By: Hermann Welm

 

 

President “Can-Do Sandhu” opened the meeting by reminding us that the R.I. President is Ian H.S. Riseley, of Victoria, Australia, and his theme for the year is “Rotary, Making a Difference.”  Our Greeter, this Scribe, led us in the Salute to the Flag.  PP Don Jones was called upon to lead those assembled in the Patriotic Song, “My Country Tis of Thee.”   

As my Thought for the Day, I first introduced Will Rogers to the members either too young or too new to this country to know of him.  He was a well-loved country/western speaker/sage/actor of his time.  When he died in an airplane crash in 1935 he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood.  Always a skeptic when it came to government, he famously stated “Be thankful that we're not getting all the government we're paying for.”

 

This poor Scribe spoke a bit about what he’s doing now that he’s retired.  In addition to his volunteer work at the Lindsay Wildlife hospital, where he (1) leads a three-hour weekly shift, (2) performs all sorts of construction and repair jobs, and (3) does home care for baby squirrels, Barn Owls and song birds, he also spends two mornings a week at San Ramon Regional Medical Center.  He works with the patients on their menu selections while waiting for the call to perform critical medical procedures for which he has trained in his woodworking shop.  In this wood shop, he builds furniture for friends and Lindsay.

 

Visiting Rotarians:  Jalal Afifi of the Dougherty Valley club.

 

 

Other Visitors:  None.

 

Announcements: 

 

PP Gary Sloan spoke about ongoing discussions with the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation (SRVEF) about the sharing of proceeds from the Online Auction for Education.  The current formula for the $80 to $100 K we bring in annually is being split 80-20.  Our share, which is used for funding Scholarships, is therefore variable from year to year.  The new proposal is that the first $25 K come to our club for the Scholarship Program and then some sort of reduced sharing formula for proceeds in excess of $25 K.  This will give the Scholarship Committee a firm number to work against as they make their selections.  Additionally, there is some discussion of changing the timing of the Auction.

 

Further to the SRVEF, Can-Do Sandhu reminded us that our club will be the Ed Fund’s Honoree at their April 2018 Annual Dinner.  This will be the first time the Ed Fund has named an organization, rather than a person, as the Honoree!  More on this later, however, he’s encouraging in good showing of club members at this dinner.

 

PP Ray Giles took the floor to once again encourage members to make their annual donation to The Rotary Foundation.  He also presented PP Marie Galbo with the “Paul Harris Fellow +7” pin, which includes two rubies.

Pattie Hennigan is organizing a Members Night Out after work get-together at the Worth Ranch, at 5:30 pm, Wednesday the 21^st of February.

 

Ana Dominguez has been working on a Global Grant for a water project in Bolivia.  The project will need $60,000, at least $7,000 of which will need to come from local clubs.  Our club has, to date, committed to $2,500 and the balance will be solicited from other clubs in our area.  The application will then go to District 5160 for approval and a District Matching Grant before being sent on to The Rotary Foundation.  Time is of the essence because $140K of the $180 K of District monies has already been spoken for!  To up our contribution to this effort, PP Don Jones has agreed to match, up to $500, any personal donations made by our membership!  Soooo, everyone please take a close look inside your wallets to see if there aren’t a few bucks stuck in the creases that you might contribute!  Also, I have found that looking under the sofa and easy chair cushions will usually yield a few bucks!

 

PP Guy Greco noted that the Golfing Group will begin the season on March 15^th at the Crow Canyon CC.  Please contact Gary Sloan (gary.sloan@tenethealth.com) if you wish to participate.

 

President Sandhu announced that the District Conference this year will be held  May 4 thru 6, at the Hyatt in Incline Village.  Several members in the room noted that they will be attending and others are encouraged to join in.  It would be wise to make reservations soon since the hotel will probably fill up quickly.

 

 

Good News/Fine Free:  Brent Tucker and Terri took their nine grandchildren, plus those kids’ parents, to Oahu for a family get-together that celebrated Brent’s 70^th Birthday.  There were a total of 21 in that party!

 

 

Recognitions:  Pria for her birthday which they will celebrate in Las Vegas; Mike Thelen and PP Dennis Garrison for their recent birthdays;  PP Gary Sloan for Barbara Komas’ birthday which they celebrated by going to the Farallon Restaurant in San Francisco; and Dennis Harvey for his February 6^th anniversary with Sharon.

 

 

Program:  Colette Lay presented a series of slides highlighting the work of the Youth Services initiatives performed by our club.   Rotary International has as one of its objectives, “To empower youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Youth Leadership Awards and Rotary youth Exchange.” 

The centerpiece of our Youth Services efforts is our club’s involvement with Cal High’s Interact Club.  The Interact program mimics Rotary in many ways, including being divided into Districts.  Last week we heard from Disctrict Interact Governor, Swetha Sankar, from Cal High, who presented Interact’s Global Program focused on the Wildlife Conservation Society.  The 150 or so members of the Cal High club, of which maybe 60 are active, have committed to raising $1,000 toward this program.

 

More generally, Cal High’s Interact Club meets weekly, for 15 minutes over lunch and has a governing board of 14 members.  They plan on one fundraising event and one community service event per month.

 

Other Youth Services activities include (1) Dictionary Distribution (Dr. Bill), (2) Job Shadow Program (Stacy Litteral) (3) Student of the Month (Mike Thelen), (4) Summer Camps at Camp Royal and Camp Venture (Colette Lay), (5) Grads to Patriots Program (Dr. Bill) and (6) Scholarships (Patti Hennigan).

 

As for the Scholarship Committee, led by Patti Hennigan, they annually select winners for one $10,000 award (four years at $2,500 per year), two or so one-time-only $2,000 and $1,000 awards, and then several $500 awards.  A new award will be started this year:  $3,500 to a Cal High Interactor named the John Sims Memorial Scholarship.  The total to be awarded this year is about $23,000.

Any Rotarians wishing to assist in Youth Services programs that require close contact with Cal High students, such as the March 8 Job Shadow Day, should have completed Rotary’s “Youth Protection Program” within the past three years and, if they are driving students, they must register with the San Ramon Unified School District and keep their auto insurance information current with them every six months.  And all Rotarians are advised to follow the “Triad” concept: at least two students plus yourself or two adults plus one student wherever you go.

 

 

Raffle:   The Greeter’s Gift of $20.00 was won by Jeff Disch, and the opportunity to draw that white marble was won by Karen McNamara.  She did not get it so she only walked off with $10.00!   The pot at the next regular meeting will therefore be $180.

 

 

Next Week’s Program:   Will be a Valentine’s Day Special hosted by Chris Gallagher; always a lot of fun!  Bring your spouse or significant other.  The Greeter will be the “Newbie,” Anurag Singh.