President Laura welcomed everyone back to our first meeting of the new year, and it was a wet one with lots of precious rain to greet us. Even though we didn't have any Guests, she still recited her Rotary elevator speech. The reason she did so, she said, is that she feels that it is important to continually define just what Rotary is and what it is that we do as Rotarians. And to do so in a simple, straight forward manner. John Baxter agreed with this and gave us an example of why he felt that way. John recalled attending a Rotary meeting with another Club and the question was asked in that meeting just what it is that Rotary does. No one had an easy answer. Well, with Laura's elevator speech, we all have one and can share it with others.
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.
And lastly, our meeting next week, January 12th, is a shortened, regular meeting starting at 7:30 AM prior to the 8:00 AM Board meeting at Varenita. THERE WILL NOT BE A MEETING AT BEST WESTERN NEXT WEEK!
======================
Larry Borovay lead the Invocation this morning.
======================
Flag Salute
Herschel Berger lead us in Saluting our Flag this morning, a Flag that represents the greatest nation on earth.
======================
John Baxter had the hard job of welcoming all of our Guests this morning, all none of them. John attributes the lack of Guests to the heavy rainfall we had this morning but others are not so sure.
======================
Savi Bhim was our Greeter this morning, here with Arun Sharma.
======================
Unfortunately, we have two losses to announce this week.
This past December 18th, Cindy Jacoby sent out an email in regard to the passing of Ken Anderson, BJ's husband.
Ken was an honorary member of our Club and had the heart of a Rotarian. BJ, please accept our sincere condolences on your loss.
If you would like to reach out to BJ, here is her information:
Phone: (805)522-4392 Address: 4265 Avenida Simi, Simi Valley, CA 93063
And, it is with a sad heart that we announce that Leigh Seaton's brother Greg, who lived in Redmond, Oregon, was hit by a car on Christmas Eve while walking in a crosswalk and succumbed to his injuries.
You can reach out to Leigh with the following contact information:
Please keep Leigh, BJ and their families in your prayers.
======================
John Bagnall will be undergoing surgery on January 6th. He's scheduled to be in the hospital for 4 days and then will be laid up at home for another two weeks with more recovery time after that. The good news is that he is expecting a full recovery. John doesn't want to be contacted directly about his surgery but we're sure he'd appreciate an email or Get Well card. John can be contacted at:
Tim Shannon received the Royal Rotarian recognition this week. Tim was interviewed by Dorina Timbol and this is what we learned......
Tim was past Club President in the 2009-2010 Rotary year and said he had two Rotary mentors. One was a Dr. Ostell and the other was Jim Lowry. The doctor was much more of a gentleman than Jim and Tim admired him much more. Knowing Jim the way we all do, this shouldn't come as a surprise. But, since Jim was in the Sunrise Club and the doctor was the Noontime Club, Jim got the nod solely due to Tim's schedule and the rest is history.
Tim has fond memories of his time as President, recalling the meetings being held at the Grande Vista with the Club having about a 120 members. He said he had an incredible Board that provided great support. Some of his fondest memories involved a shifting seating chart that the Grande Vista staff would choose each week meaning members would have to sit by different people each week. He also loved the Meeting in the Round. Apparently a riser was put in the middle of the room and a person was placed there. The tables were then situated in a spoke-like fashion, emanating from the riser. Tim said that even the most extroverted and outgoing members were intimidated by being in the riser.
Tim left us with a play on a wonderful Irish proverb. Tim's version goes like this:
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God take youat least half an hour before the devil finds out your dead.....or something like that.
Dorina, Tim and Laura
======================
Deb Davila was the Emcee of the latest turn on the $30/Quarter Wheel of Fortune spin. To recap, participants in the spin are drawn from those who participate in the $30/Quarter program in which members donate $10 per month. When the program reaches $1,000, names are drawn and winners receive a Paul Harris Fellow and $1,000 is donated to the Rotary Foundation in their name. This $1,000 supports Rotary Service Projects around the world. If you aren't already signed up for this program, please see Deb if you would like to participate. Today's winners were:
Roger Coger and Tim Shannon. Congrats to both!
Deb Davila
Arun Sharma gave us an update on a continuation of a project in India from 10 years ago. This involves a Global Grant application for an Eye Care Centre in the Punjab, Himachal, J & K, Chandigarth, parts of Haryana, UP and other adjoining areas in India. The local Rotary Club, Rotary Cosmopolitan Chandigarh is the Primary Host with Arun serving on the Grant's International Committee.
The main objective of the Eye Care Centre is to achieve maximum reduction in avoidable blindness through timely medical intervention and to provide quality Eye Care to the affected population. The goal is to provide Eye Care services to about 10,000 persons in the very first year and to raise $90,000. Arun said $6-7,000 has been raised so far.
Description: This will be multi-Club cleanup of Camp Rotary at Corriganville that will also involve repair and painting of the seating area. More details to follow.
Description: Fixing fencing posts at the pioneer family area of the cemetery
======================
Geovanny Ragsdale announced our next Family of Rotary event. It will be a Potluck Dinner at the Berger's. There will be more details to follow, but SAVE THE DATE for February 11th at 5:00 PM. This will be a Valentine's Day-inspired event getting together with people who are important to us and, according to Laura, will be similar to a Frat Party Rager if past history is any indication.
Dorina Timbol and Anni Sumby announced a Fundraiser for the Club to be held at The Junkyard.Dorina and Anni have put an interesting twist on Karaoke calling it Kara-Yucky where you can pay your way out of having to sing. It will be held in the Junkyard's Garage with a Speakeasy twist meaning you will need a password for access and only 50 participants can attend. More details to follow but SAVE THE DATE for February 4th. They are hoping to raise $5,000 and are looking for four $500 sponsors.
One of the goals of this event is to hear Steve P's rendition of Shania Twain's Man! I Feel Like A Woman! That would be priceless.....
Dorina, left, and Anni
John Tolson gave us a wrap up on Dr. P's yearly Bike Assembly Party this past December 1oth. As noted previously, 200 bikes were assembled in about an hour. John thanked the following organizations for their support:
- YMCA
- Boys and Girls Club
- Christmas Shoppe - Stonebridge Church
- Nueva Esperanza
- Spark of Love Toy Drive
- SDA Church
- Kids Gloves Boxing Foundation
- UC Christ
- LDS Church
- The Salvation Army
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters
- Fallout Riders Bike Club
Following are some pictures of the results.....
John Tolson
Larry Borovay gave us an update on the Ensenada Cruise. He has 22 people signed up so far so please let him know if you're interested.
Following is an email from Larry's contact and some details from Larry.
Email from Larry's contact:
I have a group set up for the March 17-19 weekend. Pricing for a category 8D balcony based upon double occupancy is as follows:
Cruise - including taxes and fees: $516.20 per person.
Insurance - $65 per person.
If it is one person in the room, the rate would be $104.20 less. Additionally, I will add $25/stateroom onboard credit.
Note that this is the most that a person would pay for the cruise for that category stateroom. When someone commits, I price the room out with the current promotion to see if there is a better rate, and we can apply that. If they want a different category, then we can price that out, too, at the current rate. For example, today the rate would be $33/person less. Insurance is based upon the cruise rate and could vary too.
Here is the kicker - in order to be sure that you have these staterooms held in the group, we need names and deposits by DECEMBER 14, 2022. The deposit of $50/person is nonrefundable. The final payment is due January 2, 2022.
A note from Larry:
Our goal is to have lunch with some of the Rotary Members (Club Rotario Ensenada Centenaria) and to visit one of their projects.
We will be boarding the "Carnival Radiance" on Friday March 17th at 5:00 pm in Long Beach and will be at sea on Saturday, March 17th.On Sunday, March 18th we will arrive in Ensenada at 8:00 am and will depart at 5:00 pm. We will arrive back in Long Beach on Monday, March 19th at 7:00 am.
Larry Borovay
Laura mentioned that we will be placing the Simi Smiles rocks at Corriganville on January 21st at 10:00 AM. The exact location of the placement is still being discussed but SAVE THE DATE for this fun event.
Here are 140 of the over 400 rocks that will be placed.
In addition to placing the Simi Smile rocks at Corriganville on January 21st, Leigh Seaton is also heading up a Multi-Club clean up effort at the park in the picnic area. The goal is to paint and do some rehab on the benches. Leigh is estimating 2-3 hours starting at 8:00 AM.
======================
======================
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” —Thomas Jefferson
======================
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.
======================
Chas Wilson talked last month about a Global Grant that we are doing in Mexico titled "Girl's Empowerment". He also talked about his friend, Lee Carter, who is President of the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende and with whom we have been partners on two water cistern grants in central Mexico.
After being introduced by Chas via Zoom, Lee spoke to us about the project which involves a $91,000 grant that will help 2,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 13 with their self esteem and empowerment as they come of age. The issue is that girls in Mexico are not taught about basic reproductive health from their mothers causing them to leave school early and to form incorrect concepts about their bodies as they reach puberty. Educating them about these very natural body changes is empowering to them resulting in higher self esteem. The program provides educational work shops as well as hygiene management kits for the girls.
This is a $91,000 grant and we plan to raise $20,000 within District 5240. Today, the International Service Committee is offering the opportunity for members to buy 5 PHF's for $500 each and the Club will chip in the other $500. In the event that more than 5 members are interested, priority will be given to those with the fewest PHF totals. Lee was hoping to raise $5,000 from our Club through this process and, after asking for a show of hands by Chas, it looks like that target was achieved. Again, our Club comes through when needed!
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.
======================
Please remember to bring a friend or an acquaintance to our next meeting. This is a GREAT way to grow our membership!
======================
We meet next at Varenita (3921 Cochran Street) for our monthly Board meeting with a shortened, regular meeting from 7:30 -8:00 AM prior to the Board meeting at 8:00 AM.
=================================
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.
============================
Thank you for reading this week's bulletin!
If you cannot do your weekly assignment it is up toYOUto find a replacement.
.png)
