Our February 8 lunch meeting at Seascape had 32 attendees in person- and that was with only 1 guest- our speaker, Sue Lawson also joined us on zoom
Great turnout!- let's keep that up!
Michele brought a gift basket for the crafty! It was full of goodies like candles, chalk paint, incense and wine
Sam did double duty as troubadour and jester- leading us through his Chuck-Berryish versions of the Welcome Song and 4 Way Test song
He read his joke from his phone: A couple was arguing in public- he got there late and so didn't know whose side he was on.
Lowry led us through the meeting with his usual polish.
Kendra gave an impromptu QR code tutorial, which may become the plot line for the next Geico commercial starring Dr. Rick teaching people how not to turn into their parents, like "Now we're going to learn how to convert a Word Document to PDF"
Becky and Lowry reminded us about the Fundraiser for Treasure Cove
Lowry reminded us about the Speech Contest
Karen was the Detective.
The timely topic was the Superbowl
But she threw us a curveball by announcing that the questions would mostly be "softball questions." Confusing!
Other than knowing the roman numerals for 58 we did fairly well;
Tickets were starting at $5,000!? For the cheapest seats?
We are so hip- QR codes notwithstanding- we knew that Reba McIntyre was singing the national anthem and Usher was leading the halftime show. Was it just me or did halftime take longer than the game? Or seemed like it....
Rick confessed he was so uninterested in football he did not know which teams were in it.
Gratefully only 1 Taylor Swift question
Too bad about the outcome of the game.....
Our guest speaker was John Ryan from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
His topic was sounds or marine mammals- mostly whales but also others like dolphins, orcas and seals.
His presentation was a "show and hear and tell" with slides and very cool audios of the different marine mammals. Whales can be heard for thousands of square miles. He sped some of the songs up so we could discern the rhythm and "melody" easier. He explained how the technology for listening and identifying the animals works, the "highways" the migrating whales use and how their feeding and travel patterns are driven by winds and upwelling. Whale pods have their own songs which change over time, and sometimes are shared with other pods. Humans have not been able to translate the songs.
He also spoke about the need to protect whales. Worst is the Southern hemisphere blue whale population is down to 1%. While some improvements have been made in whale populations since whale hunting stopped in the late 20th century, many whales are still being killed by shipstrikes. Efforts to slow that are underway- curious that despite their incredible senses they don't duck all the way under approaching ships...
Michele won the raffle!
Line of the day-
Y'all may have noticed that we got an un-predicted rainfall in the middle of lunch- also drenched some of the golfers.
As Dr. Art and I walked out into the rain with Stan Abrams, I asked Stan, "Don't you have some pull with a higher power about these things?" and he said
"You mean my wife?"
See everyone Thursday!
We had 23 attendees in person and e on zoom.
Lowry ran the meeting with the grace and humor of a seasoned talk show host- kept everything moving and fun
Our guest speaker was Kimberly Deserpa, She brought her daughters Kristin and Indra for tech support and guest Gigi Kelbert
Dr. Art's thought of the day ended with a Crocodile will eat him last
Rich's joke: if two vegans get in an argument do they still call it a beef?
Help, lettuce out!
We paused in memory of Becky’s mom, who recently passed. Godspeed.
Mac Erickson made his first meeting as an official member, Yay!
Lowry went through the upcoming events- they are also on our website AND he put paper calendars on the table-no excuses for anyone now...
Sandy is running the grants committee - we need volunteers - talk/email her about it.
Craig was the detective- the subject was famous quotes- we had to identify/guess the speaker. Some of them:
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake- Napoleon
Either that wallpaper goes or I do- Oscar Wilde on his death bed
Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest- Winston Churchill
A thief stole y wife's credit card. But I didn't turn him in because he's spending less than she did.
Could be Rodney but it was Henny Youngman. "Take my wife's credit card, Please?"
80% of success is just showing up- woody Allen
First thing, we kill all the lawyers- Shakespeare Henry the 6th- and the rest of humanity until they need one
Sorry for the length of this letter, I didn’t have a lot of time to write a short one
Mark Twain
Speaker Kim told us about her life. She is a candidate for supervisor but tried not to make it a campaign speech.
She was raised in poverty- her mom was widowed. She was the first in her family to go to college.
She has been/is a member of many charitable causes. She showed a power point about her life.
She worked in social services at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital during the covid outbreak- 350 people died there. She talked to the families of patients to assure them of care and began mental health counseling for the hospital staff for the trauma they were enduring. She got a grant to support for Spanish speaking counsellors and that turned into a very successful program. Kim played a KSBW report on the program,
She has been on the board of PVUSD for over 20 years.
She has also worked at hospice of Santa Cruz
She reminded us that she visited us in 2008 and had photos to prove it.
One of her projects was to raise money for the Valencia school all access playground, which was the first such playground in the area. She raised the money by phone calls. She passed the contact info for her donors to the fundraisers for Leo's Haven,
She gave a shoutout to Sandy Wallace for founding the Kids Foundation Monterey Bay.
Kim's husband is neonatologist at Stanford who is retiring- let's get him to join our Rotary !
Her talk concluded with a power point about her winning a Texas Hold 'em contest- she was against over 300 other players and won even though she was a novice. Luck? Skill? Intuition?
We let her pick the raffle number but the winner wasn't there.
Our January 18 meeting was lunch at Seascape. We are going to continue to have our meetings there rather than going to other locations.
President Lowry presided.
We had 20 attendees in person and Several on zoom.
Sam did the welcome song and 4 way test song. Rich McAdams played air bass.
We had a guest -Dana Stein from Cupertino
District Governor Hung Wei was our guest speaker
Before her presentation she presented awards to Doug, Julie, Bill and Lowry in recognition of their donations.
Dr. Art's thought for the day: We never learn from history
Sandy told us that the grants committee is staying in the club this year
The speech contest is Feb 29- those who are interested in volunteering contact Lowry
We are having our social Feb 1 at Cantine at 530. For those who haven't made it there yet- it's a very nice setting with a great selection of wine and beers and the socializing is great fun.
Sandy was the detective- her subject was weather
Some things we learned (or already knew?)
A storm is a classified as a hurricane if its wind speeds are 74 mph. right, not 75. Why? Unknown.
(Why is weather called meteorology anyway? That name should go to the study of meteors, not weather)
Thunder is created by the sudden separation and return of large volumes of air (from lightning)
Golf ball hail sized hail is ...golf ball size? 1.68 inches, 42.7 centimeters (does that include the dimples?)
District Governor Hung Wei spoke about her Rotary experiences and Rotary motivation
She moved to the Bay Area from LA, settled in Cupertino, became a councilmember and mayor
(She was a little fuzzy on her geography quiz, saying Livermore was the western most part of 5170. Hmm, I think we are- any further West and you are in the Pacific Ocean)
Hung Wei loves her work. She has many different occupations and activities and said she manages her schedule by doing one thing at a time.
She said she is a happily married single -her husband works in Taiwan. She used a fun acronym- IPO; Income Producing Offspring- something all parents aspire to have
She told a story about a young boy who had a troubled homelife and was struggling to get what he needed for school. Every year he would receive a backpack, a jacket and school supplies from an anonymous source. That enabled him to complete school and eventually have a successful career. The anonymous source for his things was a Rotary program called Back to School Backpacks. Hung Wei thanked Rotary, and us, for being that invisible person(s) who helps change lives.
Another theme she spoke of was to be a happy Rotarian- our club doesn’t need much improvement in that area...
She told us of the tragedy of her 19 year old daughter who killed herself in New York. Rotary International President Gordon McInally's brother also killed himself. Hung Wei is urging Rotarians to get involved in mental health programs,
She said that her daughter lives in her heart, and she has a double happy life- her daughter is with her sharing all of her joys.
The District conference theme is the Family of Rotary- inspired in large part by President McInally's experiences, much like Hung Wei's. The meeting is in April and all are encouraged to attend.
Dear fellow Capapp Rotarians:Happy Holidays!
For those of you who couldn’t, and otherwise didn’t make our December 14 meeting:
We had lunch at Seascape. We had 24 attendees in person, with Sue Lawson on zoom.
President Lowry ran the meeting with grace and efficiency
Konstantine was our guest, dressed in a stylish winter trench coat befitting a Northern European Winter.
UTI led off with Jingle Bells followed by the Welcome Song and 4 Way test song
Dr Art's thought for the day:
No greater mistake is made than doing nothing because you can only do a little.
Well said, that wisdom will have to last a few weeks
Brett Fried attended- we hope he will join- very personable. He also joined us at the wine wander. Also not eligible for Social Security so we like that age group.
Mac Erickson attended. He has completed his membership application and will join effective January 2024.
Nice to see Stan and Kate!
Jack Hunt, our sergeant at arms, finally did not wear a Cal hat. Presumably coincidentally, he did a great job as detective, with questions like which came first - the vending machine or double entry accounting?
Sam did not tell a joke, but his Santa Claus baseball cap substituted well.
Club members approved the officer nominees:
- President 24/25: Nelson Crandall
- Secretary 24/25: Jack Hunt
- President 25/26: Julie Lambert
- Treasurer 25/26: Lowry Fenton
The Sentinel also published doctor Art’s letter chastising the paper for getting rid of Dilbert, and replacing it with the far less humorous and insightful comic strip, because of one panel that some people found offensive. Author's opinion – a third of the comics the Sentinel haven’t been funny in years.
Ken was the speaker and told the Readers Digest Speed story of his case against the family of devil worshipping drug dealers from Marin who killed his client’s father in St Croix to get his property and boat, the 7 years it took to get the property back and 20 years it took for the satanic matriarch to stay confined in prison and the tragicomic events that occurred along the way. Nobody else had a secretary ever tie herself up and pretend a hit team came to kill her boss?
We will not be meeting again until January. Happy holidays to all.
We are having our social at Cantine at 530 on Thursday, January 4th
Tickets are $45 in advance. $50 day of.
Participating Wineries:
Aptos Vineyard
Bargetto Winery
Big Basin Vineyards
Doon to Earth
El Vaquero Winery
Integrity Wines
Kings Mountain Vineyards
Lester Estate Wines
Muns Vineyard
Sandar & Hem
Sante Arcangeli Family Wines
Silver Mountain Vineyards
Windy Oaks Estate Vineyards & Winery
Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery
Participating Businesses:
Beklina
Betty Burgers
Calicoastal Boutique
Cantine Winepub
Caroline’s Thrift Shop
Magnolia Fine Gifts & Gallery
New Leaf Community Market
Pelican House Swimwear
Penny Ice Creamery
Sarah’s European Skin Care
Warmth Company
Makers Market:
Andromacha Beads
Ashby Confections
Bee Happy Today
Fiddlebug Leather Goods
Summer Salt
Scout and Sea
The Lilypad Project
DETAILS:
Tickets:
Includes wine glass and wrist band and map of all the tasting locations.
Check-in:
Check-in for the event will open at 12:45 pm (event begins at 1:00pm). Check-in location will be at: Aptos Village Green. Please bring your ticket confirmation and ID. We will check ID for ALL attendees. Upon check-in you will receive a wristband, wine glass and a map to all of the tasting sites.
Doug and Bill are our foundation chairs for Rotary International
Dear Cap-Ap Rotarians
Our October 26 meeting was lunch at Seascape
We had 21 in person attendees
Lowry ran the meeting. He is going to be assuming full presidential powers.
Pam is going to be coordinating speakers and helping organize our major fundraiser - she has already contacted honorees and picked March 22 at Seascape for the date - please put in your calendars.
Nelson brought his wife Betsey and gave her a touching tribute about how she exemplifies the Rotary motto of Service Above Self. And she's not a member because...? too many other commitments? Including being in charge of Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts? Fabulous.
Marcia Dasko was a drop in visitor- new to the area- let's recruit her?
Ana Matheson also joined us - sign her up too!
Lowry reminded all about the Jade street park pumpkin painting which was held 10/28.
We had 80 people at our Cabrillo veterans' benefit pickleball tournament! Awesome. Let's try to get half that many at our meetings. Maybe just a coincidence that the Sentinel ran a big article about pickleball last week, but your author thinks that now that CapAp Rotary has been doing it everyone is joining in.....trendsetters that we are.
And not just trendsetters in sports- we have new Aprons! Look for the Kardashians to be modeling the knock-offs soon.
Will we soon be developing a line of under-apron garments? Accessories?
The Holiday party will be at Sam Nigh's house in Soquel again. Last year's party was full of Rotary spirit, holiday spirit and many of the attendees got full of alcoholic spirits. Ample and delicious food, and the Nigh's house and property are gorgeous!!
Pam was the detective and on topic, the subject was Pickleball
But first there was a well-deserved shoutout to Lowry and Laura for their work putting the tournament together; it took a year to plan which means we are already starting planning for the next one....soon to rival our country's never-ending cycle of presidential campaigns but many would argue- much more utility.....
Some of the vital facts we learned:
Players are called Picklers
"Been pickled" means lost the match
The kitchen is the non volley zone
A "Dink" is a short shot- hopefully someone recorded Karen running in place to simulate the effort entailed
Also hoping someone else noticed that Michele stood up to answer her question like she was still in catholic middle school answering a history question from Sister Mary Elephant?
There are 400,000 players nationwide
Florida has the most picklers and the densest (pickleball) city- Naples
Did anyone else notice that Sgt Jack collects fines with a Cal hat? It is so hard for the Stanford grads to put anything in that....
Nelson was our "guest" speaker.
He provided a very informative speech and slide show on Harper's Ferry, which he and Betsey visited recently. It's much more than just the site of John' Brown's infamous raid (which many people, including Frederick Douglass, see as the real start of the Civil War). It was the 2d armory founded in the USA and is at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in what is now West Virginia, in 1799. It became a mechanized manufacturer of firearms at a rate far greater than hand-built weaponry. It had a series of canals that provided water power to run the machinery.
In addition to Mr. Brown's raid- which resulted in many deaths including a freed slave who tried to stop the raiders, many others were killed- some in combat, the mayor was shot trying to broker a peace deal others were hanged after the fort was re-taken.
When the Civil War began the armory was targeted by the Confederacy which took control of the armory in April 1861 after the small defending union forces retreated and torched the buildings so- much of the original site was destroyed.
The site is a now a national park.
Today's Pickleball Tournament was a blast, and we raised money for two needy causes; for the Cabrillo College Veterans Center and the Community Grants Program that our club operates annually. ALL funds raised stay LOCAL!
The first batch of photos are ready for viewing and download, the rest of the "action" shots were uploaded on 10/23/23!
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0lCFmfqEovgTAEOGL2TGhJM808wHWCw?usp=sharing
Our October 12 meeting was held just in time to avoid Friday the 13th
We had dinner and no-host wine and bubbles at Fairfield Inn
22 attendees in person
Michele brought 2 guests, Zoe Carter-a visiting Rotarian and head of the Santa Cruz County Business Council, and Tracey Weiss from O’Neill Odyssey. Tracey spoke to us awhile ago- they are both brilliant and charming like Michele and we were lobbying to make them members....
Al rocked us through the Welcome Song- our visitors were impressed.
Side note from the author- 2 of my neighbors heard I was in our Rotary and asked me if we still had that "amazing keyboard player." YES WE DO. They also said they'd been to several Rotary and other club meetings, outs was by far the most fun. Great- spread the word!!
Lowry ran the meeting with his great mix of good humor and efficiency. There were several announcements about upcoming events which are on our website-
Pickleball tournament, Street Cleanup and Pumpkin painting
The name for the all-access park at Jade Street has been chosen-Treasure Cove
Our guest speaker was our state assemblywoman Dawn Addis, who came with her assistant Alexis Garica- Arrazola. Dawn is a former teacher from SLO. She has her MA in special Ed. She is a Rotarian in Los Osos and she spoke about how she tries to incorporate our motto of "service above self" in her work- its her job, assisted by her staff, to help people in need. Her district starts at about Santa Cruz Harbor and goes down to SLO County, 3 counties and 15 cities.
Dawn is very approachable, very dedicated to her work and obviously working to help her constituents, which include us, in a wide variety of issues.
Our next meeting is Thursday October 18 at Seascape
Let's have a good turnout!
Fellow and Female Capitola Aptos Rotarians:
For the many of you who missed it:
Our 10/6 meeting was lunch at Seascape.
Pam led us with her iconic charm and organizational efficiency.
We had 18 attendees- folks- please show up!!!
Dr. Art was absent so we were thoughtless.
Sam was there but no (intentional) joke so we were also humorless.
But what we missed in those we made up for musically: With Rich McAdams on bass and Sam on lead guitar, listeners on the Seascape porch could not have been faulted for thinking Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton were having a Cream revival show, though not sure if Cream ever played the Welcome Song or 4-Way Test song. Maybe we can adapt one of those to Sunshine of Your Love?
Nice to see Kate!!!
Kate told us there's a free symphony audience social picnic at Paradise Park (off Hwy 9) on October 13 from 4-6. Meet other music lovers, enjoy food, and learn about the upcoming season from Maestro Daniel Stewart.
We are volunteering at Loves and Fishes Nov. 9 at 9am- Dr. Art is coordinating,
Win was the detective. He denied it but his questions about Fall seemed taken from one of his wife's elementary school quizzes.
A few things that we learned - pumpkins are native to South America, the Egyptians were the first to use scarecrows
Win had great questions but might want to study up on the names of our members.....
Our guest speaker was Kristen Brown, the Vice mayor of Capitola.
She is quite a good speaker and handled the crowd well.
She is a 4th generation local and is now running for the seat that Zach Friend is vacating. But she didn't do any campaigning. She gave a very informative presentation on the many projects going on in Capitola.
Thanks to a concerted effort by many and $10million in funding, the Capitola wharf rebuild is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2024- weather etc permitting. The renovations include widening the wharf and adding new concrete coated fiberglass pilings. Kristen diplomatically handled questions about the Coastal Commission's role.
Kristen also reported that the library was completed, the roadworks in progress include a pedestrian overpass at Chanticleer, and auxiliary lanes; Santa Cruz Metro is adapting its routes to accommodate the changes in ridership and is purchasing about 60 hydrogen powered buses. Nelson volunteered that he rode the bus recently and greatly enjoyed it. He lied about his age to get the senior discount though...
The name of the all-access park at Jade Street has been selected- Treasure Cove. Pam noted that Leo's Haven is already crowded so there's already a need for additional facilities.
Rick Klevins won the raffle but wasn't in attendance to collect
Our next meeting is Thursday at Fairfield. The meeting starts at 5- bring beverages. Dinner starts at 530. At 6 our RYLA members will give presentations and at 630 Assembly member Dawn Addis will be our guest speaker. We are greatly looking forward to hearing from our leaders of tomorrow and today.
Hello Capitola Aptos Rotarians:
For the majority of our members-who did not make it to our September, 28 evening meeting at Fairfield Inn
For a change of palate pleasing we had a pizza and salad dinner at a reduced price.
The 18 in-person attendees seemed to enjoy it. Mardi was on zoom.
We finished most of the wine and champagne the members brought- waste not...
Kelly got a jump on the rest of us at the golf course
We had red solo cups for Rotacare - that is very millennial of us
Lowry ran the meeting
We had no musicians so no songs
Dr Art quoted Natalie Wood- "The only time you can change a man is when he's a baby."
Mark Twain said "the only person who really wants change is a baby with a wet diaper."
Dostoevsky said "Everyone thinks about changing the world but nobody thinks about changing themselves."
So, if we put those 3 together- are we blaming baby boys for not changing their own diapers?
Check out the calendar for online events. Some of them:
Pickleball tournament Oct. 21st
Park Street cleanup Oct. 22d
Nelson spoke for a few minutes on why/how important this is not only for keeping the street clean but for keeping the trash from washing onto the beach and into the ocean
Pumpkin painting is Saturday the 28th
The memorial of life for Suzy Hamlin was at the big room at Seascape on September 17- many Rotarians were among the hundreds who filled the room to honor and remember Suzy. Rich gave a heartwarming and tearjerking tribute to her. She was truly a blessing to the world and was truly loved by many.
Joanie Stokes' 90th (really?) surprise party was at the Seascape porch (our room) on Sept. 24. There were at least 40 attendees and the surprise was complete....despite the tables of women unable to keep quiet while Joane approached the room and Eric and Ken were trying to shhhhh them so they wouldn't spoil the surprise. A great time for a great woman.
Joanie's husband Graham was the Detective at our 9/28 meeting
We got a historical geography lesson
We learned : Ethiopia was formerly Abyssinia; Ghana was formerly the Gold Coast, Thailand was formerly Siam.
Nelson quipped, " I met a guy and asked him if he was from Thailand. He said Yes-siam'" (say it).....
Our guest speakers were Brian and Jamie King who run the non-profit group Mountains to Sea. Brian is a former teacher who dedicate his skills to helping kids with problems - Jamie is his life and business partner.
They run the program through local high schools. They take groups of 10 kids once a week for 12 weeks into nature in a supportive environment and do activities like sailing, hiking and climbing, all tech-free. For most of the kids it is their first meaningful "outdoor" experience.
They encourage group participation, trust building and being non-judgmental. They set small goals that are challenging but achievable.
The responses from the students and the schools are very positive- their program is very successful.
A great organization doing great things for the youth in our communities.
See everyone Thursday at lunch at Seascape!
Pam brought guest Bob Gloye. They went to junior high together. Bob is retired and a member of the Almaden Valley Rotary.
Dr Art had the thought of the day: Righteous indignation is jealousy with a halo
Rich’s humor was telling an anecdote and having members guess the jokester- Bill knew it was Rodney Dangerfield who said he joined AA with the caveat, “I still drink, but do it using a different name”
Dr Art was the Detective. He subject was the month of October. We learned that October is Cat month, blueberry popsicle month, self-improvement month, whole grains month and Hispanic International Dancing month. To show our support we will be having a self-improvement day where we will be learning Spanish dancing with a meal made from whole grains followed by dessert of blueberry popsicles. The cats were invited but declined saying they are already perfect and will scratch anyone who tries to make them dance.
Brenda spoke about the Save A Girl Project which provides washable sanitary pads and accessories so menstruating girls aren’t kept home from school or embarrassed. She noted that misconceptions about menstruation also contribute to young girls becoming very young mothers or forced to marry- the project seeks to end those.
Our August 24 meeting was at the Fairfield Inn at 5pm.
We had 20 ish attendees.
Pam ran the meeting with her usual panache.
Since this next meeting happens on the 5th Thursday of the month there is no meeting- it is a service day. We are helping at Second Harvest at 10 am, Aug 31st, 2023.
Anissa brought guest JM Brown, chief of staff to Bruce McPherson- great guy with lots of insights and sense of humor
Nelson brought his sister Tracy who is charming and also got the hair and looks in the family.
President Pam repeated that we need more attendees at the meeting- Hey- NON ATTENDEES: WTH? (WTH means What The Heck?!) a big part of Rotary is camaraderie, as well as participation in our events. Start showing up!!!
Dr Art had the thought for the day : if at first don’t succeed don’t tell anyone.
Long-ago deposed Prez. Ken is hosting a hike through Nisene Marks forest this Saturday September 2nd. Meet at his house at 365 Danube drive by 10 am if you want to go. Hike will be about 3 miles, 90 minutes. A hill or two and the trails are getting a little dusty so wear shoes/sneakers with a good tread. There will be a rehydration meeting on Ken's front lawn starting 11:30-noonish. Folks are welcome to attend that even if they miss the hike. Guests are welcome.
If the weather cooperates Ken will also open his pool. Beverages are free but all Rotarian attendees are expected to donate to Rotary.
Our next beach cleanup is September 9th
Pickleball clinic is at Win's September 10th. See him or Lowry for details.
Mardi spoke about a school in Africa that she is helping fund raise for. The Event is held September 23rd at Common Roots Farms 11am to 3pm.
Lowry said there will be an event on 10/28 for the reveal of the playground design for the new Jade Street park- pumpkin painting? maybe a Rotary booth?
He also reminded us that signups for all the events are being sent on line.
Mardi was the detective. She ransomed Ken’s wallet back to him.
Our guest speaker was Doron Comerchero from Food What. He is from the Bronx but is a Mets fan.
Our August 3 meeting was lunch at Seascape
We had a low turnout- only few attendees in person and none on zoom
Are the rest of you on vacation? Still hungover from debunking?
Lowry multi tasked- running the meeting and doing the tech since Nelson was elsewhere- well done though Mr. co-President
Welcome back Dave DeMatteis! It had been about 2 years?
Dave said he'd been over the hill(geographically) and had some health issues but he looks great and still has that resonant baritone voice like a classic radio announcer.
Nice to see Mardi in person
Anissa looked very patriotic in her red white and blue outfit
Our only guest was our speaker
Dr Art's thought for the day was a quote about the strength of a nation not being based on the stature of its leaders but the stature of the millions of mediocre people who strive to make it excel
Rich told the daily joke: this one was about how kids learn that drinking whiskey will prevent worms
Lowry played a video of Lisa speaking about her daughter to announce the good news that the design of the all access park in Capitola was accepted!
Aug 31st is our service day at Second Harvest
Our next beach cleanup is Sept 9th
Which is also the weekend of the Capitola art and wine festival
The efforts to support the bookclub for kleptomaniacs has failed because they took everything literally
Matt was the detective and the topic was dogs in recognition of dog days
Among other things we learned:
Collie was the most popular breed in 1905
Only 77 million dogs in the USA
Matt is looking forward to not being dogged (sorry) about the Cabrillo name change after the vote next week.
Solution proposed by us- Wetstein U. All in favor?Continuing on the dog theme, our Guest speakers was Melissa Wolf of Unchained. Melissa gave a presentation about her non profit organization which has local disadvantaged and at risk youth train abandoned dogs as mutual therapy. After an 8 work interactive program the dogs are fostered out to welcoming families. The kids are coping with disabilities, abuse, addiction, incarcerated parents or combinations of those. The dogs have been abandoned or returned to shelters. The kids and dogs share past experiences of abuse and abandonment and so there is a natural empathy. Also, unlike humans, dogs are honest about their emotions, loyal and non-judgmental,
Shelters are overflowing now as there was a surge people not being able/willing to cope with dogs after taking them in during covid. 90% of the dogs in the program are adopted.
Melissa said that many of the kids are skeptical of their future- they expect to die young, not have opportunity. Maybe helping dog can change that- the kids report feel better about future
The program got a resounding endorsement from director of Monterey county youth probation.
They are trying to expand into jails Santa Cruz and to hire a therapist for the kids.
A wonderful program- Melissa offered an invitation to anyone who wants to attend the next graduation ceremony but warns to bring tissues.
Michele B won the lottery but...she was taking her boy to college so no winner.Membership Monday was Aug 7th at Cantine and it was fun! We had Laura, Michele, Bill, Art, Sandie, Mardi and Pam who brought her guest Tarah-let's cheer for her to join us too!Guess Who: Trivia photos taken last week for detective/fundraising:Our next meeting is at Fairfleld Inn.