In the beginning...
The grand conclave of Rotarians took place again this Friday on Zoom with Michael Scar presidenting virtually, giving us a ray of hope in the gathering gloom.
Patricia Anderson welcomed (most) everyone as they arrived in and around noontime and asked if they had any interesting changes in their lives that were Covid19-related.
We
welcomed guest
Greg Grant, city public works director, and
Dana Wall, program presenter from Street Plans, which helps communities create safer, more pedestrian and bicycle friendly streets.
Dr Pops said he’s embarked on a new career as a haiku scribe, sending out daily poems of the ancient Japanese form of three lines, with a 5/7/5 syllable scan. One example; Hope fuels our courage / Hope doesn't give up on us / It makes our hearts strong.
Suzanne Scar said she’s also embarked on a new career, holding up a mosaic she made of her dog.
Al West said he was overwhelmed with gratitude for the positive visits and messages from friends and family during his recent hospital stay.
Andy Gilman said he’s made the move to doing his forums and panels for the
Agora Foundation online entirely to a very encouraging response with people from all over the country showing up to sign in. He just received a grant from the
Ahmanson Foundation to pay for teachers to subscribe.
Judy Gabriel showed us around her garden - bursting with spaghetti squash and much more.
Pledge was given by Larry Wilde, while Bret Bradigan (yr humble scribe) invoked the meeting with a poem mistakenly attributed to Mother Teresa, which was actually written by a Rotarian in America. The story of how it ended up framed on the wall of her orphanage is fascinating. “Anyway,” of which a sample line goes, “If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you / be honest and frank anyway.”
Announcements
•
Cheree, fresh off a 10-day sailing adventure, brought the big news that our club had won several district-wide awards.
Our Covid-19 response brought recognition, as did our
Membership, as well as
International Service, the
Peacebuilder Award, topped off with a
Gold Club of Distinction. We won these in the Large Club category in the 72-club District 5240. The
piece de resistance, however, was
Kay Bliss winning the
Heather Frankl Dreamcatcher Award for her outstanding service.
• Drive-In Movie Night with “Peanut Butter Falcon.” Sue Gilbreth of the Social Committee said the event will take place as a Fifth Friday event on July 31st at the Nordhoff High School parking lot. Tickets will only be $25 per car. Because of spacing requirements, early signup is encouraged before we meet our maximum of 134.
Program
Therese Brown introduced Dana Wall, who took us through the city’s “Go Ojai” demo projects on Maricopa Highway between Ojai Avenue and the El Roblar five-way intersection. It’s 4,000 feet long - about three-quarters of a mile - and will involve placing temporary bike lanes going both ways, along with curb remodels to provide safety for the pedestrians and bicyclists.
This $430,000 demo project, which is hoped to be built in August-September timeframe, will be closely monitored by sensors and observers during the six-month period. If it works, based on data and community response, the permanent project would be built sometime in 2021. The total project cost is $2.8 million and is funded by the Southern California Association of Governments.
Wall said that her firm has done many similar projects all over the country, including big cities like Miami and Honolulu, as well as smaller Ojai-type cities like Asheville, North Carolina. She called it “tactical urbanism,” meant to improve the flow of traffic while providing for safe biking and hiking. The project permit has been sent to Caltrans (after all, Maricopa Highway is also known as Highway 33) and, once approved, will take seven days to install.
She said that volunteers are needed and encouraged; for striping the new lines, for banners, chalking the lines, marking and other tasks. You can reach her at
dana@streetplans.org. Or check out the project website at
bit.ly.org/GoOjai. The webinars and public meetings are all recorded and available.
Wall took a few questions, including one from Dr. Pops, who said that currently, drivers have to make a u-turn to get into the hospital’s parking lot. Wall said that would be addressed with the project. Don Reed asked about the uncertainty of school reopening and what that will mean for the project? Wall said that was a valid concern.
