Meeting began at 12:30 called to order by Mike Norcia
Pledge: Skip Brewster
Inspiration: Jean-Marc Blanchard. Jean-Marc shared about finishing a puzzle in one week when the box said it would take 2-4 years!!! He then shared a story about a little league game where the pitcher hit the batter with the ball and he walked to first base. Then the kid on first base, seeing that the pitcher was agitated about what happened, went up and hugged the pitcher and told him that all was good. Baseball is all about sportsmanship and the lesson is to care for other people.Jean-Marc also just returned from Malaysia and shared that he went to a Rotary meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which lasted 4 hours. He brought back the banner from that meeting.
Visiting Guests: Dan Snyder introduced his daughter, Allison, who is back for the summer from college. Judy Rodriguez introduced our speaker for today, Dora Zuniga.
Announcements:
Family BBQ is this Friday, June 2 at 5pm at Oak Meadow Park. If you RSVP’d you should be bringing an appetizer, side dish or dessert. Hamburgers and hot dogs will be provided.
First Tuesday will be next Tuesday, June 6 from 5:30-7:30pm at Patti van der Burg’s house at 16417 Peacock Way.
2023-24 Budgets are due; please get your numbers in to Patti.
Our club will be holding a diaper drive for the residents of Pajaro who lost so much during the winter storms. If you are able, please bring diapers to our club meetings on June 13 & 20. They have requested diapers in size 4 or larger.
Roast and Toast of Mike Norcia: Tuesday, June 27 at Villa Ragusa, from 6-9pm. An email will go out next week to sign up to attend.
Red Badge Bio: Mary Lonhart
Mary is a mother of 3 children, Steve, Megan and Mary Claire and two fiancés. She is the wife of Steve Lonhart, who is a marine ecologist for NOAA. She is the daughter of Jim Black, who is her hero and a long-time Cupertino Rotarian. Mary was raised in Cupertino and went to Faria and Rognart Elementary School, where she played soccer and swam and then went to Monta Vista High School and was on the dance team and played various sports. She attended UCLA, was a Spanish major and part of the Life Tri Delta Sorority. She went to San Jose State where she received two Master’s degrees in special education and administration and leadership. Her career began in Long Beach Unified School district at Franklin Middle School teaching English as a second language. Mary was also a volleyball coach and bilingual special education teacher at NMC High School. Mary then moved to Scotts Valley and worked at SV Middle School and taught Special Ed, General Ed and a Humanities Core. She became the principal of SV Middle School in 2000 and remained principal until 2020. In 2020, she became the principal at Fisher Middle School in the Los Gatos USD. Her personal interests are family, running, fitness, biking, Tahoe and now weddings as two of her children are getting married.
Red Badge Bio: Skip Brewster
Skip was born in Lebanon, Connecticut. He is the 11th generation from Elder William Brewster who came over on the Mayflower. He was in the 4H club for 9 years. He went to Eastern Connecticut State University where he graduated with a liberal arts degree in history and economics. He managed the student union at the University for 4 years. From 1970-2011 he was in the Casualty Insurance Business. He worked for Liberty Mutual, AIG, Lloyds, AON, and Travelers. He lived in Boston, Hartford, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Francisco, St. Croix, New York City and then San Jose. He has been married to Donna for 43 years and they have two children, Susie and Steve. His hobbies are horseback riding and parachute jumping. He has taken three International Rotary Service trips, and was in the Peace Corp America from 2011-2013. He will be speaking again at Rotary about his experience in the Peace Corp.
Guest Speaker:
Dora Zuniga from Project Amigo in Colima, Mexico. Project Amigo is rooted in Rotary and they change lives by providing scholarships for the children who work and live in the migrant camps so that they can attend school. When we partner with Project Amigo we are helping the next generation of educated men and women. Project Amigo has 950 high school graduates and 110 university graduates. Project Amigo partners with Rotary, Becarios (sponsors) and other like-minded charitable people to make education for these children possible. Rotary plays an integral part in getting these students through school. The students who receive the scholarships must do 10 hours of community service while they are on scholarship. Project Amigo offers service weeks, where people have the chance to come to Colima and help in the community and with the students. They can do hands on activities, participate in a 2-week ESL program or help with a 2-week swim program. She invited any Rotarian who is interested to come and participate. If anyone is interested, contact Dora Zuniga (click to email) or 608-345-6769.
Meeting Adjourned by Mike.