President Doug called the meeting to order.
The pledge was led by Sergio Michel.
Inspiration was from John Pencer. He surprised us with quotes from famous Rotarians that illustrate Rotary’s core values.
-JFK “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
-Winston Churchill “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
-William J Mayo “The aim of medicine is to prevent disease and prolong life, the ideal of medicine is to eliminate the need of a physician.”
-Thomas Edison “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
Guests:
- Mike Egleston from Morning Rotary, guest of Ed Stahl
- Jenny Wong from Saratoga Rotary
- John Fabbro, guest of Dan Spalding and is considering joining
Randy and Kathy were out sick, but managed some festive Olympic decorated eggs for The St Luke’s homeless brunch this week.
Doug played the 90 second Pets in Need video that wouldn’t run last week. The cute dogs and cats helped promote the message that “We make your family complete”, and all should consider adopting or donating. Rotarian Barry Cheskin is on the board, but was absent due to giving care to Marjorie Brent who just had knee surgery.
Upcoming events:
Aug 3 - WVCS shopping spree for kids. To help contact Bobbi Bornstein
Aug 5 - Pacific Clinics backpack service opportunity. Contact Lissa and Jeff
Aug 6 - First Tuesday will be at Riley Barr’s house! Don’t miss it!
Aug 11 - District Social, Santa Cruz Shakespeare 5-6:45. See District website or Doug for details
Aug 27 - Club BBQ at Oak Meadow, adults only, potential members welcome, no lunch meeting that day
There are activities regarding Rotary Climate Action and a Peace Conference. See Doug if interested.
District Designated Funds (DDF):
Doug explained these are funds our club gets to spend every year, and it is half the amount we gave to Rotary International 3 years prior. This year we received roughly $20,000 back. Traditionally the president chooses a charity to support, but Doug included the Charities Advisory Board this year for better transparency. They chose that 1/3 of the funds will go to each of the following
-Fentanyl High Film Project, to create educational materials to accompany the film as it is shown to south bay high schools. There will also be a service opportunity at the film screenings to interact with local youth. Lissa and Jeff to coordinate later this year.
-Grande Central for Education in El Salvador, continuing our ongoing support
-Rachel Project for digital educational materials in Guatemala, led by Paul Johnson
Notice: The lunch team needs help before and after each meeting to setup and take down. See Michelle, Kathy, or anyone on the lunch team to lend a hand. We need you!
Suzanne spoke on the CrabFest planning. The annual CrabFest is the first Saturday in February but the gears are already starting to turn. This year only the steering committee will meet early on, and more of the club gets involved as it gets closer. And the new lead for the auction will be Elaine Ware.
Chamber of Commerce Loyalty Card: Help local business and our club at the same time, The card gets you discounts at many local merchants. It’s $30, and half goes to the chamber and half to our club. See Rachelle or Ramon to get yours.
Blue Badge Bio- Elaine Ware:
Elaine is from Massachusetts and moved here in 1988 (and brought her charming accent along). Her 91-year-old mom lives with her and fellow Rotarian husband Ramon. From her first marriage she had twins, followed 16 months later with a third child. In 2012 she married Ramon and they have a blended family now with 6 kids and a 12-year-old grandchild. Elaine was an ICU nurse specializing in brain and spine. She moved on to teaching nursing, then becoming nursing manager and executive at Kaiser. She and Ramon are passionate about Hope for Haiti’s Children, and support a student there Kensen with food, education, and even roofing for his family. She is looking forward to volunteering with our club and has just taken on the CrabFest Auction. She’s digging in fast!
Doug’s weekly Rotary Family photo was from Erin Hartnett this week. She had a picture of her girl gang of doggos- her beloved Cocoa and new puppy Roxy. Her other family shot was of her and her stepdad when they went to see Oppenheimer at the theater. He is Jim Arnold, a very distinguished NASA scientist who is 89, and she is proud to have him as a stepdad.
Ron and Gae presented 2 more club awards: Carol Abela and Henry Vitkovich were recognized for their many contributions to the club.
30 for 30: Tina was pleased to announce the arrival of her new and first grandson Beckett Elias Hartigan on 7/16/24. She pledged $100 to Scholarship.
In-Meeting Service Project:
Today we filled out hand-written note cards for cancer patients with thoughts of encouragement. As explained by Cancer Care Point’s Morrigan Bruce, the cards will go into care kits along with comfort care items and cancer education materials. She noted all their services are free and are for all cancer types. She thanked Gae and Lisa Cheskin for ongoing support.
The meeting was adjourned.