President Laura welcomed a full house this morning as well as our Zoom participants. She also gave her elevator speech about Rotary for the benefit of our guests. Laura noted that Ken Anderson, B.J.'s husband, is in the hospital so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Laura then related a recent experience that spoke to the fact that Rotarians are connectors. If you recall, our Club was recently involved in the 13 Souls memorial run hosted by Jeff Von Molt. The run was in commemoration of the 13 heroes who perished from a bomb explosion at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate as well as to provide help to those service members who were injured in the attack. Jeff's son was there but, thankfully, was not injured. Jeff recently told Laura about one injured soldier who had lost an arm and leg and was in need of a wheelchair. Instead of taking the donation this service member received and using it for his education as intended, he said he had to use it for a needed wheelchair. Laura relayed this story to a tennis friend who works for a firm here in Simi Valley, Freedom Designs. Freedom Designs happens to design custom wheelchairs. Yes, you guessed it. Freedom Designs donated a wheelchair for this service member. And that's what Rotary is all about!
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.
Lastly, Laura reminded us about the ClubMid-Year Retreat on Saturday, November 5th at 10 AM. Strategic planning will take place and it will be held at 99.1 The Ranch in the mall. All Board members will meet and others are encouraged to attend as well. This is a great opportunity to share your thoughts about the direction that you'd like to see the Club going. Bring some food to share as well.
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Dan Gesell lead the Invocation this morning.
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Flag Salute
Dan Jordan lead us in Saluting our Flag this morning, a Flag that represents the greatest nation on earth.
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Bill Klepper welcomed our Guest this morning, Ms. Penny Jordan. Bill got off easy.
Penny Jordan, left, with her host Jake Finch.
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Steve Johnson, left, with Mike Mutal. Steve was our Greeter this morning.
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Gary White, our Parliamentarian, held one of our more important events this morning. As background, Gary said that a committee of past presidents held a meeting on October 6th, the purpose of which was to select a president-elect nominee. Gary announced that Larry Borovay was the committee's choice this year.
Per our bylaws, Gary then asked if there were any other names to be forwarded as a president-elect nominee. Hearing none, Gary said that an election will be held Thursday, December 1st in which Larry will be elected as our next president-elect, replacing John Tolson. Congratulations Larry, well deserved!
Gary White
Larry Borovay
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Corey Baker, a fellow member and a Police Detective with the Simi Valley Police Department gave us some great advice about protecting our money. Corey's area of expertise has to do with Property Crimes like forgery, burglary, fraud and arson. Following are some pointers he gave us:
- If you have a bookkeeper, have a third party audit the books periodically. He has seen many so-called trusted bookkeepers cook the books and make off with company money. An honest bookkeeper should have no issues with having the books audited.
- Don't look for love on Facebook. There are many, many online scams taking place that are being perpetrated by foreign operatives. Never, ever give money online to someone you don't know and never, ever give someone online access to your computer.
- A common occurrence he's seeing is pop ups appearing on your computer screen announcing you have a virus. This pop up directs you to a website that promises to fix the problem. Don't fall for it.
Corey had a lot more to share with us but Laura gave him the hook. Funny thing happened after the meeting. Laura found a parking ticket on her car. Lesson learned there was never, ever give the hook to a cop.
Corey Baker
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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 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.!
Sophie Klepper
President Laura thanked Jose Martinez, Karen Thompson, Bob Bibb, Eric Kaufman, Larry Borovay, Demi Fox, Herschel and Sydney Berger and John Baxter for helping out last Friday with the rock painting. We had good representation! Below are some pictures.
Laura said that a meeting has been scheduled with Park and Rec at 11:00 AM next 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!
Carolyn Boucher lead a successful effort at our booth at the Simi Valley Street Fair on Saturday,October 29th. Laura attributed the great response we had, and the interest received about Rotary, to the new table cloth that was used. Others said it was the perfection of the booth set up, "others" being Bob Whalen who set the booth up.
Thanks go out to Bob Whalen, Bob Bibb, Dan Gesell, Herschel Berger, Demi Fox, Matt Rowe, Eric Kaufman, Gregg and Sharon Hartman, Larry Borovay and his granddaughter Willow and Chas Wilson for helping out. Below are some action shots!
Carolyn Boucher and Bob Whalen
Family of Rotary Holiday Evening and Concert
Saturday, December 10th
Kailey Wagner talked earlier about the upcoming event on Saturday, December 10th. There were only 20 spots available as of last week so 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 byNovember 9th 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.
Our very own Chas Wilson was the winner of the Trip to Europe! Congrats Chas although it looked as if Bruce was contesting the win. Hopefully that's been resolved......
Larry Borovay said that over $800 was raised by this raffle. He said more raffles would be held in the future but as standalone events.
Chas, left, getting his winning ticket from Larry.
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.
Our Club has rotated in to take care of the Simi Valley Welcome Sign. Leigh Seaton jumped right on it and had some beautiful, new flags put up this week. Leigh will also be coordinating a clean up effort to spruce up the area around the Welcome Sign on a date TBD in November.
President Laura thanked Ryan Valencia and John Tolson for taking the lead on coordinating the food distribution to our local food pantries last week. 438 cases of food were distributed to 5 local food pantries. Helping out were James Winstanley and Matt Rowe.
Community Service Co-Chair Ryan Valencia
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Demi Fox talked some more about the next Food Fanatic dinner on Saturday, November 12 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!
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" - Winston Churchill
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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.
Mike Kort from the Rotary Sunset Club joined us this morning looking for help with his Club's Hopetown Reunion event. This is one of Simi's premier events and it is being held Sunday, November 6th and he's looking for 6-7 volunteers. Mike can be reached at 818.590.5433 if you can help.
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Nick Frankle spoke to us this morning about Promoting Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution, praising our Club's efforts in that regard.
Nick joined the Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise in 2003 and was club president in Rotary Year 2006-07. During his year as president the club was selected the best medium club in District 5240 and the best large service organization in his home community of Thousand Oaks.
Nick served as District Governor of Rotary District 5240 in 2017-17. Prior to that, Nick served District 5240 in various positions. He is currently the District's Stewardship Chair and coordinator for the District 5240 Peacebuilder Club program.
He is a Major Donor and a member of the Bequest Society and the Paul Harris Society. He's also a graduate of the District 5240 PRLS and Master PRLS leadership training programs. He has served on the Southwest PETS Committee and the Zone 26-27 Education Committee helping to train future Rotary leaders and has participated in projects around the world. He has seen how Rotarians change the world "one life at a time" while understanding that people most changed by humanitarian projects are the Rotarians themselves. To say that Nick is a Rotarian's Rotarian is a vast understatement.
Nick displaying the food donation made in his name by our Club with Laura
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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There will be a Board meeting at Varenita next week, November 10th, starting at 8:00 AM. A shortened, regular meeting will be held prior to the Board meeting at 7:30 AM. All members are invited to attend in person or you can join via Zoom. If you attend in person, please let Laura know for a head count. If you choose to have breakfast, you will be charged $5.00.
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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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