CROW’S CALL – February 7, 2019

 

 

President John Milich, “Pride of the Watsonville Wildcats,” called the meeting to order. Greeter Barry Toby made everyone stand up, including this correspondent, and led the club in the Flag Salute. His Thought for the Day came from that well-known Know-It-All, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The only person you are destined to become is who you choose to be.” Counsellor Toby finished up with a deposition and a demurral and then shared that his law license was recently marked “Inactive” as he and Cindy focus on grand parenting.  News of his stepping down from his legal practice caused the members of the Society of Slip-and-Fall to issue him a certificate of appreciation. Somebody named Don Jones led us in “God Bless.” The Visiting Rotarian was Bill Eames of Lafayette, a man who was fascinated with our ceremonial Bed Pan.

 

 

Announcements and Recognitions:

 

On April 17 the Six-Club meeting will be at Round Hill Country Club where the Guest Speaker will be Betty Yee, the California State Controller. (She has a Paul Harris Fellowship waiting for her because of a long story which Dennis Harvey will be glad to share with you if you have a spare afternoon.)

Glen Weber entertained us with the story of driving with Edgardo Carillo and Dennis Harvey up I-5 to Chico for a fundraiser for the victims of the Paradise Fire.  The boys were rushing to deliver $6,000 Edgardo had raised when they were stopped by CHP since Edgardo was speeding.  Glen tried to impress the officer, “I’m a veterinarian.” “I’m a realtor,” chimed in Dennis. But Edgardo has “Semper Fi” on his driver’s license. So the cop said “Thank you for your service and please be careful.” No ticket! The fundraiser, a crab feed, drew over 500 people and raised over $40,000.

Gary Sloan and Marie Galbo tried to get people to sign up for the Valentine’s Day luncheon next Thursday but got into a fight over whether the entrée choices were “tri-tip or chicken” on “tri-tip or salmon.” Sloan declared himself the winner, “because chicken has more feet than fish.” (It is salmon and you should contact Marie about your choice.)

President John recognized Patti Hennigan for her birthday which she’ll celebrate with a family dinner before she flies off to Ireland for a second date with the Blarney Stone.

Naim Katiby says that a recent government ban on travel to Afghanistan has disrupted two medical projects he is working on in that dispirited country.

Program:

Gary Sloan gave us an update on the activities of the Cal High Interact Club with which we partner. The mission statement for Rotary and Youth is “to empower young people through leadership development.” Worldwide there are 20,372 Interact clubs serving 468,556 young people.  Our district, 5160, has the second most with 30 clubs.

Gary listed the Youth Services we provide and those in charge:

Interact                                                                     Gary Sloan

Scholarships                                                            Patti Hennigan

Student of the Month                                           Mike Thelan

Camp Royal and Camp Venture                         Patti Hennigan

Dictionaries for Third Graders                            Bill Harlan

Job Shadowing                                                       Stacy Litteral

Grads to Patriots                                                    Bill Harlan

Educator of the Year                                             Chris Gayler

Smoke Detectors                                                    Dennis Harvey

 

Cal High Interact’s Goals:

Support local and global causes by volunteering and donations

Develop an annual fundraising project

Participate in joint events with Rotary

Collaborate with other Interact clubs

The Club, so far this year, has generated 724 hours of volunteer labor.

It has a membership of about 200 with 50 people active.

It has organized 20 volunteer events.

It has raised about $500.

It has weekly meetings at Cal High on Wednesdays.

The Executive Board has 14 students who provide leadership.

It organizes two fund raisers and one community event each month.

It sets up one international fundraiser each year.

 

Leaders are Shannon, President; Shirley, Vice-president; Jocelyn, Vice-president.

Projects are organized by Celeste and Surya,  Fundraisers by Kimi and Michaela.

Membership is Nishitha; Treasurer is Andrew; Membership is Joyce.

Publicist is Thomas; Communications is Aakaash; Videographer is Angela;     Webmaster is Michelle.

 

Its recent fund raisers include the following:

Sharetea       MOD Pizza               Sweet Tomatoes                 Dos Coyotes             T4

Its recent Service Projects and Events include:

Rise Against Hunger          Crayon Drive           Run for Education              JDRF Walk

Gratitude Auction              Berkeley Rotaract Overnight      New Day for Children

Blanket Drive           Adopt a Family        Movie Night             Paradise Fire Relief

Card Making Project         Senior Center Gift Wrap              Homeless Kits

 

Gary then showed us how our scholarships have benefitted students.  In 2015 we gave $17,000 in grants to four people.  The recipient of our $10,000 scholarship was Sneha Suresh who went on to Rhodes College in Tennessee where she majors in Neuroscience.  Her principal challenge was the cultural adjustment to a slower pace of life.  She volunteers at a local soup kitchen, at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and at a research project for cognitive vision.  In 2016 we gave $20,000 to nine recipients.  Our $10,000 scholarship went to Justin Lee.  He went on to Berkeley majoring in molecular and cellular biology and is in graduate school for biomedical services.  His big adjustment was fitting in at a large institution by finding small support groups and services.  In 2017 we gave $20,750 to eight recipients.  Our $10,000 scholarship went to Ji Won Kim who matriculated at Rice University where she majors in environmental engineering.  In her spare time she advocates for environmental issues. In 2018 we awarded $19,000 to seven students.  Our major scholarship went to Jessica Wong who went to the University of Pennsylvania in business, economics and computer science.  Besides her studies she is active in an Asian Dance troupe, in the Wharton Consulting Club, the Mock Trial Team, and Rotaract.  The winters and the food on campus were her major challenges.

 

Gary closed by urging us to help in whatever way we can with Youth Services. In particular there is need for drivers, and we can apply online.  Surveying the scope of what he had covered in his thorough report Mr. Sloan observed, “I have created a monster!”

 

The raffle was conducted by Naim Katiby who declared that the Greeter’s Gift had been won by …. Naim Katiby!  (What are the odds?)  Another worthy Rotarian drew blue to everyone’s relief.