In the Beginning…
President Betsy welcomed everyone to her favorite Rotary Club in the world.
Catherine Lee led the Pledge of Allegiance while Wendy Barker delivered a thoughtful
poem regarding being thankful:
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary, because it means you’ve made a difference.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.
Author Unknown
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Betsy gave “thanks” to all those that make our meetings special:
Deirdre Daly and Janet Campbell for desk duty.
Mike Malone as greeter.
Catherine Lee for leading the Pledge.
Mike Malone on the roving mike.
Wendy Barker for the Invocation.
Tony Thacher for fining and confessions with Don Reed on the net.
Therese Brown for the Reminder Newsletter.
Carl Gross for photography.
Jayne for the delicious meal.
Rotarian Visitors and Guests
There was no visiting Rotarians, but we had a gaggle of guests:
Domenic Pino, who is interested in joining the Club.
Rebecca Ryiz, guest of Catherine Lee
Matt La Vere our speaker presented by Haady Lashkari
Sean Mc Dermott, presented by Marty Babayco, who also interested in our Club.
On this day in history…
On November 19th, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered his best-known speech—The Gettysburg Address. The short speech had more dynamic impact following, as it did, a two-hour oration by Edward Everett. After hearing Lincoln’s short, 272 word speech, he wrote Lincoln: “I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.” We all know the opening of the speech, so I bring you his powerful final words: “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Announcements
There was an International Service Committee meeting after the Club meeting. This is a good chance for club members to gain an overview of this dynamic Avenue of Service
Put on your best convention duds. The District 5240 Conference will take place January 28-30 in Santa Barbara. We encourage you to attend for a positive inspiring immersion into the big, wonderful world of Rotary. We feel so strongly about this that the Club will split the cost of registration with you. Bring in your registration confirmation and give it to Deirdre or Betsy to get reimbursement for half of the fee. It will be fun!!
Upcoming Programs:
11/26/21—Dark (Thanksgiving)
12/3/21—Chris Land, President of the Ojai Valley Defense Fund
12/10/21—Bryant Baker, Los Padres Forest Watch
Sue Gilbreth reported on the activities of the Community Avenue of Service:
Last Saturday, five Rotarians plus Candice Alexander’s husband Andy and their son Otto, who at two years old was the youngest member of our work crew, met at the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy Meadows Preserve for a workday of planting Coast Live Oak restoration circles with acorns and companion native California plants (in the scorching heat!). I would like to thank Larry Beckett, Kathy Yee, Deirdre Daly, Candice Alexander, and President Betsy Watson for your participation. We learned a lot, and I thought it was just great!
Today, we will be finishing up our Operation Snowflake collection of toys, gift cards, and gift baskets, for Ventura County active military, their families, and veterans, who are struggling financially, for a holiday gift distribution, which will be coordinated by the Ventura County Military Collaborative, which is a 501c3 nonprofit organizing this drive. Any donations can be placed in the festive bin that is over by the check-in table.
Community Service would like to announce that on behalf of our Rotary Club, we have donated $1,000 towards Thanksgiving food baskets to the Community Assistance Program (CAP), which is administered by HELP of Ojai.
And lastly, Winter Wonderland…..
We’re excited to announce a new community-wide Holiday event we will be participating in, a collaboration with the Ojai Chamber of Commerce and the two Ojai Rotary Clubs of Ojai & Ojai West on Friday Dec. 3rd called “Winter Wonderland”. Winter Wonderland will be a lighting event at Libbey Park Plaza, that will coincide with the Chamber’s monthly downtown First Friday event where stores stay open later and downtown music playing. The lighting ceremony will officially take place when the post office bell tower plays its 6:00 short recital of Christmas music.
Executive Director Jamie Fleming is taking the lead on this, and the plan is to awash the Libbey Fountain Plaza & trees with winter décor and lights (purchased by the City) and have a ceremonial “Flip of the switch” with City officials present, along with Chamber members, Rotarian and the entire community.
We really forward to this event expanding each year, it took a lot of perseverance on Jamie’s part to get City approval and we are honored for the Rotary Clubs to co-sponsor the production of this new annual event in our community! Sue will need help with this event. Please contact her.
We will start decorating the Fountain Plaza trees with lights beginning on Monday, November 29 at 1:00 followed by Tuesday at 1:00 and we need volunteers!! A sign-up sheet is going around now and we hope you’ll sign up AND put Dec. 3rd on your calendar to attend!
Kathy Yee announced our Holiday Party on December 12th at 2-5 PM outdoors at Bob Davis’ house. It will be $35 per person. A great way to celebrate the holiday season.
Catherine Lee told us of the Poinsettia Sale by Ventura East Rotary.
Mike Weaver announced San Antonio Elementary student, Annika Swift, was recognized for her environmental stewardship and named by your club as a community Peace Ambassador at the November OUSD School Board meeting.
Confessions and Fining—Tony Thacher—What are we grateful for?
There were many confessions and professions of thanks amongst the Club members.
Kevin Davis was celebrating his and his wife’s birthday on the same day.
Colin Jones drove to South Carolina and back. He was touched by the people he met along the way. “It gives me hope.”
Mike Malone was grateful that his business partner and our Rotarian, Bryant Huber, was out of back surgery and doing well. He also attended a football game at SoFi Stadium for his and Lisa’s 40th anniversary. The Rams won!
Frank Finck – Reminisced about Thanksgiving growing up.
Cheree Edwards – Has been on vacation for four weeks. As Assistant District Governor she attended a meeting in Santa Paula which is a singing club. She is grateful our club does not sing.
Dr. Fauvre reminisced about childhood in Pasadena and yearly visits to his grandmother’s house.
Don Reed announced his grandson is participating in the NCAA national championship for cross country.
Marc Whitman was thankful to be able to live, work, and play with his family here in Ojai.
Patricia Anderson has returned from back east. She saw beautiful landscapes, rainfall, affordable homes and the like. In spite of all this, she is thankful to live in Ojai. “It is my home.”
Wendy Barker was a member of a singing Rotary Club. She is thankful than we are not.
William Weirick was gobsmacked that he now had a granddaughter in her teens.
The Program: Matt LaVere—Ventura County District 1 Supervisor
Matt LaVere was elected to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in March 2020 and formally took office as the District 1 Supervisor in December 2020.
Matt is a
2nd generation Ventura County native. He grew up in Ventura and Ojai, attending Loma Vista Elementary School, Mira Monte Elementary School, Matilija Junior High School and Villanova Preparatory School. Following graduation from Villanova, Matt attended Pepperdine University where he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors and distinction in 2000. Matt earned his law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Professionally, Matt is an attorney specializing in business and agricultural issues. He previously served as the Mayor of Ventura and has held positions in the White House, as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill, and worked a six-month position with the United States Attorney’s Office Organized Crime Strike Force in Las Vegas, Nevada. Matt has also served on the Board of Directors for Project Understanding, Downtown Ventura Rotary Club, and continues to serve as an Executive Board Member of the Ventura College Foundation, which supports the thousands of students attending Ventura College through scholarships, free textbooks and other assistance.
He lives in Ventura with his wife Alicia and his two daughters Lucia and Lorenza
Matt started in December 2020, and because of the CoVid restrictions, spent most of his time cooped up 7in his office. He was happy to be face to face with people.
Supervisor LaVere began his presentation by informing Club members that he is where he is today because of Rotary. Via a Rotary sponsorship, he spent a year abroad in Germany his junior year of high school which changed the trajectory of his life. He became interested in international trade which led him to law school and then to a career in government.
Mr. LaVere thanked the Club and Haady Lashkari on our community response to the CoVid pandemic. Through the efforts of Haady and Ojai Hospital, vaccination clinics and testing were seamlessly integrated in the Ojai Valley.
Supervisor LaVere has also been actively attempting to resolve the RV situation at the entry point of the Ojai Valley. He said he received 50 to 60 emails a day on this issue. He inherited a remediation program from former supervisor Steve Bennett. At one time, there were 128 RVs parked along the frontage road. He drove by today and there were only seven. Three weeks from now there will be no parking in that area. His team has spent the last year connecting these people with resources like Habitat for Humanity and alternative housing options.
Matt mentioned the closure of the Ojai Organics waste site. He is helping a new operator through County red tape.
Another hot button issue is the homeless encampments in the Santa Clara River. The homeless population has ballooned. Via a three-month outreach program, his team was able to relocate most of the homeless and clean up the disgusting mess. As of last week, the number of homeless has declined from a high of 150 to five. Currently there is an ordinance under review to make it illegal to live in a watershed. His staff is actively working to make sure the Ojai Riverbed does not ever get as bad as its Santa Clara counterpart.
Matt then went on to a variety of subjects and questions.
Supervisor LaVere discussed what his staff is doing about water shortages given the fact that Ojai is mandated to come up with 50 additional affordable housing units. His staff is trying to figure out what kind of cutbacks the public can live with while supporting housing requirements.
The final issue Supervisor LaVere discussed was the Ojai city limit ban on big box stores. Currently there is a lot of retail vacancy due to COVID. The new nursery opening in Miramonte can only operate from 9 am to 3 pm due to traffic restrictions. He is looking at what can be done to amend the provision that limits traffic. Something need to be done to support small businesses.
Ojai Valley Advisory Committee - The Ojai Valley Advisory Committee has been reactivated. Planning issues go to this committee for review. The group which meets once per month. Currently they are sponsoring a
CERT Academy.
Foster Youth – The unfortunate statistic is that 70% of foster youth end up in jail or homeless after they age out of the program. His team is working on programming to fill that gap. There are approximately 15-20 kids in Ojai in need of assistance. They are collaborating with a local non-profit program, MESA, run by Dan Parziale and Kyle Thompson.
Ojai Trail – The maintenance of the trail happens through the Public Works Department. The Department has available the VCPWA app (
https://www.vcpublicworks.org/report-a-concern/) where issues can be reported and tracked. The app can automatically geocache locations via photographs.
Retirement Pensions – Ventura County has its own pension system which is 90% funded. It is not affiliated with CalPERS.
Congressional Redistricting – There will be a new Assembly district for West Ventura. There may be a loss at the congressional level but there will be a bonus at the State level.
Thank-You, Matt for a timely and informative presentation.
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Final Thoughts...
"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer."
Maya Angelou
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