President Michael kicked off the meeting by thanking those who assisted:
Frank Finck for the Pledge of Allegiance
Judy Gabriel for the Invocation
Tara for technical support
Bill Prather for Greeting
Rotarian Visitors and Guests
Good to see Dr. Bob Skankey hailing from Tropic, Utah!
Guests included: Susan Weaver from the E-Club;
Our speaker Sakeena Ali;
Claire Woolson, Wilson scholarship recipient and Candace Alexander from Allstate Insurance.
Don't forget to sign up for the District 5240 Virtual Conference.
Upcoming Programs
Therese Brown announced these upcoming programs:
Tiffany Morse--State of the Ojai Valley Union School District
Sue Gilbreth
Cindy Frings
Kathy Yee
Economic Development Collaborative
Jennifer Berry from CREW
Fining/Confession by Greg Webster
Greg did a workmanlike job in extracting confessions and money from the Rotarians. The high point was Judy Gabriel doing a “Mom Brag” about her son, Xander being featured in a full-page picture in “Thrashed” magazine, the bible of the skateboarding world.
The theme of fining was the history of the California Air Resources Board. Greg chose this obscure government bureaucracy as the topic because he had a painful and expensive experience with this agency.
Rotary Humor
Claire Woolson 2017 Wilson Scholarship recipient
Janet Campbell introduced Claire, who then gave us an update on her experiences to date, and a glimpse about her future plans. Claire is now a Senior at UCLA studying Human Biology. She has studied in Peru and will spend some time in Costa Rica. Her plans after graduation are still being formulated, but she wants to focus on health and the environment.
Program: Sakeena Ali on the Peace Corps
Mike Weaver introduced Sakeena Ali who gave a lively and fun presentation on the Peace Corp and its connection to Rotary. Here are the highpoints of her talk:
- There are two major engagements: a 27 month commitment and a shorter 3-12 Month Peace Corps Response.
- Peace Corps is currently active in 60+ countries
- The major focus of Peace Corps efforts are education, health, environment, agriculture and economic development
- There is a strong partnership between the Peace Corps and Rotary, with more than 7300 volunteers working on 51 projects in 30 countries.
- Sakeena told an amusing story of how a Ukrainian grandmother cured Sakeena of the flu by soaking her in Vodka. Perhaps this episode should be written up in the next edition of JAMA or the Lancet.
President Michael adjourned the meeting with a recommendation that we all practice forgiveness.
