President Laura started the meeting by thanking those that participated in the Club Mid-Year Retreat on Saturday, November 5th at The Ranch. They included Geovanny Ragsdale, Chas Wilson, John Tolson, Carolyn Boucher, John Baxter, Bob Bibb, Kailey Craig, Gary White, Dorina Timbol, Herschel Berger, Larry Borovay, Eric Kaufman and Eric Little. Laura then touched on some of the topics discussed at this strategic planning session which included:
- Having an offsite meeting at Waste Management. Bill Kleeper is working on that.
- Having a Club Assembly. One is being scheduled for February 2nd.
- Arranging a speaker to talk about the Grant Writing Process and how our Club can tap into the money available through that process
- Talked about our Club officer transition process and creating a template to document it.
- Creating a Project Timeline template which would require the formation of a new committee.
-Looking into working with an international student at CLU on a project.
- Having a youth program utilizing Club member's specialty advice for business start ups.
- Having local youth attending the District Conference.
Also, please be sure to download the ClubRunner App. It provides access to everything Rotary and is extremely helpful in keeping up with what's going on with the Club and contacting other Club members. A link to the App is provided at the end of this Bulletin.
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Eric Little, the only one you can't see in the picture, lead the Invocation this morning.
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Flag Salute
Mike Mutal, center, lead us in Saluting our Flag this morning, a Flag that represents the greatest nation on earth.
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Kim Schulte, waving, had the very difficult task of welcoming our Guest, Mr. Sam Wolfe, this morning. Sam joined us via Zoom. Nice job Kim!
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Zoom was our Greeter this morning.
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Leigh Seaton is coordinating our Quarterly Blood Drive on Thursday, January 5. 2023. Please schedule your donation with Leigh. His email is:
Sophie Klepper handed out the Volunteer Sheet last week for the upcoming Thanksgiving Dinner at the Senior Center. It will be held on Wednesday, November 23rd. Volunteers will be needed Tuesday evening, November 22nd for set up (since this year's dinner will be served inside) as well as on Wednesday, the 23rd.
This is a Sit Down dinner with seating taking place at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 PM. The Y's Men will start the grill early Wednesday with turkey carving commencing at 10:00 AM. Set up inside will start at 1:00 PM. Volunteers are needed for Set Up, Food Preparation, Serving and Clean Up afterward. It's particularly hard to get people to help with the Clean Up, Sophie said, so if at all possible, please stick around for that.
The turkeys will be prepped at Monte Vista on Tuesday, the night before. Also, Food Preparation Training will take place at Monte Vista at a time to be determined. Stay tuned for that and Thank You (again) Dr. P.!
See email from Cindy Jacoby for the Sign Up Sheet and please respond by email to Matt Rowe with your choices. A copy of the latest Sign Up sheet is shown below as well.
Sophie Klepper
Laura reminded us about the meeting with Park and Rec at 11:00 AM today, Thursday, the 10th at Corriganville. We will meet in the parking lot and discuss the placement of the rocks at Corriganville. Please come and participate. The rocks will then be placed at 10:00 AM on Saturday, January 21st.
Laura reminded us toSAVE THE DATE for the Group 5 meeting on Sunday, December 4th at the Sunset Hills Golf and Tennis Club. It will be a brunch starting at 10 AM and will feature Howard Berger, an Academy award winning make up artist as the Guest Speaker. Tickets are $30 and the event will include all 5 local Rotary Clubs from Moorpark (2) and Simi (3). Laura would really like a good showing from our Club and will be sending out another invitation. She then warned us that if the invitation was not responded to (either yes or no), she would be calling you, and no one wants to get that call.
As an added treat, Howard will be applying make up on Herschel Berger (first cousins), a process that can only benefit a mug like Herschel's. You don't want to miss that!
Family of Rotary Holiday Evening and Concert
Saturday, December 10th
Geovanny Ragsdale said that there are 7 seats remaining for the upcoming event on Saturday, December 10th. You need to get your reservation in soon if you want to participate. We will leave at noon and the concert is at 2 pm. This will include a trip to Los Angeles to enjoy a Master Chorale program with dinner afterwards. Tickets are on sale for $50 per person and this includes transportation to and from the event. See Kailey or Geovanny for more details. You can RSVP on the following link:
A final headcount is needed so please RSVP ASAP to reserve your seat. A luxury bus will be leaving from the Junkyard at 12:00 noon, returning around 5:30 PM.
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is the “the finest-by-far major chorus in America” (Los Angeles Times) and a vibrant cultural treasure. Hailed for its powerful performances, technical precision, and artistic daring, the Chorale is led by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director; Associate Artistic Director Jenny Wong; and President & CEO Jean Davidson. Its Swan Family Artist-in-Residence is Reena Esmail.
Description: Cleaning up the area around the Welcome Sign at the Rocky Peak exit off of the 118 Freeway. Meet at 8:00 AM and bring a steel rake and weed wacker if you have one.
Description: Distribution of thanksgiving dinners at the senior center. The dinner has been moved back inside this year so no need to pack take-away dinners.
Description: Fixing fencing posts at the pioneer family area of the cemetery
Laura thanked Bill Klepper, James Winstanley, Ryan Valencia, John Bagnall and Bob Bibb for their help in removing graffiti along the Hummingbird Trail this past Saturday.
So Ryan Valencia, right, has this excuse about taking a leave of absence from the Club and as Community Service Co-Chair. Something about keeping us safe and serving his country with a deployment with the National Guard to Kuwait. Godspeed Ryan and come home safely. And Happy Birthday!
Leigh Seaton, left, has agreed (at gunpoint) to stand in for Ryan while he's away. Yes, we will be hearing Old Man by Neil Young a lot more for a while. Thanks for the leadership Leigh!
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Don't forget about the next Food Fanatic dinner on Saturday, November 12th at the Bergers and the theme is Italian. Laura will make the main dish and everyone else can bring a side dish and a bottle of wine. There is only room for 30 so if you want to attend please let Demi Fox know by texting her at: 805.490.1401 or email at:
An added treat is that one of our newest members, Sylvie St. Laurent, is a sommelier (I had to Google it) and will be bringing some great wine that can be purchased at a reduced rate. Thank you Sylvie!
Part of the District Conference program in Santa Barbara includes a presentation by our own Dorina Timbol about the YES! program, a program that Dorina was instrumental in starting. It was so successful and well received that District 5240 has established it District-wide and asked Dorina to do a presentation on it since she is the District Chair.
Her presentation will be on Sunday, the 20th and will include two students. Dorina needs a volunteer to drive two people up to the Conference that Sunday and bring them back. Please see Dorina if you can help out. Her email is timbolsca@msn.com.
Dorina Timbol
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Carolyn Boucher, Vocational Service Co-Chair, interviewed James Winstanley about his job this morning.
James works at Integrity Comfort Systems, an HVAC company owned by his cousin. James wears many hats at Integrity including dealing with Community Outreach, Fleet Maintenance and making the sure the office is ship shape and squared away. He's been at Integrity for 7 years, ever since it was a bare bones operation working out of a run down building with one beat up vehicle. He's proud that he's been a key part of the company's growth that now includes 11 new vehicles working out a modern, well furnished building.
He said Rotary was the company's way of giving back to and participating in the community, a key objective of his cousin. James met John Tolson through the Chamber and noticed John's Rotary pin and asked about it. That's all John needed to reel him in and James never looked back. There have not been too many (if any) Rotary events James has not participated in since joining. James said it is in his blood as his grandfather was a 30 year Rotarian.
James ended by saying that Rotary has had a very positive impact on him. He said that Rotary has made him less selfish and has taught him empathy as he loves the opportunities he gets to help others. Spoken like a true Rotarian.
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“Halloween is the beginning of the holiday shopping season. That’s for women. The beginning of the holiday shopping season for men is Christmas Eve.”
—David Letterman
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Ryan Valencia reminded us all about observing Veteran's Day this Friday, November 11th.
The Rancho Simi Recreation & Park District and supporting organizations will present a Veterans Day ceremony at Rancho Tapo Community Park & Veterans Plaza, 3700 Avenida Simi, Simi Valley on Friday, November 11, 2022 at 11 am.
Anni Sumby, Executive Director of the The Samaritan Center of Simi Valley, is having a raffle in support the Center. Tickets can be purchased either at the Center, the Chamber of Commerce or Singh Auto Parts (see flyer above).
Jake Finch previously gave us an update on the Gift Card program she initiated with the Club last March. These were the Gift Cards that were donated to help Simi Valley school kids and their families in need. Jake gave us some stark statistics. She said that there are 214 children in K-12 that are homeless here in Simi with 58 of those in High School. In addition, there are 63 Foster Children, 27 of whom are in High School.
The good news is that, since last March, 115 Gift Cards have been donated totaling $4,875 with $1,850 of that being disbursed to those in need. Over $3,000 of that amount was from our Club alone! Our Club is AWSOME!
More help is always appreciated Jake said and that while Gift Cards to Kohls and Target are helpful, she said that she's also looking for Gift Cards to stores like Aldi and Smart & Final as well.
Laura thanked Bob Whalen, Eric Kaufman, Leigh Seaton and Bill Klepper for helping out Simi Sunset on the Hopetown event.
Bill Klepper, left and Bob Whalen at Hopetown
(Bill's contract with Rotary stipulates that at least one picture of Bill has to be in the Bulletin every week)
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Happy Birthday Eric, left, and John, right, (both standing). And Happy Anniversary Mike, sitting to the right.
There's the Best Dressed Man in Simi Valley, Fernando Estevez.
When the secretary adds a new member to our roster, you will receive an automatic email that gives you your login ID and a temporary password so that you can access the web site (ClubRunner). This gives you the opportunity to upload a photo and enter a permanent password. You can go to the public portion of our website (no login required) and see the calendar, list of officers, birthdays, past bulletins, etc. The link to the public portion of our website is:
There is a phone app that can be downloaded to your phone; everyone should have that app on their phones. You will have to download the app and then log in the first time. After that, the login portion is not required.
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Please remember to bring a friend or an acquaintance to our next meeting. This is a GREAT way to grow our membership!
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Join us at our next meeting November 17th at the Best Western Posada Royale at 1775 Madera Ave., Simi Valley.
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Rotary Club Finder Need to find a club to do a makeup? Or find out where Rotary clubs meet while you are traveling? Click here to access the Club Finder page on the RI website.
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