In the Beginning…
As our Rotarians assembled in their Zoom cubicles, we were welcomed by the ever effervescent Patricia Anderson. The premeeting chatter centered around wifi service, and how they are not what they advertise.
President Scar called the video assemblage together with Ren Adam leading the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Catherine Lee’s thoughtful Invocation. Mike gave props to Ren for the Pledge, Catherine for the Invocation, Tara for hosting and facilitating the meeting, Patricia for serving as greeter, Terry Beckett for sending out our Zoom link each week, and yours truly, for this issue of the Reminder Newsletter.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
It was so nice to see Dr. Skankey, weighing in from his Airstream in Arizona. Steve White is back from Washington. He apologized for not bringing the rain from his homeland sooner.
Our speaker, Karyl Lynn Burns from the Rubicon Theater was welcomed.
Upcoming Programs: Therese Brown
3/19-Staci Brown-MADD Power of Community
3/26-Candice Alexander-New Member Get Acquainted Talk
4/2-Dark-Good Friday
4/9-Ara Guzelimian-Ojai Music Festival
4/16-Leslie Clark-“Nomadgal”: My Saharan Odyssey, a Memoir
Many thanks to Therese and her Program Committee for consistently providing timely and interesting programs.
Announcements
Ojai Peace Ambassadors:
Mike Weaver reported that at the March school board meeting, we recognized two students as Ojai Peace Ambassadors. The first is Paytyn Dale, a 5th grader from San Antonio Elementary School. She was picked by her teacher for her creativity. She wrote a short book about her experiences during the COVID shutdown that her teacher read at the board meeting. It was very well done. She chose to give her $50 contribution to the Ojai Chapter of the Humane Society.
The second is Mary Dunleavy, a junior at Chaparral School. Mary has been a very shy and quite young lady who volunteered to organize a group to replant all the potted plants around the school. Her teacher said that Mary seemed to come out of her shell through this project. She was recognized for her environmental stewardship and culture of inclusion she developed among has fellow students. Mary chose to donate her $50 to the Changing Tides Orphanage in Haiti that was established by two Ojai residents, Cheryl and Vance Simms.
International Service:
Leslie Bouche invited everyone to attend the International Service Committee Meeting on Zoom at 8 AM on Tuesday, March 16th.
Dr. Fauvre reported that the Ojai Rotary Clubs of Ojai Living Treasures are now soliciting nominees for this years Treasures (2021-22). There has been a good response. Go to the Living Treasures site at RCOLT.org. You can now submit your ballot online or print out a ballot and submit it.
Betsy Watson announced that applications for Community Grants will close in 10 days. Go to the Ojai Rotary main page for more information or click here.
Catherine Lee reminded us of the “affordable” Art and Bake Sale at the end of April. It will be held on her ranch and proceeds will go to our Foundation.
Fining and Confessions-Betsy Watson
Patricia Anderson confessed that 30 years ago, she flew to New York for an UN General Assembly presentation by students from Zimbabwe.
Marc Whitman celebrated his birthday with a walk in the mountains.
Cheree Edwards missed the fellowship and camaraderie of our meetings in person, the last of which was March of 2020.
Leslie Bouche watches her 2 year old grandson every Friday who was singing “The More We Get Together”…like Rotary.
The fining centered around International Women’s Day which was March 8th:
Catherine Lee could not provide the year that the Church of England first ordained women priests. (1994).
Mike Malone surprised himself by guessing correctly that the Girl Scouts (aka Girl Guides) were started in 1912. He admitted that he got some help from Lisa. (4 way test??)
Michael Scar could not name the first women president of Rotary International:
Jennifer E. Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, has been nominated to become Rotary International’s president for 2022-23, a groundbreaking selection that will make her the first woman to hold that office in the organization’s 115-year history.
Finally, Bret Bradigan almost named all 7 women who have served as President of Ojai Rotary.
The Program: Karyl Lynn Burns—The Rubicon Theater
Karyl is the Producing Artistic Director of the Rubicon Theater. She and her husband, James O’Neil started the Rubicon Theater in Ventura 23 years ago. With her major in theater and journalism and PR talents, she started this journey by fundraising for students so they could get to the United Nations for a special presentation. From there, they started with staging plays in a basement in Ventura. They then rented the old downtown Ventura Theater to stage their productions. The first production was Jesus Christ Superstar in November of 1998.
Since that time, 480,000 people have been entertained in 140
productions with 5-6 productions a year. They are obligated to do diverse works to enrich lives and foster inclusion. They believe in innovation and exploration.
Rubicon has won numerous regional and national awards including a prestigious Drama Desk Award for “Outstanding Revue”, the L.A. Drama Critics’ Circle Margaret Harford Award for “Sustained Excellence”, 15 Ovation Awards and the Ventura Chamber of Commerce’s Poinsettia Award for Non-Profit of the Year. Most recently Rubicon staff member, Katharine Farmer won a Santa 
Barbara Indy Award for her direction of The Last Train to Nibroc.
When do they reopen? Depends on union requirements, possibly this fall.
Final Thoughts…
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
Oscar Wilde
