made by next Friday’s meeting.
Wreaths Across America – Community Service
Clinton Haugan invited volunteers to support Wreaths Across
America:
Saturday, Dec 13, 9:00 AM, Nordhoff Cemetery
Setting up tables & chairs for a 10:00 ceremony
Wreath-laying on veterans’ graves
Attendance by Mayor Andy Gilman and Police Chief Steve Jenkins
Bagpipes and trumpet included at no extra charge
Please wear your Rotary shirt — the Ojai Valley News cameras will be out
Sign-up sheet will circulate
A Service Star for Bob Eisler
President Sue recognized Bob Eisler for his work updating the Club’s Continuing Resolutions. This is the sort of task that requires equal parts precision and patience — so naturally we turned to someone who is both a physicist and a lawyer. We truly did bring in the heavy artillery.
Bob will receive a well-deserved Service Star pin for his contributions.
Upcoming Programs
Our friend Barry Verga will preview the speakers ahead — which
finishes up the year next week, December 12th, with Dr. Matt Weaver, who is a researcher of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on how sleep deficiency and sleep disorders affect health, safety, and performance—ranging from burnout and well-being to real-world risks in everyday life and the workplace.
He’ll share what the science says about sleep and health, why sleep is a foundational pillar of well-being, and what we can do—personally and as a community—to sleep better and live healthier.
Fining & Confessions — 12:40
Kelley Rasmussen takes the mic, and the room collectively sighs. Confessions? We have a few, a very few:
Dave Brubaker donated the $20 he thought it was worth to be spared Tony Thacher’s rapping along with the TRF video. And Catherine Lee said that she was chipping in as a sign of support for finding a new venue.
She then tested members on the bylaws and continuing resolutions of the club, asking Candice Alexander, Don Reed, Amy Warlick, Liz Sampson and Richa Badami. Don, Amy and Liz answered, or more properly, guessed correctly.
Program Rotary Foundation – 12:55
Our originally scheduled speaker is under the weather, but we are blessed with a strong bench. Today we hear from the All-Stars of International Service: Leslie Bouche & Kay Bliss
Leslie and Kay talked about the structure of the International Service Committee, and how it administered so many different grants over the past two decades. There are three types of grants:
Global Grants: International in scope, high dollars amounts, from $30k to $400k. Require an international partner and a local partner on the site of the project. Lots of paperwork for “checks and balances” as Kay explained, “to make sure it goes where it needs to go.” Those are funded with a variety of sources, from the local clubs to the district to Rotary Foundation itself. They require a needs assessment to determine if they are actually needed.
District Designated Grants: Smaller, more local, and “the more we donate, the more we get back,” she explained.
Club grants: very local, administrated strictly by the club for local organizations. Examples given were Laundry Love for unhoused people, for Higher Ed (to help first-in-family kids go to college), and e-bikes for Mesa Farm.
Kay spoke movingly about her first Rotary Immunization Day trip to Africa, where she made the acquaintance of a woman from Accra, Ghana who encouraged her to ship discarded textbooks from Ojai and from former OUSD super Gwen Gross to Ghana in unused luggage space, which led to an entire cargo container of supplies, which led to the Ghana Girls projects for unwed mothers living on the streets in Accra. Which, in turn, led to more grants for a shelter, vocational center, and much more, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant projects, all leveraged heavily with relatively low investment from the club, and heavy investment from the Rotary Foundation.
Not to mention the midwife training in eastern Niger for the nomadic tribes, which is a self-sustaining project as the midwives train others, and have greatly or entirely minimized maternal deaths at childbirth. It was once as high 17 percent - now it’s essentially zero.
Leslie spoke equally movingly about her involvement with the Prashanti International School in India. It’s why she joined the club a decade ago. We have funded many projects at the school, including a wall around the two-acre facility to help manage flood risk, computers, a generator nicknamed “the elephant,” and plumbing and electrical.
Kay and Leslie are taking a trip to Prashanti in January to inaugurate the school’s third floor. Then Leslie spoke about some of the young lives that have impacted positively by the Ojai Rotary donations.
One of those young lives was a Botswanan doctor who the club helped set up for $30k surgery training in South Africa, making her one of four surgeons in the entire country. As Leslie concluded, “Give. It’s good for our hearts."
At 1:27, we welcome our new TRF Chair, Patricia Gates, for a brief presentation, about the four ways to donate - personally to her, through the website when you pay dues, through the website as a standalone donation, and through the Rotary International website after setting up an account.
At 1:30, we adjourn with these parting words:
“Rotary means commitment to have the world work for everyone. Rotary members, when asked if they can help, say YES, I will, rather than ‘let me think about it.’”
A fitting reminder as we head into the holidays — that service is not an abstraction but a willing, cheerful yes.
See you next Friday, Rotarians.
You are invited to visit us at an upcoming meeting.
