The amiable amblers of the alms-givers that is the Rotary Club of Ojai assembled at noon or thereabouts on Friday at Soule Park Clubhouse for another spirited 90 minutes of feats of philanthropic derrings-do (and even a few don’ts).

A gauntlet of camaraderie awaited. First to greet the hordes at the badge station was Don Reed, intrepid treasurer, checking in with Taste of Ojai ticket sales. Next up was Lerie Bjornstedt with her $26.50 challenge for the Rotary Foundation (of which all but two members have paid - err … make that one, as yr humble scribe’s check is in the mail.) Then Anne Carper at the sign-in desk, effortlessly taking our money with a honeyed smile. Next in line were Greeters Extraordinaire Dr. Frank Finck and Marc Whitman. And with her cross-trainers quickly becoming worn, Yolanda Flores worked the room with the roving mic.

 

 

 

Gaveling the motley crew into a semblance of order was our capo di tutti capo Bill Gilbreth, who gave praise in generous proportion to Matt Clement, our set-up artist, who was the first person to show up, and the final person to leave the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peggy Grunert - Simi Sunrise

Guests
Patricia, Brent and Mia Mansour, Lindsay Guzik, Kelsie Sims,  Bill Kaplan, Fred Colem and Susan Kapadia.

Announcements:

• Physical Education Student of the Month — Marc Whitman announced that October’s PEP winner was Mia Mansour from Sunset School. Teacher Lindsay Guzik had this to say: “Her GPA alone will tell you how focused and smart she is. However, she is so much more than her grades … she enjoys rowing and recently earned a place in the school’s top five running competition. She is a great role model for her sister and all students at Sunset School.” The poised young lady proved out her promise by stating that she was encouraged by a friend to try out rowing, and was then invited to join the high school rowing crew.

 

• Blue Badges:

 

Betsy Watson brought up Matt Clement and Tara Moss, who, having completed the checklist of activities to become informed about the club and its purposes, shed their red badges and pinned on their official blue badges. A standing ovation ensued.

 

 

 

 

 

• Taste of Ojai: Gilbreth urged us all to sign up to volunteer for the big day on Sunday, Oct. 23rd, as well as to buy our tickets. Wendy Barker urged us to donate silent auction items — which has become a key part of the fund-raising effort. It was made mention that our own poker-playing president was going to host a poker party for 24 as an item. As if we needed any more incentive, Don Reed said that pre-sale tickets were only $75, and would be $85 day of the event.

• World Family Foundation:

 

Leslie Bouché introduced us to Elizabeth Burnett, the founder of the Prashanti School. The school serves the deeply impoverished children of Puri, India. Burnett, a native of Ojai, came to thank the club for our two grants. In a touching tribute, the students honored us with a video of gratitude for the drinking-water purifier and the seven laptops. The charming children effervesced with enthusiasm. Leslie, who with husband Bruce hosted an event for the World Family Foundation, which is based in Ojai, and which supports the school. For more information, check out worldfamilyfnd.org.

• Dr. Fred Fauvre urged us all to come out for the Oct. 29th Heart and Sole 10k and 5k race, to benefit Ojai Valley Community Hospital.

• Coming Programs
- Oct. 14th - Nordhoff Principal Greg Bayless on Common Core
- Oct. 21st - Steve Bennett on S.O.A.R. initiative

FINING

To unprecedented applause, Dr. Bruce Brockman gracefully extracted some funds. Confessions included …

- Bill Hatch, who reached the age of 73, and with bittersweet reflection, noted that was a milestone not passed by his father or brother. Patricia Teague Anderson reached the age of 54 in an 8th century hermitage in France. Frank Finck said that his Impeach Bill Gilbreth effort had foundered, and that he was now founding a Committee for Bill Gilbreth for President in Perpetuity. The ever-youthful Colin Jones reached the shockingly advanced age of 69.

• Then Brockman got down to business, first holding up flag pictures and asking the following people to identify them, then, asking them to guess how many of our club members had ancestors from those countries.

- Jane Spiller/Canada/3
- Dave Watson/England/19
- Betsy Watson/Wales/5-6
- Carl Gross/Germany/16+
- Sid Cohn/Norway/5 (Brockman asked why do you see Norwegians always crawling on the floor at grocery stores? Because they are always searching for the lowest prices)
- Ren Adam/India/2

Program:

Patricia introduced Peggy Grunert, a past-president of the Simi Sunrise Club, and a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. Peggy spoke movingly about the program - in which volunteers undergo a 40-hour training to "become a voice in the lives of foster children.” Volunteers spend about 10 to 15 hours per month with their foster children, checking in on their living situations, their schoolwork and making important reports to the judges reviewing their cases.

In Ventura County, there are about 1,000 foster children in the system, who need someone to look out for them. The CASA program asks volunteers to commit to at least 18 months with each child, though most spend much more time. After completing the training, CASA volunteers are sworn in as officers of the court.

Peggy shared some disconcerting statistics about foster children: 70 to 80 percent will become homeless and the majority of sex workers come from the ranks of foster children; 54 percent will not complete high school; a mere 3 percent will go to college; 30 percent end up on public assistance; 50 percent are unemployed; and 41 percent suffer from PTSD.

On the brighter side, she said, “Studies have shown that it only takes one person to establish a relationship” with the foster child to have a positive impact. She shared her own story, where her foster child, meeting another, mentioned that the child was very taciturn. Peggy said, “You always seem to talk a lot.” The girl said, “Because you listen.”

Peggy urged people to volunteer for a rewarding experience, and to check out casaofventuracounty.org.

As the anointed moment of 1:30 p.m. approached, President Bill closed with this quote from former fed chief Alan Greenspan, who told Congress,

 

“If I seem unduly clear to you, you must have misunderstood what I said.”