September 13, 2018
By: Hermann Welm
President John “Copy Cat” Milich opened the meeting by reminding us that the R.I. President is Barry Rassin, of the Bahamas, and his theme for the year is “Be the Inspiration!” Our Greeter, Terry Koehne, lead us in the Salute to the Flag. His Thoughts for the Day was: “When you lie on your back and cry, tears get into your ears!” This was SO utterly profound that the room fell into complete silence as everyone pondered it at length! Unfortunately, before anyone could find the “true meaning” of it, Terry called for us to sing the Patriotic Song, “God Bless America!” Infectus coniunctis at its worst !!!!
Terry then re-introduced himself as having been in the club for five years, first as Public Affairs Manager of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, and lately in the same position with the Count Office of Education.
Visiting Rotarians: None other than Terry’s boss, County Superintendent of Schools, Karen Sakata, a member of the Pleasant Hill Rotary Club. Also with us was Honorary Rotarian, Joyce Castro, of the San Ramon Valle Fire Protection District.
Other Visitors: Swetha Sankar, a former member of Cal High’s Interact Club, and our guest speaker for today.
Announcements: 
PP Guy Greco thanked PP John Tatum for hosting the latest Golf Tournament at Diablo Country Club. He noted that the last tournament of the season will be held on October 11. Those interested in playing should contact him.
PP Dennis Harvey noted he paired up with another Rotarian and they visited 41 business establishments in Danville this past week to solicit prizes for the Online Auction for Education. All but one were receptive and donated an item! The next “Group Walk” will be on September 17th.
Jerry Marrs added that we are still mighty short of prizes; that we badly need wine and liquor for baskets, vacation home stays, dinners at bidders’ homes, etc. We need about 200 more items!
Honorary Rotarian Joyce Castro noted that she has arranged for an Auction Prize that consists of a fire engine visit to someone’s home; an ideal gift for a birthday or other celebration!
Joyce also mentioned that a San Ramon Valley Emergency Preparedness Fair will be held from 10 am to 2 pm, on Saturday, September 29th, at San Ramon’s Central Park. The first 500 families will be given an Emergency Supply Gift, plus there will be $3.00 coupons for use with the food trucks that will be serving lunch.
Ana Dominguez reiterated that she has gotten approval for the Global Grant, purchasing a Water System for a village in Bolivia. The total of the Grant is $67,000, however, The Rotary Foundation requires that a Post-Installation Monitoring Project also be funded, to the tune of an additional $5,000, to insure that the system does not fall into disrepair and the funds therefore not wasted. Some $2,800 has already been subscribed to; we’ll need an additional $2,200 by the end of this coming week! (She noted that our club’s total financial contribution, when all is said and done, will be about $10,000!)
PP John Tatum, having sold his business, stated that he has severe concerns about how we can manage to continue with the Annual Christmas Tree Lot. Much of the labor, and some significant cost savings, came to us via Pioneer Packaging; this will now likely end (or at a minimum be VERY difficult to control)! He suggested that another fundraising vehicle be found to replace the Tree Lot.
The Copy Cat announced that there will be a District Conference, in Fairfield, on October 20th. It’s “close-in” and therefore an excellent opportunity to learn more about what is going on in Rotary.
Good News/Fine Free: None.
Recognitions: PP Marie Galbo and this poverty-stricken Scribe were recognized for September 11 birthdays; notably Marie’s and Susetta’s. Marco Bronzini -- yes, he showed up because the Magic Marble Prize is back up to where he is going to win it! -- turned fifty (as in “50”) on September 9th. Anniversaries were also recognized: Colette Lay (31); Marvin Remmich (21); and the Big Guy, John “Copy Cat” Milich, himself (18 years).
Program: Swetha Sankar, a graduate of Cal High and their Interact Club, and a former Interact District Governor, spoke to those assembled about her trip to Toronto to attend the Rotary International Convention. Our club underwrote a portion of her expenses for this trip.
Swetha wanted to attend because: (1) she wanted to listen to the Inspirational Speakers they had lined up; (2) to reach out for some “global connectivity;” and in the hopes of building her leadership skills.
She loved meeting so many different people from all over the world and was in awe of the large number of Rotarians in attendance. The speakers included Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. Xavier Ramey, CEO of the consulting firm Justice Informed, particularly impressed Swetha. You can watch his speech at the Rotary Convention on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/276480528). There was also an update on the Polio Eradication Campaign, led by Rotary, as well as a new initiative, “Rotary Action Group Against Slavery,” or RAGAS.
According to their website, RAGAS.online, there are over 40 million people enslaved in the world, some as young as 4 years old. Another source, the Walk Free Global Slavery Index, pegs the number at 46 million, four times more than those taken out of Africa during the 400 years of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Modern slaves, however, are disposable, cheap, and are being hidden in plain sight. They have no human rights. Very young children are now in greater danger than ever before since sex traffickers exploit opportunities arising from natural disasters, deprivation, civil conflict, and mass migration.
Swetha will be leaving to attend UCLA in two weeks; she expects to major in Astro-Physics.
Raffle: The Greeter’s Gift of a bottle of wine was won by Jeff Disch. The chance of drawing the gold marble was won by Kathy Richardson; she drew a blue marble, so Marco will win $310 next week!
Next Week’s Program: The program will be Ann Lucena, Gary Sloan’s replacement as CEO of the San Ramon Regional Medical center. Our Greeter will be Kathy Richardson.