Capitola-Aptos Rotary would love to meet you! Come to one of our meetings, and see what we are about. 
Visit our Calendar (link in above menu!) to learn 
about all our upcoming meetings & events!
 
We get together  the 1st Thursday of the month at Cantine in Aptos from 5:30 to 7pm for appetizers and beverages. 
We meet the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Thursdays for lunch and speakers at noon at Seascape Golf Course in Aptos.
On the 5th Thursday of the month (when those occur) we volunteer! 
**Please check the club calendar to confirm our meeting place, time and speaker, and to determine if an advance RSVP is Required!** 
Home Page Stories
 
 
The 2024 Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's Youth Scholarship Application is being submitted/collected via Google Forms this year. 
Complete the application via this link: 
 
The form requires two references to be sent in also,
the references can find their form link here: 
 
 
The submission deadline is March 27, 2024. 
 
Dear Cap-Ap Rotarians
Our 2/22/24 meeting at Seascape had 21 attendees in person and 4 on zoom
Lowry steered us through the meeting with his usual grace and style
 
UTI was AWOL but not to fear- through the resourcefulness of Nelson and Kendra we were treated to video/audio recorded renditions of the Welcome Song and 4 Way test song.
 
Dr. Art’s thought- freedom of speech means the ability to tell people what they don’t want to hear;
Apparently we didn’t hear it last week
 
Rich was the jokester- including one about Bill Clinton getting an irate call from Hillary about being pregnant and him asking, “who is this?”  hopefully that joke occurred a few decades ago…and another one about getting poked in the eye that was quite funny… you will have to have him re-tell it
 
Sandy announced that we now have 8 grant applicants- the deadline to apply is March 1st.
We can still use a few members to help 
 
The treasure cove fundraiser is at Seascape 3/22- we can use more sponsors, donations and raffle prizes. Al, Becky, Michele and Pam have recruited a number of donors and sponsors already — please invite others and use the link on our website to get your tickets.
 
 
THE SPEECH CONTEST HAS BEN CANCELLED BECAUSE THE KIDS SAID THEY WERE TOO BUSY, SO THERE IS NO CLUB MEETING THIS WEEK. 
 
The Foundation meeting is at Al’s office.
 
Paul told us that we should all look for and post comments on Kendra’s Linked In posts to generate more views.  The algorithms give priority to posts that get more comments.  Contact him if you have trouble joining Linked In. 
 
Detective Kendra learned us that there were several important days last week including national margarita day and national sweet potato day.  So her detecting was to ask people for stories/adventures about those staples of the American diet.  Not surprisingly there were many more stories about maragritas.
 
We did not have a speaker because we focused on the Treasure Cove fundraiser
Pam gave us more details: Doug and Diane are donating- we need high end wine, not the $15 per bottle kind; tables for 8 can be purchased.
 
Ken’s announcements:
The national champion Stanford men’s gymnastics team is having a competition against Oklahoma-2d best team in the country- at 4pm on Saturday, March 16, at Burnham Pavillion.  More than half the Olympic team will be competing.  Admission might be $5, or free.  The drive is an hour, parking is free.  The meet will last 2-2.5 hours.  Contact Ken for details if you want to meet  him there.
 
See Everyone March 7!
 
 
 
Dear Cap-Ap Rotarians
Our 2/22/24 meeting at Seascape had 21 attendees in person and 4 on zoom
Lowry steered us through the meeting with his usual grace and style
 
UTI was AWOL but not to fear- through the resourcefulness of Nelson and Kendra we were treated to video/audio recorded renditions of the Welcome Song and 4 Way test song.
 
Dr. Art’s thought- freedom of speech means the ability to tell people what they don’t want to hear;
Apparently we didn’t hear it last week
 
Rich was the jokester- including one about Bill Clinton getting an irate call from Hillary about being pregnant and him asking, “who is this?”  hopefully that joke occurred a few decades ago…and another one about getting poked in the eye that was quite funny… you will have to have him re-tell it
 
Sandy announced that we now have 8 grant applicants- the deadline to apply is March 1st.
We can still use a few members to help 
 
The treasure cove fundraiser is at Seascape 3/22- we can use more sponsors, donations and raffle prizes. Al, Becky, Michele and Pam have recruited a number of donors and sponsors already — please invite others and use the link on our website to get your tickets.
 
 
THE SPEECH CONTEST HAS BEN CANCELLED BECAUSE THE KIDS SAID THEY WERE TOO BUSY, SO THERE IS NO CLUB MEETING THIS WEEK. 
 
The Foundation meeting is at Al’s office.
 
Paul told us that we should all look for and post comments on Kendra’s Linked In posts to generate more views.  The algorithms give priority to posts that get more comments.  Contact him if you have trouble joining Linked In. 
 
Detective Kendra learned us that there were several important days last week including national margarita day and national sweet potato day.  So her detecting was to ask people for stories/adventures about those staples of the American diet.  Not surprisingly there were many more stories about maragritas.
 
We did not have a speaker because we focused on the Treasure Cove fundraiser
Pam gave us more details: Doug and Diane are donating- we need high end wine, not the $15 per bottle kind; tables for 8 can be purchased.
 
Ken’s announcements:
The national champion Stanford men’s gymnastics team is having a competition against Oklahoma-2d best team in the country- at 4pm on Saturday, March 16, at Burnham Pavillion.  More than half the Olympic team will be competing.  Admission might be $5, or free.  The drive is an hour, parking is free.  The meet will last 2-2.5 hours.  Contact Ken for details if you want to meet  him there.
 
See Everyone March 7!
 
 
 
 
Fellow Rotarians
 
Our 2/15/24 lunch meeting at Seascape had 20 attendees in person and 3 on zoom
No guests other than our guest speaker 

Lowry ran the meeting with style as usual
 
Sandy gave a grants update- we now have 6 applicants.  She encouraged us to find more.  We will look suspiciously at any 501 Cs with any variation of a member’s name on it. 
 
The speech contest is Feb. 29- Several entrants from Soquel HS but so far no kids from Aptos HS.  Your author knows kids who go to AHS, including some whose parents are attorneys- nope, not interested….might have to come up with a way to make it a video game?
 
 We need more members to review the scholarship applications 
 
Pam gave a rousing speech for us to get more donations for Treasure Cove fundraiser.  Her cheerleading talents were on full display.  Maybe that’s who we should be focusing our speech contest on- cheerleaders are used to yelling in front of crowds, speaking to us should be easy.
 
Dr. Art had the thought for the day:
If liberty means anything it means being able to tell people things they don’t want to hear.
 
Ironic that we didn’t have a joke of the day?
 
2/3 of UTI played the welcome song- Al did the keyboard ala Herbie Hancock
Rich played the rarely seen and, in this case, barely heard, ukelele bass
Lowry showed resourcefulness in holding a microphone in front of it- roadies are under-appreciated,
 
For announcements Kendra worked the crowd  in her sleek black ensemble like a game show host- a future side gig maybe?
 
The full band, Al, Sam and Rich had been trying to get gigs to play on Valentine’s Day, but nobody wanted UTI on VD
 
Kelly’s shirt drew more attention than his baritone voice
Al said, “ I haven’t seen a shirt like that since I woke up in an elevator in Las Vegas.” 
We have questions.  And probably many disturbing mental images.  Not sure if any of us want to know what happened. It might provide some historical context for the band name though.  Asleep in the Elevator doesn’t have the same panache.
 
Our guest speaker Bruce Jaffee did a brief detective stint about County government- a few things we learned-
The County budget is $1.1 billion and has 35 departments.   BTW, the County population is 265,000. That works out to $37,000 per person? 
 
Dr Art was the detective
Drawing on his experiences as a world traveler he had us name islands then pay the fines – we were able to come up with many and raised a lot of money quickly.  Great job Dr. Art
But he was taking notes and there was no disclaimer that he not was looking for new destinations for his travel medicine business (slogan, Don’t See the World Until You See Me, with a photo of unconscious Al in the elevator?)
Jack again used his Cal Bears hat to collect fines- particularly painful for us Stanford guys. 
 
Our guest speaker was Bruce Jaffe PhD, who just retired after over 30 years with USGS and also 25 years on the board of the Soquel Creek Water District.  He is coincidentally a candidate for Supervisor.  Bruce has his doctorate in earth science
 
Dr. Art asked if there was a geologic basis for all the potholes and there were many follow ups-might be. 
Bruce referenced the road-repair funding issues that Matt Machado told us about and said the “My Santa Cruz” app is a good way to get potholes dealt with.  BTW, the County can’t just reallocate money towards road maintenance- much of the budget comes from “non-discretionary” state and federal funds that are required to be spent on specific projects.
 
The focus of Bruce’s talk was Soquel Creek Water District and in particular the Pure Water Soquel project which is coming on line soon. He explained the reasons for the progressive rate increases we will see- the Sentinel had an article about it on Friday,
 
Pure Water Soquel will recycle water, purify it via microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light with oxidation then put it into the water system- as Kelly said, “drinking our own waste.”  It does pass all tests for safety,   The same technology is being used in many areas in Monterey and Southern California.
The water will also be pumped back into the aquifer which is being overdrawn and resulting in seawater intrusion, this pumping should reverse that.
The $145 million project was funded in large part by low interest loans from the state and federal government and grants. 
 
Bruce also explained the new rate structure that is designed to incentivize water conservation. 
Kendra questioned the need for such high rates- she lives in Santa Cruz now and her water bills are a fraction of what she paid when she was on Soquel Creek water.  She unnecessarily confessed to being a water glutton and taking long showers- just to prove the point?   Bruce was interested in that and offered to look into that- the water bills, not the shower.
 
Thanks for Kate and her phone for the occasional musical interludes during Bruce’s talk- it filled in the quiet times between questions. 
 
 
The raffle pot is down since Michele claimed it last week- winner wasn’t present this week.
 
Ken has not offered to lead hikes through Nisene Marks lately because it’s muddy, slippery, trees are down and the trails have been closed (to those who don’t know the back entrances) because of the dangerous conditions.  He will let everyone know when conditions permit.
 
Instead, how about going to the men’s gymnastics meet at Stanford March 16, 4pm, vs. Oklahoma. Those are the top 2 teams in the nation and have half the Olympic team on them.  There’s a tailgater at 2.  Let Ken know if you want to go and he will try buy or reserve tickets.  Usually $0-10.  As Jack can now attest- best gymnastics this side of the Olympics- and there will be 80+ Olympic level routines in 2 hours- no commercials.
 
See everyone Thursday!!!
 
 
 
Cap-Aptos Rotarians:

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!
 
 
 
 
Dear fellow Cap-Ap Rotarians:
 
Our January 25 meeting was lunch at Seascape
We had about 22 attendees in person and 3 on zoom
Including your author who had audio problems for the first ten minutes and so missed the thought and joke
Lowry ran the meeting- smooth and funny
 
Al did welcome song solo and of course rocked it.
 
Sue was the detective
She had many members tell when and why they joined Rotary.  Always fun to learn how our fellow (what’s the feminine for fellow?) members were inspired/cajoled/tricked into joining Rotary and inspiring to hear why they have stayed and the true spirit of Rotary.  We really have an outstanding group of people. 
 
 
Jeffrey Brouillette from SCPD was our guest speaker
His topic was Protecting Ourselves
He’s been on the force 11 years  and has learned much about relatively simple ways to minimize the risks of property crimes.
 
He told a funny anecdote about a case he was on where his team had staked out a parking lot which had many break-ins.  They saw a guy smash a car window and take the contents off the seat and when they stopped  him he said, “The window was already broken man!”   (Remember President Carter’s joke about the drunk who was charged with public drunkneness and arson after he was pulled from a burning hotel room, “I plead guilty to being drunk but the bed was on fire when I got in it”) 
 
Det. Brouillette explained the difference between robbery, burglary, shoplifting and larceny- something all the lawyers in the room know and cringe at whenever they are used improperly/interchangeable.  That may be a subject of inquiry for one of our next Rotary detectives….
 
Not to be proud of or on a bumper sticker: Santa Cruz County has the second highest per- capita property crime rate on the state-2,500 property crimes per 100,000 residents.  Alameda County is worst.
Det Brouillette home has been burgled twice.  Ouch.  Like the fire house catching on fire?
 
Det Brouillette gave a power point presentation as he explained: the four D’s- Deter, Detect, Delay and Deny (no, not stolen from a certain former President’s litigation strategy).  Deter would-be criminals with surveillance systems and signs advising that the property is protected; Detect them with those systems, floodlights and alarms, Delay with locks and other obstacles to gaining entry to property, and Deny by safely securing property so that it is essentially unreachable.  Good tips for minimizing the risks. 
 
Footnote- Det. Brouillette was a key witness in your author’s successful defense of a wrongful death case last year- very professional, very well spoken.
 
 
Remember: no lunch meeting this week- our Feb. 1 meeting is the social (meaning alcohol and food) at Cantine in Aptos 530-7ish. 
 
See everyone there!!
 
 
 
The 2024 Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's Community Grants Program Application Link is now live. 
 
You can access it via: 
 
 
**Please note that due to our club's major initiative to be a premier sponsor of the renovation of Treasure Cove at Jade St. Park project, our 2024 Community Grants budget is significantly smaller than in other years. To this end we are requiring the non-profit applying to have a direct connection to our club and a club member in good standing, in order to be considered as a 2024 Grant Recipient.** 
 
Our January 11 meeting was lunch at Seascape
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.
 
 
 
Dear fellow Rotarians:

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.
 
On March 16 there  is a district leadership meeting in Santa Cruz at 430 then going to the SC Warriors game.
 
 
 
 
 
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

 
 
 
 
 
 
A portion of the proceeds support the Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's Grants Program through our Club's Foundation! 
 
To get more details or to purchase your ticket ($45 if purchased in advance!) visit this link! 
Also Rotarians and friends of Rotarians can use the discount code 6GK9W2CR to receive $10 off when they purchase tickets.
 
 
 
 
Join us in the heart of Aptos for an afternoon of wine tasting. Discover local Santa Cruz Mountains wineries, while strolling through Aptos Village businesses and this event will also have a Makers Market. The Wine Wander is a partnership with the Capitola-Aptos Rotary, Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Aptos Village Businesses.
 
 

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.

 

Dear Cap-Ap Rotarians:
 
Our October 19 meeting was lunch at Seascape.  We had 20 attendees in person.
Pam ran the meeting- smooth as silk.
She brought her childhood friend Art Stein from Los Altos as a guest. 
 
Dr. Art’s thought was a quote from Dr. King: along the way we must learn that there is nothing greater than doing something for others.
 
Sam and Rich rocked us out on the Welcome Song and 4 Way Test. 
Konstantin added some rousing tableware percussion-it seems we now have  Ginger Baker to Sam’s Eric Clapton and Rich’s Jack Bruce.  Maybe a Rotary song set to Sunshine of Your Love? 
 
Logistics suggestion- Kelly should have a seat reserved by the loudspeaker

Doug and Bill are our foundation chairs for Rotary International
We routinely get 100% contribution from our members.  The rumor that “Boston” Bill Whitmer was Whitey Bulger’s inside muscle has not been confirmed but it does  help with collections. 
 
Lowry had some announcements which are on the website and in his emails, but, as fast as your author could type between bites of lunch:
 
The first meeting of the month will be an evening social- nothing structured, just getting together to enjoy the company of our wonderful group and friends
When we have 5 Thursdays in a month the last one will be a service day
 
We are having our next social at 530 on November 2at Cantine on the West side of Aptos Village near Starbucks.  It’s  a charming venue with a great selection of wines and beers and lots of choices for hors d’ouvres.
 
Laura announced that we had a great signup for the pickleball tournament for the benefit of Cabrillo Veterans.  (It will still be called Cabrillo for at least the next 5 years-Keep lobbying for Wettstein U)
 
Nelson reminded us of the litter cleanup on Park Ave. to stop trash from washing into New Brighton Beach 
 
The pumpkin painting is 10/28 2-4 also announcing new name of Park Treasure Cove 
 
11/9 service day loaves and fishes  at 105 Second St Watsonville- 9 am start to  1130  then lunch
 
Our guest speaker was Orrin Mahoney who is the district chair for Rotary International.
Before he spoke he gave out Paul Harris awards to Doug and Kelly, after figuring out that Lowry was not Kelly.
Congrats and thanks to Dough and Kelly!
 
Bill was the Detective
Since one of Rotary International’s missions is the eradication of Polio he asked about and educated us about polio, and raised money via fines. 
 
Some of the facts: there have been 2.5 billion polio vaccines administered; there are 2 countries with wild polio- Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The cases are in the mountain range between those two countries.  In a sign of progress, Pakistan has made it illegal to refuse the vaccine and the Taliban is actually cooperating with vaccinations.
 
Our guest speaker Orrin Mahoney has quite a resume-Carnegie Mellon,  Stanford, management at HP and mayor of Cupertino, as well as decades of service in Rotary and Rotary International.
He had a power point presentation and spoke about Rotary International’s 7 areas of focus, structure, financing and activities.
 
 
 
He said that our district very generous, donating $2.5 million. 
His power point showed a number of RI projects including a women’s shelter in Puerto Rico,  water purification and an oxygen generator in Ethiopia, Cleft palate and eyecare, in India
 
Three basic elements of RI’s financing are the annual fund, the polio fund and endowments. Owen explained Explains DDF district designated funds and Global grants 
 
The Gates foundation matches RI’s donations 2-1. Dr. Dover has donated $1 million considering that.
 
Dr Art also has earned the RI triple crown for his donations- standing ovation please for Dr. Art!!!
 
Our next meeting is 10/26 noon at Seascape.  Nelson will be our in-house guest speaker- the subject will be Harper’s Ferry.
The foundation board meets at Seascape at 1045- all members are welcome.
 
Let’s make this a great turnout!!
 
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

 

Dear Rotarians:

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
We are having a evening meeting Thursday  November 2nd at Cantine - details tbd
 
Trinity, the Interact Club President at Aptos, came in her tennis outfit having just won her match, talked about RYLA, and said she has been to other rotary clubs but now likes ours best (of course?).
 
We also had two RYLA speakers from Soquel Gabriella Huddelston and Hannah Heitmeyer who spoke and had a power point (like a slide show?). 
They loved the experience and described their time at RYLA as being an encapsulated environment of love, support and empathy where they were taught to be a leader now and beyond, and where they experienced personal development and made personal connections they hope will last far into the future.
 
They showed a video of the event which is so good it is being used nationally to promote RYLA

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. 
She gave examples such as helping people get EDD, working to get the Capitola Rec Center completed, the recent effort to get the just-signed bill to expedite relief for the Pajaro River flood victims.

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!
 
 
 
Dear Rotarians:
 
Our September 21 meeting was lunch at Seascape.

We had a good turnout- 32 attendees 
 
UTI was fully present and joined by our guest speaker Diane Syrcke on banjo for the Welcome Song- one of the best renditions ever. 
 

Sam got his jokes from his phone again - punchlines were attire (a tire); checkmate and toad (towed).
 
Dr Art’s thought of the day was: if at first you don’t succeed, hide the evidence. Alternate punchline- maybe skydiving isn’t for you
 
Konstantine was back and brought his friend Donald who is an  attorney traveling the world.  We did not talk shop.
 
Anders was also back from Europe and promoting Swedish rain gear
 
Siegfried was a visiting Rotarian from Sunrise 
 
Nice to see Dr. Matt again- with a 5 year reprieve from the “Name That College” maelstrom that he is unavoidably in.  Wettstein College is seeming more and more like the best choice?
 
Also wonderful to have Becky with us in person again
Also good to see Judge/Justice/bass guitarist McAdams and to hear his confession about having his fingerprints rejected….unclear why that happened but the irony abounds
 
Lowry reminded us of the pumpkin painting
We will also be doing a trash cleanup headed by Nelson 
 
Eric was the detective and asked several questions about football. We did pretty well considering Eric fumbled one question- he didn’t know where the first Super Bowl was played—he can be forgive- it was before he was born
 
Nelson reminded us that actually the first two games between what was the NFL and AFL were not called Super Bowls
 
Anissa is taking a leave of absence because of the demands of her new job, she will be sorely missed
 
Our guest speaker Diane Syrcke is the head of Hospice of Santa Cruz. She has an MBA and an MS in music and showed her talents in both.  She started with the banjo and UTI, gave an outstanding presentation and finished with a song in her operatic voice.  Quite the Renaissance woman.
 
Diane spoke and gave a power point about the basics of hospice caregiving and the particular qualities and programs that Hospice of Santa Cruz offers.  As a non-profit it provides more services than for-profit organizations and it continually ranks highest in reviews.
 
Hospice of Santa Cruz started in 1978.  It offers transitional care, hospice and pediatric care. The hospice component is to provide palliative and transitional care and grief support for the family.
 
  Services are provided to anyone who needs them.  Medicare pays for hospice and nobody is ever turned away.
 
They have recently begun a program called Kid wise - for kids up to age 20 who have medically limiting conditions.  The program was made possible by the Affordable Care Act.  They also have a youth grief camo for kids 7-17.
 
Obviously close to her heart, they also provide music therapy which has been extremely helpful.
 
Sharing also a bit of what it was the Aptos Chamber Business Showcase
Pam, Lowry, Nelson and Doug, represented the Club at the table interacting with many. The surprise of the Event was Lowry winning the raffle, not once but TWICE!! That's a Champ!  
 
 
Our next meeting is Thursday September 28 at the Fairfield Inn on 41st Ave. at 5 pm.  Let’s have another big turnout!
 
 
 
Our September 7 meeting was lunch at Seascape.  We had 16 members in person and two on zoom.  Folks:  let’s try to get more people attending in person.  If you need help with transportation or zoom please  ask. One of the strengths of rotary is development of friendships and teamwork.  The in person meetings are the best way to develop and maintain those.
 
There was a dearth of music- no Al, Sam Welcome Song or 4 way test song.  In fact we didn’t even have a bell.  Ken offered to have his bell rung but since none of the attendees were his clients there were no takers.

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”
 
The county fair starts Wednesday and we have some members participating so let’s get out there and show support.  Laura’s baked goods will be on display Saturday morning
 
We’re looking to reschedule the beach cleanup
 
We’re going to be sponsoring pumpkin painting in late October – no kids with knives.  Details to develop. 
 
December 9 will be the next Wine Wander in Aptos – a good opportunity to raise money and drink wine- doesn’t get much better than that.

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.
 
Our guest speaker was Brenda Birrell of the Global Uplift Project.  Brenda has degrees in physics and education from Cambridge.  She was a pioneering woman in Silicon Valley tech but moved to education as a counselor at Los Altos HS in 2007.  They generated the idea of raising money for beneficial projects via many small donations by starting with getting donations from kids in high school.  The program has been a great success.  It raises funds for projects like schools, wells, birthing centers and sewing centers in poor countries. Kenya, Nepal, Cameroon, Nicaragua, Indonesia and Tanzania.  Rotary clubs helped fund the projects in Kenya, Indonesia and Nicaragua.

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.
 
 
 
The Second Annual Pickleball Tournament hosted by Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's registration  link is live on Eventbrite! 
 
 
ALL proceeds raised from this event benefit our local non profits and youth scholarship programs as well as the Cabrillo College Veterans. 
 
 
 Want to see the fun we had at the 2022 Pickleball Tournament? Watch the video on our YouTube via this link:  https://youtu.be/3XFsEdG2vWI
Or on our TikTok or Instagram! 
 
 
Dear fellow Rotarians:

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 17 meeting featured a panel of elected officials discussing Government / Community Organization Partnerships.
 
Capitola City Council Member Yvette Brooks started by describing the Jade Street project, which includes a Universally Accessible Playground. Universally accessible playgrounds give access to children of all abilities, encouraging them to break social barriers and play together.  
The City of Capitola has allocated $475,000 towards the project, and County Parks Friends will lead community fundraising of an additional $1,000,000.   Capitola - Aptos Rotary plans to work together with other Santa Cruz County Rotary Clubs to contribute to the fundraising campaign, similar to what we did for LEO's Haven in Live Oak.
 
 
 
Cupertino Mayor and Rotary District 5170 Governor Hung Wei spoke about her experiences with similar projects in both local government and Rotary.   Key to success is getting the entire community involved, as everyone will benefit from the playground as a gathering place for residents and visitors.
 
 
 
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend worked on LEO’s Haven with Tricia Wiltshire Potts.  Zach said that community member collaboration with government works best when everyone agrees on the need, and then works together to explore and find the right solution.
 
Club members Paul and Lisa Duren spoke about the inclusivity, development and social benefits of UA playground, drawing on their experience as parents of a differently abled child. While their daughter Kayla has passed away, this project will benefit children and their families like Kayla. DG Hung Wei was moved, and contributed $1000 to kick off our fundraising drive! Thanks Hung
 
Other community members attending included Tricia Wiltshire Potts from County Park Friends, Rotary Assistant Governor Kristin Fabos, Karen and John HIbble from the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, Steve Bennett and Sylvia Hernandez from Freedom Rotary, Richard Emigh from Surf City Kiwanis, Past District Governor Ron Sekkel, and Sam Storey, former Capitola Mayor.   These and the other guests got to hear all members sing the club welcome song, accompanied by video of Sam and Rich McAdams.
 
DG Hung Wei recognized Dr. Art Dover for his Paul Harris Society membership and substantial history of contributions and service projects for Rotary.    
 
We also photographed Hung with all Red Badge members.
 
 
 
The Club's next meeting is  a dinner meeting on Thursday 8/24 5pm at the Fairfield Marriott - we’ll learn about the FoodWhat?! youth program. 
So we have enough food provided by our caterer, Busy Bee's, please register at https://portal.clubrunner.ca/4237/Event/food-what-----youth-organic-farming-and-food-program
 
 
 
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 UnchainedMelissa 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.
 
 
 
Club Officers
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Program Chair
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International Service Projects
Co-Chair The Rotary Foundation
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Co-Chair The Rotary Foundation
Youth Services Chair
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Upcoming Events
Hybrid Meetings:
 

In order to keep everyone safe in this post-pandemic world, we are having hybrid meetings for all our regular Rotary club meetings, we meet at either noon or 6pm, check the calendar to determine if it's a Lunch or Dinner Meeting!

Join us in person at: ((Check the Club Calendar for location!!))

Join our Zoom Meeting HERE:


https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85672887390?pwd=WmtST0haZGl0WHk5RUZERm4zNkU5Zz09

 
Meeting ID:
856 7288 7390
Passcode: 5170
 
(Exception: We do NOT usually Zoom from our scheduled Field Trips, as it's too difficult to set up the webcam, microphones, etc. as we are touring a facility!)
Speakers
Rich Hamlin
Mar 28, 2024 12:10 PM
My journey on federal jury duty.
Club Social at Cantine-5.30 pm
Apr 04, 2024 5:30 PM
Jim Hart, Sheriff
Apr 11, 2024 12:00 PM
The State of the Sheriffs Office
Julie James.
Apr 18, 2024 12:00 PM
Patsy Cline says goodbye to Jewel Theater!
Piatt Fellow
Apr 25, 2024 12:00 PM
Social gathering at Cantine-5:30pm
May 02, 2024 5:30 PM
Jonathon Hickens ED
May 09, 2024 12:00 PM
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Community Grants
May 23, 2024 12:00 PM
Awarding our community
Rotary International
The value of a well

Rotary project supplying clean water to Zimbabwean villages brings wide-ranging benefits

Remembering Paul Alexander, who lived 70 years in an iron lung

How the polio survivor learned about Rotary

Rotaract club in Bangladesh rocks on, raises profile

Members of the Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchid use popular music to boost Rotaract’s profile, attract members, and raise funds for projects.

Rotary honors a tireless advocate for women and girls

The 2024 Sylvia Whitlock Leadership Award recipient promotes women’s health and empowerment

New film tells story of Sir Nicholas Winton, World War II hero and humanitarian

Rotarian saved hundreds of children at risk of being killed by the Nazis in the lead up to World War II