Capitola-AptosRotary,Catching Up,Rotarians Having Fun,Rotarians in Y/OUR Community,Rotary Club,Rotary Club of Capitola-Aptos,Rotary District 5170,Santa Cruz County Rotary Clubs,Service Projects,The Hub
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Our January 16 lunch meeting at Seascape had 21 members in persons plus 3 on zoom, 2 guests and our speaker.
The guests were Carol from Maryland and Sharon Bell from Ohio. Best time to recruit folks from those areas is now as we bask in sunny 60s and their hometowns are blizzarded. Of course, they don’t have massive battery fires…..
UTI playing the welcome song and 4 way test song is now on video (how many takes?). looking and sounding good but it must be a it odd for Justice McAdams to sing along with himself on screen?
Dr Art was present but admittedly thoughtless
We also need a joker….
And maybe a calendar for President Nelson?
We did finally figure out that the 5th Thursday in January is 1/30, and that will be our in service day: litter pickup on Park Avenue starting at 10 am.
Stan said we can park at his church and even will grant a discount.
Nelson reminded us to go on Facebook and like our page because that makes the algorithm gods happy and increases our visibility.
Doug updated us on the contributions for Rotary International- we still have a few members who haven’t paid. Remember that Bill Witmer is the collector and rumors that he was the enforcer for Whitey Bulger have never been conclusively disproven.
The CASA benefit lunch is Feb 1 starting 1130 at Seascape. Doug is in charge of tickets/donations. Your author signed up and brought a check but somehow was mistaken for Julie on the group email and sign up sheet. Perhaps Ken and Julie should not sit so close. Julie was diplomatically not nearly as offended as she might have been.
Father Stan received a Paul Harris award with 4 stones! Congrats to Stan for his ongoing contributions and exemplifying the spirit of Rotary.
Now, about the parking fee…..
Craig was the detective and the subject was Dr. King
Lowry noted that Jan 15, which is Dr. King’s birthday, also is the National Day of service.
We did fairly well on Craig’s questions. He also told us some of the inside story on Dr. King ad libbing the most compelling part of his immortal “I have a dream speech.” Very inspirational.
This January 17 was the 3d time the Presidential inauguration was on MLK day- Clinton in 1977 and Obama in 2023. Obama swore the oath on a Bible that belonged to Dr. King…
Our speaker was Corey Aldridge, the new Director of Santa Cruz Metro
Corey was the director of (really) Mountain Lion Transit in Missoula Montana which actually became something of the gold standard in public transport under his watch. Hopefully he can work similar miracles here.
His presentation was informative, entertaining and , succinct, and he overcame trying to adapt to new glasses as he addressed us and looked at the screen.
Corey is a re-married widower, he and his wife have 7 kids. He is busy
Corey spoke about Metro’s push to be eco-friendly with the 0 emission bus program. The district has received much grant money to help replace its aging fleet of diesels (some have 1,000,000 miles) with battery and hydrogen-cell buses. There are currently 9 battery driven buses operating and 52 hydrogen cell buses are expected. The program is a bit behind because the manufacturer is behind delivering the fueling stations. There are 5 buses here now but the bugs are still being worked out.
When fully implemented the program will decrease yearly carbon emissions by 48,000 metric tons
Corey also spoke about Metro’s successful efforts to increase ridership through its Youth Cruise Free program and its very popular $1 fare for seniors.
The district is also trying to make ride times faster but the geography of many of our roads, especially in San Lorenzo Valley, makes that difficult.
A few announcements from Ken:
Stanford men’s gymnastics team is having home meets February 2 and March 8. Tickets are free or maybe $10.
Feb. 2d is against Cal, Sunday at 1 pm- should be plenty of seats. March 8 is the international collegiate meet- best gymnastics this side of the Olympics- Saturday 4pm.
Ken help helps with the pre meet tailgaters and hangs with alums afterward so goes two hours early stays 2+ hour afterward so carpooling not practical
Meets last about two hours, warm-ups are fun too. Bleacher seating only. Loud. Nonstop action. Olympic level, gymnastics, no commercials.
Santa Cruz Warriors Rotary night is March 7. Tell Ken ASAP if you want to go and he can coordinate group ticket purchase so we can sit together. And then go to the Stanford meet the next day.
Our June 20th lunch meeting at Seascape had 23 attendees in person, none on zoom.
President elect Nelson couldn’t regale us with his tales of adventure from the Rotary international conference in Singapore because he was too sick to attend.
Our April 26 meeting was another sellout, 29 attendees in person, two by zoom.
Welcome back, Anders!
Also nice to see Claire McAdams again.
Rich showed up with his support dachshund. The pup spent most of lunch and Rich’s lap, but occasionally was under foot. Rich was entirely misunderstood when he warned people. “Don’t trip over my wiener”
Our musical excitement was provided by the full band known as Under the Influence.Al had suggested that your author’s reference to Under the Influence by its initial, was especially inappropriate for an Appellate Court, Justice. But apparently it’s caught on because that’s how President Lowry refers to them now.
Certainly makes it hard to forget, it keeps recurring.
Kendra told us a out the Kentucky Derby party on May 4th.
It has also been requested that we not refer to Kentucky Derby party as the KY party.
Btw- May 4th is also Star Wars Day. (May the 4th…. Say it)
Rich was detective as well as wiener holder and asked questions about the Kentucky Derby
The members did fairly well.
Derby has been going on for 150 years. The other two legs of the triple crown are the Preakness and the Belmont stakes.
The Derby has only been canceled twice, once in May 1945, it was rescheduled to September, and again in May 2020 because of Covid
Our guests were Dr. Peter Biehl and Almut Wulf. Almut asserts that being German is not required but suspicions linger..
Our special guest was home grown Piatt Award winner Jason Jacobsen
Al gave the history of the award: a vision of the Piatts to fund a post graduate scholarship at UCSC. They donated a substantial sum of money that is kept in accounts and generates the income for the scholarship. We have had 11 award winners. All of them have given presentations to the club.
The scholarship is also funded by donations from our members- Dr. Art has been especially generous
Last year we also got to actually go to the lab where the grad students develop their projects and had a tour, a presentation and a buffet lunch.
Dr. Biehl and Almut emphasize that the scholarship isn’t just about giving somebody money, it has created a friendship between Rotary and the program. We hope to go back to the campus again this year, it’s well worth everyone’s time.
Dr. Biehl present the slideshow with these strategic plan, which is on its way to achieving its goals of increasing the number of graduate students.
The program has the best genomics in the world.
It’s motto is “ leading the change.”
It has been difficult to recruit top students to come here, housing is an especially serious problem for students and faculty
Our Scholarship is very helpful
Only 20% of the programs funding is from the state, the rest is from grants and other sources
There are now 1400 grad students and 270 in PhD program
There are no liberal arts studies in China. India, Germany, many students from there coming here
Jasen Jacobsen went to Rio del Mar elementary and Aptos, junior high school, and high school. He Grew up on the water
He got his degree in oceanography from Humboldt. He had been studying in North Carolina until he was lured back- large thanks to our scholarship
He described the ocean as a thriving ecosystem. he referred to Wales, dolphins and or as charismatic megafauna
His project involves the study of intertidal waves that are driven by currents, not wind. They play a significant role and stirring the nutrients that feed plankton and zooplankton, which intern are the primary food sources for the other members of the ocean ecosystem.
He said his work is at the intersection of physics and biology
Light and nutrients are needed to build cells for the microscopic organisms, but only the top 100 meters of ocean are lit. But nutrients get consumed and so are more prevalent in the depths
Internal waves are sloped. He mathematically replicated internal wave action to see what biological consequence of waves/ which create tidal beams- which creates primary production
These Waves are independent from wind and are Dependent on temperature
Ocean warming has unknown consequences.
Jasen’s presentation was a grape blend of technical talk and plan English, and he made a very complex topic quite understandable. Our money is going to great use.
Below is the form link to RSVP for the June 13, 2024 Community Grants Presentation Day.
Dec. 2022 Community Grants Recipients
If you are one of our recipient organizations, your organization receives one comped lunch.
(If you would like to have more people attend from your group, more are welcome but the lunches we comp come directly from our Grants Budget for next year so each additional guests will need to be paid for upon arrival on the day of the event.)
Please RSVP by Thursday, June 6th so our correct headcount can be submitted.
Please remember that the *ONLY* way we raise money to give out these grants is by our fundraising efforts all year long, so please make sure you support us all year long!
Our next fundraising event is the 2nd Annual Kentucky Derby Party on May 4, 2024.
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Our April 18 meeting was another sellout, we actually ran short of seats. Jimmy K was on zoom
President Lowry told us we have five RYLA attendees
Kendra reminded everyone of the May 4 Derby party and fundraiser and handed out large and small flyers. Let’s market this as much as we can, it’s a great event and as always, we are raising money for good causes. Especially since there isn’t a horse racing track between here and Berkeley (and that’s only trotters) this is the best chance to see thoroughbred horse racing in a great environment. And for the unfamiliar- it’s not just one race, there are 7-10 earlier races before the Derby itself.
Sam read a long with very clever joke about how different houses of worship dealt with an influx of unwanted squirrels. Many punch lines. My favorites were the church that made the squirrels members so then they only showed up on Easter and Christmas, and the Jewish temple that circumcised one squirrel and they never showed up again.
UTI Was live and fully equipped, and we rocked our way through the welcome song and four-way test song.
Our guests were Becky’s friends Bruce and Rupert - potential future Rotarians.
Reminder that there are auction items at the Derby party. Mac donated two bottles and told us that his nephews each run wineries. Road trip?
Detective Stan asked people about events that happened in history on certain dates including hurricane Donna and the Gabby Gifford shooting. Extra star to Sam for guessing shoot out at the OK corral
Al just celebrated a birthday, he still looks 39
Our guest singer was Julie James, who has run the Jewel theater for 20 years. Unfortunately, they are closing because of the effects of Covid. So we got to see one of the last performances by one of our most talented local musicians.
We got three songs from her Patsy Cline tribute: Honky Tonk Blues, God Didn't make Honky Tonk Angels and Let's Go Walkin. She was backed by her piano player Colin, aka Joe Billy Bob who also leads the six piece band that accomplished her when they perform
The songs were fabulous, and Julie does a great job of dropping into and out of the Patsy Cline persona. She reminded us that the plural of y'all is "all y'all."
Their final shows will be Thursdays-Sundays, May 8–25 at the Colligan Theater at the Tannery. The shows are nightly, with an added matinee on Saturday.
Perhaps expressing some feelings of lack of appreciation, Al led a round of applause for the piano player.
if you paying attention will understand this: It was more fun than a bunch of drunk, uncircumcised squirrels at the baptismal waterslide at the church.
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Our April 11th lunch at Seascape was sold out in person, all 32 chairs taken.
Kendra reminded everyone that Derby Day is May 4, at the helicopter hangar at Watsonville airport 130–4 30. Last year‘s inaugural was successful, but especially given how much fun it was and the worthy the causes we are supporting, let’s all try to get there and bring friends and associates.
Once again there will be big screens showing the races, food, a bar, games, and a hat contest.
Dr. Art was a tad late so President Lowry stepped in for the thought of the day: If English made sense lackadaisical would mean lack of daisies. And flammable and inflammable would not mean the same thing
We did not have a joker either though as usual there were several who fit the description. Given that we are approaching a plurality of lawyers as members:
A man has a near fatal heart attack and is told he needs transplant
He goes to the heart store and the salesman tells him there are 3 hearts available now: a $5000 heart, , a $100,000 heart and a $500,000 heart
The man asks “what’s the difference?”
The $5000 heart belong to a 74-year-old drunk who died of alcohol poisoning
I don’t want that one. What’s the next one like?
The hundred thousand dollar heart belonged to a 26-year-old NBA point guard who was killed in a car crash yesterday
Well, that sounds perfect, what about the $500,000 heart?
“It belonged to a lawyer, it’s never been used”
We had a designated detective, but maybe because the sheriff was in town we skipped that and everybody paid $10. Somehow, that feels a better than answering a trivia question correctly and still having to pay.
Thanks to Pam, Lora, Lowery Michele and everyone else involved in the fundraiser for Treasure Cove – we raised over $90,000!
Rich introduced sheriff Jim Hart, who apparently is not only sheriff par excellance but also breaks par on the golf course
Rich mentioned that he had many interactions with the sheriff and perhaps wisely provided no details
In that vein, Kelly managed to begin his questions/comment with, “Say I’m using a lot of cocaine,” which a skilled prosecutor could turn into an admission of repeated cocaine use.
Doug’s similar question was perhaps even more incriminating and he now has another one of Ken’s business cards just in case.
The sheriff spoke for about 20 minutes covering a wide range of topics. He explained the difference between the sheriff’s department, which provides law-enforcement and related services to the unincorporated areas of the county, the police department in the four incorporated cities, and the CHP, which has jurisdiction on the highways. The Santa Cruz county sheriff also runs the corner office for the entire county. The office is quite pleased that it will soon have its own DNA testing lab which will enable the processing of DNA samples in a matter of days instead of the 6-12 months it now takes to get results back from the state lab.
The sheriff said that crime in the county is actually very low compared to most CA counties and has declined steadily over the past decades.
The biggest challenge facing law-enforcement all over the county is the fentanyl plague. Our county has 270,000 citizens last year we had 133 fentanyl deaths, the same as Santa Clara County, which has 2 million people. The prime demographic for overdoses is homeless men in their 20s-30s. The problem is not unique to Santa Cruz, it’s nationwide. Drug dealers are lacing cocaine and methamphetamine with fentanyl. Konstantine pointed out that it seems stupid to do that because the dealers are killing their clients. The sheriff said the financial incentives are greater create more addicts.
Doug and a few others noted that there seems to be a lot of petty theft, burglaries and break-ins and that’s probably attributable to the drug addicts. The Sheriff agrees, but the stats show very little violent crime and comparatively few property crimes. It may be that many crimes are not reported, but if so, that’s probably true in other counties as well, especially high crime counties like Alameda, San Francisco Fresno.
Sheriff Hart reported on the success of the farm project, where inmates learn skills while they are serving their time so that when they return to society they have a means of maintaining a livelihood as well as discipline and responsibility.
The Sheriff noted that the Santa Cruz has a reputation for being a liberal area, but support for a law enforcement is very strong, as he sees in his daily actions and things like the support for Seargent Gutwiller. Several members spoke in support of the department and his members.
Our next meeting is April 18, which day we hopefully have recovered from tax day and can enjoy our musical guest
Claire McAdams won the raffle, but she wasn’t there
We had a group photo with our fundraising check
No report would be complete without mentioning Michele Bassi’s attendance and the even brighter glow in her eyes since she started her new job
Congratulations Michele
She also gets the award for best fashion statement- correcting your author’s complement on her black cocktail dress. “No, it’s just a T-shirt.”
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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.
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.
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.
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?"
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.
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.
**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.
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
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.
Dec. 9, 2023 Aptos Wine Wander & Makers Market
Kendra Cleary
2023-12-01 08:00:00Z
0
Capitola-AptosRotary,Rotarians At Work,Rotarians Having Fun,Rotarians in Y/OUR Community,Rotary Club,Rotary Club of Capitola-Aptos,Rotary District 5170,Santa Cruz County Rotary Clubs
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.
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.
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!
Capitola-AptosRotary,Rotarians Having Fun,Rotarians in Y/OUR Community,Rotary Club,Rotary Club of Capitola-Aptos,Rotary District 5170,Santa Cruz County Rotary Clubs
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
2023 Second Annual Pickleball Tournament | REGISTRATION OPEN!!
Kendra Cleary
2023-08-15 07:00:00Z
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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? Davesaid 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 July 20 meeting was at Seascape. For those of you who showed up someplace on July 27- we had no meeting because we had the debunking at Michele's house.... We had 25 attendees
One of our guests was Lexus Castrejon, our scholarship recipient from Aptos HS. She is going to SFSU to study criminal justice and forensic pathology.
Michele brought her guest Erica Padilla Chavez who we would like to have as a member Mindy Pedaler joined us along with our guest speaker Andrea Hart from Cabrillo Stage/Drama Mindy gave a thank you speech to Rotary for supporting her magician's troupe when she was a kid-and she made a $20 donation.
Dr Art's thought for the day: Freedom is a fragile thing and never more than one generation away
Sam provided the joke: before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them you will be a mile away and they won't have any shoes. Truly the Rotarian spirit
Sam led in the Welcome Song- Rocking it on guitar and with his Elvis-like voice
Trivia photos taken last week for detective/fundraising:
Guess the legs
Guess the hat
Guess the head
Where is Nelson’s Sports Bar? Only 2 people have correctly answered before
Announcements: Membership Monday is August 7 We need volunteers for committees for service projects District 5170 has started a Climate Action Project and a solar panel project needs members/volunteers
Rich was the joker- his R rated joke about a Freudian slip was funny but your author is not going to write it
Our guest speaker was Andrea Hart, the artistic director at Cabrillo Stage. She gave a great presentation on the ongoing showing of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Completely unbiased- Matt says it was great. Also unbiased and raving about it- Michele and pretty much everyone else who has seen it.
Andrea took us through the production from deciding on what play to put on through the development of the sets (fabulous), costumes, assembly of the cast and choir, rehearsals and a few teasing trailers. Mindy said it is the best choir she ever heard in her 30+ years. The set is 3 stories. Its construction has been overseen by Skip Epperson who has trained generations of students, many of whom are now professionals but come back to help here. That shows.
Sue won the lottery! Unfortunately, just ours, not the $978 million power ball.
The debunking at Michele's was fabulous- perfect weather, great tributes and playful fun about Kendra and Laura, fabulous food, questionable alcoholic beverages (but no shortage) and the awesome accommodations at Michele and Dean's place.
Our July 13th meeting was in the evening at the Fairfield Inn. We had 22 attendees in person and 2 on zoom
Pam and Lowry ran their first meeting as co-presidents effortlessly-meant in the good way-not lack of effort
There were several announcements about our participation in recent projects/events- the July 4 beer and wine pour; the Aptos Wine wander and the Rio del Mar beach cleanup, and our service day at Loaves and Fishes.
We had no musicians so no music.
Michele announced the fund raising Pedal for Rising International and Monarch Fundraising which we have supported in their efforts against sex trafficking and a fundraising effort for Ukrainian refugees
Michele's guest was Erica, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank…she is joining…as soon as she get a house in SC County – and her offer was accepted while we were in our meeting….so we are on our way!!
Tricia Potts guest was Heather who is a nurse focusing on helping kids who have experienced drug problems, abuse and other trauma, and she is also a life coach. Let's push to get her to join!.
Ken reminded members about the debunking which is Tuesday 7/25 at Michele's house at 133 Cutter Drive on the lake in Watsonville. $65 per ticket, food and beverages and entertainment included as we honor and perhaps tease our just-past co-presidents Laura and Kendra and thank them for their service. Lowry has sent out an e-vite, please RSVP, it’s very easy
Paul was the Detective- 2 meetings in a row! Members did fairly well with the questions. Those of us who did not know the answers learned, among other things:
The new President of Rotary International is Gordon McNally and this year's theme is "Create Hope in the World."
We also learned about key calendar events to plan our lives around: National Whistleblower Day; National daiquiri day; Lollipop day; and Gran Mariner day
Our guest speaker was Tricia Wiltshirewho spearheaded the construction of the inclusive playground at Leo's Haven. She said she was just a mom with a kid with needs and no experience in fundraising but obviously great determination. She spoke and had a slide show about her new project which is to build a universal playground at Jade Street park. There's a million dollar fundraising effort including the city of Capitola and non-profits. She said this project is moving much faster than Leo's Haven.
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Our June 15, 2023 meeting was a lunch at Seascape Golf Course, and we covered a very important topic: Scammers and Scams.
*Sept 2023 Update*
60 Minutes recently had a segment on scam/frauds that are commonly happening, please watch this video to learn about frequently used scams so you can protect yourself AGAINST this.
The entire June talk our club had was recorded as well, and the link is available to view on YouTube! Please watch this so you do not become a victim of these horrible, morally corrupt scammers.
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Our June 22 meeting was dinner at the Fairfield Inn. We had about 24 attendees in person, Michele B and Mardi on Zoom
Dave brought Jessica as his guest-
It was Julie’s 37th birthday and she was serenaded with an a capella Happy Birthday Cookies
Kendra lead the meeting with her usual and irrepressible exuberance. This was her last time leading the meeting for at least this term of her co-presidency as there is a regime change starting this week- Lowry and Pam are taking over as Co-Presidents
Kendra announce that we will be co-sponsoring the Aptos Wine Wander on July 1, with Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Assoc. It is in Aptos village and costs $50 to attend. We get 20 per cent of net profit from the event. Attendees will get to visit and taste at 14-17 wineries/businesses. We will have a table there-ostensibly to provide information about our club but also perhaps to sleep under after 14-17 wine samples! We need afternoon volunteers.
We are once again celebrating the spirit of the USA by plying Fourth of July celebrants at Aptos Village Park with beer and making money off their thirst and inebriation. We may still need a few volunteers.
We are also doing a Beach cleanup 7/5 at Rio del Mar beach, Dagmar is unavailable so Lowry is coordinating. There is (unfortunately) likely to be much trash to pick up following the July 4 holiday. Meet at 10am on Weds July 5th at RDM Beach.
Dr. Art provided 2 thoughts of the day: No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot; and Kindness is a virtue the deaf can hear and blind can see.
Another big event: the Debunking of Kendra and Laura is 7/25 at Michele’s estate/yacht club starting at 5 pm. It will be catered. Alcohol will be provided by members are also encouraged to BYOB. Ticket prices are being worked out. It is doubtless going to be much fun though there is much less to material to tease Kendra and Laura about then there was for Ken last year...
Still, anyone who wants a chance at the microphone please contact Ken.
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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. The Wine Wander is a partnership with the Capitola-Aptos Rotary, Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Aptos Village Businesses.
Tickets are $45 before June 1, $50 after June 15
Participating Wineries: Aptos Vineyard Bargetto Winery Big Basin Vineyards Doon to Earth El Vaquero Winery Integrity Wines Kings Mountain Vineyard La Vida Bella Vineyard Left Bend Winery Lester Estate Wines Sante Arcangeli Family Wines Silver Mountain Vineyards Villa del Monte Windy Oaks Estate Vineyards & Winery
Participating Businesses: Aptos Vineyards Tasting Room Betty Burgers CaliCoastal Boutique Cantine Winepub Caroline’s Thrift Shop Doon to Earth Tasting Lounge Magnolia Fine Gifts & Gallery New Leaf Community Market Sante Arcangeli Tasting Lounge Sarah’s European Skin Care
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To celebrate the month Kelly and Doug wore shorts. The rest of us are still cold. The shorts were a great contrast to Eric’s suit. Our club embraces a variety.
Sam, Al and ( his Honor) Rich , “Under the Influence,” did fabulous versions of the Welcome Song and 4 Way test song.
Other great bands with three word names are known by catchy initials: CCR, BTO, ELO…Maybe not this band, “ And now, Capitola, Aptos Rotary proudly gives you: UTI!!!”
Dave brought his granddaughter Leighanna,
Anissa sent her friend Jess Kile as a prospective member. Jess is a pediatric oncology nurse at Stanford and lives in Aptos
Let’s do what we can to convince her to be a member
Dr. Art’s thought for the day: don’t speak to the press, they are likely to report what you said.
Ken's joke of the day is too long for the brevity required for the Hub.
Since June has five Thursdays, the last Thursday will be a service day. We will not have a club meeting that day, but all members are encouraged to volunteer at Loaves and fishes in Watsonville, starting at 11 AM. Probably going to 1-130
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And donations made that were used in our raffle and as contest prizes were donated by:
Revelry Coolers
Cantine Winepub
Trader Joe's Capitola
Thank you to everyone who came and supported this event, we cannot wait to see you next year for the Second Annual Capitola-Aptos Rotary Kentucky Derby Party Fundraiser on Saturday, May 4, 2024!
Our May 26 meeting was dinner at the Fairfield Inn in Capitola, our speaker was Supervisor Zach Friend and we had three of our seven scholarship recipients in attendance!
We had about 25 members in person, none on zoom, five guests and three of our scholarship recipients. We had to borrow chairs from the lounge and napkins from the restrooms. We had far too much macaroni salad, but that sweet potato casserole (AKA the Vegan tofu meal that everyone thought was for them, not just the vegan eaters!!) was a big hit and the chicken with optional barbecue sauce was delicious
Remember that there is no bar there so we are relying on members to bring wine! Several of us did but not enough-we ran out of wine too: that’s bordering on inexcusable, especially since there’s no corkage fee (unlike the notorious rule at one of our other venues).
Music was provided by an illustrious trio. Members could be forgiven for mistaking their voice for the Kingston Trio or the Three Tenors while their rock ‘n’ roll evoked memories of rock god trios like Cream or Emerson, Lake and Palmer. But it was our very own Al DeCamara, Sam Nigh and RichMcAdams, performing under the moniker of Under the Influence. Which might explain Al's exuberance as detective.
By now, most everyone knows of the tragic death of our dear Suzi Hamlin, killed by a drunk driver, crossing the road in Virginia in the middle of Rich and Suzi’s cross country vacation. Co-PE Pam flew back to help Rich. Rotarians have been sending him our heartfelt condolences. Despite the unimaginable grief and shock, Rich took the time to send thanks for our support and for the camaraderie and compassion of Rotary that has been shown to him.
Prior to the start of the meeting, Laura led us in observing a moment of silence in memory of Suzi and in support of Rich.
Two of our three new red badges were in attendance, Rich McAdams, and Lisa Harvey-Duren.
Our three scholarship recipients in attendance were Olivia Harris from Soquel HS and Samantha French and Jordi Martinez from Aptos HS.
Michele brought her friend Gayle Pitman, VP of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success at Hartnell College.
Eric brought his friend David and David's daughter. The daughter is Samatha French, one of our Scholarship recipients.
Michele announced that Sip for Second Harvest is June 25 from 1-4 pm at Seascape Golf club.
Our next Membership Monday Happy Hour is at Cantine at 5:30 to 7:00 on June 5th.
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Our second May meeting was at dinner at the Fairfield by Marriott in Capitola. We had about 25 attendees in person and 3 on zoom. The catered food got good reviews. Several people remembered to bring wine and we could use more next time.
We have tentatively admitted 3 new members, including Claire McAdams’ husband Rich, or as he is formally known, the Honorable Justice Richard McAdams. He was the youngest Superior Court Judge in California and served in Santa Cruz County for 30 years before being appointed to the court of appeals.
Our club now has 3 lawyers, a judge, and the son of one of the most prominent lawyers in the Bay Area. An unfortunate demographic? The jury is still out (sorry). Fortunately our 2 other new members are not in the legal profession. Jack Hunt is an ‘almost retired’ mechanical engineer. Lisa Harvey-Duren, wife of member Paul Duren, is a patient advocate and advisor for pharmaceutical companies.
Kendra ran the meeting with her usual exuberance. Sam and Al were absent and the welcome song appeared lost until Kelly lead an impromptu a cappella version, and his signature baritone. Kelly had a lot of energy in this meeting, much like he had behind the bar at the Derby party.
The Inaugural Derby party raised over $5000. We had more than 50 attendees. It was a bit disappointing that only 13 of them were members. Everyone had a great time, good venue, pleasant, and as always, it was for a good cause. We hope to have much better club turnout next year.
Eric picked the winning horse, rumors that he can retire on that are unconfirmed.
The winner of the ladies hat contest was Michele‘s neighbor. And it cost $3000. Just saying
Co president in waiting Lowry discussed the survey that will be going to the members regarding meetings.
Kendra reminded everyone of Saturday’s car seat drive
In Dr. Art's absence Craig has a thought for the day : we should make our passwords “incorrect“. Makes great sense
Deposed president, Ken was the detective. There were a number of questions about Rotary History and unrelated historical events that occurred on May 11.
Kelly correctly answered: what actor starred in Casablanca, the big sleep , and the Maltese falcon? Humphrey Bogart
He also correctly answered: who married Lauren Bacall, won an Oscar for the African Queen, and died in 1957? Also, Humphrey Bogart The problem is that the question posed was: who was the first Rotarian to walk on the moon? Twice because it seemed he didn’t hear it the first time.
Our guest speaker was Sophia Shwierzke of Central Coast Community Energy. She gave a PowerPoint on her company that purchases alternative energy from various sources in California and Arizona and sells it to PG&E customers for less than PG&E charges. Their rates are about 18% less for residential customers
Rick asked why California energy prices were so much higher than other states. She did not know. Per the state of Nebraska, which has the cheapest energy in the country, California energy costs are more expensive than every state except Hawaii, Washington, about 80% above the national average.
Rick also asked if the high prices were because California is a one-party state.
Your author has been a California attorney for 35 years and has not seen the law limiting us to one party. Is that per year, per household? Does it apply to nonprofit corporations? Without admitting anything, your author might be a serial offender – we have birthday parties, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, parties, football parties, pool parties and I’d better stop there. I will ask the rest of the clubs legal brain-trust to make sure we are not running a-foul of the one party rule.
Laura pointed out to our guest speaker that actually some of the power sources on the map on her PowerPoint were in Arizona, and Nevada, not California. That type of tactful, cross examination, might warrant admission into the legal brain-trust.
The debunking of Kendra and Laura will be July 25 at the Watsonville yacht club, otherwise known as Michele Bassi’s residence. Start time will be 5–5 thirtyish. More details to follow.
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If you got our email address on Saturday to arrange a later porch drop off of booster & car seats, we need them by mid afternoon TODAY! Please get in touch with us right now if you were one of the people we were talking to!!
5/17/23 || Last call for Car & Booster Seat drop off!
Kendra Cleary
2023-05-17 07:00:00Z
0
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Our April 20 meeting was at Seascape. We had about 20 attendees in person and Sue, Becky and Nelson on Zoom
We had no musicians, so no opening songs.
Very nice to see Stan Abraham in person - that should happen more often
Dr Art gave the thought for the day: Righteous indignation is just jealousy with a halo!
Ken related a story from a client, upon visiting a clinic in a town in New Zealand, saw a plaque honoring Dr. Art Dover of Santa Cruz, California for stemming a local epidemic. Years later, Dr Art cured the same client of a parasitic infection that no other doctors had been able to diagnose, let alone!
We were graced with the presence of Paul's wife Lisa who is a new prospective member. Lisa is a pharmacy rep. She also attended our last Membership Monday at Cantine. Lisa impressed everyone and by consensus will be a great addition to the club.
Lowry brought a prospective member too-Jack Hunt, a retired engineer. Jack was also at the Membership Monday and has a fascinating background. He would also be a great member.
Kendra reminded everyone of the May 6 Kentucky Derby party. We were treated to suggestions for hats via from Kendra and Laura. It was hard not to believe we were not at Paris Fashion Week. Until Laura modeled the St. Patrick's Day hat.....
Remember to bring wine to tonight's meeting at Fairfield. To clarify- 2 bottles to donate to the Derby party-not to drink....
Win hosted the pickleball tournament for which Matt Weinstein was the successfull bidder at the Willy Roast and auction. Lowry and Laura rant the event. Matt, his wife Eileen, and six others attended. By all accounts it was a great success.
The Area 7 social is May 9 at Kaiser arena in downtown Santa Cruz- tickets are $5 at the door.
Laura and Nelson provided more information on District Governor Savita's Independence Through Hygienes project in India and Africa. Feminine hygiene products are generally unavailable to impoverished girls/young women who miss school during their cycle and eventually drop out, limiting their life choices. The club is making a $1,000 donation.
The Detective was Rich He chose golf and SIRS as his topics- clearly catering to a select audience but geographically appropriate. We learned that SIRS stands for something generic like Seniors in Retirement but that other than playing golf they serve no function, so that's 2 strikes. Rich, Doug, Lowry and Stan are members
Our guest speaker was veterinarian Marianne Burtch the founder of Birchbark Foundation. Birchbark is a non-profit corporation that provides donated/discounted vet services for people and families who can't afford expensive procedures for pets when the pets are important to their owner's health and peace of mind.
The Foundation arranges 24-hour hospital services for domestic animals with the goal of providing the necessary treatment to reunite the pets with their loved ones. They work with veterinarians in the community to give discounts for their services and Birchbark pays 50% of the remaining bill. They have frank discussions with pet owners to make sure there is a good prognosis for the pets or, if not, the need for euthanasia. Birchbark also provides grief support and educational webinars on pet care, emergency preparedness and preventable conditions. One of the biggest conditions they face is urinary tract infections in un-spayed females.
Dr. Burtch noted the increased emotional reliance on pets during the severe parts of the Covid epidemic and how important the human-pet bond is. She also said what we pet-lovers know- our pets provide unconditional love and are not judgmental.
Birchbark saved its first pet in 2013. That animal lived another ten years-just recently passing away. The Foundation subsidizes emergency services for several pets every week, 32 so far this year.
Dr. Burtch showed a touching video about Birchbark's services. We had some audio problems but the visuals alone were moving. To see it with sound, click here. BTW- Dr. Burtch is also a Stanford grad...
See everyone at Fairfield TONIGHT, not today. $20 fine for anyone caught going to the wrong place and/or the wrong time.
Our April 13 lunch meeting was at the Fairfield Inn. Those of you who haven't been yet should check it out to see how you think it compares with other venues. It's on 41st Ave, about 1/2 mile past the Capitola Mall. We have a large, well- lit dedicated room, functioning wifi and cell service. But no bar... The a/c functions well, a bit too well at one point as the board meeting turned glacial for a few minutes. But that was resolved.
Lunch was deli sandwiches catered by Garden Deli.
Co-Pres Kendra ran the meeting.
We had about 20 members and a few on zoom including Secretary Nelson, Mardi and Doug D.
Dr. Art provided the thought and joke of the day: It is risky to speak to the press they might report it
Al did the welcome song a la Herbie Hancock on his portable keyboard. Konstantin chimed in on glass percussion.
Announcements:
Please bring two bottles of wine (~ $20 each value) to Kendra this meeting as we will be using them at Kentucky Derby Fundraiser as game prizes.
Please use the Eventbrite Link to purchase your Derby party tickets today! There are quarter page fliers that Kendra can print and get you to hand out to your friends and neighbors and dog walker! Invite your kids and their friends, literally everyone you KNOW!
Derby Party Sponsorships: $500 sponsorship gets you Public Recognition including your logo on event materials, being mentioned at the event, your logo being used on all our social media channels (fb, IG, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube) along with on our club website. Please contact CPOM Kendra at kcleary.rotary@gmail.com to sign up.
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Our April 6 meeting was at the Seascape Golf Clubhouse
We had 23 attendees in person and 2 on zoom- Becky and Sue
Co-President Kendra presided
Dr Art gave the thought for the day: It talking was more important than listening we would have 2 mouths and 1 ear
Visiting Rotarians were Dave Culver and Tom McCullough from Sunrise
We also had a neophyte potential Rotarian- recently retired Jack Hunt
Al led us in the Welcome song And made references to his Portuguese heritage
Pam and Mardi managed to be the only women sitting at tables with 6 men Where are our women members????
Becky celebrated her 40th wedding anniversary- of course she looks like she must have been a teenage bride- her husband has lived a charmed life Rich is going on a months- long road trip circling the US with his dog- we expect many Rotary flags
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Our 3/22 meeting was a field trip to UCSC to celebrate the award of the Piatt Scholarship and honor Kevin Weatherwax, this year's recipient in the Baskin Engineering Building lab/office where he and his colleagues work.
Our Rotary crew pictured with Kevin, Dean Biehl, Almut, Kevin's Mentor Kate Ringland, and the other UCSC Foundation staff
We had about 22 club attendees in person Sue on Zoom and about 8 folks from UCSC. We were hosted by Graduate School Dean Dr. Peter Biehl and Almut Wulf (who both visited us last year for the presentation) and Advising Professor Kate Ringland. One of our guides/chaperones/bouncers (needed as Al was in attendance today) was Alexandria Leckliter who was in RotarAct and, as importantly, her dad was a gymnastics coach.
Special memories for Trish who is a UCSC alum.
Parking was like Scouts on a scavenger hunt though we were eventually directed to the Core 4 parking garage where Almut had reserved spots for us. Found out the hard way that the parking lots identified on the on-line maps as "no-permit required" are only "no-permit required" after 4pm....
Once we navigated our way (or were rescued) we were led to the lab where Kevin and some of the other students who work in his department gave summaries of their projects aimed at assisting neurodivergent people. They call their workplace "the Misfit Lab." It was clear from just the brief statements the younger students gave that they were brilliant but they managed to translate the techno-lingo so we could understand it.
Perhaps the most discussed subject was the 2 foot high robot in the room who looks like a non-flying version of EVA from Wall-e. We were also continually scanned and colorized images of us projected onto a screen as part of the team's ongoing studies of human movement that is being used to help robots interact with humans in public. We were assured that our DNA was not being replicated for insertion into our roboticized replacement clones.
There was a keyboard for Al and Sam brought his ukelele and led us in the Welcome Song and the 4 Way test song. The UCSC folks all said they loved the music. They were not just being polite.
The Hub March 22nd, 2023 || UCSC Field Trip for ‘22-‘23 Piatt Scholar, Kevin Weatherwax
Ken Gorman
2023-03-31 07:00:00Z
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CPOM Kendra here: “I want to make it abundantly clear we are not writing this page and it's contents to merely toot our own horn. We do want to acknowledge the Rotarians in our club who heard the call for help & showed up to do the work that was needed by our neighbors and community.
But also The Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's Board of Directors feels that transparency in what we do in our community, both during the good times and the bad is necessary.
Since the community at large donates to our efforts (both via direct donations for specific projects and with support of our fundraising events like the Beer Booth and Pickleball Tournament) for the work we do in "Y/OUR Community" we want to be very clear on the activities we do and support, both monetarily and via our physical labor/boots on the ground approach.”
Special Storm Cleanup Edition of The Hub
March 2023
Date: Sunday, March 12, 2023
Location: Watsonville Fairgrounds Shelter
Once we heard about the Pajaro Levee Break Co-Presidents Laura & Kendra headed out to the Fairgrounds to see if they had any immediate needs. A list of items they needed was going around, but from our club's experience in the '89 earthquake there was such an immediate response that the needs were changing by the hour. So we headed out to meet the Shelter Coordinator on site and see what they needed that we could look them in the eye and say "we'll be right back with XYZ." We met the On-Site Shelter Coordinator who was fantastic, they needed new Blankets, towels and washcloths, and men's & women's underwear. But they could not accept the items until tomorrow as they didn't have the room to store anything since it was a Sunday late afternoon. They had volunteers coming first thing Monday to sort through and organize all the donations. Armed with a donated 20% off Kohl's Coupon and $7 in Kohl's Cash, we headed to Kohl's and Ross to see what we could get.
We spent $460 and got 9 blankets, 12 bath towels, 12 washcloths, 11 packages of men's underwear, 8 packages of women's underwear, and $30 in Kohl's Cash which was used later in the week to buy 12 pairs of Under Armor Compression Crew Socks.
Unfortunately by late Monday Morning the Fairgrounds had sorted and had no more room to accept anything.
Date: Monday, March 13, 2023
Location: Cabrillo College Shelter
So on Monday Lunchtime as soon as we heard that the Cabrillo College Shelter would be opening at 5pm we decided to head down with our purchased items and see if that was what they needed.
Pictured on this table are the men's and women's underwear we had purchased the day prior!
We met the On-Site Coordinators, Georgina and Jessika, and they needed the blankets and towels and underwear! We gave them our phone numbers and said we had a budget to fill any immediate needs and to not hesitate to call us if there was something that came up that was needed.
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Location: Coral St. Clinic & Cabrillo College Shelter
On Tuesday Afternoon we heard from Georgina, they needed someone to transport a few evacuated houseless people (who had lived on the San Lorenzo Levee are that was flooded) from the Coral St. Clinic to the Cabrillo Shelter in a van.
Since we did not have a van, and we needed a van since some of our riders had mobility issues and they all had all their possessions with them, the club rented a minivan from Enterprise (Shout out to Enterprise on Ocean who gave us a 10% discount on the rental!) and we did three round trips to transport people to the Cabrillo Shelter.
After our last transport, we talked to the On-Site Coordinator of the day (they are assigned in 12 hour shifts) and they had a family arrive from Pajaro---we had seen them walk in as we walked in some of the people we had brought from Coral St.
Laura (L) walking in one of our transportee's, Andrew (middle), along with a Twin Lakes Soup Kitchen Volunteer (R) we met at the Shelter.
The family had toddlers in diapers but there were not diapers in the sizes they needed at the Cabrillo Shelter--only newborn size diapers. So a translator and Co-Pres Laura headed over to see if there was anything else they needed since we were going to get diapers and to confirm the diaper size they needed. They explained they left so quickly the father only had the clothes he was wearing and asked if we knew of any clothes he could get. And they needed Size 5 & 6 Diapers.
So off to Costco we went and we got Sizes 4, 5 & 6 diapers (since we didn't see size 4 in the shelter inventory). We also got two boxes of wipes.
We got 1800 wipes and 798 diapers in three sizes!
On our way back to Cabrillo with the diapers and wipes we called two of our members who were about the same size as the Pajaro father, and asked if they had any clothes in good condition they could donate. They did and we want to shout out to IPP Ken and Rotarian Sam who stepped up and provided bags of clothes for this gentleman.
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Location: Second Harvest Food Bank
On the way to our Second Harvest Food Bank food sorting shift Co-Pres Kendra dropped off some of the donated clothes from IPP Ken, and checked in with the shelter's immediate needs.
Then four of our club's Rotarians, CPOM Kendra, Eric, Co-PE Lowry and Nelson, arrived at Second Harvest Food Bank for a volunteer food sorting shift.
They boxed 4,000 lbs. of Oranges, and 8,000 lbs. (which was 208 cartons) of Grapefruits!
The Rotary crew's pre-shift photo!
Lowry and Eric with the big barrel of oranges we were filling the boxes from.
Nelson with the Oranges Box!
Nelson and Lowry.
Eric stacking Orange filled boxes!
Nelson filling bags of Grapefruits.
Lowry filling the bags with Grapefruits.
Our little crew at the end of our shift!
#RotariansInAction #RotariansAtWork
As usual Dr. Art did his weekly volunteer shift at Pajaro Valley Loaves & Fishes, and CPOM Kendra had a discussion with Executive Director Ashley about the needs their organization will have in the coming months, as they serve the displaced migrant community during this tragedy. They are preparing for the next few months as it will be a time of grave food insecurity among the evacuated & displaced population because the crops that they should be harvesting and getting paid for their work to do, they will not be (due to the flooded fields), so in addition to losing their homes and belongings, the steady work they count on will also not be there in the quantity it usually is.
The cleanup from this set of storms and the levee break will take months if not years to fix the reverberations throughout the community. This is project will not be a sprint; it will be a marathon. And we Rotary Clubs are working together and have committed to being HERE and doing our part long after everyone else’s initial surge of help and attention is long gone.
Capitola-Aptos Rotary is supporting Pajaro Valley Loaves & Fishes both with volunteer time and with funding, and we encourage you to do so also.
Additionally our club has set aside at minimum of $4000 to go directly to Storm & Flood Disaster Relief, our only contingent on the money is that our club has to be involved in a project, we will not just be making a blind donation to another group in our area who is collecting money. We are requiring what we call "boots on the ground" involvement by some of our Rotarians. If you would like to add to our storm and flooding disaster relief funds, we will add them to our money and spend them the same way we are spending our own money, you can donate via PayPal or Venmo.
(I want to mention that we are a PayPal Certified Charity, which assures you of our integrity and also significantly reduces any transaction fee's that are usually associated with giving funds electronically.)
March 2023 Storms & Flooding Response || Rotary in Action
2023-03-24 07:00:00Z
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Apologies for the late Hubs- emergency motions filed by opposing counsel in 2 cases and a sick wife and paralegal (2 different women but equal goddesses) have impeded progress. All are well and justice prevailed.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta pictured with Club Co-Presidents Kendra Cleary & Laura Grinder
Our February 16, 2023 lunch meeting was at Seascape. We had 31 members and guests attend. We were in the little room due to Seascape Construction. Our Speaker was our Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who absolutely noticed and commented on the smallness of the room we were in. No luck convincing him that our group size had increased and fill the room better!!
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Our March 3 meeting was held via zoom only because of covid concerns. Turnout was small- 15 stalwart members, no guests. The meeting was also short because we had no guest speaker.
Co-Prez Kendra was flush with excitement at her joke of the day: Why were lawyers created? So that toilet plungers would have something to look down on.
Laura reminded us that International Women's Day is 3/19. Please sign up to carpool to the Rotary International event in San Jose. Last year there were 120 attendees, about 1/3 were non-Rotarians.
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Our February 23 meeting was at the beautiful Episcopal Church of St. John in Seacliff. Thanks to Win and Nelson for making the arrangements.
25 members and a few guests attended.
Food was brought in by Rotary Owned Catering business Busy Bee's Cafe & Catering and served buffet via buffet- as was a generous assortment of wine. No corkage fee. No jokes about changing water into it please.
Busy Bee's Chef Ty pictured with Co Prez Kendra, and the lovely buffet we were served! Feb 23rd's menu was Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Salad and those amazing rolls we have all come to adore!!
The Hub || First Rotary Dinner Meeting! || February 23rd, 2023
Ken Gorman
2023-03-04 08:00:00Z
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Our 2/2/23 lunch meeting was at the Fairfield Inn on 41st Ave. in Capitola-a few hundred yards West of the Capitola Mall.
Informal poll shows the attendees generally liked the room. Busy Bee's catered the meal. Michele the co-owner is a member of Santa Cruz Rotary and also catered deposed-President Ken’s debunking, informal food reviews were also mostly positive and Michelle came by at the end of our meeting to introduce herself and thank us for the business! The owner of the Fairfield Inn is a fan of Rotary--believes in and supports our mission and seems eager to accommodate us--a marked change from indifference/annoyance.
The board is soliciting further input on the location, venue amenities, parking, food, attitude….
Nelson sent out a schedule of the next several meetings- make sure to read it and to NOT show up someplace where you are the only attendee.
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Our January 26, 2023 lunch was at Seascape. Remember, our February 2 lunch is at the Fairfield Inn on 41st Ave. in Capitola. Do not go to Seascape at noon unless you want to avoid all of us AND get a $20 fine.
We had 18 attendees in person and 4 on zoom.
Kendra ran the meeting with her usual charisma and organization- impeded only by a new microphone system that randomly disconnected and announced the disconnection in a Lauren Bacall-esque sultry near-whisper that seems more appropriate for pay for view R rated movies than the wholesomeness of our meetings.
Kendra's announcement: PLEASE respond to her emailed RSVPs
Dr Art's thought for the day: Don’t argue with a fool in public because people might confuse the two of you. (Has he been to court lately?)
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CPOM Kendra here: “I want to make it abundantly clear we are not writing this page and it's contents to merely toot our own horn. We do want to acknowledge the Rotarians in our club who heard the call for help & showed up to do the work that was needed by our neighbors and community.
But also The Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's Board of Directors feels that transparency in what we do in our community, both during the good times and the bad is necessary.
Since the community at large donates to our efforts (both via direct donations for specific projects and with support of our fundraising events like the Beer Booth and Pickleball Tournament) for the work we do in "Y/OUR Community" we want to be very clear on the activities we do and support, both monetarily and via our physical labor/boots on the ground approach.”
Special Storm Cleanup Edition of The Hub
January 26, 2023
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023
Location: Aptos Hills and Soquel Village
CPOM Kendra did a fabulous job organizing teams for our volunteer cleanup work. Unfortunately she out-organized the volunteer center which waited until late Friday-early Saturday to assign us and instead of cleaning up the beach or a creek 7 of us ended up at a private residence in the Aptos Hills owned by a 66 year old woman. Her driveway was flooded by a seasonal stream that dumped tons of mud and debris and moved her large wood she about 50 feet off its foundation. The driveway was passable and the rest of the work required a bulldozer, not shovels and wheelbarrows, but the stalwart Rotarians moved mud and debris to widen the path for an hour or so and achieved as much as we could by hand. Kendra has some before and after photos. Some irony in that the owner asked for assistance in part because of her age and Kendra was the only one of us who doesn't have an AARP card.
Our second job of the day that The Volunteer Center assigned to us was in Soquel, near the Soquel Creek and homes on Soquel Wharf Road that were flooded/mudded out.
Kendra, Eric and Bert volunteered shoveling out mud from the residences. The more mud we shoveled the more mud appeared!
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2023
Location: Capitola Village
Sunday our small but mighty group of 5 club members joined a swarm of volunteers to clean up Capitola Village and move mountains of washed ashore trees, limbs, fence posts, decking, and in general storm debris. The volunteer descended upon the chaos like an army of ants among huge amounts of interlinked pick up sticks. We filled a humorous "green organic" dumpster to the top. While this was a great accomplishment, looking at the beach there is still lots to be done. Watch for more information about the ongoing efforts that are needed and our opportunities to help.
The Volunteering Storm Clean Up Team are real Troopers! Everyonewas very busy working this weekend. Thanks to all our Rotarians who gathered together to help the community, Kendra, Ken, Eric, Laura, Dr Art and Grandson Noah, Lowry, Kelly, Becky, Becky's Husband Ed, Julie, Nelson, Paul and Rotarian Bert, you guys rock!
CPOM Kendra again: “At the January Board Meeting club our club has pledged $4000 to go directly to our Emergency Storm Fund, but one thing we have learned from living through the ‘89 quake and the‘95 Levee breach and the ‘98 El Niño, is that cleanup will be a marathon not a sprint. The only stipulation the board put on the committed funds is that it needs to be spent on or in conjunction with a project where we Rotarians are “boots on the ground” involved, we will not just be cutting a check to another organization and hoping they use the funds for storm response.”
March 2023 Edit:
If you like the work we are doing on the ground here in Santa Cruz County and want to support us by adding to our Storm Fund, you can donate via PayPal at this link:
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Our January 19, 2023 lunch meeting was at Seascape. The auspiciousness of the occasion was accented by a flyover by 3 Osprey heli-planes followed by a helicopter gunship and Marine One. They all would have joined us for lunch but we would have gone over our 25 person lunch allotment.
We had about 20 attendees in person plus 4 on zoom.
Dave was there in person- nice to see him again in person especially with his charming granddaughter-guest Ashleigh. Also nice to have Trish back and Jimmy K made it too. Good to have the full contingent of club lawyers.
Al did a very hip welcome song on his keyboard a la Herbie Hancock. Rumor is that Sam is working on a Hendrix-styled rendition of the 4 Way Test song. Think Purple Haze/Rotary.
Co-President Kendra ran the meeting and had a few announcements. Secret one- the reconnaissance team for an alternate venue was very pleased with the Fairfield Inn on 41st Ave.- working on a test run there soon. Watch this space and your e-mail inbox.
Kendra also relayed that we had over- volunteered for storm-related cleanup. The City of Capitola couldn't handle all of us, State Parks said they would only allow Rangers to help. So Kendra gave her contact info to the Volunteer Center and told us to stand by. More on that adventure below.
Thought of the day Dr Art: mask up and join for cleanup.
Dr Art was also the Detective. He asked several of the members to tell us how the storms had changed their lives. Most of us reported nearly no effects, but Co-prez Laura had enough happen to make up for that: long power outages, trees down, road blocked and a tornado (Auntie Em!! Are we in Kansas?)
Trish told about all the damage she saw at the beach.
Our guest speaker was Kent Benedict MD, a friend of Dr. Art's. He gave a talk and power point (slide show of the 21st century) on a 37 day pilgrimage hike that he and his wife Paula took over the Pyrenees in Southern France into Spain and over the Galicios Camino de Santiago and eventually to the Spanish Coast.
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Our 2023 Inaugural lunch meeting was 1/5/23 at Seascape.
15 intrepid members braved wind and rain to attend in person and 13 of them braved the lunch (kidding?)
4 members attended by zoom. The rest of y'all best have notes from PG&E that you were without power or equally convincing excuses for not at least zooming lest 'ye be fined (Assuming a Sgt at Arms attends)...(your reporter had a deposition all day 1/12/23 and you don't want to know).
Konstantin attended in full storm regalia which even matched- a tribute to his European stylishness.
Sam led us in the Welcome Song and 4 Way test song.
Mardi zoomed us a presentation about the Christmas gifts to the Watsonville Nursing Center- it was touching to hear and see how grateful the seniors were and how much small things meant to them. Mardi also presented a rousing montage of photos of Capitola Aptos Rotary's Greatest Hits of 2022 Video here
None of the Red Badgers, which will not excuse them from fines nor giving their requisite autobiographies.
But as an additional affront, since they all whimped out in their debut we had no program. Co-President Kendra filled the time nicely. We won First Place in the Community Groups Division for our Christmas Lights exhibit at the County Fair!!! Congrats to all who planned, set-up, maintained and took down! Video here.
The car seat drive organized by our club and Area 7 Presidents in conjunction with Baja Bridges had 30 seats and 6 bases collected from our drop off sites, and the local Rotary total was 80 seats, eight additional bases and one stroller. There will be another round of donations in the Spring. ( No, past-prez Ken does not need a booster seat for our lunches.....) More pictures here.
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We started a New Year wishing you all the best and we invite you to share Rotary with a friend.
Our Club's Monthly Happy Hour is this January 11th, meeting starts 5pm at Cantine Wine Pub located at 8050 Soquel Drive, Aptos CA 95003. We invite you to get together socially for a casual talk with new members. Red Badge Wednesday Happy Hour also give potential Rotary members/curious lurkers(!) a chance to ask questions about what Rotary is! Also what's a "red badge" or a "blue badge" in Rotary mean? Or what's a "Paul Harris"? We will divulge all of those Rotary secrets!
Next Monday January 23rd get ready for the Rotary Community Service Social Event
Meet with us at the Hideout 9051 Soquel Dr, Aptos at 5:30pm. Please join us to meet Capitola-Aptos Rotary members and learn about our community projects. Enjoy no-host beverages at the Hideout Cocktails and Dining. We will be at the table in the back. We've served Santa Cruz County for 58years, providing opportunities for connection, community service and leadership. We are part of Rotary International, a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem solvers where people unite and take action. All are welcome to attend, for more information see www.capitolaaptosrotary.org or contact co-president elect lowry.fenton@gmail.com
Incoming news came last week from our Co-President elect Lowry Fenton who visited the Rotary Club Budapest-City, District 1911-Hungary. Welcome back Lowry and thank you for sharing your traveling journey with us.
Did you see our (winning!) exhibit at the Santa Cruz Co. Fair Holiday Lights? Or maybe our sign in Aptos, & that's why you are visiting our website? Well, WELCOME!!!
We are Capitola-Aptos Rotary!
We are a non profit organization of like minded community leaders who want to have fellowship and be of service.
Our club was chartered in 1965 as the Rotary of Mid County, and we became Rotary of Capitola-Aptos in the 1980's. We are part of Rotary International's District 5170 (https://rotarydistrict5170.org/), Area 7 (which is all seven of the Santa Cruz County Rotary Clubs!).
The programs that we are most proud of are as follows:
1. Community Grants
The open application period is usually in Fall and local non-profits complete an application telling us about their organization and what they would be doing with the money if they are chosen.
On Dec. 8, 2022 we gave out our most recent year's Community Grants. We gave out over $18,000 to this year's twelve non-profit recipients! The 2022 focus that our club board & grant committee identified as top priority were food insecurity, mental health, children's issues and protection for parents & children (domestic violence).
To support our Community Grants Program, our members pay annual and quarterly dues, weekly meeting fees, and this is in addition to any annual donations our members make. We also hold a few events annually that raise more money to fund Grants. 💸💰💸
🍻🎆 4th of July Beer Booth: 🎇🍻 After the Aptos World's Shortest Parade we sell beer & hard seltzers in the Aptos Village Party in the Park. So every time you see us after the 4th of July parade buy an extra beer & leave a tip, since all the funds we raise support your local community!
🍽️🎤Annual Dinner & Roast:🍽️🎤in the late fall we hold a gala where a local community member is roasted at a gourmet plated dinner.
🏓🎾 Pickleball Tournament:🎾🏓 2022 was our inaugural pickleball tournament and the event went so well we'll be holding our 2nd annual Pickleball in the Park Tournament in September 2023.
🐎🌹Kentucky Derby Party: 🌹🐎In 2023 we'll be holding our inaugural Kentucky Derby Party! Stay tuned for more details but put May 6, 2023 on your calendar!
We have also fundraised and funded some very special large projects over the last decade alone!
2. High School Scholarships
We give about $6000 annually to students who are graduating from Aptos & Soquel High Schools. To receive these scholarships students apply & write an essay, then once they are chosen they must come visit one of our club meetings to meet us & tell us about themselves & their plans! They also must provide proof of enrollment & grades to Treasurer Julie for a check to be cut, which goes directly to their institution of higher education.
We also have a special scholarship called the John Fisher Scholarship---in honor of Past District Governor, RotaCare Bay Area Founder and our dear Rotarian Emeritus, John Fisher (1922-2020).
John is in the center, seated, in the blue blazer. Here he is pictured with fellow Rotarians at his 95th birthday celebration in 2017.
A little about our dear John:
John was active in Rotary for over 60 years, achieving perfect attendance for decades! John served as Club President in Cupertino (1966-67) and again for the Capitola/Aptos Club (1981-82). In 1988-89 he was named as District Governor of 5170. John was a founding member of the RotaCare Free Clinics, providing no-cost medical treatment to the uninsured and working poor in the Bay Area, including Santa Cruz. RotaCare was a vision John brought to reality. John served as an active member of the RotaCare Bay Area Board of Directors from its inception. In 2019 he was honored with the RotaCare Lifetime Volunteer Award for his 30 years of service. In 2000, John was a recipient of the KSBW distinguished Jefferson Award presented to those who have exhibited outstanding service to their community as a volunteer. He traveled to Washington, D.C. to receive this award in the chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court.
We established the John Fisher Scholarship after John's passing and locally graduating high school students from Aptos & Soquel High Schools who are going to be attending Cabrillo College.
3. Piatt (pronounced Pie-IT) Endowment at UCSC
Capitola-Aptos Rotarian Henry Piatt and his wife Vera were children of Mid-America. Vera was born in Iowa in 1907 and Henry, in Missouri. In the late 1920's Henry was traveling the world with the U.S. Navy when he was stricken with Tuberculosis and hospitalized for treatment in a CO military facility. Vera was a nurse in that hospital. They fell in love, Vera resigned her commission and after Henry's recovery began their lifelong marriage, which brought them to Sacramento. Henry's business relationships led him to his first Rotary Club where he thrived in the "Service Above Self" philosophy. After relocating to Aptos, he became a member of The Rotary Club of Soquel in 1965, and remained a member until his death in 1984. His personable soft-spoken manner combined with vision & common sense made him a popular Rotarian and accounted for his long service as Club Secretary where he guided many Club Presidents during the 70's & 80's. Henry's vision of a Club Foundation to extend its capabilities to serve the community came to fruition, and in 1986 Vera established the Piatt Trust, which culminated in the Graduate Fellowship as it exists today. Vera passed on in 2007.
When asked why a graduate fellowship? Henry replied "I want to fund our community's best and brightest!"
Henry and Vera Piatt Fellowship is for Graduate Studies in the STEM Disciplines. The Piatt Fellowship provides a single award annually of $15,000 to a graduate of a Santa Cruz County Public High School who is pursuing a graduate degree at UC Santa Cruz in one of the science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) disciplines during the academic year following their application. 🧬🔬🧫🧪🔭
The Henry and Vera Piatt Fellows are:
Kevin Weatherwax, Ringland Lab (2022-2023)
Megan Durham, Brooks Lab (2021-2022)
John Wenger, Johnstone Lab (2020-2021)
Veronica Urabe (2019-2020)
Alexey Munishkin (2018-2019)
Chad Townsend (2017-2018) Keelan Guiley, Rubin Lab (2016-2017) Christopher Deming, Chen Lab (2015-2016) Kenji Kurita, Linington Lab (2014-2015)
Susanna "Susy" Honig (2013-2014)
4. Adopt-A-Beach and Quarterly Beach Cleanups: Rio Del Mar State Beach 🚮🚭🪣🚯♻️
We partnered with Save Our Shores (SOS) and have adopted Rio Del Mar State Beach in Aptos! Prior to the storm of January 2023 we even had a sign!
Adopting a beach means we do quarterly beach clean ups at our designated location.
Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club's Youth Speech Contest to be held March 9th, 2023
LOCATION: Parish Hall of The Episcopal Church of St. John's
(125 Canterbury Dr. Aptos, CA 95003)
Happy Hour starts at 4:45pm
Dinner Served at 5pm
Speeches start at 5:15pm, Program concludes at 7pm.
RSVP for a dinner ticket to the event is required (this is so we have enough food!)
RSVP to kcleary.rotary(at)gmail.com by Sunday Evening, March 5, 2023.
Busy Bee's Catering will be doing our meal. The menu is Chicken Cacciatore, Polenta, Vegetable and those Rolls we all love! Meal ticket is $35/pp. See PayPal link below to pay in advance.
Richard D. King Speech Competition Theme:
Imagine Rotary - the future of a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
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Do you have a car seat sitting in your shed or garage that is unused (and perhaps expired too) and you find it collecting dust year after year?!
Well Rotary has the solution! The Rotary District 5170 Area 7 Clubs (which are the clubs of Santa Cruz County) are doing a car seat drive this weekend (12/10 & 12/11)!
We are partnering with Baja Bridges to get the car seats down to---and distributed among---areas of Baja (Mulegé and Santa Rosalia during this drive) where the mortality rate of children in automobile accidents is high.
Local fire houses in Baja are rolling out safety programs educating about the importance of car seats and booster seats (similar education programs to those done in the US in the 1970's and 1980's). Now that there is interest, the next problem being experienced is there aren't car seats available for the fire personnel to give out. Fire personnel are asking for more car seats to be brought down for them to distribute among their communities. That's where we come in!
Attached is information with four of our drop off locations.
We cannot wait to see you and accept your cleaned/all parts included and working car seats next weekend, December 10th & 11th!
Rotary Car Seat (& Booster Seat) Drive! Dec 10th & 11th
Kendra Cleary
2022-11-28 08:00:00Z
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Our October 20th lunch at Seascape had 27 attendees in person.
Pledge Follies. Seascape’s American flag also attended, so we did not have to salute a virtual flag. Co-President Laura Grinder virtually missed seeing the real flag but recovered and did a great job leading the meeting.
Attendance, Visiting Rotarians, and Guests.Al De Camara led us in the Welcome song on keyboard. Jimmy Kutch made it in person and is looking great! Likewise, nice to see Pam Goodman and Trish Glassey in person. Visiting Rotarians Anders Per and Constantin Gehriger again provided their European sophistication. Nelson Crandall claimed that his guest Barbara Meyer has been a friend of Nelson’s wife for 60 years; not so sure Nelson, they both look way too young for that. Michele Bassi brought her guest banking buddy Alicia Kretsch from Santa Cruz Community Credit Union. Your author remembers the days when bankers all looked like Milburn Drysdale (Beverly Hillbillies) pictured below.
Our October 13 lunch was attended by 28 in person attendees plus Mardi Padilla and Jimmy Kutch on Zoom. CPOM Laura Grinder ran the meeting with pizzaz and efficiency.
Our Speaker for 10/13/22 was local social media and "Aptosia" Celebrity, Native Animal Rescue's own Amy RedFeather!!! (the "other" CPOM [Kendra] has been REALLY looking forward to this meeting!!)
But first, the other bidzzzness:
Strings and Keys:
Sam and Al de Camara rocked the Welcome Song and the 4 Way Test song; good to have the band back together. Al brought his smaller keyboard, but size doesn't matter as much as performance and Al's piano sounded way better than the Seascape upright, which is still in absentia (with the flag). It is also free.
Guest and Visitors:
Laura brought her long time friend Mary Bevernick as a first time guest.
Perennial visiting Rotarian Anders Pers is in town for a while to escape the Swedish winters. And it is nice to have Bill Gray back from his yacht club-living in Washington.
Honorary member Yvette Brooks also made it in person, adding to the ambiance.
Sue Lawson’s friend and our RYE alumni Celine Jolly honored us again with her presence, all the way from France; she still likes us enough to spend time here!
Also nice to see Eric Costello in person, setting the fashion trend with his suit and tie.
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Dear Members (and other interested readers): Our October 6 meeting was at Seascape (that isn't going to be news for awhile).
We had 27 attendees in person and Jimmy K on zoom
CO-Prez Laura hosted
Sue Lawson's former French exchange student Celine returned after 8 years. Celine was a sophomore at AHS in 2014 and is now a landscape engineer, traveling the world before starting work. C'est un femme charmante. Unclear why she is not a Rotarian with all of our positive influence.
Rotarian Sue Lawson with her Rotary Youth Exchange daughter Celine! Celine was our exchange student 8-9 years ago. She is from Angé, France. It’s been so wonderful to have Celine joining us again!
Mel Defe, executive director of Siena House was our Speaker on 10/6/22
Our September 29 lunch at Seascape was attended by 23 folks in person and Jimmy Kutch and Sue Lawson on zoom. Anders was in attendance- great to see him, Konstantin was also with us again Lori Teller brought Dave, Sam brought his lovely wife, Dagmar's mom graced us with her presence.
Co-President Kendra led the proceedings and festivities.
Sam led us in the Welcome Song with a rousing guitar variation and the 4 way Test song, augmented by Kelly's chorus from Running Bear.
Sam also told a short joke that was both misogynistic and accurate.
Kendra reported that the Chamber Showcase was a great success- we had a booth at the 10th hole and great participation. Kudos to Doug Deaver for all the work he put into it.
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Our September 15 lunch meeting was at Seascape, which is noteworthy because owing to a recent conflagration alternate venues are in short supply. We had 22 members in person, Jimmy and Sue on zoom.
Kendra presided and has glided into the role with far more class and ease than her predecessor (says the IPP, not referring to previous CPOM!).
Dr. Art, consensus nominee for Man of the Year (write-in for Man of the Decade) gave the thought for the day: to do well in old age we have to start early. Not sure what that means but your author started drinking at 16 and hopes that counts.
It was also Dr Art's anniversary, so much to celebrate.
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Our August 18 meeting at Seascape had 22 in person and 2 zoom attendees.
Great Big Welcome Back to Jimmy Kutch!!! Congrats on being well enough to join us- always a better event with Jimmy K there. Also nice to see Marie at lunch again – we are hoping she can convince her daughter to join.
Kendra Cleary and Jimmy Kutch; Marie Mosely.
Sam led us in the Welcome Song and 4 Way Test song and we got a taste of Kelly's oompa oompa beat.
Dr. Art provided a thought for the day that paraphrased Steven Hawking, who said, “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.” Dr. Art’s version left his audience deep in thought.
It was CPOM Laura's birthday and Sam led us in the Birthday song- happy 54th Madam Co-President. Happy Birthday Laura!!!
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Pre-Meeting. Setting up Zoom for the Club meeting at Seascape is like a box of chocolates. I never know what I’m going to find. Will there be a piano? Will there be an American flag? Will the flagpole be larger than the flag itself? Will there be an extension cord? Will there be something to prevent the cord from becoming a tripping hazard? Will there be a table for the projector? The treat this week was two upside tables instead of a flag. The creativity is amazing.
Call to Order. CPOM Laura Grinder presided over the August 9 Club meeting. (CPOM stands for “Co-President of the Month.”) Laura started what I hope is a new tradition – acknowledging three members who joined us on Zoom.
Thought of the Day. Dr. Art Dover paraphrased Dr. Martin Luther King, who said, “it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”
Thank You Note.Nelson Crandall shared a lovely thank you note from our scholarship recipient, Celeste Ferreira.
Keith's Celebration of Life.Al De Camara announced that Keith Medeiros's celebration of life will be held at Keith's home on Saturday, August 27.
Jacob's Heart School Supply Drive. Julie Lambert announced that last week Club members generously pledged $ 1,000 to be matched by the Capitola-Aptos Rotary Foundation for Jacob's Heart. Julie asked that anyone who had not yet made good on their pledge to pay Julie in cash or by check or to pay Michele Bassi by Venmo.
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On August 4th, 19 Club members met at the Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville. About 8 of us carpooled. In attendance were Co-Presidents Laura Grinder and Kendra Cleary, Co-Presidents Elect Pam Goodman and Lowry Fenton, Michele Bassi, Craig Bagley, Nelson Crandall, Eric Costello, Al De Camara, Win Fernald, Trish Glassy, Dagmar Leguillon, Mardi Padilla, Julie Lambert, Sam Nigh, Anissa Novak, Becky Peters, Kate Southerland, and Matt Wetstein.
We gathered in the front patio, enjoying the pleasant weather and beautiful tile wall. Julie pointed out her family’s tile, but it’s not in the picture
Sandra, Pam, Win, Laura, Craig, Mardi, and Eric.
A sign in sheet was circulating as we arrived. We learned later that as part of its food security protocols, everyone who enters the warehouse must sign in and sign out.
The first announcement was that everyone who had parked on the concrete next door was illegally parked. Five of us immediately scampered off to move our cars.
Chief Development Officer Suzanne Willis, seen below left thinking “Is he really a Rotarian?”, gave us a tour with a nifty headset and belt-worn speaker to ensure everyone could hear. Brand new CEO Erica Padilla-Chavez tagged along to make us feel important.
First stop was the warehouse, piled high with canned goods on palate racks. They didn’t have palate racks in 1989, leaving them a lot to pick up when the shaking stopped.
Left to right, Suzanne, Julie, Laura, Sandra, Lowry, Trish, Win, Michele, Anissa, Craig.
Left to right, Craig, Kate, Trish, Al, Dagmar, Erica, Sam, Sandra, Matt, Suzanne.
The biggest question on everyone’s mind was, “What is lezinine?” but no one had the nerve to ask out loud. Instead, we learned that Second Harvest acts as a distribution hub rather than as a distribution point. Second Harvest provides food to dozens of organizations that distribute food directly to consumers.
From there we moved to a narrow hallway with a 50-year timeline. Who knew that Second Harvest, the nation’s second food bank, was inspired by the Santa Cruz branch of the Black Panthers who were participating the Black Panthers’ nationwide Free Breakfast for School Children Program?
From that narrow hall we moved to the shipping and receiving room and its labor-saving loading docks. Before the loading docks were built, it took half an hour or longer to unload a truck. Now, it takes five minutes.
This painting adorns the wall of the shipping and receiving room, along with a warning from the voice of experience:
From there we passed a capacious freezer with a padded roll-up door that opens and closes in the flash an eye; too fast for the camera to capture. With the door open, everyone with exposed skin below the knees could feel the cold air flowing out of the freezer. Next to it was an equally impressive cooler.
One of our resident vegans, Dagmar, ironically asked if Second Harvest handled meat. Dagmar, why would you want to know? Yes, Second Harvest handles meat. But not normally turkeys. Who has room for multiple frozen turkeys? (Al said that Sam did, but Sam denied it.) Frozen chickens are about as large as people can handle. Most of the meat is canned and comes through the Department of Agriculture.
Next stop was another cooler stocked with strawberries and watermelons, among other things. In answer to questions, we learned that before the pandemic, Second Harvest served around 50,000 persons, roughly 20% of the county’s population. At the height of the pandemic, that figure soared to 100,000 and presently is about 85,000.
We also learned that much of Second Harvest’s offerings includes local fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes it is produce that isn’t pretty enough for the retail trade; sometimes it is produce that is too ripe to survive a round trip to a Central Valley distribution center before returns to local shelves.
Food that is not good enough for humans is distributed as animal feed, unless there are too many berries. Animals can stand only so many berries. Food not good enough for animals goes to the composing facility in Seaside.
All the food Second Harvest distributes is given away for free. Well, almost. Sometimes a non-profit needs a food that Second Harvest does not have in stock, such as peanut butter. In that case, Second Harvest will use its buying power to purchase the item at a deeply discounted price with the non-profit contributing a small portion of the purchase price.
After the tour we lunched on deli sandwiches and water in the employee picnic area. The meeting ended promptly on time, with everyone both spiritually and physically sated.
The Hub August 4th, 2022 || Field Trip to Second Harvest Food Bank
Nelson Crandall
2022-08-04 07:00:00Z
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Attendance. Our July 21 lunch meeting at Seascape was attended by 20 members and 2 guests in person, 4 members on Zoom, and our guest speaker.
Guests. Our guests were attorney Shelli Strohle, whom we hope to see as a member soon; and Marie Moseley's daughter Michelle, who has recently returned here from Texas. Michelle was president of Interact at Aptos HS.
Happy New Year! The peaceful transition of power is complete: Co-President Kendra hosted and, of course, ran the meeting seamlessly...pretty much..., especially impressive because she had just headed her first Board meeting and timed it perfectly. Co-Prez Laura was sick and attended on Zoom.
Professor Carrie Partch on Circadian Rhythms. Our guest speaker was Carrie Partch PhD, a biochemist at UCSC, who spoke and presented a power point on Circadian rhythms. (Not to be confused with cicadas, the 17 year locusts....Rich.)
Our June 30 lunch was at Seascape. We had 22 attendees in person, none on zoom but it is recorded.
Ralph Miljanich visited us from Santa Cruz Rotary
Justin Deng was Bill Witmer’s guest. Justin’s daughter is an Aptos HS recipient of our scholarship this year. He is recently retired…whatever that word means.
Rick Klevins attended his first meeting after the board approved his application.
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Our June 23 meeting had a special venue- the garden court of Constantine’s bed and breakfast, Cliff Crest just a few blocks from the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The weather was perfect as was the ambience on the grass under the trees.
Special thanks to Constantine and his charming wife Adrianna for their accommodation, Kendra and Anissa for their extra efforts in setting it up and coordinating lunch=deli sandwiches that were perfect for the picnic lunch.
Al brought his keyboard and provided some relaxing mood music then led us in the Welcome Song.
Al reported that Bill Westin is in room C 107 at Dominican Oaks
He welcomes visitors but it’s best to be there at 10am or 2pm.
Keith is at home. He also accepts visitors but tires easily, so visits should be short and coordinated in advance.
Constantine told the joke of the day- quite funny but not fit for print
Ken was the detective and tested the lunchers’ ability to discern real Rotary fundraisers from fictitious ones. Hilarity ensued.
Constantine was our guest speaker and gave a presentation on the history of the house from its original construction and ownership to his purchase of it and his transition from chemical engineer to eminent hotelier.
Constantine and Adrianna led the guests on tours of the mansion that they have decorated beautifully. It certainly is a charming property in a great locale with extraordinary owners.
President Ken’s debunking was at the Santa Cruz Yacht Club building on June 27. Hilarity ensued in no small part to the endless supply of material. The humiliators were of course very funny but appeared to have pulled their punches. There has been no confirmation of the rumor that legal action was dangled as a threat.
This Thursday’s meeting will be at Seascape at noon. The board meeting will precede it starting at 1045am.
Reminder that the 4th of July celebration is on Monday….July 4th….at Aptos Village Park. All who have not signed up to help- shame on you but seek salvation by attending the fair and spending lots of money at the Capitola Aptos Rotary beer and hard cider booth.
The Hub June 23rd, 2022 || Field Trip to Cliff Crest B&B
Ken Gorman
2022-06-23 07:00:00Z
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Due to the scheduled field trip and logistics, we will NOT be doing a hybrid Zoom meeting on Thursday, June 23rd.
Please join us at Cliff Crest Bed & Breakfast, 407 Cliff St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060 There is plenty of onsite parking behind the main house, and we will convene at Konstantin’s B&B at noon! See you all there.
NOTE Re: Lunch that day: If you have not gotten a Sandwich order to Kendra [[ kcleary(dot)rotary(at)gmail.com ]] by the morning of Weds 6/22, please bring a bag lunch for yourself to the meeting!
Our June 2 meeting was at Seascape. We had 23 attendees in person and 2 on Zoom
Michele announced the signups for our beer and hard seltzer booth at the July 4th festival in Aptos Village Park and passed around a signup sheet. We need Many more volunteers for the shifts which run 4 hours.
President Ken’s debunking is set for June 27 starting 5 pm at the Santa Cruz Yacht club
The committee to nominate the 2023-2024 President(s) elect is meeting and talking to nominees.
Dr Art announced that Loaves and fishes has asked for help in its food drives the week before thanksgiving and week before Christmas. He is going to the Rotary international convention on Houston in July
Sam soloed leading the Welcome song and 4 way test song
Sue Detective. She asked members to park about: Where they grew up and what brought them to California
Joni : came here to get away from Winters in Iowa though she is still fond of the Hawkeye star
Anissa came here from Endicott NY and got a job at KDON
Bee came here from South Carolina for college, did nursing school back in South Carolina then returned here asap
Kelly is from Seattle. His family moved to Colorado and decided to move here while spending Winter in San Diego
Laura grew up near Detroit where her family of 9 kids lived in a log cabin and owned an orchard. Visiting an uncle in LA motivated the move to CA.
Win is from Maine and still loves the state except in Winter
Trish was born in Honolulu when her dad was in the service. She was Raised in the SoCal mountains, came North for UCSC and stayed
Dave born and raised in Nevada. He came To California for college and officer school. Nice to see him back- he is doing well
Dr Art was raised in Chicago and came here because it was too cold to ride his motorcycle
Our guest speaker was Alexis Carr
The subject of her presentation was sustainable wine
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Our April 28 meeting was in the Tap Room at Michael's on Main. We had about 25 Rotarians plus our guest speaker on site and 2 zoom attendees. For the non-attendees- the Tap Room is very well lit and airy, high ceiling with a piano that is not subject to random confiscation by the management and a bar. The walk from the buffet in another room is about the same as at Seascape. Our guests were Constantine and Anders . Supervisor Manu Koenig guested from Seascape, unclear as to why he didn't get the memo and attended the meeting physically in his supervisorial district from a venue in Zach Friend's district.
Julie and Lowry reminded all that the Pickle Ball tournament/fundraiser at Willowbrook Park is on May 22. The suggested donation is $45 whether participating or not. We are also offering sponsorships for $250. We are working on the logistics for food and beverages. Reminder- no alcohol allowed.
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Our April 20, 2022 meeting was a bit lightly attended- 18 people in person, 3 on Zoom.
Sam soloed on guitar and led us through the Welcome Song and 4-Way test song.
He repeated his double duty by also being the Joker- reading a few more unfortunately worded but real Church announcements – examples- “At the evening service tonight the sermon topic will be, “What is Hell?” come early and listen to our choir practice.” “Irving B and Jessie C were married on October 24 in the Church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.” “The 8th graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 pm. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.” Reminds your author, who got his degree in journalism, of some fabulously amiss headlines: “China may be using sea to hide submarines”; “Bodies Found at Morgue”; “Feds Raid Gun Shop, Discover Weapons”; “Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says. “
Constantine was our only non-speaker guest- noted that he has a better attendance records than most of our members.
Keith invited folks to show up a bit early to the Cinco de Mayo party at his house this Sunday May 1st to help set up. As an incentive- he promised that the bar will be open by then.
Bill Witmer announced that we reached 100% member contribution to the Rotary Foundation- we are one of the few clubs to do that. Thanks to all the members and to Bill for his powers of subtle persuasion and thinly veiled threats.
Graham announced that several new members have not been formally inducted via their presentation to the club and receipt of their red badges. If you are one of those folks please contact Ken or Graham.
Kendra reminded everyone that this Thursday’s meeting (April 26) AND next Thursday’s meeting (May 5) will both be at Michael’s On Main in Soquel, regular start times. If you don’t know where that is- WTH have you been? In-person attendance is strongly urged since we will evaluating moving our meetings to Michael’s.
Detective Win asked questions and provided informative information about Easter, including the origins of the Easter Bunny and colored eggs, and some disturbing statistics on the number of jelly beans and peeps Americans eat at Easter.
Dean Peter Biehl, Co-PE Kendra Cleary, Almut Wolf with UCSC Foundation Relations, Piatt Fellow Megan Durham, and President Ken Gorman
Our guest speaker was Megan Durham, our 2021-2022 Piatt Scholarship recipient. She is a 28 year old UCSC student who was born and raised here. She spoke and presented a slide show on her research which involves detecting cancer-causing mutations. She does DNA sequencing to locate cell mutations at splice sites where the exons are skipped, called incorrect RNA splice sites. Cells that skip the exons in the DNA/RNA sequencing are suspect for cancer-causing. She grows cells and observes their viability- cancer-causing cells survive much longer than normal cells. Her research has confirmed her theory and located specific mutations that in turn can be treated with currently-available medications.
Her research is specific to lung cancer cells. There are 2.1 million lung cancer cases reported worldwide each year, 1.8 million are eventually fatal.
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Our April 14 meeting was attended by 22 people in person and 3 on zoom
Announcements: the Club's Cinco de May on Uno de Mayo is at Keith's house- parking is tight, bring a dish to share. Guests are welcome and encouraged. If you haven’t signed up please do so asap so Keith can plan accordingly.
The club Pickle ball fundraising tournament will be at Willowbrook Park on May 22 from 9-5. The donation is $45. We get the courts and adjacent parts of the park so it will be a great day even for the non-players and of course a nice revenue raiser for our charities. Leashed pets are allowed.
We will be selling beer and probably hard seltzer and wine at the 4th of July party in Aptos Park. We will need volunteers to help set up, serve/pour and break down.
Lowry reported that he visited the Kingston NY Rotary and exchanged banners with them. He had one of theirs but no other proof of his story, which is suspect given the photo attached. For Revolutionary War buffs- the British burned Kingston in retaliation/anger over the battle of Saratoga.
Michele announced that there will be a fundraising opportunity for the roast of Willy Elliot-McCrea, the retiring CEO of Second Harvest, probably in the Fall.
After a brief pause to get in tune, Sam and Al led rousing versions of the Welcome Song and the 4 Way Test.
Sam's Jokes of the Day were readings of several actual announcements sent out by Church service groups with unintentionally funny word juxtaposition that made the messages mean something quite different than the authors intended. Lack of editing.....
Graham did a great job as Detective with educational and entertaining questions with differing degrees of relationship to Easter, including references to Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter, the Killer Rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Alice and Wonderland's White Rabbit.
President Ken presented Al DeCamara and Bill Gray with their Paul Harris certificates and pins.
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Our April 7 meeting at Seascape had 28 attendees in person and 3 on zoom.
Constantine was a non-surprise guest and during the pre-meeting social got chatted up into having an event at his Bed and Breakfast which is near the Boardwalk- looks like that will be in June.
Al keyboarded us in the Welcome Song I n his inimitable style, but- we miss Sam’s accompanying guitar.
Dr. Art’s thought for the day hit home- “You know your age when you sit on the floor and can’t get up”
Announcements: Keith reminded everyone that his Cinco de Mayo party is on Uno de Mayo at his house. Every event at Keith’s house is a great time. He passed around the signup sheet. Guests are welcome and encouraged. Parking is tight so car-pooling is encouraged.
Dagmar reported on the beach cleanup- a comparatively small turnout was attributed to the 9am start time (usually 10 am) so the next one will start at 10 am. The small but mighty crew picked up 17 lbs. of trash including over 150 cigarette butts and a bunch of recyclables. The event saw the debut of Rotary capes which appear to confer superhero powers on the wearers. Michele and Kunha looked like Supergirl and Wonder Woman.
Win announced the non-denominational concert at his church which is raising money for Ukraine.
Dr. Art was honored with a Paul Harris Award certificate recognizing his incredibly generous donations.
He then was the detective and asked members to name a Black author and/or a book written by a Black author. The club members did pretty well- Oprah, the Obamas, Dr. King, James Baldwin, and a few members knew authors and books that Dr. Art didn’t know about.
Don’t even want to mention Rich’s answer… accurate but…..
Our guest was Jack Brown who spoke on behalf of Yes on Greenway. Jack had a slide show and an oral presentation and took questions from the members, and there was some discussion among the members. Hoyles Rules were not strictly followed.
Our meeting on March 31 had 30 in-person attendees and a few more on zoom. Constantin was there and we also welcomed back Anders from Sweden
Al and Sam rocked the Welcome song and 4 way test- Al brought a keyboard which sounded great. Unnamed sources report that someone in our club asked someone at Seascape that the piano not be brought in? if anyone knows about this please contact Pres. Ken.
The lyrics to the 4 way test are being shown on the screen and the chorus remains a bit uncertain. The consensus is that we will sing the letters I-N-T-L.
Dr Art gave another timely thought for the day: people who complain about the high cost of gasoline should look at the Seascape parking lot (overflowing-there was a convention.)
Julie was the detective and the topic was the Oscars. Slapping instead of fines was determined to violate the 4 way test. The questions avoided the mundane and predicatables like Best Actor, Best Picture, Most Supplicant to Hollywood. A few more memorables- Walt Disney won the most Oscars; John Williams has been nominated for 52 and won 5; Cinderella won the award for best picture before the "Best Animated" category was created; and the award for Best Juvenile Performance did not depend on gender. One trend to Julie's questions- the answers to true/false's were almost all false- something to bear in mind for her next stint.
Dagmar gave the final push for the Beach Cleanup at Rio Del Mar which again was well-attended. The volunteers wore Rotary capes and apparently got to choose their own super-power while serving the common good.
Our guest speaker was Aisha Chavres who spoke about Ramadan. Her presentation and slide show were very informative and educational. Aisha is very involved in local charities and services and, like her friend Anissa, is engaging and fun. She confessed a big affinity for caffeine, which is related to one of Annisa's liquid affinities....
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We had our second in-awhile in-person meeting at Seascape on March 24.
Kudos to President elect Kendra for filling in for President in-trial prep purgatory Ken.
We had 2 visiting Rotarians:
Debbie Kline from Sunnyvale Rotary promoted their golf tournament fundraiser which benefits a bunch of worthy programs. (see attached for details). There was a certain irony because some of our golf-addict members have been getting their 18 hole fix instead of attending our meetings. Debbie said that they are looking to get sponsors for holes to honor Rotarians who have passed away. (No, they are not burying people on the golf course).
Cynthia from Los Altos Club was promoting the Big Brothers Big Sisters Santa Cruz County Bowl A Thon April 23-24 (see attached). Stan Abrams is an admitted bowler- anyone else?
We had 2 guests.
Jeff Ursino, a former member of our club who moved to a Monterey club brought Raul Palicio. He is the new Manager for Mechanics Bank in Capitola.
Our adopted son Constantine was with us and shared that we are his favorite club to visit… bet he says that to all the clubs.
Sam’s thought for the day…..knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit…wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. Genius!!
Membership Monday is coming back…no details yet….but keep on the lookout for an email. Suggestions for itinerary and location must involve humor and alcohol.
It was Mardi’s birthday….we did a terrible job of singing to her.
Uno De Mayo at Keiths!!!!! May 1st at 4:00….please bring a dish to share. Please RSVP to Keith on his home phone….yes, people still have those…
831-662-0520. If he doesn’t answer….please let a message with name and number of people joining.
PLEASE CAR POOL!!!!
Beach Cleanup at Rio del Mar this Saturday morning April 2. !!! Dagmar has sent an email- please register and attend-great fun and a great purpose.
Nelson was detective…lots of history related facts that we all failed at….
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Our February 24 meeting was by zoom and was well attended for zoom-only.
Thursday’s lunch is our Speech contest - also only zoom. March 10 will likely be zoom as well, though after that we will probably be able to return to in-person lunches at Seascape.
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Our February 17 zoom meeting had about 20 attendees.
Dr. Art combined his thought for the day and joke, maybe he should publish his words of wisdom?
Dr. Art also contributed $50,000 in our club’s name to Willowbrook Park- incredibly generous! Thank you Dr. Art! We hope to have a photo shoot for it by the time you get this.
Matt was the designated detective but had to go out of town so he prepared a funny and educational set of questions in a Price is Right format that combined Olympics and Rotary. Very creative Matt! Trish read handled the proceeding and it was great fun.
Becky announced that the 18 warming bundles our members donated were distributed to the homeless in downtown Santa Cruz. Thanks to Becky for putting that together and to all the members who contributed.
The speech contest is March 3. Thanks to Lowry and Dough for all their work in setting it up.
Tomorrow’s lunch will be on line and it is likely that so will the March 3 speech contest. While we are hoping to resume in-person and hybrid meetings asap the health/safety situation still weighs against it. Though the face mask mandates have been lifted face masks are still recommended and, more significantly, the covid infection numbers are not significantly dropping yet. In the area president’s meeting the club presidents said 4 of their clubs were zoom only, 2 were hybrid.
There was much discussion in that meeting about trying to find alternate sites for lunches and the other clubs have had the same experiences we have- very few places can accommodate that many people in a private room; lack of parking and lunch and room fees that are the same or higher than the current arrangements.
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Attendance. Our February 10 meeting was well attended for Zoom – 21 Rotarians plus our speaker.
Warming Kits.Becky announced that she is assembling “warming kits” for unhoused people in Santa Cruz. She is doing this in cooperation with Downtown Streets, the nonprofit that was the subject of our October 21 presentation by Jocelyn Curran. Around 18 members have contributed to the effort. The kits were distributed on Wednesday.
Our Little Rituals.Dr. Art again combined his thought for the day and joke: "A pretty face is not a passport, it is a visa that runs out fast." Kate was the detective. She questioned the members’ knowledge of dates and events in February. Her repertoire was limited a bit by last week’s Valentine’s Day questions, but she did a great job of educating us and raising money through fines.
Guest Speaker Robin Nardello. Our speaker was Robin Nardello, Community Relations Manager for New Leaf Markets and New Seasons Markets.
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Our January 27 zoom meeting was comparatively well attended. Thanks to Al for his efforts on/as the Sunshine committee. Nice to see Dr. Art and Keith on zoom. We could use a few more folks reaching out to some of our zoom-hindered members and offering assistance.
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Our 3rd meeting of the year on January 20 was zoom attended by about 20 Rotarians.
Lowry announced that our speech contest will be March 3 at Seascape and will be hybrid. Doug worked out a deal with Seascape where attendees can order off the menu. The District contest will be March 8.
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A little history of Tonga and Capitola Aptos Rotary Club
By David Campbell
Last weekend Santa Cruz appeared on our TV news coverage of the tsunami that was triggered by a volcanic eruption in Tonga. The coverage included a story about the tsunami hitting the Santa Cruz marina. This prompted me to contact our webmaster Mardi Padilla with just a bit of Capitola-Aptos Rotary history that you might find interesting which connects our Capitola Aptos Rotary Club with Tonga.
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Our second meeting of 2022 was also our club assembly. We met via zoom and had about 20 attendees. It was especially nice to see Claire and Rich McAdams (I still reflexively call him “Your Honor”).
Keeping with the theme of the assembly Detective Karen crafted a series of questions about Rotary and its history. One of the highlights was Rotary’s long reluctance to admit women and our club’s role in breaking that barrier
The District mailed Paul Harris awards to Bill Gray, Jimmy Kutch, Sam Knight and Pres. Ken. Since we don’t know when we will be able to present them in person let’s give a virtual thank you.
Because of the Club Assembly we did not have a guest speaker. Several members gave presentations.
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Lowry has been moving forward with the speech contest and advising the contestants that the Feb. 17 date may not be in person and may be postponed. Other clubs have gone to zoom competitions which remains an option. Lowry and Doug D are weighing various factors including what the contestants want to do.
The nominated detective was unable to attend by Zoom so Trish donated $50 in fines which Al matched. Much thanks to them both.
Michele announced that we needed to take down our holiday display, apparently ours was the last one standing. We are taking the position that it was last one up because it was the best. A crew of volunteers met at the fairgrounds, blessed with fair weather, and removed the display. Kelly, Lowry, Al. Julie, Trish, Art, Kendra, Michele, Laura and her granddaughter took down the holiday lights- also blessed by Michele bringing burritos and champagne.
Kendra announced that we got a donation of great stuff so “Wait ‘Til Next year!” (Those of you who followed OLD baseball will recognize the motto of the old Brooklyn Dodgers fans.)
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This week’s lunch at Seascape was highlighted by the return of: the piano, the 4 way test banner, the Rotary International Banner, Scott and Al. Sam and Al led us in a rocking rendition of Jingle Bells, the Welcome Song and the 4 Way Test Song….the latter still being tweaked a bit but all sounding great with full instrumentation.
Nelson handled the zoom solo- quite a task. Moving the screen to the darker side of the room was helpful for the video. A cordless mike would also be a boon but we are making progress. Former Prez Michele B looked great on zoom in her recovery mode.
Our Holiday Lights display is fabulous and we actually got published- hopefully this year the judges will agree that our display is the best. There was a brief issue because of some dead batteries over the weekend but Kendra and team pulled it together. Everyone should go see the display at the fairgrounds and encourage their friends, family and anyone else.
We will meet for lunch This Thursday and the following Thursday at Seascape but then skip two weeks and will not meet on 12/23 or 12/30. We are not having a Holiday Party because of covid but if folks want to consider an informal get together email Pres. Ken and we can see what we can pull together.
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We were back at Seascape with a nearly full house!
Without Sam or Al we forwent (?) the opening songs, though there is a groundswell for Kelly to a capella at least one of them. He may be the only member who knows the lyrics to the 4 Way Test song and he can stay in key without an instrument.
There was no joke of the day. President Ken suggests that folks come prepared with one in case Sam can’t make it and/or his Joke App isn’t working. Dagmar? We know you have a comic genre already.
Sue announced that the Santa Cruz Symphony Home Tour will be virtual this year, with catalogs available at the Jade Street. For more info see Home Tour
Kendra showed photos of our club's entry in the Holiday Lights, and reminded us that tickets need to be purchased in advance (holiday lights tickets.) She recommends the walking option (because it facilitates the drinking option?)
Please send in your donations to the district's wheelchair drive by December 15 - make checks payable to the Capitola Aptos Rotary Foundation.
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At our November 4th meeting, Cabrillo College faculty member Dr. Robin McFarland gave a fascinating presentation on the most peculiar of topics: naked mole rats.
Which of these words is most off-putting? Naked? Rat? Naked rat? Are there naked more rats in Santa Cruz? What could we expect from this odd subject matter?
Our return to in-person meetings was a huge success!
Over 35 members and several guest Rotarians. The piano is gone so Sam soloed on electric guitar leading us in the Welcome Song followed by The 4- Way Test song. The lyrics to the Welcome song have returned to “Read about it in the Hub” which everyone seems to remember. The 4 Way test lyrics remain elusive to some/many/most. As its most enthusiastic supporter Kelly is nominated as the member to contact for lyrical clarity. And given his strong and pitch-perfect performance thereof, he’s a good person to sit near to cover for inability to carry a tune.
Sam also told a very successful joke of the day and Dr. Art had a poignant thought to share.
Kendra and Nelson set up the Zoom attendance though we may have only had one person on zoom- Trish. Kendra bought a much improved sound system which worked well. The zoom link is on line and very easy to connect to.
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Courtesy of Lowry Fenton, cub reporter of this week!
The big news:
In person starts again next Thursday at Seascape. Kendra reported 30 people plan to attend – see below for how to RSVP20 participants
Dress yoga pants are not an oxymoron – see Michele or Kendra for details.
Ken reported avoiding accidents both to and from his trip to Danville. Unclear whether he bought a lottery ticket later that day to ride his good luck.
Some teasing and compliments about Lowry’s* golf game (*your first time cub reporter).
Announcements
Kendra announced that RSVP's for next Thursday 28 October in person meetings should go to her via email; for November we'll go back to the google form. Remember that you can edit the google form; input TBD for your unsure dates, and then update the form later as you know more about your schedule
Michele said that we will be setting up the Holiday lights booth November 13 – she will send an email soon with details. If you can help that day, please let team leader Anissa know; also donations or loans of outdoor holiday décor are welcome to make this year’s booth even bigger and brighter.
Just in time for Halloween – costume ideas
Pam was the detective - best costume was the topic:
- Pam: a shower - with hulu hoop, scrub brush and shower curtain. Pam got some attention at the bar that evening
- Michele adorned her sweats with cereal boxes with knives - 'serial killer'.
--- (Pam suggested replacing with blue dyed tampons – ‘Picasso’s Blue Period’;)
- Rich – His mom made a spiderman costume that fell apart, but he kept trick or treating
- Becky – and husband dressed like octogenarians, and got respectful service at the liquor store.
- Win - dressed his 8 month up like a lobster, and his son carried her in a lobster bucket
- Nelson - went to a law firm costume party with long hair wig, a pot and a lid. ‘Want grass – I can sell you a lid?’
- Kendra - martini, (see photo if Mardi can pull that from the deck)
- Laura- pumpkin patch
- Kelly wore Norwegian* lederhosen (*with a fjord logo?).
- Trish RBG with black gown that served as judge robes.
Jocelyn Curran spoke on the Downtown Streets Team (‘DST’)
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Just before the start of the meeting, Kendra said there were rumors that the Club will have a Holiday Display at the Fairgrounds again this year – but the rumors are not true that Matt Wetstein will be there every night in a Santa suit yelling “Ho Ho Ho – go to Cabrillo!”
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This week zoom got us together after playing hide and seek with many of us before getting logged in, we had the participation of; Ken Gorman, David Andrews, Win Fernald, Kendra Cleary, Arthur Dover, Laura Grinder, Trish Glassey, Anissa Novak, Craig Bagley, Nelson Crandall, Kelly Nesheim, Dagmar Leguillon, Graham Stokes, Jeff Ursino, Rich Hamlin, Bill Witmer and Mardi Padilla.
Rich started us with his taxi service adventure for Pam and Karen that included missing his exit as well as enjoying the view around San Mateo
Congratulations to Ken and his family welcoming a new son in law! Lots of happiness to the newlyweds!
Jeff he has been very busy, we sure missed him but he is happy to be back with us! Welcome back Jeff!
Guest:
Ryder Spires, invited by Mardi Padilla. Ryder enjoyed the meeting and has fun memories when participated at the last beach clean up of our Club at Rio del Mar
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We had few people attending the meeting this week, starting with Dave Andrews, Nelson Crandall, Anissa, Wen, Craig, Matt, Lowry, Sandra, Rich, Jim, Julie, Trish, Laura, Kelly and Sue, thanks for joining.
About 20 people attended our September 16th zoom lunch meeting.
Welcome New member Lowry Fenton!!!! Another Stanford alum! For those not paying attention, athletes from Lowry’s alma mater won 24 Olympic medals in Tokyo- 23 by women….a guy won a bronze in fencing.
Michele Bassi passed along a reminder all about this Friday’s 2d Harvest food distribution at the fairgrounds 830 am-1 pm: we hope to have a strong turnout.
Just before the start of the meeting, Kendra said there were rumors that the Club will have a Holiday Display at the Fairgrounds again this year – but the rumors are not true that Matt Wetstein will be there every night in a Santa suit yelling “Ho Ho Ho – go to Cabrillo!”
Michelle Bassi says her new job at First Capital is good. She said she was anxious to get to work after meeting all the staff. She was clearly not attending the zoom meeting from the office, based on the screenshot that features wine glasses behind her. Next to the Garden Deli…a lunch joint that even served Al DeCamara in the ‘90s.
Speaking of Al, he reported that his son Matthew and a few others at SFSU will be at Chase Center for a concert as backup singers for Joel Walsh and the Eagles on October 20.
Dave Andrews showcased a beautiful sunrise photo from Yosemite
Laura reported on the board meeting and timing of the meeting. Speaker of the day – was told that we’d start at 12 noon. Visit until 12:15, Club business and announcements until 12:30, then have the guest speaker.
Art Dover led the Pledge.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Michelle – announced that Holiday Lights will be bigger and better and longer. $100 for a 10x10 booth. We’d like to do it, but we need decorative elves and new items for the display. Theme will be Santa, sleighs, and X-mas trees. Friday Nov. 12 to Monday Nov. 15 set up dates. Anissa – volunteered to be the head decorator.
Michelle – second announcement – Meals on Wheels is looking for a new location. In negotiations for the old Aldo’s on Branciforte. The building has a bunch of restaurant equipment. Big Hibachi Tables are an example. The equipment can be purchased and used by anyone if they’ll haul it away.
Anissa reported that the Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center online auction – closes Sunday at noon.
Art reported that Maintenance staff at County Parks needs someone to water new plantings at Hidden Beach. Folks suggested that Doug Deaver would be a good choice.
Kendra – results of survey for face to face meetings. Next week still be on zoom, but on October 28, we will be back at Seascape Golf Course. That day will be the District Governor’s visit.
Win – Grant awards will be after the first of the calendar year instead of November. Win will let applicants know. We will reconvene for consideration in January and make awards in March.
Bill Wittmer – announced that the Rotary Foundation campaign. The contribtions can be sent to Bill in care of the Rotary Foundation.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
from Art Dover – What is more surreal than a nose?
DETECTIVE DUTIES Sue was the Detective for the day…the theme was history. It included facts and trivia around presidents, and other prominent politicians and artists. Art – nailed Thelonious Monk as a pianist, Nelson knew when bar codes got introduced in grocery stores. Anissa introduced Tracy McKenna and Colin Clark, of Ecology Action. Colin gave a quick presentation to the The organization was founded in 1970 as a student run recycling center in Santa Cruz. In 2002 they started doing energy efficiency work for local governments. The firm is based in downtown Santa Cruz sharing the old Sentinel building with Cruzio. Community Programs focuses on sustainable transportation programs and electrification of the transportation sector. Ratio Institute focuses on sustainable practices in the food retail sector. TAPER focuses on energy efficiency work to help cut emissions in businesses, replacing lights, refrigeration, HVAC systems and pairing customers up with energy efficiency rebates. The session closed with Q&A with Colin. An interesting fact – if Eco Action takes you out to lunch, the firm will not buy red meat.
The September 9 virtual meeting was attended by 17 people via Zoom. President Elect Kendra presided as President Ken was allegedly doing something court-y. All indications are that it was a great improvement and a coup might be beneficial.
Mardi gets a gold star for attending from Peru. Al gets a star for leaving early. Julie would get a fine for leaving early but it might end up in President’s Ken’s bill.
Our September 2d meeting was all Zoom as we observe the protocols set out by the County and medical professionals. We had about 25 attendees. Guests included Soquel High scholarship recipient Jennifer Rocha, Joni Stokes and (technically) Lowry Fenton.
The welcome song was not attempted. As past efforts showed, Zoom only plays one voice at a time so when 25 people sing the result was a jumbled series of single voices each getting in a few words while the yellow box highlights jumped around the screen like the beginning of Hollywood Squares. Maybe we can have a solo act and everyone else lip syncs? I sound better that way….
There were no announcements because President Ken forgot to mention that Second Harvest is still looking for volunteers for food distribution at the fairgrounds from 830-1 this Friday, as well as Sept. 24. Sign up on line or contact Ken or Michele Bassi.
We received an invitation from the District to participate in raising funds for wheelchairs. The club has donated in the past, and Doug Deaver went to Mexico a few years ago to participate in the actual presentation of the wheelchairs to some of the recipients. All who spoke about it said it is a worthy cause. More information about it will be forthcoming.
Detective Dagmar educated us all with a timely set of questions about Labor Day. Not as entertaining as her wiener-themed queries but well-researched.
Our speaker was Michelle Frampton, who was introduced by Anissa. Michelle spoke and showed a video about BirchBark, a non-profit organization founded by veterinarian Merrianne Burtch in 2013. The goal of the organization is to promote the bond between humans and animals. There are 31 participating veterinary partners in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties.
BirchBark provides 3 services. First, it provides financial support for people/families faced with unaffordable vet services whose pets have treatable conditions. Those in need apply for financial assistance which generally takes 2-3 hours. If approved, Birch Bark pays 50%, the family pays 20%, and the other vets contribute 30%. This allows the pets to receive the services to heal them when otherwise the tragic alternative would be euthanasia.
Second, BirchBark provide grief counseling and support for people who have lost their pets.
Third, BirchBark offers education to people in holistic and proactive ways to be the best caregivers and advocates for their pets.
Michelle said that due to the pandemic and fires the need for BirchBark’s services has doubled.
BirchBark is entirely funded by donations.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting, which will also be via Zoom.
The 2021-22 Community Grant Application is now open. The deadline to submit a grant application is September 30, 2021. The following link provides the cover letter, grant application, and scoring matrix that will be used to evaluate the application.
The Grants Committee will meet this Thursday at 11:00 AM via ZOOM to launch the Grants Program for this year. We will use the club ZOOM link and pass code for that meeting. While we are ready to receive applications, the Board needs to close the 2020/2021 year and let us know how much money we have for grant awards. The next regular board meeting should be on September 9th.
ZOOM Meeting Instructions: In order to keep everyone safe during this pandemic we are having our Grants Committee meeting this Thursdays, starting at 11:00am. Join The Zoom Meeting here!
Meeting ID: 924 3590 6567 Passcode: 996521 One tap mobile +16699009128,,92435906567#,,,,*996521# US (San Jose) +13462487799,,92435906567#,,,,*996521# US (Houston
Featured Presentation: Dr. Julie Macecevic, of Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center.
Dr. Julie Macecevic (Anissa’s boss!) was the featured speaker. A summary of her presentation appears below.
Dr. Macecevic on Zoom and a snip from the Walnut Ave. web page
Back to Zoom ☹
In light of rising infection rates and the pending indoor mask mandate, we returned to Zoom-only participation. Twenty club members participated, with Bill Witmer disguising his appearance with the pseudonym “iPhone.” Back to Zoom meant no club song. Darn it. Sam Nigh was looking forward to teaching us to sing the Four Way Test song!
Thought of the Day, courtesy of Art Deaver.
Your body is not a temple, it is an amusement park! Enjoy the ride.
Mardi the Detective.
Mardi Padilla asked for volunteers to tell the club the name and breed of their favorite dog in recognition of National Dog Day. Can you match the dog with the owner? Answers below.
Owner
Name and Breed of Dog
Anissa Novak
Abby, a golden lab
Becky Peters
Charlie
Julie Lambert
Coco, a schnauzer – peke mix
Laura Grinder
Heidi, a dachshund
Mardi Padilla
Max and Hans, dachshunds
Michele Bassi
May Blossom, a basset hound
Rich Hamlin
Solo, a collie
Win Fernald’s granddaughter Cora
Zach, a German shepherd
In recognition of National Toilet Paper Day, Mardi fined herself and confessed that she hoarded TP when shelter-in-place began, but only Laura Grinder joined her as a co-confessor. No one else could find any TP for sale! Mardi also fined Kelly Nesheim and Nelson Crandall in recognition of their 56th and 37th anniversaries on the 28th and 25th of August, respectively. And by popular demand, Rich Hamlin was fined $20 for practicing his golf stroke while Mardi was talking.
Featured Presentation
Our guest speaker, Dr. Julie Macecevic, gave an inspiring and eye-opening talk on how Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center offers education and advocacy services to break the cycle of poverty in the Santa Cruz area.
These statistics Dr. Macecevic cited stand out:
1. Domestic Violence is Widespread.
40% of child abuse victims report domestic violence in the home.
Domestic violence is a major precursor to child fatalities from abuse or neglect.
Santa Cruz law enforcement report 5,000 domestic violence-related calls annually.
Research on the rate at which domestic violence is NOT reported leads to the conclusion that on average, there are 23 instances of domestic violence in Santa Cruz County each day.
2. The Financial Cost of Preschool. In 33 states and the District of Columbia, the annual cost of infant daycare is greater than the cost of in-state tuition at a four-year college.
3. The Benefit of Preschool to the Child. Research shows that children who attend preschool are more likely:
to complete high school without suspension;
to never be suspended, addicted, or arrested; and
to be employed full-time or self-employed.
Walnut Avenue offers comprehensive preventative and therapeutic services to families at risk for, or surviving, domestic violence.
Walnut Avenue’s Early Education Center helps children ages 0-5 to be socially and emotionally ready to enter the K-12 school system while allowing their parents to focus on their career or get advanced skills training.
Thank you, Walnut Avenue, for helping to give these children privileges and opportunities most of us can take for granted!
Robert (Bob) Curtis recently terminated his membership in our club after almost 40 years due to failing health.
Bob joined our club at age 46 on April 27, 1983, with the classification of Appraiser Services. Bob’s wife of 50+ years, Klo Ann, remembers Thursdays as one of the best days of week for Bob. He would come home with news about the speakers and the other members, always getting a lot out of the meetings. When traveling, Bob kept up his attendance by visiting other clubs. He would talk about Rotary with anyone.
Club members think of Bob as a steady, quiet, warm presence. Dave Andrews, who worked with Bob professionally (Dave was a loan officer for a bank), had confidence in Bob’s appraisal skills and used his services on many occasions. Dave enjoys comparing reading lists with Bob, who is particularly interested in U.S. history. Bob always asks about Dave’s backpacking adventures.
Bob similarly asks about Craig Bagley’s work as an architect. At Rotary meetings they would often reminisce about their lives before moving to Silicon Valley and then upgrading to our paradise by the sea.
When active, Bob especially enjoyed Rotary’s service projects, including working the 4th of July beer booths, selling tickets at the Laguna Seca car races, helping on beach cleanup days, judging the Rotary speech contests, and setting up for fundraisers.
Bob considers Rotary to be a big part of what made him who he is. Bob maintained his Rotary membership for years after health issues prevented him from participating actively.
Bob, the entire club, including those of us who never got to know you, wish you well and thank you for your years of service. Our community and the world are better places because of it.
Once again we had a hybrid meeting with approximately 25 people in person (masked unless eating) and about ten Zooming in.
Julie Lambert brought two visiting Rotarian (very active members of the Carmichael club) friends and fellow Oregon State Beavers—Vicky and Jay Boatwright. They are here camping at Sunset Beach and from all appearances they are none the worse for wear even though they have been ‘roughing it’.
Excellent news! Lowry Fenton has filled out an application to join our club. More to follow…
Bill Witmer is our Foundation chair. He will be spending the next few months asking club members for their Rotary International Foundation contribution. It is time to make your RI contribution so let’s make it easy for Bill. Make your checks out to Rotary Foundation and mail or give to Bill. John Fisher (RIP) always encouraged double sustainer amount of $200 but do what you can.
Julie Lambert was our detective and asked questions related to college in honor of the Boatwright’s attendance. A little known fact: only 41% of the student population actually graduate in 4 years! The average student debt after 4 years of college is a whooping $29,900.00
No welcome song but we did sing a delightful Happy Birthday to our future club President, Laura Grinder.
Dagmar Leguillon announced the September 18th Coastal Clean-up Day. Anyone can volunteer. Just go to the beach and clean. There will be NO club clean-up on that day.
Win Fernald announced he is starting the grants process by having all applications in by the end of September. The grants application will be on Capitola Aptos Rotary.org for downloading. Our grants program will be November 11th.
Dr. Art is cautioning everyone regarding the rapid spread of the Delta variant. The next day the county announced required masking while indoors. The long and the short of it is that we are going back to Zoom meetings for the foreseeable future. It was so nice seeing everyone in person but we need to stay safe. Use N95 or KN95 masks as they provide the best protection.
Thought for the day by Dr. Art: “Don’t ask what you can do for your country, ask what’s for lunch”.
Our speaker was Larry Mabrey, who once was a circus ringmaster but is now Managing Director of the Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival which is running now and until August 29th. (Photo). Larry has been a theatre professional for over 35 years in cities across the US. Previously he was Executive Director of Circus Flora in St. Louis, MO, Executive Director of West Virginia Public Theatre and was the co-founder and producing artistic director of Avalon Theatre Company. A California native, Larry returned to the state last year when he joined Santa Cruz Shakespeare as managing director one month before the pandemic.
Larry summarized the plays they produced this season which included an adaption of King Richard and Agitator, a play about Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglas. He explained the covid precautions taken for live performances. These performances take place at the outdoors Audrey Stanley Grove near DeLaveaga Golf Course. They ran with half capacity (200 instead of 425 seats) and had sold out crowds. Masks are encouraged.
Larry described all the many wonderful services they are providing on-line and to children. I encourage you to go on their website to get all the glorious details. wwwsantacruzshakespeare.com. Consider becoming a member!
Last week’s meeting was attended by about 24 members in person and a few folks on zoom. Kendra, Nelson and Mardi ran the show like a Hollywood crew; it’s only a matter of time before they will be nominated for Oscars. There are still some problems with the audio but that is being worked on- the board authorized the purchase of a good microphone.
Lowry Fenton was our guest that we hope decided to join our club!
Dr. Dover gave a brief reminder that the delta variant is causing covid surges even in highly vaccinated countries so we must, at a minimum, continue to wear masks except when eating and observe social distancing where possible, even in the close confines of our Seascape dining room.
Other clubs in Santa Cruz County are doing hybrid meetings. Silicon Valley and other Bay Area clubs where there are mask mandates are returning to zoom only.
Sam again led the Welcome Song soloing on guitar, this time with a rock and roll rendition that would have made Chuck Berry jealous.
Michele Bassi and Bill Witmer presented a Paul Harris award to Sgt at Arms Craig Bagley for his charitable contributions. This was Craig’s 4th Paul Harris award. Bill reminded us that the Paul Harris foundation was started with $27 in 1916 and since has raised billions for the fight against polio.
Dagmar gave a cheerful recap of the Beach Cleanup, including a count of the debris club members picked up and the camaraderie of trash collectors. She also disparaged the club President by suggesting that his large haul of recyclables was stolen. Not so. Age and decrepitude notwithstanding, and assisted by his daughters 2 intrepid dogs, your President risked life or at least dignity by retrieving cans and bottles from the treacherous bluff slope. Hold your applause, it’s part of the job description. Next time he will wear the Rotary flag as a cape.
Dagmar also needs a co-chair to help her on the membership committee, volunteers are encouraged to contact her or President Ken.
Rich was the Detective: true or false: he asked true or false questions about events that occurred in August, going back centuries? The worst question/answer was whether Eugene Diesel got the patent for the diesel engine in August 1898 the answer- false, it was his brother, Rudolf. Seriously? $5 Rich. A better question would have been whether Rudolf Diesel ran his engine on peanut oil at the 1900 Paris World’s fair…..
President Ken asked for volunteers at Second Harvest’s food giveaways at the County Fairgrounds. They are 9am-1pm on August 20, September 10, and September 24. Michele Bassi added that the giveaways are drive-up so covid exposure is minimal. Please contact Ken if you are available and interested.
Stan Abraham attended his third meeting in a row and felt compelled to explain his thrice blessing of our Rotary congregation with his presence by sort of accurately recounting the uh, inducements (threats is too strong a word) made against him by President Ken during an attorney-client privileged conversation…..
Thanks to Pam and Dr Art for joining efforts to write about the Speaker!
Our speaker today was Dr. Tanyss Munro. Dr. Munro and her husband Gem co-founded the Amarok Society which expands educational opportunities for children and their mothers. They began in Canada with disadvantaged persons, and she spoke to us today about her work in Bangladesh – a chronically impoverished country wedged between eastern India and Myanmar, below Nepal.
Most of the world’s population growth occurs in Asia. Bangladesh is a very over-populated, Islamic majority country that suffers regular flooding from snow melt in the Himalayas and tropical storms that go north from the Bay of Bengal. The capital Dhaka suffers from severe crowding, infectious diseases, malnutrition, and year-round heat with chronic air pollution. The Amarok Society is working to educate children in the megaslums of Dhaka, where children have little opportunity to receive an education. Dr. Munro explained how the Society developed a new model of education to help break the cycles of illiteracy and poverty, and concurrently empower women and girls to overcome generational and cultural oppression including child marriage, child labour, sex trafficking and opposition to education for girls and women. Her talk was entitled “Making the world worthy of children.” The goal is teaching mothers to teach the world through their children. One in 3 children is illiterate. Amarok provides “shadow education” after-school teaching by mothers who are recruited to teach them.
Amorak’s “Mothers of Intention” projects train mothers to be teachers. Each teacher then teaches 25 students in her neighborhood. The children receive co-ed education, which they never would experience in the public schools in Dhaka. They are taught human rights, peace, and tolerance. The results demonstrate changes in literacy, attitudes and greater age at marriage. Many young children go forward to high school and college and have improved opportunities for employment. Many contribute to their neighborhoods to pass along what they have learned to younger generations.
The program has also resulted in shifts of cultural and institutional opposition to education for girls and women. In Amarok’s programs, mothers are the teachers and girls and boys are taught in the same classes. Men and boys are now pleased that women and girls are receiving an education. Many Rotary clubs support the work of this phenomenal and inspiring organization.
Ms. Munro was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work.
Photo of Dr Tanyss Munro
Dr. Art Doverwon the raffle!. He did not audibly announce his intentions of spending it, but he sure will be having fun
Perhaps heeding Kelly’s diplomatic inquiries, Seascape actually prepared more food than we ate- there was 8 inches of pork roast and a few lbs of mashed potatoes left.
Hunter, the very nice young man who has been serving us, said that he could not provide to go boxes because the law prohibits that for banquets; they can’t even donate it. President Ken checked with his cousin the catering manager and she confirmed. Julie Lambert “McGyvered” her way around that by stacking the plate she had left at Keith’s house and walking out the back door . Apparently it’ s OK if people bring their own to go boxes but we should be discreet about it.
Per Kendra: Please remember that if you have marked "TBD" as your answer for a meeting date, edit your form with your updated "yes or no" answer. If no update is made your TBD will be counted as a "no" and Seascape will not prepare a meal for you.
We have only two more weeks of the August RSVP Form and then a new link will be provided for September.
We learned to our embarrassment last week that we sent scholarship recipient Alexandria Quintero an unsigned check! Tuition was due in a couple of days, so we arranged to deliver a replacement check by hand at a mutually convenient location. Our club member sent Alexandria a selfie so she would know who to look for. In return, Alexandria sent the below selfie of herself holding a model of the Scion cube car she was in. Clever girl! Love that photo!
This was a one of a kind experimental meeting that required all hands on deck to put it in place. Our first ever ‘hybrid’ meeting—in person or on Zoom and it worked famously, especially with help from Kendra, Nelson, Ken and his able assistant, Hilary who is far beyond capable.
(Nelson Crandall setting up)
A visiting Rotarian from Los Gatos morning club, Sanjay Khandelwal was checking us out as he now works from home near the summit. Let’s hope he was impressed!
Our Friend Marie Moseley was with us as well, her first visit since March 2020!
Craig Bagley, our Sargent at Arms, was the first one to the meeting as in his words ”I wanted to make sure the meeting was going to run smoothly”. It did indeed, Craig. Thanks for your dedication!
Trisha Glassey brought Edie Stein to our meeting via Zoom. Edie is a Soquel High School and took time took time from her leadership orientation at school today to talk to us about the RYLA experience this summer. The program was "Leading with LUV" for Location, Unlearning and Learning, and Vision and Voice. When asked about the location theme, she said it was about being a better leader by finding happiness and peace by going to locations you love.
Dr. Art did not have a thought for the day as he “left it at home”.
Sam told a very familiar joke (video) then proceeded to play a rip-roaring rendition of the Welcome Song.
(Sam and the Welcome Song)
Anissa Novak entertained us as detective, grilling us on little known Olympic factoids.
Dagmar Leguillon announced this Saturday’s Beach Cleanup at Rio Del Mar beach. August 7th at 10 am so be there or be square (or at least missed).
Our presentation was titled ‘Health and Home: Building Wellness in the Heart of Live Oak’. The speakers were Leslie Connor, CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health and Laura Marcus, CEO of Dientes Community Dental Care. These are two very smart and capable individuals who (along with MidPen housing) have been the driving force behind plans to build a unique housing facility on Capitola Rd in Live Oak. This site is breaking ground soon and will have 57 affordable housing units, a health center and dental facility. Therefore, comprehensive, integrated healthcare will be available for up to 10,000 patients including pediatrics, optometry and behavioral health to name just a few of the services. The clinics will be built first then the housing. The entire project should be completed by 2023.
The best news is that we all have the ability to participate in funding this project as there is a $500,000 Challenge Match issued by Carol Fuller in honor of Cynthia Mathews.
It was so exciting to hear of this most innovative and inclusive project. We were all so very impressed by the vision of our speakers and the tenacity it took to make this project happen.
Dientes, Santa Cruz Community Health, and MidPen Housing are partnering to create 1500 Capitola Road, a vibrant 3.7-acre health and housing complex in the heart of Live Oak. This crucial first step toward increasing access to healthcare and affordable housing in Santa Cruz County will provide healthcare for up to 10,000 patients, along with affordable housing for 157 people.
(Left to right, Leslie Conner and Laura Marcus)
An announcement/discussionpoint was made at the end of our meeting that due to Delta Variant, Rotarian's RSVP's are needed more than ever so the board can identify two things; a ) Will members feel comfortable attending in person meetings at Seascape and b ) if they are, we need an updated head count since we need 15 confirmed, RSVP'd Rotarians by Sunday night in order to have the meeting as a hybrid and not go to Zoom Only.
To accomplish this update you can either email Kendra and/or Ken, OR go into the Google Form and update your answers to reflect whether your opinion has changed on in person attendance, and then add to the comments whether you feel comfortable still attending as an in-person at the "hybrid meeting" or whether you will go Zoom, due to health concerns.
For whom would like to join us on Zoom Thursday at 12:00pm:
In order to keep everyone safe during this pandemic we are having a hybrid meeting tomorrow Thursday August 5th starting at 12:15pm. Below you will find the link and password to log in as well as the meeting ID and number in case you would like to call it in.
For whom are attending the meeting in person at Seascape Golf and Country Club (610 Club House Dr, Aptos) please bring a mask, practice social distance and enjoy your time with us and your lunch.
Featured Presentation: Cabrillo College Name Change
The featured speaker for the meeting was club member Matt Wetstein, President of Cabrillo College. Matt was joined in his presentation by Governing Board members Adam Spickler and Christina Cuevas. Cabrillo Assistant Superintendent/VP Instruction Paul de la Cerda was also in the audience. A summary of their presentation appears below.
Left to Right: Cabrillo College Asst. Superintendent/VP Instruction Paul de la Cerda, Governing Board members Adam Spickler and Christina Cuevas, and club member and Cabrillo President Matt Wetstein.
Introduction of Visitors
Following the pledge of allegiance, President Ken called for visiting Rotarians to introduce themselves. In addition to perennial visitor Constantin Gehriger, we welcomed Santa Cruz Rotarian Larry Wallerstein. Matt Wetstein introduced his three colleagues from Cabrillo College, Dr. Art Dover introduced his grandson, Noah, and Dave Watkins introduced his frequent guest, Sebastian.
Left to right: Visiting Rotarian Larry Wallerstein, Dr Art's grandson Noah, Dave Watkins's guest, Sebastian Lopez.
Club Song
For the first time since March 2020, Al DeCamera and Sam Nigh led the club in a rousing rendition of the Club song. So enthusiastic was the crowd that they reprised the final chorus twice following inspired instrumental improvisations.
Al DeCamera and Sam Nigh leading a rousing rendition of the club song.
The fun was especially unexpected because Seacliff had said they would no longer provide use of their piano, forcing Al to lug his keyboard and amps to the meeting. After months of frustrating attempts to sing the club song on Zoom, our first in-person meeting last week had to settle for an anemic acapella version when Al didn’t have what he needed to set up.
At Immediate Past President Michele’s request, guest Adam Spickler presented the club with two tickets to the August 15 fundraising brunch and silent auction for the Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center, which our club is sponsoring. Michele asked Al to auction the tickets to the members on the spot, and Al rose to the occasion, raising $140. For more information about the event, go to wafwc.org
Featured Joke, courtesy of President Ken.
A lexicology professor was explaining to his students that in many languages, a double negative remains a negative. In other languages, a double negative is a positive. In no language, however, is a double positive a negative. To which a voice in the back responded, “Yeah, right.”
Introduction of the Board.
President Ken introduced most of the new Board members in addition to himself: Immediate Past President Michele Bassi, Co-Presidents Elect Kendra Cleary and Laura Grinder, Secretary Nelson Crandall, Treasurer Julie Lambert, Membership Chair Dagmar Leguillon, Rotary Foundation Chair Bill Witmer, Club Foundation Chair Al DeCamera, Service Projects Chair Art Dover, Grants Chair Win Fernald, Public Image Chair Mardi Padilla, and Sergeant-at-Arms Craig Bagley.
Ken especially recognized Mardi for her work on upgrading the club website and encouraged everyone to visit it.
Al the Detective.
Demonstrating his flexibility once again, Al handed out fines to the following people with the following excuses for Al’s being unprepared: President Ken for his self-deprecating humor, Nelson for his off-key rendition of For She’s A Jolly Good Fellow at Michele’s nondebunking, Kelly for abandoning Nelson in that attempt, Craig for something having to do with badges, Trish for her 11 p.m. reminder that Ken had detective duty, Sam for enjoying himself camping in the Trinity Alps, and Dave Watkins for complaining about the chipper under his window in the property Al’s firm manages.
Home for a Lost Hat.
The previous week, Keith brought in a hat left at his house on the occasion of the nondebunking, but no one claimed it. This week, Becky was able to claim it and is happily reunited with it. Becky, write your name in the hat!
Becky Peters claimed her lost hat!
Featured Presentation: Opening Acts
Before getting onto the subject of changing the name of Cabrillo College, Cabrillo President Mat Wetstein discussed the college’s response to COVID-19 and the ongoing housing shortage.
COVID-19 Impact on Enrollment. Last year, only 20% of the college’s courses were in-person. The college hopes to increase that to 50% in the fall and be back to normal (whatever that may mean) in the spring. Following the lead of the UC and State College systems, vaccinations will be required, with limited exceptions upon good cause shown. Matt observed that the inability to meet in-person disproportionately affected the poor, Hispanics, and residents of the south county, leading to a 25% drop in enrollment last year.
COVID-19 Impact on Health. Matt reported that only 12 faculty and staff were infected with COVID-19 last year, which he attributed to strict implementation of protective guidelines. Most of the infections were attributed to non-campus exposures. Of the college’s 10,000 students, the campus health center administered 226 COVID-19 tests, 45 of which were positive.
Federal and State Financial Relief. The college has received $16 million in federal relief. The bulk of it will be spent on equipment, including computers for faculty and students and upgraded HVAC systems better able to keep classroom air pathogen free. $2.7 million will be used for direct student aid in the form of relieving students of $700,000 in accumulated debt for defaulted registration fees that prevent them from continuing their education and direct unrestricted grants of between $1,000 and $1,500 each. Matt observed that the cost of equipment upgrades is rising as multiple institutions compete for the same scarce resources.
Housing. Last year, 22% of the college’s students report that they were homeless or getting by without a settled housing situation. This budget year, the state has set $2 billion aside for community college housing. The college has started to study the feasibility of erecting student and faculty housing on campus. It hopes to complete the study this school year.
Featured Presentation: Name Change.
Christina Cuevas reported that the college’s governing board was presented with petition from 100 members of the college community asking to change the name from Cabrillo because of the history of its namesake. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo is best known for his explorations of the west coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire. His critics allege that he amassed the wealth needed to undertake these explorations by exploiting indigenous South Americans as slave laborers and sex workers, and that the consequences of such exploitation manifest themselves as generational poverty to this day.
In response to the petition, the governing board appointed Adam and her to a subcommittee to develop a process to explore the name change. They created an advisory taskforce of stakeholders to assist in the process, which met from October 2020 through June 2021. Relying on the work of other educational institutions named for slaveholders and other alleged perpetrators of human misery, the subcommittee and task force generated a set of guidelines the investigation process will follow, with key values being a methodology that is inclusive and educational in approach. More information is available at https://www.cabrillo.edu/governing-board/name-exploration-subcommittee
Following the adoption of the guidelines, the college has offered a series of educational events focusing on Juan Cabrillo the man, the persons and process that led to naming the college after him, and criticism of Cabrillo. Facilitated by Zoom attendance, the audience was polled before and after the presentations. In all the presentations, the percentage of persons favoring a name change rose as a result of the presentation. In one case, the percentage rose from 25% to 51%.
The next step will be a series of meetings in which the public will be invited to express their views, followed by a recommendation.
Matt did not address the question of how the cost of a name change will be weighed against the perceived benefit of ceasing to honor Cabrillo and the perceived harm of continuing to honor Cabrillo. This question also was not raised in the 10 minutes of Q&A following the presentation. Most of the audience questions focused on the fairness of judging a 16th century personage by 21st century morality. In response, Matt paraphrased the philosophy of 18th century philosopher Emmanuel Kant: The ill treatment of a human being is always wrong and should always be condemned.
How would YOU apply the 4-way test to this controversy?
Please note! Meetings on March 12th and March 19th are canceled due to corona virus warnings! If further meeting cancellations are planned, the news will be posted here also. Stay home and stay safe!
May 29th is the official date for the Capitola Aptos Rotary annual fund raiser. We will roast the man and woman of the year and have a live and silent auction. It will benefit Meals on Wheels, as well as Cabrillo College and Grey Bears. Make your reservations soon!
Meals on Wheels will be having a Ride Along so you can see how meals are delivered on March 16th thru 20th (or you can assist on site at Live Oak Senior Center). Michelle has sent around a sign-up sheet to participate in this event.
Beach cleanup dates are April 4th, June 6th and August 1st (the first Saturday in each of those months) at Rio del Mar beach at 10 am.
The area speech contest is on March 5th at the county office of education at 3:30. Come an support our club winner!
The business showcase is tentatively scheduled for April 15th. We will get a table to promote our club. Doug will send us around a sign-up sheet.
Dr. Art spoke to us about the corona virus. It’s not an airborne illness it’s passed on by touch; therefore handwashing is crucial. He says it will be very contagious.
Sandra says we only got two RYLA applications; however If there is a last minute applicant we might take them. High school sophomores and juniors are eligible.
There will be four scholarships for Cabrillo College . they will be named the Capitola Aptos John Fisher scholarships. We are taking applicants now for all four scholarships.
Monday night at 5:30 is membership Monday here at Aptos Seascape. Join us to socialize with potential new members.
Finally, Doug announced the death of Ron Derby, one of our most faithful members. Among other contributions, he was famous for his “Thoughts for the Day” and his always insightful comments on current issues. We will miss you Ron!
Our speaker today, was an author who wrote a book entitled Leonardo’s Knots, Caroline Cocciardi. She detected a knot pattern on Mona Lisa’s dress which reveals something significant about Leonardo da Vinci the man.
May 29th is the official date for the Capitola Aptos Rotary annual fund raiser. We will roast the man and woman of the year and have a live and silent auction. It will benefit Meals on Wheels, as well as a scholarship at Cabrillo College and Grey Bears. Make your reservations soon!
Meals on Wheels will be having a Ride Along so you can see how meals are delivered (or you can assist on site at Live Oak Senior Center). Michelle has sent around a sign-up sheet to participate in this event.
Michele announced that Digital Nest was awarded the James Irvine Award, the most prestigious non-profit award in the state of California. She also announced many March events. The area speech contest is march 5 3:30-5:30 at the county office of education. There is a mixer at the Kaiser Area March 10 5”30-7:30. $5.00 a person.
Beach cleanup dates are April 4th June 6th and August 1st (the first Saturday in each of those months) at Rio del Mar beach at 10 am.
Sign up For Meals On Wheels on March 16th thru 20th to go out to deliver meals or go to Live Oak Senior Center and serve meals there.
Bill gave out Paul Harris fellowship awards today to Sandi and Stan Abraham.
Our speakers today, Yuritzi Barranco and Brandon Farria were from the Cabrillo College Engineering Abroad program.They spoke about their trip to Costa Rica. The purpose of the trip was to clean the river but they also worked on the permaculture farm.
May 29th is the official date for the Capitola Aptos Rotary annual fund raiser. We will roast the man and woman of the year and have a live and silent auction. It will benefit Meals on Wheels, as well as a scholarship at Cabrillo College and Grey Bears. Make your reservations soon!
Meals on Wheels will be having a Ride Along so you can see how meals are delivered (or you can assist on site at Live Oak Senior Center). Michelle has sent around a sign-up sheet to participate in this event.
Hariharan Ramesh, our district governor visited us today and spoke about the mission of Rotary, emphasizing role of the Foundation. Capitola Aptos Rotary is part of district 5170 and Mr. Ramesh said our district is the highest contributor of any district in the country to the Rotary Foundation (over 7 million dollars!)
He also awarded three Paul Harris Fellowships to Kate Sutherland, Thomasjohn Wells Miller and Burt Lemke. Congratulations to all of you!
Our speaker today was Dr. Stacy Philpott who is the Director of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UCSC. She spoke to us about the farm and the organic farming revolution.
May 29th is the official date for the Capitola Aptos Rotary annual fund raiser. We will roast the man and woman of the year and have a live and silent auction. It will benefit Meals on Wheels, as well as a scholarship at Cabrillo College and Grey Bears. Make your reservations soon!
Bill spoke about Rotary Foundation which has now raised over 7 billion dollars around the world. There are only three more people left for our own club to bring our giving up to 100% participation.
Dr. Art got a chance to view some international service projects in Mexico, Africa and South America at a District Meeting last week. If you would like more information on any of these, see Dr. Art.
Meals on Wheels will be having a Ride Along so you can see how meals are delivered (or you can assist on site at Live Oak Senior Center). Michelle will send around a sign-up sheet next week to participate in this event.
Second Harvest annual fundraiser is March 5th. We have been offered a table honoring our Rotary Club for our contribution. There are three seats left for the dinner. If you are interested in going see Michele.
Today was the area speech contest. A total of eleven students from Soquel and Aptos High school competed in the contest. They all spoke on the theme “Rotary Connects the World”. They were judged on adherence to the theme, vocal delivery, integration of the four way test and overall effectiveness. The winner will go on to compete in the district speech contest on the 5th of March.
The contestants included: Roxanne Harris, Olivia Harris, Stuart Norse, Mia Beatty, Emily Marshall Niswonger, Jocelyn Castillo, Kai Gavin, Michael Murray, Maddie Fiona, Andrew Morrisey and Celia Ruiz.
The winners of the contest were: First place ($200) Emily Marshall Niswonger; 2nd place ($1000: Andrew Morrisey; 3rd place ($50) Jocelyn Castillo
Please note: Next week's meeting, the area speech contest, has been moved. It will be at Severinos/Seacliff Inn. We have the room from 11:30 to 2:00. (Lunch will be $30 but since Rich has already invoiced $10 it will be an additional $20. Rich will not be present to run credit cards, so please bring a check or cash.
Every first Monday is membership Monday. Come and have a drink and bring potential new members. Every second Tuesday is for new red badgers. These are both at 5:30 to 7:00 PM and are at Aptos Seascape.
We are planning on a Rotary Week for Meals on Wheels delivery. Sign up to deliver meals or work at the site (at Live Oak Senior Center) that day.
Josh Selig from Jimmy Panetta’s office spoke to us today about current issues and measures in congress including dates for future town halls. They are working on making age discrimination illegal, road repairs, and mitigating potential flood damage from the Pajaro River Watershed.
Scott also spoke to us briefly about measure V for Soquel Elementary School District which is a parcel tax. It needs a two thirds majority and would add $96 per parcel for 6 years. It would largely go to teacher’s salaries.
May 29th will be our major fundraiser. We need both live and silent auction items, wine and help with sponsorships. Also we will have our wine wheelbarrow so bring two bottles to contribute. Tickets will be $150 and the major benefactor will be Meals on Wheels.
On March 5th at Hotel Paradox there will be the Second Harvest dinner. We are being offered an award and we will be given a table for 10. Let Michelle know if you are interested in going.
Dr. Art passed around information on a Rotary trip to Ethiopia sponsored by the Contra Costa club.
Matt spoke to us about measure R, a bond measure for Cabrillo College. Included are infrastructure and technology improvements, as deferred maintenance is a real problem on a 60 year old campus. A new science building, renovation of the library and student services buildings are also on the agenda. It will be a 30 year bond.
Every first Monday is membership Monday. Come and have a drink and bring potential new members. Every second Tuesday is for new red badgers. These are both at 5:30 to 7:00 PM and are at Aptos Seascape.
Sandi announced that we will be accepting applications for RYLA. If you know any Sophomores or Juniors who might be eligible please let Sandi know.
Our beloved John Fisher, member of Capitola Aptos Rotary for many years and inspiration for the RotaCare free clinic passed away on Tuesday. Among other honors he received the Jefferson award as a distinguished volunteer in the Monterey Bay Area.
Al gave us a foundation report. Some of the Campbell funds have been distributed. Bill also mentioned that we still need 121 people for our 1005 participation.
Dr Art announced that we all need to get our flu shots! Talk to him about getting your shot if you haven’t done it this season. It is not too late!
Today our speaker spoke about local Recycling efforts. Christina Horvath from Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works gave us an update on recycling efforts in the county as well as new laws that will affect the way we recycle in the coming years.
Every first Monday is membership Monday. Come and have a drink and bring potential new members. Every second Tuesday is for new red badgers 5:30 to 7:00 PM. Both of these are at Aptos Seascape.
Our community grant award day will be next week, December 12th at 12:00. All are welcome to help us celebrate the many good things being done in our community.
December the 8th (this Sunday) is Keith’s annual Christmas party! It is at his house at 4:00.
Remember we are dark on the 26th of December and on the 2nd of January.
Sandi announced that we will be accepting applications for RYLA. If you know any Sophomores or Juniors who might be eligible please let Sandi know.
This week we were entertained by the music of Sam Nigh and Higher Ground. They sang Christmas songs and gospel music. We sang along and good holiday time was had by all!
On the first Monday of every month from 5:30 to 7:00 the club will have social gatherings here. It is a chance to introduce new friends and prospective members to our club! The next one is December 5th!
The “Second Badge Tuesday” for new red badgers will be held on the Dr. second Tuesday of every month. 5:30 to 7:00 PM
Our community grant award day had been postponed. It will be December 12th at 12:00. All are welcome to help us celebrate the many good things being done in our community.
December the 8th is Keith’s annual Christmas party. It is at his house at 4:00. A sign up list will go around in the next few weeks.
Remember next week is Thanksgiving and we are dark!
Veterans memorial hall courtyard renovation project is being sponsored by Santa Cruz rotary club. You can donate a brick by going to www.santacruzrotary.com
Our speaker today was Dr. David L. Bernick with two of his students Marcella Mirabelli and Liana Beld (see above) . His address was on biomolecular engineering and he discussed ways that synthetic biology enables social change. They just came back from Boston where they won a silver medal for their work.
On the first Monday of every month from 5:30 to 7:00 the club will have social gatherings here. It is a chance to introduce new friends and prospective members to our club! The next one is December 5th!
The “Second Badge Tuesday” for new red badgers will be held on the second Tuesday of every month. 5:30 to 7:00 PM
Our community grant award day has been postponed. It will be December 12th at 12:00. All are welcome to help us celebrate the many good things being done in our community.
December the 8th is Keith’s annual Christmas party. It is at his house at 4:00. A sign up list will go around in the next few weeks.
Sunday Nov 17th is our next beach clean-up. This one will be at Rio del Mar at 1:00 in the afternoon, not in the AM as we have traditionally done. Brings gloves and a bucket if you can and wear tour Rotary t-shirts!
Our next meeting, November 14th, the club is taking a field trip to Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville. Our regular board meeting will be held at the Clubhouse, however, at 11:00.
Today the club held our annual club assembly. Several cnotable activitie especially reflect the work of Rotary in our community and the world.
Local foundation scholarships The Piatt fellowship is awarded each year to a local student who is a graduate student at UCSC. We also fund scholarships for RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) and six to eight scholarships per year to students graduating from both Aptos and Soquel High Schools. This year we are beginning to discuss expanding our scholarship efforts to include Cabrillo College.
Community grants This year we will award 20 grants to non profit community agencies who are involved in a number of efforts on our community . this includes programs for youth, older adults, the arts, the environment , education and social services for the homeless.
Rotary International Foundation: Rotary worldwide has been instrumental in the defeat of polio world wide. November is the month of our campaign and each member is encouraged to give so that we have 100% participation. Half our donations come back to us in the form of DDF or district designated funds which we have used for local and international projects, including this past year a water project with Santa Cruz Sunrise Club, RotaCare, our local free health clinic and Rising International, to prevent human trafficking.
On the first Monday of every month from 5:30 to 7:00 the club will have social gatherings here. It is a chance to introduce new friends and prospective members to our club! The next one is November 5th!
The second badge Tuesday for new red badgers will be held on second Tuesday of every month. 5:30 to 7:00.
Our community grant award day will be December 5th. All are welcome to help us celebrate the many good things being done in our community.
December the 8th is Keith’s annual Christmas party. It is at his house at 4:00. A sign up list will go around in the next few weeks.
Nov 17th is our next beach clean-up. This one will be at Rio del Mar in the afternoon, not in the AM as we have traditionally done.
On November 14th the club is taking a field trip to Second Harvest Food Bank.
Veronica Udura our Piatt fellow spoke to us today. She is originally from Watsonville. She is pursuing a PhD degree in molecular biology. Her work focuses on ways that might eventually help to treat cancer.
Ron Morris from PG and E spoke to us about the power outages. There are tiers 1 2 and 3. 2 and 3 are the most at risk areas due to being heavily wooded. He said PG & E cannot be responsible for fires in our area. They look at wind direction and humidity levels and fire threat and then look at our circuits. We are fed from two places: Moss Landing and another feed that comes up over the mountains into the Green Valley substation. We have Rio del Mar sub, the Rob Roy sub (by Aptos High) and Paul Sweet sub by Dominican. In this last outage we had 22 circuits affected that had to be looked at once they ended the outages.
Leslie Frates, well-known Bay area Jeopardy winner was our featured speaker today.
On the first Monday of every month from 5:30 to 7:00 the club will have social gatherings here. It is a chance to introduce new friends and prospective members to our club! The next one is November 5th!
The second badge Tuesday for new red badgers will be hfweld on second Tuesday of every month. 5:30 to 7:00.
Our community grant award day will be December 5th. All are welcome to help us celebrate the many good things being done in our community.
Today is world polio day. We received news that wild polio virus type 3e has been eradicated worldwide. Our goal is for every Rotarian to contribute to the cause of eradicating remaining types of polio and the campaign will begin in two weeks.
December the 8th is Keith’s annual Christmas party. It is at his house at 4:00. A sign up list will go around in the next few weeks.
Board meeting next week Oct 31st (Halloween!) at 11:00. Feel free to come in costume!
Nov 17th is our next beach clean-up. This one will be at Rio del Mar in the afternoon, not in the AM as we have traditionally done.
On November 14th the club is taking a field trip to Second Harvest Food Bank.
Patrice Keet, Founder of the Museum of Discovery (MOD) and Rhiannon Crain, Interim Executive Director were our speakers today. The Museum is in the Capitola Mall and has been serving children in the area for five years.
Congratulations to Pam Goodman and Matt Wetstein who won Aptos Chamber of Commerce woman and man of the year. The dinner to honor them will be Oct 25th. Tickets will be $85 or $105 for the Rotary Table. See Doug or Michele or their website to sign up.
Starting in October, on the first Monday of every month from 5:30 to 7:00 we will have social gatherings here. It is a chance to introduce new friends and prospective members to our club!
The second badge Tuesday for new red badgers will be held on second Tuesday of every month. 5:30 to 7:00.
The second harvest barrel warp will be held at Second Harvest in Watsonville on Saturday Oct 12th in the morning.
Our community grant award day will be December 5th. All are welcome to help us celebrate the many good things being done in our community.
Art will have senior flu shots at the end of the month. He also spoke about the Indian polio campaign at taj mahal the third thru the fifth of January. See him for more information.
Danny Wright is a local Santa Cruz person who decided a few years ago to address the problem of millions of people who lack clean drinking water. He spoke to us today about his new organization Gravity Water.
Our community grants application is due! It can be downloaded from this website. The deadline for submission is October 1st so submit now! The awards ceremony will be December 5th.
Congratulations to Pam Goodman and Matt Wetstein who won Aptos Chamber of Commerce woman and man of the year. The dinner to honor them will be Oct 25th. Tickets will be $85 or $105 for the Rotary Table. See Doug or Michele or their website to sign up.
Dagmar announced that beach clean-up day attracted 25 people on Saturday the 21st. Ryan took photos of the day and they appeared in this month’s issue of the Aptos Times! There will be another clean-up in November.
Pam thanked us all for our support for the Alzheimer’s walk. It raised over $20,000!
Starting in October, on the first Monday of every month from 5:30 to 7:00 we will have social gatherings here. It is a chance to introduce new friends and prospective members to our club!
Constantine announced the Sunrise Rotary bicycle trip next Saturday. There will be a welcome party from 11:00 to 1:00 for the riders. For details go to Sunrise Rotary website.
Today were our Red Badge talks for Dagmar and Jeff. (above) These talks give us a chance to find out something about our newest members.
Our community grants application has now been posted. It can be downloaded from this website. The deadline for submission is October 1st and the awards ceremony will be December 5th.
We have scheduled Monday Sept 16th 4:00 at Aptos Seascape to assemble kits for Rising International. These are “safety bracelets” in Rotary colors with information on human trafficking.
Sunday September 15th is the summer fun party at Keith’s at 2:00. To RSVP, sign up at a meeting.
Dagmar announced Sept 21st will be our next beach clean-up at Rio del Mar beach. We did a great job last time picking up 25 lbs of trash which included a large amount of microplastics.
Congratulations to Pam Goodman and Matt Wetstein who won Aptos Chamber of Commerce woman and man of the year. The dinner to honor them will be Oct 25th. Tickets will be $85 or $105 for the Rotary Table . See Doug to sign up.
Rachel Goodman was our speaker today. She spoke about community public radio. KSQD 90.7 is the new station she has helped to establish in here. Their motto is ‘many voices one station’.
Our community grants application has now been posted. It can be downloaded from this website. The deadline for submission is October 1st and the awards ceremony will be December 5th.
The debunking of the president is rescheduled for Thursday August 29th at Santa Cruz Yacht Club at 5:30. We will be dark for the regular meeting that day.
We have scheduled Monday Sept 16th 4:00 at Aptos Seascape to assemble kits for Rising International. These are “safety bracelets” in Rotary colors with information on human trafficking.
Sunday September 15th is the summer fun party at Keith’s at 2:00. To RSVP, sign up at a meeting.
Dagmar announced Sept 21st will be our next beach clean-up at Rio del Mar beach. We did a great job last time picking up 25 lbs of trash which included a large amount of microplastics.
Congratulations to Pam Goodman and Matt Wetstein who won Aptos Chamber of Commerce man and woman of the year. The dinner to honor them will be Oct 25th. Tickets will be $85 or $105. See Doug to sign up.
Sienna House will be having a dinner and auction on October 5th. See Michele for tickets.
The Piatt fellow Veronica Urabe has been chosen for this year. She is from Watsonville High and Cabrillo and UCSC and getting her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology. She will come and speak to us later this year.
The speaker today was Alayna Hale. A retired teacher, she spoke to us about how to reduce stress and empower your children.
Our community grants application has now been posted. It can be downloaded from this website. The deadline for submission is October 1st and the awards ceremony will be December 5th.
The debunking of the president is rescheduled for Thursday August 29th at Santa Cruz Yacht Club at 5:30. We will be dark for the regular meeting that day.
We have scheduled Monday Sept 16th 4:00 at Aptos Seascape to assemble kits for Rising International. These are “safety bracelets” in Rotary colors with information on human trafficking.
Sunday September 15th is the summer fun party at Keith’s at 2:00. To RSVP, sign up at a meeting.
Dagmar announced Sept 21st will be our next beach clean-up at Rio del Mar beach. We did a great job last time picking up 25 libs of trash which included a large amount of microplastics.
Michele talked about the ‘Sleeves Up’ Rotary sponsored blood drive campaign. Look at your e-mail for more information.
Our speaker today was Adam Peterson from Team Rubicon which provides disaster relief both here in the U.S. and around the world. It has over 800 veteran volunteers.
Our community grants application has now been posted. It can be downloaded from this website. The deadline for submission is October 1st and the awards ceremony will be December 5th.
The debunking of the president is rescheduled for Thursday August 29th at Santa Cruz Yacht Club at 5:30. We will be dark for the regular meeting that day.
We have scheduled Tues Sept 17th 4:00 at Aptos Seascape to assemble kits for Rising International. These are ”safety bracelets” with information on human trafficking.
Sunday September 15th is the summer fun party at Keith’s at 2:00. To RSVP, sign up at a meeting.
Dagmar announced Sept 20th will be our next beach clean up at Rio del Mar beach. We did a great job last time picking up 25 libs of trash which included a large amount of microplastics.
Al introduced Jim Zenner from Santa Cruz Rotary Club. He spoke to us about their trips to Kenya and India this past year, where they administered polio vaccines and did Rotary ‘water warriors’ projects which involve installation of clean water systems. There will be a trip to Guatemala this next January.
Our community grants application has now been posted. It can be downloaded from this website. The deadline for submission is October 1st and the awards ceremony will be December 5th.
The debunking of the president is rescheduled for Thursday August 29th at Santa Cruz Yacht Club at 5:30. We will be dark for the regular meeting that day.
We have scheduled Tues Sept 17th 4:00 at Aptos Seascape to assemble kits for Rising International. These are ”safety bracelets” with information on human trafficking.
Matthew Morse our scholarship from recipient from Aptos High received his award today. He is going to Gonzaga university where he will major in business and environmental studies.
Dagmar announced this Saturday July 27th is the beach clean-up. Meet right in front of the Rio Café (sometimes called Rio Flats) beach. There is free parking and there will be refreshments! Wear your sunscreen and closed toe shoes.
Sunday September 15th is the summer fun party at Keith’s at 2:00. To RSVP , sign up at a meeting
Danny Contreras director of the Medication Assisted Treatment Program for Santa Cruz county was speaker today. He spoke about their program which includes 3 clinics, two in Santa Cruz and one in Watsonville.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We are currently planning to post the on line application in mid -July.
The debunking of the president is rescheduled for Thursday August 29th at Santa Cruz yacht club at 5:30. We will be dark for the regular meeting that day.
We will be having our fundraiser at Aptos Park on the 4th of July beginning after the parade. See Al to sign up to help in the booth, with set up or clean up, or by taking cash and checking ID’s.
Ryan and Aaron Bettencourt two of our three Aptos scholarship recipients were here to share with us their plans for the future. Aaron is entering the honors program at Cabrillo to study computer science and Ryan will go the University of Nevada as a pre-med student.
Dr. Art received an award from Rotary International for donating $50,000 to the Polio Plus Program. We have six major donors in our club which is quite exceptional compared to other clubs in our district and around the world.
Second Harvest received its check from our fundraiser today. Suzanne Willis accepted the check for Second Harvest. She thanked us for our support which will fund over 75000 meals and reminded us that Oct 12th is the holiday food drive barrel wrap.
Peggy Pollard was here today to speak to the club about a Rotary International project in Uganda which was supported by the DDF funds of this club.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We are currently planning to post the on line application in mid -July.
The debunking of the president is rescheduled for Thursday August 29th at Santa Cruz Yacht Club at 5:30. We will be dark for the regular meeting that day.
We will be having our fundraiser at Aptos Park on the 4th of July beginning after the parade. See Al to sign up to help in the booth with set up or clean up, or by taking cash and checking ID’s.
Saturday June 29th will be Rotary Day at Derby Girls. if you buy your tickets online, still sign up and let us know you will be attending. Tickets and information at Santacruzderbygirls.org
June 27th is the RYLA barbecue at Mission Springs. All are welcome.
Dr. Beth Finch, a neuroscientist and experienced researcher, spoke to us today about Lifestyle Factors in Healthy Brain Aging. She is from Durham, North Carolina and received her PhD from Harvard.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We are currently planning to post the on line application in mid -July.
The debunking of the president has been postponed. It will be rescheduled as an evening event later in the summer.
We will be having our fundraiser at Aptos Park on the 4th of July beginning after the parade. See Al to sign up to help in the booth, with set up or clean up or by taking cash and checking ID’s.
Dagmar gave us an update on our participation in Save our Shores. We will again participate in the beach clean-up this year and our kick-off clean up will probably be in July or August.
Saturday June 29th will be Rotary Day at Derby Girls. if you buy your tickets online, still sign up and let us know you will be attending. Tickets and information at Santacruzderbygirls.org
June 27th is the RYLA barbecue at Mission Springs. All are welcome.
Our speaker today was Zach Friend, our 2nd district supervisor and an honorary member of the club. His talk emphasized housing, traffic and income gaps in our county.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
The debunking of the president will take place at a brunch at 12:00 on June 30th at the Santa Cruz Yacht club. Save the date!
We will be having our fundraiser at Aptos Park on the 4th of July beginning after the parade. See Al to sign up to help in the booth, with set up or clean up or by taking cash and checking ID’s.
We will again participate in the beach clean-up this year. Save the third Saturday in September!
Matt announced that Saturday June 29th will be rotary day at Derby Girls. if you buy your tickets online, still sign up and let us know you will be attending. Tickets and information at Santacruzderbygirls.org
All Rotary club members are invited to a party at Lifespan 600 Frederick St next Thursday on June 13th 1:00-4:00. Pam and Becky are celebrating the sale of the business and their won retirement. Come and widh them congratulations!
Sandy announced June 27th is the RYLA barbecue at Mission Springs. She said we should all go and have a wonderful experience!
Kristin Fabos, our speaker today, is the director or Marketing and Communications at Cabrillo College. She has been in this position since 2010. She spoke to us about her volunteer work in Cambodia that involved building a house for a family as part of the Global Village Arm of Habitat for Humanity.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
The debunking of the president will take place at a brunch at 12:00 on June 30th at the Santa Cruz Yacht club. Save the date!
We will again be having our fundraiser at Aptos Park on the 4th of July beginning after the parade. See Al to sign up to help in the booth or with set up or clean up, or by taking cash and checking ID’s.
We will again participate in the beach clean-up this year. Save the third Saturday in September!
Susan Nemitz and Cindy Jackson from the library system were both here at the club to speak to us today. They were both active in getting measure S passed and are bringing our libraries up to date with these funds. We voted for 67 million dollars for the libraries to be modernized and rebuilt. However, it is not enough to do what they need to do and now they are raising funds for each separate project.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
Rachel Kippen was our speaker today. She is the newly appointed director for O’Neill Sea Odyssey and she spoke on the importance of diversity in environmental issues and plastic pollution in the ocean, especially focusing on Monterey Bay. She has worked as a marine science educator for some years in various sites around California but is originally from Hawaii.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
Win announced the district conference will be May 18 and 19th at the U.S.S Hornet in Alameda. Go towww.rotarydistrict5170.org to register.
Doug announced we will be giving three scholarships to Aptos High School and three to Soquel High School seniors to be awarded at a ceremony for graduating seniors. Congratulations to all recipients!
The meeting today began with Josh Sellers, Congressman Panetta’s local congressional aide spoke to us today about what is going on in congress. The Climate Action Now act is one of the bills that the congressman sponsored and has passed in the House.It holds the president responsible for upholding the Paris Accords.
Our speakers today, Tory Del Fevero and Christina Granados are partnership specialists with the United States Census Bureau. They spoke about the importance of participating in the 2020 census.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
Win announced the district conference will be May 18 and 19th at the U.S.S Hornet in Alameda. Go towww.rotarydistrict5170.org to register.
The fundraiser was a huge success raising approximately $40,000 for Second Harvest and our community grants. Thanks to all of you who worked so hard to make it a success. (P.S. If you have made a pledge or need to pay for a silent auction item remember to turn the money into Michele as soon as you can!)
Doug announced we will be giving three scholarships to Aptos High School and three to Soquel High School seniors. Congratulations to all recipients!
Sheila Willey was our speaker today. She is the artistic director of opera at UCSC. She also appears with Santa Cruz Chamber Players and other local groups and has sung diverse roles throughout the Bay area. She is currently preparing the Pirates of Penzance which is opening May 30th.
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
Win announced the district conference will be May 18 and 19th at the U.S.S Hornet in Alameda. Go towww.rotarydistrict5170.org to register.
The fundraiser was a huge success raising approximately $40,000 for Second Harvest and our community grants. Thanks to all of you who worked so hard to make it a success. (P.S. If you have made a pledge or need to pay for a silent auction item remember to turn the money into Michele as soon as you can!)
Keith announced that his party on Cinco de Mayo will be on a cold day so dress warmly. There is not a lot of parking: carpool if you can.
Sandy introduced Alexy Munishkin who is the Piatt fellow for this year and a graduate of SCHS and UCSC. He spoke about safe navigation of autonomous vehicle (or self-driving vehicles!).
Today's program was Dr. Paul Hoffman - Understanding and Using Medical Marijuana
Announcements:
Sending healthy and positive thoughts to President Pam!
Cinco De Mayo party at Keith's house...make sure you RSVP
Sign up to attend the Lacy J Dalton Concert hosted by Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley Rotary Clubs
Roast of John Laird - Fundraiser benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank and other local charities. - April 26th. Sign up online under events on our website or Second Harvest's website. We are still looking for Sponsors and silent auction items. Our live auction looks fantastic!
We will be having our major fundraiser April 26th to benefit Second Harvest. It will be a roast of John Laird.It should be very entertaining. Save the date and plan to attend.
Our Polio Plus campaign begins on the first of March and runs thruApril 30th. The goal is for every Rotarian to donate $50. This will be matched on a 2:1 basis by the Gates foundation.
April 6th is the district training assembly from 8-2 at the Biltmore hotel in Santa Clara. See Doug for more information.
April 14th is the Lacy J. Dalton concert at Roaring Camp in Felton. It begins at 1:00 and ends at 5:00. Tickets will be available on line thru the Scotts Valley Rotary website. There is a rumor that if come you will see our own Thomasjohn on the bass!!
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
We will be having our major fundraiser April 26th to benefit Second Harvest. It will be a roast of John Laird.It should be very entertaining. Save the date and plan to attend.
Wed Feb 20th from 4:00 to 7:00 will be Aptos area Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase. We will have a booth there. If you signed up to help, please be there.
Our Polio Plus campaign begins on the first of March and runs thruApril 30th. The goal is for every Rotarian to donate $50. This will be matched on a 2:1 basis by the Gates foundation.
April 6th is the district training assembly from 8-2 at the Biltmore hotel in Santa Clara. See Pam for more information.
The Area 7 speech contest will be Mar 6th at SLV high school at 3:30 in the afternoon. Come and support our winner Holden Barker!
Mar 15th is Rotary Day at the Warriors. A link will be posted on the Santa Cruz Rotary website for ticket purchase. .
April 14th is the Lacy J. Dalton concert at Roaring Camp in Felton. It begins at 1:00 and ends at 5:00. Tickets will be available on line thru the Scotts Valley Rotary website. There is a rumor that if come you will see our own Thomasjohn on the bass!!
The club has changed the schedule for our community grants awards this year. We will delay the grant awards until fall of 2019 so that we can determine the exact amount of funds we have to distribute. Watch this site for more information.
Today was our area speech contest. Participants included: from Soquel High School Annie Nigh, Sophie Nigh, Stuart Morse, Maddie Piona, Roxie Harris, Aliya Ware, and Stella Gordon and from Aptos High: Emily Marschall Niswonger and Holden Barker. The winners were: third place ($50) Maddy Piona, second place $(100) Annie Nye and first place ($200) Holden Barker.Congratulations to all participants for a job well done!
Michelle reminded us that we will be having our major fundraiser April 26th. It will be a roast of John Laird.It should be very entertaining.
February 14th will be the speech contest for high school seniors in the area. ] Please come early that day, no later than noon. We may have as many as 10 contestants so we will need every minute! If you are a volunteer, come a bit earlier.
There will also be a board meeting on the 14th. Because of the speech contest it will begin at 10:30 and end promptly at 11:30.
Wed Feb 20th from 4:00 to 7:00 will be Aptos area Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase. We will have a booth there. You can sign up to help with Doug Deaver.
Our speaker today was Peggy Pollard who spoke to us about the Rotary safari to Kasese Uganda. It is part of a Rotary Global Grant for clean water. The trip is planned to be this April from the 1st – 15th.
Michelle reminded us that we will be having our major fundraiser April 26th. It will be a roast of John Laird.It should be very entertaining.
February 14th will be the speech contest for high school seniors in the area. Save the date! Doug will send around a sign-up sheet to assist.
There will be a meeting of the club foundation on Jan 31st at 11:00. That same day there will also be a meting of the community grant committee at 10:00 AM. All are welcome to come.
Wed Feb 20th from 4:00 to 7:00 will be Aptos area Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase. We will have a booth there. You can sign up to help with Doug Deaver.
Our speaker today was Nima Jafarian. He is the co-founder of ACI research labs. He has over 10 years of experience in R and D and multiple graduate degrees. He spoke today about a new method of cognitive assessment that he has developed recently that can be accessed by your cell phone.
Michelle reminded us that we will be having our major fundraiser April 26th. It will be a roast of John Laird.It should be very entertaining.
February 14th will be the speech contest for high school seniors in the area. Save the date! Doug will send around a sign-up sheet to assist.
The Aptos Times will be doing an article on RotaCare. Look for it!
There will be a meeting of the club foundation on Jan 31st at 11:00. That same day there will also be a meting of the community grant committee at 10:00 AM. All are welcome to come.
Wed Feb 20th from 4:00 to 7:00 will be Aptos area Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase. We will have a booth there. You can sign up to help with DougDeaver.
Margaret Putnam-Pite, LCSW was our speaker today (pictured at right above). She has spent many years in the field of palliative care (which includes hospice) and has now opened a private practice in this field. The goal of her practice is improving quality of life for those affected by a life-threatening illness.
Michelle reminded us that we will be having our major fundraiser April 26th. It will be a roast of John Laird. It should be very entertaining.
Today was Keith’s 93 birthday! We wish him a lovely day!
February 14th will be the speech contest for high school seniors in the area. Save the date!
The Aptos Times will be doing an article on RotaCare. Look for it!
Brenda announced that Rising International could use help with bookkeeping. It you can help, speak to Carmel Jud at (831-429-RISE)
Today’s speaker was Lew Jennings (on the right above) author of 19 minutes to live: Helicopter combat in Vietnam, a memoir of his years there. The title refers to the average time to live for a helicopter pilot in the worst days of the war. Lew flew over 700 combat missions. He gave us a review of the use of helicopters in warfare as well gripping stories of life on the battlefield.
Next week there will be a board meeting at 11:00. Among other items we will be discussing community grants and the fundraiser.
Michelle announced that we will be having our major fundraiser April 26th. It will be a roast of John Laird.It should be very entertaining.
Our speaker today, Rick Bar, (pictured above with past president Pam Goodman) is the area director for account management from Kaiser Permanente. He has several advanced degrees including one in international business administration and is on the board of directors of the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Art announced we will have another weed pulling day. He will send out details in e-mail.
Craig Matthews today received his blue badge.
William Gray received his Paul Harris-plus-Four pin today. Congratulations Bill!
We received our DDF award today! Approximately half of the money will go to Rotacare and half to Rising International. This is a cooperative project and you will hear more about our contributions of time and labor in the future.
Next week (December 27th) is dark! See you in two weeks (Jan 3rd). Happy holidays to all!
Carmel Judd spoke to us today about Rising International (on the right above with supportive club member Kendra Cleary). It began 20 years ago focusing internationally on human trafficking , then tackled human trafficking here in our own community.
Keith reminded us that the annual Christmas party will be December 2nd at his house at 4:00.
Remember your Rotary Foundation pledges are due in November but you can pay up till December 15th. See John Fisher.
Dr. Art announced we will have another weed pulling day. He will send out details.
Taylor Brevis from Congressman Panetta’s office gave us a legislative update. She said the Congressman is focused on the farm bill. She also spoke about his focus on the need to have a budget and not a government shutdown. In the new session, they will renew the voting rights act. The first piece of legislation will be on conflict of interest laws. It will focus on reining in dark money in politics. Other issues to be addressed in the new session will be lowering prescription drug prices, immigration reform and environmental protection.
We had two red badge speakers today. The first was Trish Glassey. She was born in Hawaii then moved to California. She did undergraduate work at UCSC and graduate work at Univ of Michigan and worked in politics and program analysis for many years, among them as an aide for Leon Panetta! Welcome Trish!
Matt Wetstein , our second red badger, also worked in politics as an aide for Paul Simon.His dissertation was on abortion politics in the U.S and it turned into a book on abortion rates in the U.S., one of the first studies to look at all fifty states.He is in his ninth month as President of Cabrillo College and loves it and loves being here. Welcome Matt!
Keith announced that the annual Christmas party will be December 2nd at his house at 4:00. Please sign up on the sign-up sheet and indicate how many in your party.
Remember your Rotary Foundation pledges are due in November. See John Fisher to pay.
Sandy introduced our Piatt fellow from UCSC, Alexey Munishkin. He is a post grad student in the field of electrical and computer engineering department. He is studying programming related to robotics and automation and how to incorporate safety and time efficiency into areas such as air traffic control and automotive guidance systems.
Remember next week is dark for Thanksgiving!
Chris Figureida was here today to speak about Cycle for the Heart, a program of Heluna Health, part of the American Heart Association. He described for us his first cross country ride.
Keith announced that the annual Christmas party will be December 2nd at his house at 4:00. Please sign up and indicate how many of you are coming.
Kate announced that the symphony league’s big fundraiser home tour will be December 1st and 2nd. See her for tickets….
Next Thursday is the Foundation Board Meeting at 11:00.
Remember your Rotary Foundation pledges are due in November. See John Fisher to pay.
Next Thursday November 15th there is a fundraiser for Rising International at the tech museum in San Jose. A special price for Rotarians has been set at $125. If you wish to go see Pam or Doug.
Our speakers today were Cynthia Chase and Sgt. Karen Wells from the re-entry and rehabilitation Rountree facility in Watsonville.The new facility was opened in July of this year. The facility is funded by AB 109 and SB 1022 for “prison realignment”.
This Saturday November 3rd the club will be doing weeding at the The Farm Park in Soquel, a project for the restoration of Native Plants. The park is up from Soquel Drive (near Fairway). Go north on Harden, then to the right on Tee. This will replace our usual beach clean-up.
There is a club board meeting on November 8th at 11:00. All are welcome. We will be hearing a presentation about the Capitola library.
Keith announced that the annual Christmas party will be December 2nd at his house. Please sign up on the sign-up sheet and indicate how many you of you are coming.
Kate announced that the home tour will be December 1st and 2nd for th symphony league’s big fundraiser.See her for tickets….
Today our club heard a presentation from two political science professors from Cabrillo College. Cabrillo President Matt Wetstein introduced Rory 0’Brien and Nick Rowell from the Department of Political Sciences. Dr. O’Brien focuses on forces in American politics and served two terms as faculty president.Dr. Rowell teaches courses on comparative government and has a research focus on Latin American politics.
We will be doing weeding at the The Farm Park in Soquel, a project for the restoration of Native Plants. The park is up from Soquel Drive (near Fairway). Go north on Harden, then to the right on Tee. It will be Saturday November 3 at 9:00 AM. This will replace our usual beach clean-up.
Today the club was welcomed at the Seaside company where Wes Walker gave us a presentation about the Seaside company and the security division and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The dedication for Leo’s Haven will be Oct 13th. The address is 1975 Chanticleer Ave and the festivities will take place from 10:00 to 2:00. If you signed up to help set up please arrive by 8:30.
We will be doing weeding at the The Farm Park in Soquel, a project for the restoration of Native Plants. The park is up from Soquel Drive (near Fairway): north on Harden, then to the right on Tee. It will be Saturday November 3 at 9:00 AM. This will replace our usual beach clean-up.
Friday Oct 26th will be the date for the dinner honoring our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s Woman of the Year. Make checks out to Aptos Seascape for $85 and give them to Doug to reserve our table.
Our district governor Tim Lundell was our speaker today. He was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and came to California in 1972 to attend law school at Santa Clara University, and to start a law practice which continues today.
The dedication for Leo’s Haven will be Oct 13th. The address is 1975 Chanticleer Ave from 1 and the festivities will take place from 10:00 to 2:00
We will be doing weeding at the The Farm Park in Soquel, a project for the restoration of Native Plants. The park is up from Soquel Drive (near Fairway): north on Harden, then to the right on Tee. It will be Saturday November 3 at 9:00 AM. This will replace our usual beach clean-up.
The District Governor’s visit is scheduled for Oct 11th. We will meet in the big room that day.
Friday Oct 26th will be the date for the dinner honoring our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s Woman of the Year. Make checks out to Aptos Seascape for $85 and give them to Doug to reserve our table.
Sandie will be honored by the Volunteer Center for a "Be the Difference" award at a luncheon at the Coconut Grove on Wed, Oct 24, 11:30. If interested in going see Pam.
Remember to turn in your Rotary Foundation Pledge Cards to John Fisher in the next two weeks! We would like to have them turned in before the district governors visit!
Peggy Townsend was our speaker today. She writes for UCSC and is a former Sentinel journalist. She is currently a mystery writer and spoke to us today about her career transition. The title of her first book is See Her Run.
Come and participate in the Sunrise Rotary bike ride event for Leo’s Haven on Saturday Sept 29th or help with clean-up on Saturday October 6th. The dedication itself will be at the park at 1975 Chanticleer on October 13th from 10:00 to 2:00
We will be doing weeding at the The Farm Park in Soquel, a project for the restoration of native plants. The park is up from Soquel Drive ,north on Harden, right on Tee. It will be Saturday November 3 at 9:00 AM. This will replace our usual beach clean-up.
Avenues of Service will be on Oct 4th from 4:00-9:00. The club will pay the fee of $49.50 if you wish to go. See Pam for more information.
The District Governor’s visit is scheduled for Oct 11th. We will meet in the big room that day.
Friday Oct 26th will be the date for the dinner honoring our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s Woman of the Year. Make checks out to Aptos Seascape for $85 and give them to Doug to reserve our table.
Sandie will be honored by the Volunteer Center for a "Be the Difference" award at a luncheon at the Coconut Grove on Wed, Oct 24, 11:30. If interested in going see Pam.
Dr. Art will be bringing flu vaccine the next few weeks for those both over and under 65.
Sept 29th will be the Freedom and Watsonville Rotary Clubs Burrito Bash at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.There will be great food and entertainment. Go and support our neighbor clubs!
Remember to turn in your Rotary Foundation Pledge Cards to John Fisher in the next two weeks! We would like to have them turned in before the district governor's visit!
Cindy Jackson spoke to us today about the state of the libraries. She is on the Friends of the Library board at the La Selva Beach branch .
Come and participate in the Sunrise Rotary bike ride event for Leo’s Haven on Saturday Sept 29th or sign up with Doug to help with clean-up on Saturday October 6th. The dedication itself will be at the park at 1975 Chanticleer on October 13th from 10:00 to 2:00
Avenues of Service will be on Oct 4th from 4:00-9:00. The club will pay the fee of $49.50 if you wish to go. See Pam for more information.
The District Governor’s visit is scheduled for Oct 11th. We will meet in the big room that day.
Friday Oct 26th will be the date for the dinner honoring our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s Woman of the Year. Make checks out to Aptos Seascape for $85 and give them to Doug to reserve our table.
Dr Art will be bringing flu vaccine the next few weeks for those both over and under 65.
Sept 29th will be the Freedom and Watsonville Rotary Clubs Burrito Bash at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.There will be great food and entertainment. Go and support our neighbor clubs!
Remember to turn in your Rotary Foundation Pledge Cards to John Fisher in the next two weeks! We would like to have them turned in before the district governor's visit.
Assemblyman Mark Stone, the assemblyman for District 29 which includes Santa Cruz Count was our speaker today (On the right in photo above). He is in his third term. He is the chair of the judiciary committee and on several other committees including banking and finance.
Come and participate in the Sunrise rotary bike ride event for Leo’s Havenon Saturday Sept 29th or help with clean-up the week before the dedication on October 13th. Clean-up day will be Saturday October 6th.
Avenues of Service will be on Oct 4th from 4:00-9:00. The club will pay the fee of $49.50 if you wish to go. See Pam for more information.
The District Governor’s visit is scheduled for Oct 11th. We will meet in the big room that day.
Friday Oct 26th will be the date for the dinner honoring our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s Woman of the Year. Make checks out to Aptos Seascape for $85 and give them to Doug to reserve our table.
Dr Art will be bringing flu vaccine the next few week for those both over and under 65.
Sept 29th will be the Freedom and Watsonville Rotary Clubs Burrito Bash at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.There will be great food and entertainment. Go and support our neighbor clubs!
Aaron Lowe, the new fire chief for the Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District was our speaker today. He is from Chico and is a 24 year veteran of the Fire Service. He has also served as a member of the U.S. Forest Service’s incident management team
Come and participate in the Sunrise rotary bike ride event for Leo’s Havenon Saturday Sept 29th or help with clean-up the week before the dedication on October 13th. Sign up with Doug. More details later.
Avenues of Service will be on Oct 4th from 4:00-9:00. The club will pay the fee of $49.50 if you wish to go. See Pam for more information.
The District Governor’s visit is scheduled for Oct 11th. We will meet in the big room that day.
Friday Oct 26th will be the date for the dinner honoring our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s Woman of the Year. Save the date!
Dr Art will be bringing flu vaccine next week for those both over and under 65.
Sept 29th will be the Freedom and Watsonville Rotary Clubs Burrito Bash at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.There will be great food and entertainment. Go and support our neighbor clubs!
Dr. Julie Macecevic from the Walnut Ave Family and Women’s Center was our speaker today (pictured above with Anissa Novak). Julie is a clinical psychologist who has had years of counseling experience with women and youth. She spent 27 months as a peace corps volunteer in Morocco.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d’oeuvre to share if you wish!
Save Aug 30th for Win’s debunking. It will begin around 5:30 at Santa Cruz Yacht Club. Cost is $40 at the door. Please note: The club itself will be dark that day.
Come and participate in the sunrise rotary bike ride event for Leo’s Haven on Saturday Sept 29th or help with clean-up the week before the dedication on October 13th. See Doug for more details.
There will be an Area 7 Rotary mixer will be on Oct 9th from 5:00-7:00. There is a $5.00 fee for hors d’oeuvre and drinks. This event is just for Rotary members to get to know each other in our area.
Avenues of Service will be on Oct 4th from 4:00-9:00. The club will pay the fee of $49.50 if you wish to go. See Pam for more information.
Kent benedict spoke to us about a scholarship fund set up in the name of our dearly missed Dr. Stan Hajduk. To donate go to keck.usc.edu/giving/classof1968.
Friday Oct 26th will be the dinner for our own Michelle Bassi, this year’s woman of the year. Save the date!
Dian Corneliussen from Metavivor came to speak to us today about creating awareness for metastatic breast cancer. She is a local person who retired from the air force, after working on cases of people who did not return from Vietnam.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite to share if you wish!
Save Aug 30th for Win’s debunking. It will begin around 5:00 at Santa Cruz Yacht Club. Note: The club itself will be dark that day.
Saturday August 18th Cabrillo Stage has set aside seats for The Producers for SIRS and CAP Rotary for the 2pm matinee. If you are interested in joining us tickets are $40 each and can be ordered by calling Cabrillo Stage at (831) 479-6154.
Saturday August 25th the Derby Girls will be playing at the Santa Cruz City Auditorium at 6:45pm. General Admission tickets are $17 each and they will help coordinate a section for us. Call the box office at 831-420-5260.
Come and participate in the sunrise rotary bike ride event for Leo’s Haven on Saturday Sept 29th. They need our help with volunteers or you can ride and raise money. See Doug for more details.
There will be an Area 7 Rotary mixer will be on Oct 9th from 5:00-7:00. There is a $5.00 fee for hors d’oeuvre and drinks. This event is just for Rotary members to get to know each other in our area.
Avenues of service will be on Oct 4th from 4:00- 9:00. The club will pay the fee of $49.50 if you wish to go. See Pam for more information
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Our speaker today was Irene Van Der Zande from Kidpower, a non-profit which focuses on personal safety for kids, teens adults and seniors.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d’oeuvre to share if you wish!
Our incoming president Michelle Bassi and our Rotacare MD Dr Chandra are both on the ballot for people of the year. Please vote! The voting deadline is Aug 13th at 5:00 PM and you can vote on a paper ballot or electronically at www.aptoschamber.com.
Save Aug 30th for Win’s debunking. It will begin around 5:30 at Santa Cruz Yacht Club.
Becky Peters announced the annual memory walk to benefit Alzheimer’s Association will be Sept 22nd at Seascape Park. If you want to walk with our team, sign up with Becky or you can simply donate any amount.
Rod announced the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Save our Shores at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Congressman Jimmy Panetta.It is Saturday Sept 22nd at 6:00 PM. Cost is $175. Tickets are available at saveourshores.org/toast
Saturday August 18th Cabrillo Stage has set aside seats for The Producers for SIRS and CAP Rotary for the 2pm matinee. If you are interested in joining us tickets are $40 each and can be ordered by calling Cabrillo Stage at (831) 479-6154.
Saturday August 25th the Derby Girls will be playing at the Santa Cruz City Auditorium at 6:45pm. General Admission tickets are $17 each and they will help coordinate a section for us. Call the box office at 831-420-5260.
Today our own Sandy and Doug spoke to us about the RYLA experience. They covered the history of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, which emphasizes learning leadership qualities and skills. It began in 1959 in Australia. The first year in our district was 1983 and we have gone on from there. It now costs about $600 for each student and we are allowed to send 4 kids per year; two from Soquel High and two from Aptos High.
The next will be a board meeting at 11:00 next Thursday (Aug 9th) at Aptos Seascape. All members are welcome to attend.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d’oeuvre to share if you wish!
Our incoming president Michelle Bassi and our Rotacare MD Dr. Chandra are both on the ballot for people of the year. Please vote! The voting deadline is Aug 13th at 5:00 PM and you can vote on a paper ballot or electronically www.aptos chamber.com.
Walnut Ave Women’s Center gave us a sponsorship ticket for their fundraising brunch on Sunday Aug 12th. Let Pam or Michelle know if you wish to go.
Save Aug 30th for Win’s debunking. It will begin around 5:30 at Santa Cruz Yacht Club.
Saturday August 18th Cabrillo Stage has set aside seats for The Producers for SIRS and CAP Rotary for the 2pm matinee. If you are interested in joining us tickets are $40 each and can be ordered by calling Cabrillo Stage at (831) 479-6154.
Saturday August 25th the Derby Girls will be playing at the Santa Cruz City Auditorium at 6:45pm. General Admission ticket ($17 each) and they will help coordinate a section for us. call the box office at 831-420-5260).
Our speaker today was Cathy Cress, MSW. A graduate of UC Berkeley, she is an author and editor of the Handbook of Geriatric Care Management. She spoke today about the quality of life and bringing back joy as we age.
The next board meeting will be on Aug 9th at Aptos Seascape.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d’oeuvre to share if you wish!
Santa Cruz Sunrise Club has a project to bring water to Uganda and their trip will be in January.If interested let Dr. Art know. He also is a good source of information on all Rotary International projects. These will be e-mailed out as we receive them.
Doug announced that Aptos Chamber of Commerce will be hosting Jimmy Panetta on Tuesday Aug 14th at 11:50 Best Western Seacliff.
Our incoming president Michelle Bassi and our RotaCare MD, Dr. Chandra, are both on the ballot for people of the year. Please vote! The voting deadline is Aug 13th at 5:00 PM and you can vote on a paper ballot or electronically www.aptos chamber.com.
Walnut Ave Women’s Center gave us a sponsorship ticket for their fundraising lunch on Sunday Aug 12th. Let Pam or Michelle know if you wish to go.
Save Aug 30th for Win’s debunking. Location will be announced later.
Keisha Frost, the Chief Executive Officer from United Way was our speaker for the day. She is a University of Washington graduate who qualified for the 1996 Olympics! She came here in 2012 and was promoted to CEO of United Way this year.
There will be a board meeting on July 26th at 11:15 at Aptos Seascape.
Win’s debunking has been rescheduled for August. Watch the website for the final date.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d’ouvre to share if you wish!
Amber Lennon, one our scholarship recipients, received her check today. She spent her summer in Hawaii where she worked on a farm where to make fresh fruits and vegetables available to the Native Hawaiian community. She just graduated from Soquel High and is now going to UC Berkeley.
Dr. Art announced Santa Cruz Sunrise Club has a project to bring water to Uganda and their trip will be in January.If interested let Dr. Art know.
Jill Castagnola was our speaker for the day. She is from Wings, an organization that serves the homeless. She is an Aptos resident who taught at Chico state.
Win shared with us several thank you letters from our community grant recipients.
Walnut Ave Women’s Center has offered us a free ticket to their fundraiser which is August 12th at Chaminade as a thank you for club support. If you are interested in going see Pam.
There will be a board meeting on July 26th at 11:00 at Aptos Seascape. There are two potential openings on the board for the 2018-2019 year; if you wish to serve see Pam.
Win’s debunking has been rescheduled for August. Watch the website for the final date.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d'oeuvre to share if you wish!
Alesa Lightbourne, the author of The Kurdish Bike, a novel about Northern Iraq was our speaker today. Her book has won two international gold medals. Alesa is a UCSC graduate and local professor and has taught all over the world.
We are passing around a sign-up sheet for people to work in the Rotary booth on the fourth of July (at the world’s shortest parade!). Other than our major fundraiser, this is our only money raising effort. See Tim for more information
Richard thanked the club for their efforts on his behalf but he can no longer run the beach clean-up so he is interested in finding someone to take over. Al volunteered so go out and support him!
Win shared with us several thank you letters from our community grant recipients.
We also welcomed Matt Wetstein and Victoria Lewis, both of Cabrillo College, as new members of the club.
Win’s debunking has been postponed. It will be held later in July.
Sandra announced that the RYLA barbecue will be June the 28th at Mission Springs. See Sandra if you wish to share a ride or you can just show up. There is plenty of food.
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Sandra Wallace introduced our guest today, Chad Townsend, a doctoral student in bio-engineering at UCSC who is the recipient of our Rotary fellowship. He was a graduate of SLV high school before going to UCSC.
Today we honored the recipients of our Rotary scholarships Marisol Hernandez, Joshua Michener and Ethan Abelard (see photos below).
We will be passing around a sign-up sheet for people to work in the Rotary booth on the fourth of July (at the world’s shortest parade!).
O’Neill’s Sea Odyssey will be having a celebration next Sunday the 24th at Cowell beach and dedicating the Circle loop to Jack O’Neill. They need volunteers to help. if you can help see Michelle.
Dr. Art spoke to us about international service. He would like to hear from anyone who would like to be involved in an international projects. One is a polio project in India.Project fairs also provide another opportunity.
Win’s debunking is in two weeks here at Aptos Seascape, Thurs the 28that noon.
Sandra announced that the RYLA barbecue will be that same night (the 28th) at Mission Springs. See Sandra if you wish to share a ride or you can just show up. There is plenty of food.
Our speaker today was Jeremy Loader from Rise Against Hunger which is collaborating to end hunger. He is a local person and joined Rise Against Hunger in April of this year as program manager for the central coast.
Today was a special day for Capitola Aptos Rotary. We awarded grants totaling $18,000 to selected community groups and agencies. Awardees are pictured below. Each agency made a short presentation about the work they do in the community. They are as follows:
Cabrillo College Engineering Abroad Program 10 delegates will go abroad
to install water systems in Guatemala.This year will be a special challenge
because they are only ten miles from the volcano!
Dientes Community Dental Care serves over 10,000 patients a year
with dental care for low income and uninsured patients.
Their annual event funds free care for seniors and kids especially.
Digital Nest . is a workforce development center in Watsonville
and Salinas preparing 18-24 preparing them for r full time jobs.
40 youth have already achieved paying jobs or internships.
For Kids Foundation Monterey Bay – they offer $ for critical needs
of youth from birth to 20 years old.
They operate across three counties.
Grey Bears -promotes activity and social connections for hundreds
of people in Santa Cruz County .They glean food, about 500,000 lbs a year,
that they deliver to seniors. They also do computer refurbishing.
Helping Hands provides home repair, balance training classes
and other services for older adults and people with health care needs.
Today we awarded a check for $28,403 to Lisa Berkowitz, our local director of Meals on Wheels. She spoke about one driver who even though he is a diabetic is devoted to Meals on Wheels and drives for the organization. She stressed that our grant will keep the program running in difficult times.
Wes Hobbs Chair of the District Rotary Foundation presented an award to Dr. Art Dover for his contribution to Polio Plus. Mr. Hobbs reviewed for us how the money raised is being used. Polio has been virtually eliminated in all but two countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan) and even they have only 8 cases. They noted Rotary is making a huge impact in the world (with the help of Dr. Dover!)
We reviewed the procedures for awarding our community grants and the recipients of these awards. They include programs such as Dientes, Second Harvest, Walnut Family and Women’s Center and the Volunteer Center Helping Hands Home Repair and Literacy Programs. Next week (June 7th) we will be having our awards ceremony for the recipients. If you are one of our recipient organizations, be sure to attend. It is a wonderful day and a chance to meet other awardees, and network!
The theme for this year’s Rotary district 5170 conference is Celebrate the Past: Create the Future. It is June 1-3 at San Jose State University. You can register online at events.rotarydistrict5170.org.
Watsonville Rotary is holding a Maine Lobster Feast on Saturday June 9 2018. Tickets are $100.00. The event will be held at 5:30 at the Harvest Building on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Dr. Art Dover was named Medical Hero by the American Red Cross! If you are interested in attending his awards breakfast at Twin Lakes on June 15th let Al know.
Remember to track your volunteer hours in the community! We will begin collecting those soon.
Today the club went off site to view the spectacular JKL American Museum of Telephony in Soquel. It has the most remarkable collection of telephones throughout the ages as well as phone booths, a library, and videos reflecting the history of the telephone. It is a non-profit organization and admission is free!
The tour was led by the owner John K. LaRue and two other colleagues who between them have many years of experience working with telephone utilities both here and abroad. We all learned many things that we hadn’t known before such as the number of colors phones have come in over the years, and the history of the development of the technology.
The museum welcomes visits by the public but by invitation only. Children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information or to ask to be invited to visit contact Mr. LaRue at 831-948-2127 or john@jklmuseum.com.
The theme for this year’s Rotary district 5170 conference is Celebrate the Past: Create the Future. It is June 1-3 at San Jose State University. You can register online at events.rotarydistrict5170.org.
Watsonville Rotary is holding a Maine Lobster Feast on Saturday June 9 2018. Tickets are $100.00. The event will be held at 5:30 at the Harvest Building on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Dr. Art Dover was named Medical Hero by the American Red Cross! If you are interested in attending his awards breakfast at Twin Lakes on June 15th let Al know.
Remember to track your volunteer hours in the community! We will begin collecting those soon.
Today the club went off site to view the spectacular JKL American Museum of Telephony in Soquel. It has the most remarkable collection of telephones throughout the ages as well as phone booths, a library, and videos reflecting the history of the telephone. It is a non-profit organization and admission is free!
The tour was led by the owner John K. LaRue and two other colleagues who between them have many years of experience working with telephone utilities both here and abroad. We all learned many things that we hadn’t known before such as the number of colors phones have come in over the years, and the history of the development of the technology.
The museum welcomes visits by the public but by invitation only. Children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information or to ask to be invited to visit contact Mr. LaRue at 831-948-2127 or john@jklmuseum.com.
On May 24th we are going off site to the Museum of Telephony off Rodeo Gulch Rd. Sign up with Pam Goodman and specify your lunch if you plan to go. Meet at Beverly’s on 41st Ave at noon to carpool.
The theme for this year’s district conference is Celebrate the Past: Create the Future. It is June 1-3 at San Jose State University. You can register online at events.rotarydistrict5170.org.
Watsonville Rotary is holding a Maine Lobster Feast on Saturday June 9 2018. Tickets are $100.00. The event will be held at 5:30 at the Harvest Building on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Dr. Art Dover was named Medical Hero by the American Red Cross! If you are interested in attending his awards breakfast at Twin Lakes on June 15th let Al know.
The annual Bob Swenson memorial golf tournament will be held on June 1st at Seascape Golf Club. Cost is $160.
Get the word out about RotaCare! Fliers are available from Brenda.
Win has Pollworker applications if you wish to work on election day in June. This is a fundraiser for the club.
Remember to track your volunteer hours in the community! We will begin collecting those soon.
Today we had the Santa Cruz Derby Girls here. They’re a non-profit group celebrating their 10th year in our community. Eileen Hill is the executive director of the group. Jenny Olson and Megan Alpine were also part of the presentation. (It should be noted that all girls have their derby names as well).
On May 24th we are going off site to the Museum of Telephony off Rodeo Gulch Rd. Sign up with Pam Goodman and specify your lunch if you plan to go.
The theme for this year’s district conference is Celebrate the Past: Create the Future. It is June 1-3 at San Jose State University. You can register online at events.rotarydistrict5170.org.
The club received an application from Victoria Lewis of Cabrillo College to join the club. Her application was approved by the board. If there are comments on the application let Doug Deaver know.
If you wish to be a pollworker for the June elections and donate your fee as part of our fundraising efforts, applications are available here or call (831) 454-2060.
Watsonville Rotary is holding a Maine Lobster Feast on Saturday June 9 2018. Tickets are $100.00. The event will be held at 5:30 at the Harvest Building on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Dr. Art Dover was named Medical Hero by the American Red Cross! If you are interested in attending his awards breakfast at Twin Lakes on June 15th let Al know
Today we had the pleasure of hearing violinist Rebecca Jackson. She is a founding member of Music in May (see below) . She has performed in many marginalized communities around the world, including refugee camps. She is co-founder of Sound Impact and a graduate of Julliard and UCSC.
Soquel Interact Club will have their annual golf tournament May llth. For more information google Soquel High School Fund /Annual Golf Tournament.
The 2018 district conference is June 1st 2nd and 3rd in San Jose. You can sign up at the district website.
Next week there is a board meeting at 11:00.
On May 24th we will not be meeting here. We are going off site to the Museum of Telephony off Rodeo Gulch Rd. Sign up to go.
Our speaker today was Congressman Jimmy Panetta from the 20th Congressional District. He serves on the Ag Committee and its Nutrition and Horticultural research subcommittees as well as the House Armed Services Committee. He is the co-founder of the National Security Task Force and served on the board of the National Marine Sanctuary.
Congressman Panetta spoke about the level of confusion in the federal government at this point including things being said and things being tweeted, both substantiated and unsubstantiated. He said it can get confusing and it truly is an unprecedented time.
The Scotts Valley club announced on Saturday April 28th they will hold their fundraiser.. Lacy J. Dalton will be singing! Tickets are $40.00. You can get them at www.lacyjdalton.brownpapertickets.com.
Soquel Interact Club will have their annual golf tournament May llth. For more information google Soquel High School Fund /Annual Golf Tournament.
Three blue badges were distributed today to William Gray, Roy Morter and Dave Dematteis. Welcome to the club!
Kelly announced that his year's debunking for Win Fernald will be at June 28th here in Aptos at the Seascape golf club at lunch. The RYLA dinner will be that evening.
Our speakers today were Michelle and Alex Bell. They spoke about their trip to Botswana Africa in November 2016.
Remember our major fundraiser tomorrow, Friday April 13th! A roast for Bruce McPherson will be the highlight. Come and bring your guest(s) and prepare to bid on our silent auctions items. It should be a wonderful night!
The community grant application deadline has passed. Applications will be reviewed by the end of May and our June 7th meeting will be with the awardees.
The Scotts Valley club announced that they now meet at the Hilton on Monday at 12:15. On Saturday April 28th they will hold their fundraiser.. Lacy J. Dalton will be singing! Tickets are $40.00. You can get them at www.lacyjdalton.brownpapertickets.com.
Soquel Interact Club will have their annual golf tournament May llth. For more information google Soquel High School Fund /Annual Golf Tournament.
Our speaker today was Doug Brown with his wife Maria, the photographer who took many of the beautiful pictures we saw today. He spoke about his experiences on the Ntaba African safari.
Our application for community grants has been posted. It is on the top right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th. Please note: The application must be downloaded and filled out off-line then e-mailed in.
Remember our major fundraiser April 13th! A roast for Bruce McPherson will be the highlight! Tickets are $150. Think about business sponsorships (which come with free tickets!) and possible silent auction items! And bring a bottle of wine for our wine wheelbarrow.
April 7th is our workday at the Homeless Services Center. We need supplies (sanders and drop cloths especially) and volunteers! If you want to add your name to the list see Craig.
Rotarian of the week is Michelle for all her hard work on the major fundraiser.
Next week is a board meeting at 11:00. The week after is a foundation meeting at the same time.John Fisher announced that we still need $50 from every member for donations for Polio Plus. Contributions will be matched.
Our speaker today was Dr. Matthew Wetstein, the new president of Cabrillo College. He has a political science doctorate and started his career as a political science professor. He is the author of a number of articles. He first shared with us a little of his personal background . He comes to us from the central valley, (Stockton), after bring born in the Midwest, (East St. Louis Illinois). Then he went on to speak about Cabrillo. It currently serves 12000 students in its two sites. Sixty percent (60%) of the students are women. One in five of the students is the first in the family to attend college.
Our application for community grants has been posted. It is on the top right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
Please note: The application must be downloaded and filled out off-line then e-mailed in.
Remember our major fundraiser April 13th! A roast for Bruce McPherson will be the highlight! Tickets are $150. Think about business sponsorships (which come with free tickets!) and possible silent auction items! And bring a bottle of wine for our wine wheelbarrow.
April 7th is our workday at the Homeless Services Center. We need supplies (sanders and drop cloths especially) and volunteers! If you want to add your name to the list see Craig.
Bee announced that we have two winners in the annual Santa Cruz “Best of” survey. Lifespan was runner-up for best senior services and Kyle was runner up for best financial planner.
John Fisher announced that we need to make a $50 donation to the foundation for 100% club participation.
The Soquel High Interactors are having a fundraiser at DeLaveaga Golf Club on May 11th. It is $120 per golfer.
Our speaker today was Dr. David Smith, an accomplished athlete, author and adventurer as well as a marathon swimmer and creator of the NBC show ‘Survival of the Fittest’. He spoke about testing physical and psychological limits and the importance of getting out of one’s comfort zone.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the top right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
Remember our major fundraiser April 13th, a roast for Bruce McPherson. Tickets are $150. Think about business sponsorships (which come with free tickets!) and possible silent auction items! And bring a bottle of wine for our wine wheelbarrow.
Second Harvest needs volunteers next Saturday (March 24th) to help with food sorting.
April 7th is our workday at the Homeless Services Center. We need supplies (sanders and drop cloths especially) and volunteers! In the same vein, the Rotarian of the week is Craig Matthews for taking on this big job. If you want to add your name to the list see Craig.
John Fisher announced the Rotary Foundation was honoring Bill Witmer for his contributions.
Dean Kaufman, a Veterans Services Officer from our local Veteran’s Service Office (VS0) at 846 Front Street spoke to use today about Veteran's Benefits.
Mr Kaufman began by stressing that veterans are part of all of our lives. He first described the four branches of the VA: healthcare, financial benefits (such as the GI bill), cemeteries, and the vet center. Ours is one of the best VA’s (in Livermore) in the country due to an association with Stanford. Two other nearby clinics are Monterey and San Jose. Vets must have an honorable discharge to be eligible for this service. No computer system links them all together. However, our VSO is a county office, not affiliated with the federal VA.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the top right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
Remember our major fundraiser April 13th, a roast for Bruce McPherson. Tickets are $150. Think about business sponsorships (which come with free tickets!) and possible silent auction items! And bring a bottle of wine for our wine wheelbarrow.
April 7th is our workday at the Homeless Services Center. We need supplies and volunteers! To sign up, see Win.
We had two visitors today from the Aptos Chamber of Commerce who are doing a project getting their members to identify where they appear and we were featured today! See us on their website!
Doug announced that Jamie Walton from Aptos High won the area speech contest (as Doug said she smoked ‘em!). Now she goes on to the regional contest. Go Jamie!
Our speaker today was our own Doug Deaver ! He highlighted websites and phone apps, many of which are free, that we might find helpful.
Want to avoid robocalls? NOMOROBO is an app that makes robo calls only ring once. Similarly, HIYA is a phone app that tells you who’s calling even if you don’t have a record of them.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the top right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
Remember our major fundraiser April 13th, a roast for Bruce McPherson. Tickets are $150. Think about business sponsorships (which comes with free tickets!) and possible silent auction items! And bring a bottle of wine for our wine wheelbarrow.
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) applications are due. Awardees go to Mission Springs for a 5 day leadership camp. High school sophomores and juniors are eligible. If you know of someone who could be eligible get an application from Sandy.
April 7th is our workday at the Homeless Services Center. We need supplies and volunteers! To sign up, see Win.
Doug introduced two Interact members who spoke to us about what is happening at Soquel High. They spoke about their RYLA experience and the Fall Leadership Conference. They also did fundraisers such as gift wrapping and beach clean-up. Ahead is the Polar Plunge!
Our speaker today was Amy Ettinger, a writer who grew up in Silicon Valley. She has written about travel, parenting, health and food and these articles have been published in the New York Times as well as other publications. Today she spoke to us about her book Sweet Spot which is all about ice cream!
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the bottom right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
Rotary Night at the Warriors is March 2nd. Go to their website and enter Rotary Night Warriors Santa Cruz and the info will come up. Tickets are $41.
Remember our major fundraiser April 13th, a roast for Bruce McPherson. Tickets are $150. Save the date!
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) applications are due. Awardees go to Mission Springs for a 5 day leadership camp. High school sophomore and juniors are eligible. If you know of someone who could be eligible get an application from Sandy.
Kids Foundation of Monterey Bay is auctioning off an electric bike on Apr 21st. Raffle tickets are $10 each. See Sandy for tickets.
The area speech contest is March 3rd at SLV. Go and support our winner, Jamie Walton.
April 7th is our workday at the Homeless Services Center. We need supplies and volunteers! To sign up, see Win.
Our speaker today was from the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center. Phil Kramer, seen above with Pam Goodman, is the executive director. He comes from a high-tech background but mid-career decided instead to focus on non-profits in our community.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the bottom right corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
Rotary night at the warriors is March 2nd. Go to their website and put in Rotary Night Warriors Santa Cruz and the info will come up. Tickets are $41.
Michelle reminded us that the major fundraiser will be Friday April 13th. The committee decided it will be two-part fundraiser for our community grants and Meals on Wheels. Meetings of the fundraiser committee will be on the first and third Thursdays at 11:00. All are welcome to come.
Wednesday Feb 21st will be the Business Showcase in Aptos. The event is held here at Aptos Seascape from 4-7. We will be setting up starting at around 3:00 if you wish to help. If you have old Rotarian magazines bring them and we’ll hand them out.
Pam Goodman announced that in the month of March we have great speakers lined up. One speaker will share his experience about being in an internment camp, another will tell us about the effect of sports on society and we will be introduced to the new president of Cabrillo College. Come and bring a guest!
Sandy announced that RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) applications are due. Awardees go to Mission Springs for a 5 day leadership camp and our club pays their way. High school sophomore and juniors are eligible. If you know of someone who could be eligible get an application from Sandy.
Win gave us an update on our Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center project. It is scheduled to take place probably on April 7th,, but it may take more than one day. All Rotary clubs will participate and our club is responsible for painting tables and benches.
UCSC Rotaract will have a fundraisers for Jacob’s Heart and Digital Nest . The date is February 24 12-4 at UCSC Arboretum. Tickets are $30.
Santa Cruz Sunrise Rotary will have their annual fundraiser Saturday April 21st 2-5 PM. It is a wine tasting at the Tannery on 1060 River St. This program benefits the Santa Cruz al Salvador program which provides clean water and sanitation. For more info go to www.wine2water2018.eventbrite.com.
Save the date for the Watsonville Rotary Maine lobster fest. It is $100 on June 9th at 5:30 at the harvest building on the Santa Cruz county fairgrounds.
Today was the chapter speech contest. Talented students from area high schools (Soquel and Aptos) competed for scholarships, speaking on a variety of topics, but all incorporating the Rotary 4 way test. The third place ($50) winner was Katherine Walton, The second place winner ($100) was Annie Nye and the first place winner ($200) was Jamie Walton. Winners will compete in the area contest in April and those winners will go on to the district contest.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the right hand corner of our home page. Please e-mail applications in by April 13th.
The club speech contest is next week. We will meet in the big room.
Rotary night at the warriors is March 2nd. Go to their website and put in Rotary Night Warriors Santa Cruz and the info will come up. Tickets are $41.
Michelle announced that the major fundraiser will be Friday April 13th. The committee decided it will be two-part fundraiser for our community grants and Meals on Wheels. Meetings of the fundraiser committee will be on the first and third Thursdays at 11:00. All are welcome to come.
Wednesday Feb 21st will be the Business Showcase in Aptos. The event is held here at Aptos Seascape from 4-7. We will be setting up starting at around 3:00 if you wish to help.
Our speaker today was Mary Edmund who is the executive director from CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams). It is based on the theory of neighbors helping neighbors. It is run by the CERT Auxiliary, a local non-profit. Our branch is associated with the Aptos La Selva Fire District.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the bottom right corner of our home page. Please e-mail in applications by April 13th.
John Fisher awarded Karen her five star Paul Harris Pin!
There will be a board meeting next week at 11:00.
Rotary night at the warriors is March 2nd. Go to their website and put in Rotary Night Warriors Santa Cruz and the info will come up. Tickets are $41.
Michelle announced that the major fundraiser will be Friday April 13th. The committee decided it will be two part fundraiser for our community grants and Meals on Wheels. Meetings will be on the first and third Thursday at 11:00.
Wednesday Feb 21st will be the Business Showcase in Aptos. The event is held here at Aptos Seascape from 4-7. Doug has a volunteer sign-up sheet to help promote Rotary that night.
Jessica Bukowinski, outreach coordinator for Village Santa Cruz was our speaker today. They are a network of Santa Cruz County residents who are working to support aging in place by providing asocial connections, intergenerational interaction and practical assistance.
Please note: The online application for community grants has been posted. It is downloadable from the bottom right corner of our home page.
Please return your application via email by April 13th.’
John awarded Michelle Bassi a Polio Plus pin for her contributions.
If we have eligible contestants, the speech contest will be held February 15th. Sign up to help with judging, scoring or greeting.
Wednesday Feb 21st will be the Business Showcase in Aptos. The event is held here at Aptos Seascape from 4-7. Doug has a volunteer sign-up sheet to help promote Rotary that night.
RYLA applications are out now. Get them from Sandra if you know of students who are eligible (freshman, sophomores or juniors in high school).
June 23-27th is the international convention this year in Toronto.
Our three speakers today were from the Santa Cruz County Bird Club. Stephanie Singer is a board member. Lisa, the president of the bird club was the second presenter. Third, was Alex Rinkert who conducts bird research and habitat restoration and has led more than 200 birding trips.
Rotary Warrior night will be March 2nd. Find it on the internet by putting in Rotary Warriors Santa Cruz for tickets.
The speech (the club only) contest will be February 15th. Sign up to help with judging, scoring or greeting.
Wednesday Feb 21st will be the Business Showcase in Aptos. The event is held here at Aptos Seascape from 4-7. Doug has a volunteer sign-up sheet to help promote Rotary that night.
RYLA applications will go out later this month. Get them from Sandra if you know of students who are eligible (freshman, sophomores or juniors in high school).
The Rotaract club is holding its 2nd annual large scale fundraiser on February 24th which will support Jacobs Heart and Digital Nest. It will be from 12-4 at the UCSC arboretum. For more information or tickets go to rotaractfair.eventbrite.com. They also have individuals available for tasks around your house as another fundraiser.
Applications will be on the website for community grants by the end of January. April 13th will be date to turn in the applications.
Taylor spoke to us about happenings at Congressman Panetta’s office and what their actions have been this past year. He has been working on issues such as health care, immigration and preventing oil drilling off our coast.
John Fry was our speaker today. He has an MBA and a PhD and has a construction group CDN Crocker Frye. He has many years of community service and is currently developing Founder’s Markets neighborhood grocery stores. He has just completed a year of service on the grand jury and spoke to us about that today.
Next Thursday the 18th is the Foundation Board Meeting at 11:00.
Michelle announced that Friday April 13th will be the date for roasting Bruce McPherson. The first fundraising meeting is to determine whether we will focus on one non-profit or fund our ongoing community programs
Our club will be helping to paint and/or refinish benches and tables at the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center in the upcoming year. Stay tuned for more details.
Rotarians of the week are the Pam and Bee for putting together our programs!
Rotary Warrior night will be March 2nd. Find it on the internet by putting in Rotary Warriors Santa Cruz for tickets.
The speech (the club only) contest will be February 15th. Sign up to help with judging, scoring or greeting.
Wednesday Feb 21st will be the Business showcase in Aptos. The event is held here at Aptos Seascape from 4-7. Doug has a volunteer sign-up sheet to help promote Rotary that night.
CASA Friends luncheon will be February 7th.
RYLA applications will go out later this month. Get them from Sandra if you know of students who are eligible (freshman, sophomores or juniors in high school).
Paul Harris plus foundation pin went to Brenda Mee today.
Our speaker today was Gail Pellerin, pictured above with Bee Peters. She is Santa Cruz County Registrar of Voters. She manages all the elections conducted in the county and does civil marriages and voter registration as well as many other responsibilities. She covered a number of new laws concerning voting as well as what is upcoming in the two 2018 elections.
Next Thursday the 11th is the board meeting at 11:00 and the following Thursday is the foundation board meeting.
John Fisher announced that Richard is the recipient of his second thousand dollar pin.
Michelle announced that Friday April 13th will be the date for roasting Bruce McPherson. The first fundraising meeting is to determine whether we will focus on one non-profit or fund our ongoing community programs
Win spoke about the President’s dinner. He told us there were only 20 new cases of polio last year.. a huge accomplishment for Rotary International. We are also going to start tracking our volunteer hours.
Our club will be helping to paint the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center in the upcoming year. Stay tuned for more details.
Dr. Art announced that the flu epidemic has come to California and it is still possible to get a flu shot.
Sandra reminded us the RYLA applications will be out soon. Let her know if you are aware of Soquel and Aptos high school kids who might be interested.
Jacob Martinez from Digital Nest was our speaker today. They have recently added a second center and are now in Salinas as well as Watsonville. 1700 kids have now participated in their program since its inception 3 years ago. This is one of the projects funded by Capitol Aptos Rotary through our community grants program.
The Rotary International dinner for our district is on January 3rd. It is $90 and is at 6:00 at the Double Tree Inn in San Jose. See Win to sign up.
UCSC Rotaract students are fundraising for Digital Nest and Jacobs Heart. We are invited to join with them to help raise money for these two causes. They will keep us informed as to time and place.
There will be a memorial for Anne McCallum on December 22nd from at her home on 225 Waughs street.
Thomas John went to the Interact club and reported back on their activities. They are doing a coat drive a food drive and a Christmas gift wrap to raise money.
Michelle reminded us of our major fundraiser which will be at the end of April or beginning of May. Live auction funds will go to community grants for their disbursement. The fundraiser itself will support one organization to be selected.
Today the club was thrilled to have the Higher Ground quartet playing to get us into the Christmas spirit. They played Christmas songs and southern gospel music. See our Facebook link for the live performance!
Jo announced there is a party on December 10th at 8:00 in Whole Foods Capitola.
Laura and Doug are our Rotarians of the week for getting our grant requests in and accepted!
The Rotary International dinner for our district is on January 3rd. It is $125 and is at 6:00 at the Double Tree Inn in San Jose. See Win to sign up.
For board members, remember the board meeting on the 14th.
Keith’s party is on the 10th. Please share a ride if you can.
UCSC Rotaract students are fundraising for Digital Nest and Jacobs Heart. We are invited to join with them to help raise money for these two causes. They will keep us informed as to time and place.
Taylor Brevis from Jimmy Panetta’s office updated us on the news from Washington.
Marine biologist Doris Welch from Sanctuary Cruises was our speaker today. They do whale watching trips on the Monterey Bay. She began her work at Long Marine Lab but left to do sanctuary cruises.
Aptos and Soquel Interact are doing a beach cleanup on Nov 18th Seascape Beach at 9:15 by the trestle. We are strongly urged to go! In case of rain, people are still planning to go.
Doug announced that Scotts Valley Rotary is putting together a fundraiser for Leo’s Haven (a Johnny Cash tribute band) Friday Dec 1st.
Keith reminded us of his annual Christmas party on the first Sunday of December (the 3rd). No need to bring anything but do RSVP to Keith.
Whole Foods is having a Holiday by the Sea. Charge is 2.00 and the $$ will go to Second Harvest. It will be Dec 10th at 8-10 PM.
Doug announced that our DDF allocation is $2000 RotaCare and $3000 to Leo’s Haven. We need some active Rotary involvement for these funds.
Kate announced the Symphony Home Tour. Tickets are $40 each. There is also a launch party for $25. Kate is offering a buy-one-get-one-free-deal on those!
We are dark next week! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Paddy Brady was our speaker today. He is from His to Offer (H2O) African outreach. He is 3rd generation Santa Cruz and worked in NASA and the Air Force and Lockheed.
Aptos and Soquel Interact are doing a beach cleanup on Nov 18th. We are strongly invited.
Doug announced that Scotts Valley Rotary is putting together a fundraiser for Leo’s Haven (a Johnny Cash tribute band) Friday Dec 1st.
John Fisher awarded Eric a Paul Harris plus 3 pin today He also reminded us we all need to make a donation to the rotary foundation! For every $25 we contribute to the foundation, we get a chance at a free trip to Toronto next year.
Keith reminded us of his annual Christmas party. First Sunday of December as always. No need to bring anything but do RSVP to Keith.
Rotaract is raising money for Digital Nest and Jacob’s Heart. See Al if this is something you would like to help with.
Dominican Hospital Foundation has a presidential luncheon on Dec 17th with a silent auction and a gala on the 18th. If interested see Win.
Homeless services center needs things done to it. A number of clubs thinking about doing a special project there for a couple of days.. maybe a work project. More info to come.
We had an absent speaker today (unavoidable flat tire!) so Thomasjohn Wells Miller bravely volunteered on the spot to give his very entertaining Red Badge talk today.
The Aptos Chamber dinner honoring our own Doug Deaver as man of the year will be Oct 27th at Aptos Seascape.
Eric reminded us about the joint shoe project with Catalina Rotary where shoes that ‘grow’ go to kids in Mexico. Let Eric know if you’re interested and wish to contribute.
Art reported back from Seattle for World Polio Day. This year only 12 cases of polio in the world remain.The Campaign has prevented 16 million children from being crippled. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain target areas.
Aptos and Soquel Interact are doing a beach cleanup on Nov 18th.We are strongly invited.
Doug announced that Scotts Valley Rotary is putting together a fundraiser for Leo’s Haven (a Johnny Cash tribute band) Friday Dec 1st.
The Jewel Theater artistic director Julie James spoke (and sang!) to us today. Founded in 2005 as a non-profit, the theater is located at the River Street Salz Tannery Arts Center. They are now the resident theater company at Colligan Theater where they opened in 2015.
Pam Goodman reminded us of the Aptos Chamber dinner honoring our own Doug Deaver as man of the year. It will be Oct 27th at Aptos Seascape. Ticket cost is $85.
Dr. Art will be providing flu shots to club members during October. For a shot, stay after the meeting.
John Fisher announced that the Rotary Foundation is 100 yrs old this year. Every Rotarian should make a contribution this year small or large to support our Annual World Polio Plus day.
Pam Goodman awarded a basket from the Alzheimer’s Fundraiser to Lynette Cleland.
Eric announced a fundraiser for kids who don’t have shoes from Catalina Island Rotary. The shoes which grow with the child will be delivered to Ensenada in January. If you would like to contribute see Eric. The cost of the shoes is around $13.
Win announced a New Zealand tour. See him and he’ll get you the info.
Win announced a program called “Not in our Town” at Semper Recital Theater at Cabrillo College Oct 26th at 7:00 to discuss resolving anti-immigration differences in our community.
Rob introduced Jessica Ridgeway. In 2007 she received an MS in Environmental and Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. She helped to found Farm Discovery at Live Earth in 2008. They run nine different programs for students throughout the year about growing food, including a summer camp, an immersion program that includes a sleepover and an art camp. The goal is to improve consumption habits.
Becky Peters reminded us of the Aptos Chamber dinner honoring our own Doug Deaver as man of the year. It will be Oct 27th at Aptos Seascape. Ticket cost is $85.
October 7th at 7:30 am will be the annual second harvest barrel wrap. Contact Doug Deaver for more information.
Dr. Art will be providing flu shots to club members during October. For a shot, stay after the meeting.
Club congratulations to Dr. Art Dover (see above) on receiving the major donor level 3 award, the first one in our club from the major gift officer for Zone 26. We also found that our club has contributed over $500,000 to polio plus!
Today Amy East, Ph.D. (pictured above) spoke to us talk dam removal. She is with USGS, providing earth science information to the public. Her specialty is in rivers. Entitled Dam and Blast, she spoke about watersheds and restoring rivers by removing dams.
Pam Goodman reminded us of the Aptos Chamber dinner honoring our own Doug Deaver as man of the year. It will be Oct 27th at Aptos Seascape. Ticket cost is $85.
The UCSC founder dinner will be this month with J Herman Blake as the honored guest. See Michelle for more info.
October 7th at 7:30 am will be the annual second harvest barrel wrap. Sign up with Doug.
Dr. Art will be providing flu shots to club members during October. For a shot, stay after the meeting.
Pam Goodman introduced our speaker today. His name is Dan White and he is the author of a book entitled Under the Stars on America’s love affair with camping. Reviewed as the definitive book on camping in America, he also wrote The Cactus Eaters.
Rich announced that the beach clean-up went well. Ten people participated and picked up many bags of trash!
Eric is organizing a series of Rotary fund-raising dinners focusing on wild game and needs to have a count by this Friday. Sign up now if you wish to be on the invitation list.
Pam Goodman reminded us of the Aptos Chamber dinner honoring our own Doug Deaver as man of the year. It will be Oct 27th at Aptos Seascape. Ticket cost is $85.
Pam Arnsberger announced that Oct 18th is the Senior Solution Summit. See her if you are interested in addressing senior issues and she will provide you with the registration information. Cost is $20 to cover the cost of lunch.
Our speaker today was Dr. Bruce Jaffe from UCSC. He spoke about near shore hydrodynamics with an emphasis on catastrophic events. He began by asking us about the highest Tsunami event which was in Alaska in 1958. The most deadly tsunami was in Indonesia where over 220,000 people were killed. The oldest tsunami that we know of happened 60 million years ago and helped to wipe out the dinosaurs.
The beach clean-up is on this Saturday Sept 16th. It will be at 9:00 AM at Beer Can Beach. Rich will be there is his red Prius to meet you.
Doug Deaver announced that this Friday Sept 15th there will be a flash mob at Rancho del Mar food mall. Go there to support our local businesses! There will be other events around this issue so stay tuned!
There will be a dinner at Aptos Chamber of Commerce honoring Doug Deaver’s election as Man of the Year. The dinner will be Oct 27th and tickets are $85. The event will be at Aptos Seascape. See Pam Goodman to get a ticket.
Our speaker today was Holly Blue Hawkins. She is from the Integral Thanatology Institute and is a counselor who does needs assessments and referrals and focuses on end of life issues. Today she spoke to us about Natural Deathcare Advocacy and ‘green’ burials.
Sign up with Rich for the beach clean-up on Sept 16th. It will be at 9:00 AM at Beer Can Beach.
Keith announced there will be cocktails Sept 8th at his house at 4:00.
Pam announced there is a lifespan open house at 600 Frederick St. from 11:00 -3:00 also today Friday Sept 8th.
Bee announced that she represented our club at the Abbott square opening and met people from different clubs. She said it is a fun place to go!
Our speaker today was Gabby Johnson who spoke about the Autism Family Network. She is the assistant director, but also a teacher and has been a teacher for many years. The AFN began 5 years ago and they offer programs from pre-school to middle school level.
Sign up with Rich for the beach clean-up on Sept 16th. It will be at 9:00 AM at Beer Can Beach.
Doug announced that Rancho del Mar shop owners have been given 30 days notice to vacate their premises during the new owners planned redecorating phase. This seems to make it unlikely that many of the smaller businesses can liquidate during that period of time and survive the period of redecoration.
We welcomed Thomasjohn Wellsmiller as a new member to our club today. He is an entrepreneur and musician.
Our speaker today was Rebecca Hurdis from Siena House Maternity Home of Santa Cruz County, one of the community agencies that our club supports. She has been the executive director of Siena House for the past three years and before that taught at colleges in the area.Siena House is a residential program supporting and empowering pregnant women. It was founded in 2000 by local caring individuals who in the spirit of God’s love envisioned a safe residential environment for pregnant women in need.
Sign up with Rich for the beach clean-up on Sept 16th. It will be at 9:00 AM at Beer Can Beach.
Doug announced that Rancho del Mar shop owners have been given 30 days notice to vacate their premises during the new owners planned redecorating phase. This seems to make it unlikely that many of the smaller businesses can liquidate during that period of time and survive the period of redecoration.
We welcomed Thomasjohn Wellsmiller as a new member to our club today. He is an entrepreneur and musician.
Our speaker today was Rebecca Hurdis from Siena House Maternity Home of Santa Cruz County, one of the community agencies that our club supports. She has been the executive director of Siena House for the past three years and before that taught at colleges in the area.
Sign up with Rich for the beach clean-up on Sept 16th. It will be at 9:00 AM at Beer Can Beach.
CASA’s Imagine Event will be Sunday September 10th. We have two $150 tickets available to our members for free! If you wish to go, speak to Michelle.
September 2nd is the Rotary Abbott Square event. It is at 5:30. If you can help set up or take down, please sign up on the sheet.
RotaCare thanked the club for a $3802 donation for last year. Remember those RotaCare buckets!
The Diversity Center fundraiser will be on Oct 21st. If interested see Michelle.
Dr. Art said he will be offering flu vaccines in October.
Bee introduced our speaker, Gisela Zebroski, an author who survived the Soviet Union invasion into Latvia. Her family fled west to Germany in 1945 where her father was killed in battle and the family fled to Austria. She emigrated to California with her husband where she graduated from college. She is the author ofThe Baroness and Mephisto Waltz.
Sign up for the beach clean-up on Sept 16th. It will be at 9:00 at Beer Can Beach.
Doug announced the Cabrillo Women’s Foundation luncheon will be Friday September 15th. Tickets are $100 and funds go to an emergency fund to help women students who might otherwise drop out of school.
CASA’s Imagine Event will be Sunday September 10th. We have two $150 tickets available to our members for free! If you wish to go, speak to Michelle.
This Saturday is the Membership event for Rotary in Pleasanton. See Win if you wish to go.
Cindy Balthaser was our speaker today. She has been a teacher for over 40 years. She is the former director of the SC/SVNTP (Santa Cruz/ Silicon Valley New Teacher Project).
A special welcome to Bill Witmer who is joining our club!
Come on Saturday, September 16th to the Beer Can Beach Clean-up at 9:00.
A Rotary membership program will be offered a week from Saturday in Pleasanton. Let Win know if you would like to go.
Rotary Avenues of Service is coming up October 5th at the Santa Clara Biltmore at 5:00.
Kate reported back from the library meeting. There will be an event where the friends of the library will encourage people to read a selected book and share it with children. She will keep us informed of future events.
Today was our meeting with the district governor, Orrin Mahoney. The area governor, Donna Maurello, also accompanied him. He worked for many years at Hewlett Packard as a mechanical engineer and served on the city council and finally as Mayor of Cupertino. He has a real commitment to international service and has been on many Rotary Service trips.
He spoke about a number of Rotary District 5170 issues and opportunities including international service, membership and fundraising.
Next week August 10th is our meeting with the district governor. Board members please come at 10:30. (note: we will be in our regular room)
September 16th will be the Beer Can beach clean-up at 9:00.
The Aptos Library asked us about participation in a program where people to read books and discuss them with kids. To find out more or if you want to participate, you should attend the food and wine reception on Aug 9th 5-7 at the library on Soquel Drive.
Two of our RYLA participants, Matt DeCamera and Izzi Pryce, shared with us their RYLA experience (see photo above). They were divided into 6 families with about 30 people to a family. They participated in workshops including service, band and choir, speech and debate entertainment health and wellness and sports and fitness. Their families put on a performance and planted succulents around the campus. They also worked on a project to help underprivileged women, one about mental health and appreciating themselves. The both stressed that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Two red badge members, Kyle Sharp and Craig Matthews, also shared their stories with us today.
Our district governor will be here August 10th. There will be an early board meeting that same day at 10:30.
Keith’s house tomorrow (July 21) will be the setting for a cocktail party at 4:00. All are invited! Bring munchies if you wish!
Win announced that there will be a club assembly on the 27th and a possible Facebook training.
Pam Goodman reminded us that the Walk for Alzheimer’s is September 23rd. You can donate here at our club.
Bee introduced our speakers today. They were Rob Darrow, Director of Research and Ron Indra, Executive Director from the Safe Schools Project. Established in 2004, it now reaches out to the 40,000 k-12 students in our local school districts.
Our district governor will be here August 10th. There will be an early board meeting that same day at 10:30.
The 4th of July World’s Shortest Parade Capitola Aptos Rotary Beer Booth was very busy. Tim says we netted $4552 (including tips)!
Keith announced that a week from tomorrow (July 21st) at 4:00 PM there will be a happy hour at his house.
Pam announced that the Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be the third weekend in September. She sent around the sign-up to walk and/or make donations to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.
Win announced that there will be a club assembly on the 27th and a possible Facebook training.
Karen Haralsan from Nourishing Generations spoke to use today about Linking Communities to Reverse the Rising Trend of Childhood Obesity and Diabetes. She is a certified diabetes educator and holistic nutritionist.
Our district governor will be here August 10th. Save the date!
Two of our rotary scholarship winners visited us today! One is going to the University of Santa Clara and one is going to UC Berkeley. Congratulations and best wishes to both of these young women as they move towards the future!
John Fisher reminded us to give checks to him for polio plus in order for them to be matched.
The club awarded a check for $70,000 to Leo's Haven, an accessible park, today. Oliver (center below) said it will help him because his wheelchair won't get stuck on the curb anymore!
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Sharon Pappo from the Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County was our speaker today. She is a graduate of UCSC and Berkeley. Founded in 1989,the Diversity Center is the hub of the LGBT community here.
Our district governor will be here August 10th. Save the date!
Al’s debunking will be June 22nd at Santa Cruz Yacht Club. (Remember we will be dark next week for the regular meeting!). People should park below the club and walk thru the dry boat storage and take the tram or walk up the stairs. $35 per person and remember to tip the bartender!
John Fisher reminded us to contribute $27.50 per person to the final effort to eradicate polio (Polio Plus).
Rotarian of the week is Art Dover who went to the Atlanta convention. He gave us an update. Rotary is giving 50 million a year for 3 years (and there will be a $300 million donation match from the Gates Foundation) to eradicate polio forever. Another topic was the campaign to end human trafficking. He said it was an amazing experience!
Today our speaker was Howard Heevner Asst Vice Chancellor of Alumni Engagement and Advancement Services from UCSC. He spoke about the work of UCSC in the community including efforts such as Partners in Arts and Culture with over 100 public events including the acclaimed Dickens Project. Another popular item is the Grateful Dead Archive at the UCSC library.
Rotarians of the week were all those who helped out with the music festival. We collected $1273 and $887 in tips (plus $5000) for a total net profit of $6,800.
John Fisher mentioned the district wants each member to donate $30 to Polio Plus again in June and it will be matched as before.
Al’s debunking will be June 22nd. Send Kelly an email if you plan to go. It is at Santa Cruz Yacht Club.
We received some lovely thank you notes from the recipients of our community awards.
Art said available international projects for Rotary members include two water projects (in Guatemala and Uganda) and also one in Brazil (connecting high school students with local rivers) . Let him know if you are interested in any of these!
Sign up for the Fourth of July celebration to help out at the Rotary beer and wine booth at Aptos Park. Tim and Kyle will be assigning time slots. The event goes from 10-5 so your participation would be during that time period.
Melissa Rempfer was our speaker today. She spoke on the topic. “Lead with the vision and the money will follow”. She has created two very successful businesses helping non-profits and others raise money for their work.
The honorary Rotarian of the week is Kathy our much put upon waitress! Thanks Kathy for all your service to the club!
A special guest today was our scholarship recipient from Soquel High Ellie Gressley. She is going to study life sciences at UCLA.
Al reported made about $2000 in tips at the music festival and around $7000 total. We will have a fuller report next week.
Al’s second debunking is June 22nd.
Sunrise Rotary has a run on July 4th at Harvey west park. For more information see www.firecracker10k.org. 100% of the race proceeds will go to Teen Kitchen Project and American Red Cross.
The American Red Cross will also have a “Celebrate our Community Heroes” event on Friday June 16th at 8:30 AM at Twin Lakes Church.
Mike Ahern, our featured speaker, was here today to talk about electric bicycles (E bikes). He owns Current E bikes which is a local source for quality electric bicycles and Brompton folding bikes. It is located right by Kaiser arena on Front Street.
Bee Peters received her blue badge today after being the longest red badge member in the history of the club.
Dr. Art said the Rise Against Hunger event last Sunday went well. 180 people participated and the food will go to Cambodia. 30,024 bags were filled.
Doug has the sign-up sheet for the American Music Festival. We still can use volunteers for May 27th and May 28th.
Michelle announced that net proceeds from our fundraiser last week, including the county match, should exceed $100,000.
Sunrise Rotary has a run on July 4th at Harvey west park. For more information see www.firecracker10k.org. 100% of the race proceeds will go to Teen Kitchen Project and American Red Cross.
Today community agencies received grants from Capitola Aptos Rotary. Claire and Sue made the presentations. These included Cabrillo Engineering Abroad ($500), CASA ($2000), Digital Nest ($2000), For Kids Foundation ($1000), Helping Hands ($500), Homeless Services Center ($1500), Kid Power, ($500), Learn to Discover ($1000), Literacy Program( $500), Music in May ($500), Meals on Wheels ($500), O’Neill sea Odyssey ($500), Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes ($1000), St Francis/JMJ home ($500), Safe School Project ($1000), Second Saturday Network ($500), Seymour Marine Center ($1000), Sienna House Maternity Home ($1000), Symphony League of SC ($1000).
Tomorrow, May 5th, is our annual fundraiser. Tickets are still available at $150. County Parks and Recreation will match the amount we raise, including donations at the silent auction, so come and bid! Dinner will be served at 6:45.
The postponed Stop Hunger Now barrel wrapping event will be this Sunday morning May 7th at the Boardwalk. Check with Doug Deaver for time and exact location.
We still need volunteers for the American Music Festival on May 27th and May 28th. You must be prepared to stay all day. Talk with Doug Deaver or Sandra to let them know if you are available.
Claire announced our community service award grantees. Among them were Cabrillo Engineering Abroad, CASA, Digital Nest, Helping Hands, Kid Power, Learn to Discover, Meals on Wheels, Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, The Symphony League of Santa Cruz and many more. Next week will be the awards luncheon. Come and meet the recipients!
Darryl Perkins (pictured below) spoke to us today about the move of Kaiser Permanente into Santa Cruz County. There are three new locations: Scotts Valley, downtown Santa Cruz, and Main Street in Watsonville
Rotarian of the week was Al because it is his birthday!
Michelle reminded us of our major fundraiser on Friday May 5th to benefit Leo’s Haven. We have 78 people signed up to attend. We have 7 live auctions items but could use one more. We have between 15 and 20 silent auction items but keep those coming in. Major donors can still be welcomed for one more week.
District conference annual meeting is May 6th. Saturday night is a dinner at $50 per person. See Doug Deaver to sign up.
May 7th is Stop Hunger Now at the Boardwalk. Volunteer with Doug from 10:00 am to noon.
The Music Festival will be Saturday May 27th and Sunday May 28th . We need volunteers for the 28th especially. You must be there from 9:00 to 5:00.
Saturday April 29th at Harbor High will be a presentation of the inventions that the students created. Our club donated $158 to this effort so it might be nice to see what our students accomplished.
Their first silent auction and dinner will be held by Rotaract on April 29th at 5:00 at Peace United Church on High Street. It will benefit Jacob’s Heart and Feed the Children.
Representatives of the Soquel Creek Water District spoke to us today. They spoke about replenishing mid county groundwater and the community water plan.
We were reminded that the beach clean-up is this Saturday April 8th at 9:00 AM at beer can beach.
Sandra reminded us of the music festival on memorial day weekend. We need volunteers on Saturday May 27th and Sunday May 28th. You must work all day.
Kendra announced that there is a signup sheet for the major fundraiser on May 5th. We are in desperate need of silent auction items. They should be worth at least $30 - $50 in value.
Doug announced that they are looking for a fourth on for the Dominican benefit golf game on Friday June 16th. He also reminded us that the District conference is Saturday May 6th. If you would like to go or be part of a table just for the dinner portion see Doug for details.
Pam Goodman reminded us to bring 2 bottles of wine for the auction on May 5th. Pam also reminded us that we will not meet here on April 27th, but will be going to Aptos High. Bee will take sign-ups for a sandwich lunch. They will plan some events and we will take a tour.
Doug announced that the Stop Hunger Now event is changed to Sunday May 7thth (during the district conference) at New Brighton Middle School
We need volunteers for the American Music Festival May 27th and 28th. If you wish to volunteer see Sandra.
There is a town hall meeting Saturday at New Brighton Middle School. More than 1200 people are expected. Both our representatives will be there along with John Laird and Zach Friend.
May 5th is our major fundraiser. Sign up to go at a meeting. Tickets are $150 ($100 per ticket is tax deductible). Check should be payable to the Foundation. Michelle is still looking for major sponsors, silent auction items and wine for the wine wagon/wheelbarrow.
District assembly is on April 13th at 5:00 (but we leave at 3:30). We have room for two more people in the limo. See Win if you wish to go.
Today our speaker was Mark Trabing from Habitat for Humanity. He is a local person who has a Masters Degree in community development from UC Davis and served in the Peace Corps in Jamaica.
Habitat is active in 70 countries. Locally Santa Cruz and Monterey Habitat have recently merged. They build two houses a year on average. They have two stores in Seaside and Santa Cruz where they sell lightly used items. We are the first Habitat to build affordable accessory dwelling units (ADUS).
Our annual fundraiser dinner will be May 5th from 5:30 to 9:00 PM. We will be roasting Zach Friend. Tickets are $150. We need silent auction items.
A new member was inducted today. Constantin Gehriger received a blue badge as a ‘permanent guest’ of the club.
Rotarian of the week was Tim Powell for his distribution of our elementary school books.
Win reinstated the past presidents meeting. It will meet next Thursday at 1:30 after the meeting. Foundation meeting is before next week’s meeting at 11:00.
Please sign up to volunteer for the music festival on May 27th and May 28th. You must work all day from 9:00 AM until closing. It is also possible to help with set-up on Friday. See Sandra for more information.
Pam Goodman announced that on April 27th we will not meet here but will have a tour at Aptos High School.
Sign up for beach cleanup at Beer Can beach at 9:00 AM on April 8th (a Saturday morning).
John Fisher reminded us to make our $30 donation for Polio Plus.
Sloane introduced Dr. Merrianne Burtch from Birchbark Foundation. She has practiced veterinary medicine in this area for more than 20 years. She spoke about the need for comprehensive affordable pet care and the importance of animals in research.
Richard announced beach cleanup will be April 8th at beer can beach. He will send around a sign up next week.
Area speech contest will be next week. We will be in the big room. We are expecting six contestants.
Michele announced sponsorship levels for the fundraiser. They begin at $2500 down to $500.
Al announced that Stop Hunger Now was rescheduled and will be April 29th still at New Brighton middle school.
District assembly will be April 13th from 5-9.
Doug announced homeless shelter soup supper is Thursday April 20th 5:30 to 7:30. If there is enough interest we will buy a table.
District conference will be May 6th in Santa Cruz (the day after our fundraiser!). We will talk later about whether or not we want to do a table.
Larry introduced our speaker today, Dr. Goldi Jacques Maynes, a chiropractor who focuses on wellness. Her clinic offers massage and acupuncture as well as chiropractic care. She is a local person who grew up here in Aptos.
Michelle reminded us of the need for silent auction items for our annual fundraiser for Leo’s Haven. The roast of supervisor Zach Friend will be on May 5th at the clubhouse. Sponsorships are also needed as well as bottles of wine for the wine cart.
Doug reminded us that the area speech contest will be March 16th. Winners of the club speech contests will compete in the large room. If you signed up to volunteer remember to come a bit early that day. The contest will begin promptly at 12:15.
John Fisher gave Kelly the Rotary International District 5170 award as Grand Donor for the Rotary Foundation. He also said a new program has been started. During the month of March our district is asking every Rotarian to write a check for $30 to the foundation for Polio Plus. The Bill Gates foundation will match our area’s contributions.
Our speaker today was John Presleigh, Director of the county's Department of Public Works (see photo). He spoke to us about the recovery effort and road damage from the recent storms.
Today was the annual high school speech contest at Capitola Aptos Rotary. Four students from area high schools competed anonymously speaking on a topic of their choice (see photo below).
Contestants were judged on presentation, style and content, as well as their ability to hold their audience, while incorporating Rotary values into their topic. The top ranked speaker was Annie Nigh. She spoke about the need for clean water around the world, winning a $200 scholarship. Second and third place winners won $100 and $50 scholarships respectively.
Tiffany Zachmeier of Bay Federal announced the bite of reality event a free hands on financial literacy simulation for HS seniors. It will be Friday Feb 24th 8:45-12:00 at Aptos high school. Volunteers are needed. You can contact Tiffany at 831-477-8414.
Rotarian of the Week who donated the bench at the polo grounds was Dr. Art Dover!
Michelle reminded us that our major fundraiser is May 5th. We are collecting silent and live auction items and we need a bottle of wine from everybody. Michelle will send us the form to use to recruit donors.
John Fisher announced that Bill is a Major Giver of the Rotary Foundation.
Doug announced that the club speech contest is next week Feb 23rd. We have 9-10 contestants so the meeting will start right at 12:00.
Stop Hunger Now food packaging event will be on Sat Feb 25 at 8:00 – 8:45 at New Brighton middle school.
Tim introduced our speaker today, Glenn Pomeroy from the CA Earthquake Authority a publicly managed but privately funded entity.
Bonny and Connie as well as 4 others members of Rotoract from UCSC attended our meeting today (see photos). They want to have members of our club mentor a college student. If interested please let them know. They are also asking Rotarians to give them a job and we pay them $10 an hour and the money goes to Rotoract. They will have their first fundraiser on April 29th, a silent auction with entertainment … they need donated items to auction off. If you have anything let them know!
Feb 23rd and Mar 16th will be our club and area speech contests.
Our major fundraiser is May 5th. Please let Michelle know if you have silent auction items or access to a vacation home or other exciting things. The committee meets 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 11:15.
On Feb 25th is the Stop Hunger distribution at New Brighton Middle School (across the street from St. Joseph’s) at 8:30 in the morning.
Craig introduced our speaker today, Armando Alcaraz, of his own consulting firm. He brings 10 years of experience to his chosen field of transformational leadership and communication. He is also a musician and songwriter! Today he spoke to us about the ‘magical opportunity of conflict.’
Santa Cruz Sunrise will have a winetasting live music and art auction event to turn wine to water for Africa on Feb 11th at the Tannery District conference on May 6th and 7th.
Major fundraiser is May 5th. We need live and silent auction items! Tickets will be $150 apiece or you can buy a table for $1400.
Tim reported on the book distribution. All five schools in the service area will be given Picture Me Reading books for the students.
Speech contest is Feb 23rd. Doug reminded us it will be a longer than usual meeting and you may wish to come 15 minutes early. If you signed up to volunteer remember to come! Doug will send out e-mail reminders.
Stop Hunger Now will be Saturday Feb 25th at New Brighton Middle School for a barrel wrap.
February 22nd will be the Aptos Soquel Capitola Chamber event here at the golf club from 4:00 – 7:00.
Monte Vista school needs judges for a poster contest February 24th. Let Doug know if you are interested.
John reported we have given $32,450 for the Rotary Foundation this year.
Doug introduced Mary Kashmar, our speaker today, from CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). It empowers volunteers to directly influence the lives of children in foster care by being a special advocate. They inform the courts and others as to what the child needs and what is in his/her best interests.
Win said the Rotarians of the week were Bee and Pam for all their wonderful programs.
Sandra reminded us about RYLA for sophomores and juniors in high school. She has applications with her at the meetings.
Doug asked us to sign-up to help with the speech contest(s). Club contest is on Feb 23rd and March 16th is the area contest. We will probably start closer to noon those days.
Sign up for Stop Hunger Now to stuff barrels. It will be on Sat 25th of February at New Brighton middle school. Interacters and other rotary clubs will also be involved.
Michelle reminded us the major fundraiser is May 5th. It is a fundraiser for Leo’s Haven. Live and silent auction items are needed.
She also reminded us about the Meals on Wheels Fundraiser. It will be Friday February 3rd and tickets are $60. If there is enough interest we will do a rotary table.
Our speaker today was Mary Gourlay. She spoke to us about the new development that is coming to Aptos Village in the next year. She has a master’s degree from Harvard and is a Swenson development manager who has worked in the field of community planning for the past 20 years.
Scott Turnbull spoke to us about the being the new Superintendent of Schools at the Soquel school district. He has been in education for 27 years. He comes to us from the Santa Barbara area. He spoke about the passing of Measure C and how they will now be able to replace the portable classrooms. They are actively recruiting for the citizen’s oversight committee. Sandra will have the paperwork for anyone interested.
Michelle announced Feb 3rd is a luncheon for Meals on Wheels at 11:30 at Chaminade. Called Food From the Heart, Mark Stone will be the speaker. Tickets are $60. She also announced that Sat March 4th is the crab feed fundraiser for the fair grounds. Tickets for this are also $60.
Friday May 5th is our fundraiser for Leo’s Haven. It is a roast of Zach Friend. The committee meets the first and third Thursdays before our regular meeting. Silent and live auction items needed as well as bottles of wine.
Rotary night at the warriors is $25. Al has tickets. Deadline is next Thursday.
Sandra will be putting out application soon for RYLA. Sophomore and juniors are welcome to apply. Sandra will have the applications.
Doug Deaver reminded us of the speech contest. He also announced the Stop Hunger Now package wrapping will be on Sat Feb 25th 8:00 to 11:30.
Dr. Art introduced our speaker, Robert Strayer, who is a professor of world history. He has written a number of textbooks and is teaching at local colleges and writing another textbook. He spoke to us today about Islamic fundamentalism.
Rotary Night at the Warriors will be February 3rd at 7:00. They are playing the Iowa Energy. Al has twenty tickets at $25 each if you wish to go. You’ll get a tee shirt with your ticket!
Michelle has Rotary shirts for us women! Give her your size or she will assign one. Also fundraiser meetings will be held 1st and 3rd Thursday right before the regular meeting. Start looking for silent and live auction items!
Doug said the club speech contest will be February 23rd and March 16th will be the areawide competition. We will be hosting both of them here.
We will be putting together a Stop Hunger Now event at New Brighton middle school on Saturday February 25th . It will be similar to the barrel wrap that we do. Sign up with Doug Deaver.
Al announced that the Rotary Foundation International has given away $3 billion since its inception!!
May 7th will be our area meeting at the Boardwalk.
After several serious meetings today was all about fun. Jaqueline Kabat (pictured above with Bee Peters) was with us today. She is a comedian who teaches improvisation, works with corporations to do team building and also taught at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur.
Rotarian of the week is Al for not being at this meeting
February 3RD is Rotary Night at the Warriors. See Al for tickets.
Speech contest is February 23rdiI
On Jan 3rd the International Rotary president will speak at the Doubletree Inn. We plan to get a limo to go over. It will leave at 5:00 or so.
Tim said the check has been delivered for the stop signs we donated to the Rio del Mar Parents Alliance.
Red badge requirement been reviewed (going from red to blue). New requirments are available from Al.
Keith announced that his Christmas party was a great success. He thanked Sheri de Cameron and Michelle Bagley and Art Dover for their help.
Brenda said we are going to have an ad in the Aptos Times with congratulations to them for 25 years.
Primary care provider Dr. Motyka spoke to us about the future of primary care. She is a family practice physician and a licensed acupuncturist. She has staff privileges at Dominican
She spoke about the bewildering array of challenges right now in primary care.
Al announced Rotarian of the week is Michelle Bassey for her service to the community.
International Rotary President John Germ will be at Double Tree Inn Feb 3rd
Club speech contest will be here the 23rd of February. The date for the area contest will be announced later.
December 15th will be carol singing with Sam and his band.
Tim was awarded the Paul Harris fellow 2nd level pin for his contributions to the foundation.
John announced that the club donated over $7000 this year to the Rotary Foundation and an additional amount to Polio Plus.
Keith’s Christmas party is this Sunday December 4th at 4:00. Come all and wish each other a Merry Christmas!
There is a Watsonville Band concert on Dec 11th at the Mello center at 2:00 PM free!
Today our speakers were from the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office Consumer Fraud Division. They spoke to us about current scams in our area and how to protect ourselves.
Feb 3rd is Rotary night at the Warriors. More information later.
RYLA will be June 24th thru the 30th;
We are dark next week (Nov 24th) as well as December 22nd and 29th.
Stan’s memorial service is Dec 2nd 1:00 PM at Watsonville Buddhist Temple.
John Fisher reminded us of our Foundation giving, due by the end of this November.
In memory of Veterans Day our many Veteran’s (12 in total) shared their experiences in the service, including which war they served in and where they served.
Today our own Claire McAdams and her husband, Rich, shared the story of their trip to Cuba. It was part of an exciting tour they took last spring. It was a face to face program where you really get to meet some of the people. They went to schools and senior homes, cathedrals, community centers and art studios. Claire said it was difficult to get in, but there was already a contract with Alabama rice farmers, so things will be changing.
Several Rotaract members from Santa Cruz County attended today’s meeting including their president, secretary and committee chairs. They spoke to us the Big West conference that our club helped to fund.
A roast for Zach Friend will be the major fund raiser for this year. The beneficiary will be the Chanticleer St. accessible county park for children and others with disabilities (Leo’s Haven)
Doug Deaver is the organizer for the speech contest which will be held on Feb 23rd.
We will be dark on the 22nd and the 29th of December.
Tim gave a ‘thank you’ to all of our veterans. Veteran’s Day is tomorrow!
Happy Birthday to John Fisher who will be 94 on Saturday!
Our speaker today was Bonnie Hawly who spoke about the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. It is the 40th anniversary of the state park system. In our area in Aptos we have Nisene Marks, New Brighton and Sea Cliff State Parks. In addition The Santa Cruz Mission (Holy Cross) is a State Historic Park as well as the Castro Adobe.
Kate announced it’s time for the home tour for the symphony . She has tickets for $40 each.
John Fisher announced that Foundation month is here! Make donations to him. Prizes will be available!
There is an InterAct beach cleanup is this Saturday November 5th at Trestle Beach. InterAct will be doing a barbecue afterwards.
Doug announced that if you know a junior in high school that might be interested in being a an entrepreneur let him know and he’ll give you an application for the Roatary sponsored competition.
Tricia Potts was our speaker today. She founded the Santa Cruz Playground project. It is a volunteer organization working in a public private partnership with the county. It will be at Chanticleer Park and will be our county’s first inclusive playground.
Al was the Rotarian of the week for organizing a very successful Avenue of Service trip on Oct 22nd.
Michelle announced that Digital Nest is having its 2nd birthday on Sunday, November 13th.
John Fisher announced that 19 of our members contributed $ 4,100 for annual giving to the Rotary Foundation and $15,000 for Polio Plus. November is the month to contribute!
Aptos Interact club is doing a beach clean-up at Trestle beach at 9:00 AM this Saturday.
Keith said pick up your invitation to the Christmas party. It is on December 4th at Keith’s house at 4:00. Everything is provided! Please come and bring your singing voice!
Jan Hadjuk led us in an informal memorial to Stan, her husband, who passed away two weeks ago. He was a faithful Rotary member, serving in many capacities throughout his adult life. She thanked specifically Dennis, his true blue friend, as well as Sandy, Pam Goodman, Bee, Doug and especially Al.
Today the club heard from the Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy raisers (see photo). Guide Dogs was set up after WWII for veterans. Today they serve anyone with a visual impairment. Services are provided free of charge and owners are given support the whole time they are teamed with the dog.
The dogs are born in San Rafael .They are purposely bred there; Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers and mixes of these two breeds. They then go into the home of a volunteer puppy raiser to develop socialization skills, learn to focus and work on self-control. They begin to serve at 15 to 20 months of age. They should by then be able to follow instructions and be mature.
John Fisher reminded us of Foundation giving next month.
Sandra read us a thank you note from our Soquel High Interact club for our support for the RYLA fall leadership conference.
Dr. Art will have senior flu vaccines next week.
Keith announced our Christmas party will be December 4th at 4:00. Let him know if you are coming!
Our scholarship recipient from UCSC thanked us for our support. He is a cancer researcher at the molecular level. Later in the year he will make a presentation to the club on his research.
Jim Zenner and Jim Weisenstein, both past presidents from Santa Cruz Rotary, spoke to us today about the Water Warriors project whose motto is Service Explore Connect. It is a program to promote water, education and peace. Jim Zenner said his niece introduced him to John Kaufman who runs H2Open doors within Rotary International. This is a service and cultural exchange program that offers ‘volontourism’ trips especially created by Helping Hands USA for H2Open Doors, for members of Rotary and friends and family.
The club was dark today as we went off an a planned field trip to Digital Nest at 318B Union Street in Watsonville (on the south county Cabrillo College campus).
The Nest is only a few years old and moved to its new setting less than a year ago, tripling the size of its facility (which is the old post office in Watsonville complete with preserved customer service windows!). Their focus is work force development and already six of their members have gone on to jobs in the tech field. Others have gone on to college.
Members aged from 12 to 24 can focus on web site development, graphics, digital music and video production.Instructors come from all over, some paid staff, others offering their volunteer time. Local businesses are beginning to look to them for skilled labor and they are also beginning to establish a price structure for future contracts.
Members attend for free and can use (and even check out) the laptops to work on their projects. Through relationships with Second Harvest and local chefs, they even offer their members free food. They are open nearly every day of the year.
As we were finishing the tour, one of the students offered his opinion that Digital Nest was the ‘coolest place’ to hang out and learn.
Today’s Rotarian of the Week was Laura who got a $5000 grant for RotaCare from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Congratulations to her and the rest of the RotaCare team!
Saturday Oct 1st between 8 and 8:30 is the annual holiday barrel wrap at the food bank benefitting Second Harvest.
Avenue of Service is Oct 22nd. Board members are encouraged to attend.
Oct 13th we are meeting at Digital Nest on Union Street in Watsonville. Sign up for your lunch choice if you are planning to come.
Dr. Susan Hughmanick and her team spoke today about Karimu (meaning generous or willing in Swahili) established in 2008 to renovate the Ufani Primary School in a subsistence farming village in Tanzania There is now not only a a new toilet with sinks but a new school with 350 students. They became a nonprofit in 2008. Since then Karimu has grown to offer many other services to meet local needs.
The Second Harvest Barrel wrap is on Sat Oct 1st 7:30 at the Food Bank.
Sandra announced that Soquel Interact has 35 kids in the club. She may come back to the club and ask for some financial help to get the kids to the Fall Leadership Conference in San Jose.
Santa Cruz Office of Education has the S4C forum here at 5:30 Monday night. All of the Districts and Cabrillo are working together to improve math /science education.
Al mentioned that an art auction fundraiser needs a contact person. Laura agreed to be that person.
Oct 13th we will be meeting at Digital Nest in Watsonville on Main St.
Bee announced that Bob Curtis donated his lottery winnings to the Elkhorn Slough and that they will be used to help low income children be transported to the Slough educational programs.
Pam Goodman introduced Dr. Strayer who is a history professor but spoke to us about climate change with a particular focus on a proposal for addressing this issue.
Rachel Ann Goodman spoke to us about a new community radio station to replace KUSP which went bankrupt. The new station would have public service as its core. The current effort is to get the license and transmitters for our community before they are bought by an outside company. For more information or to make a financial contribution contact Rachel@well.com or 831 call 419-9047.
Doug Deaver was Rotarian of the week.
Win shared info from a membership meeting in Milpedes. We need to reconfigure our club to look like the community it serves (blend of age gender and ethnicity) and consider creating interest groups.
Doug announced Second Harvest Barrel Wrap is Saturday Oct 1st. It starts at 7:30 AM.
Dr. Art is offering flu shots today and in two weeks.
This Saturday will be Beach Clean-up at Sumner and Dolphin at 9:00. Look for a red Prius with tailgate up. Gloves,bags and tally sheets will be there.
Our speaker today was Virginia Goulin, a coastal and marine scientist. She is a UCSC graduate and then went to San Jose State. She came to speak to us about Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve which is owned and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They work with two partners: The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, whose mission is to conserve and interpret the national resources at the reserve (they are also a land trust) and NOAA, which is the federal partner. Elkhorn is one of their 28 reserves.
John Fisher passed out pledge cards for the foundation. They need to be in by November 3rd.
Pam Goodman announced that there are baskets to raffle for the benefit of the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk which will be on September 24th.
Rich announced beach clean-up will be September 17th at Beer Can Beach. Meet there at 9:00.
Dr. Aaron Morse, Medical Director of Sleep Health MD, was our speaker today. He spoke on Sleep and Wellness. He has been in Santa Cruz since 1981, practicing pulmonary and critical care medicine. He began by stressing that sleep is a detoxifying process that purges us of neurochemicals that build up during the day.
Sleep duration recommendations go down over time. Adults need 7-9 hrs and the elderly may need a bit less. The risks of insufficient sleep are major. It doubles the risk for breast cancer and heart disease. In addition, weight gain and obesity are both correlated with less sleep. It is also a mortality risk. An increase in one hr of sleep per day is associated with a 14 lb weight loss per year. Sleep deprivation is of concern because we are all getting on average an hour less sleep than we were around 50 yrs ago (in the 70’s).
This week’s Rotarian of the Week is Michele Bassi nominated for woman of the year by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.
We are looking for a 2019-2020 District Governor.
A fund development training will be held in Los Gatos September 24th 8:30-12:00.
Michelle announced that a luncheon is coming up for the scholarship program for emergency grants to benefit the Cabrillo College Foundation WES Women Education Success program. It is $100 a ticket for the luncheon which will be held Friday September 30th at the Cabrillo College Horticultural Center.
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Kendra Cleary introduced our speaker Lynne Grossi who spoke about the upcoming attractions at the Santa Cruz County Fair. This year the fair is September 14-18th.
Doug Deaver introduced one of our scholarship recipients from Aptos High, who took a gap year but now is going on to Fordham University. Congratulations Sarah and good luck!
We would like to welcome Scott Gillette who was inducted today as a new member. He is actually a return member! So welcome back Scott!
Ken Gorman, a local attorney , was also inducted as a new member. Scott is also a gymnast! Welcome Ken!
Richard announced that the sign-up is available for beach cleanup at Beer Can Beach on Saturday Sept 17th at 9:00 AM. Save Our Shores is the sponsor. If you don’t feel like bending over and picking up trash you can be the person who keeps the tally.
Win mentioned a program on membership a week from Saturday in Milpedes. Let Win know if you wish to go. You will need to sign up by the 20th.
Today Capitola Aptos Rotary joined in a group assembly led to discuss club membership and promotion. It is a follow-up to a meeting we had in March. The assembly was led by our President Al de Camara and our President elect, Win Fernald ( see photo below).
Doug Deaver announced: (1) That we have two articles in this week’s Aptos Times; (2) The faux debunking for Al is on Aug 11th at the Yacht Club; (3) Next Thursday the district governor will be here with his wife. They will be the program next week.
Keith announced that we received thank you notes from several of our community grant recipients including the Volunteer Center, Save our Shores, and the Kids Foundation.
Pam Goodman introduced Sam Bishop our speaker for the day, pictured above with his wife, Elena. He is a member of the Santa Cruz Rotary Club, an adventurer, and a world traveler. He presented a slide show about Monsters of Guyana or rescuing the world’s largest scaled freshwater fish.
Tim Powell, Rotarian of the Week, announced that the 4th of July event was a success.
Doug Deaver announced that we are non-debunking Al on Thursday night Aug 11th. It is at the yacht club and is $35 per person. See Doug to sign up.
Richard said our next beach cleanup is on Sept 17th.
Jerry Pettibone the incoming governor and John Fisher brought RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) to our club in 1983-1984. RYLA started in Camp Harmon and now it is in Mission Springs. Today Sandra introduced our RYLA recipients (pictured above with her) . They are both from Soquel High and involved in Interact. Alyssa and Hyunkyung will be president and vice president of the club. They did a powerpoint narrated presentation about their time at RYLA camp.
July 28th the District Governor will be here. Board members should be here at 10:30.
On Aug 11th in the evening at the we’ll non-debunk Al (as he is staying on for another year). Pass on any information on Al to Doug. Pam Goodman announced we will be dark that day.
Doug shared a photo of the sign thanking the Club for the money we donated for the new mural under the Aptos trestle
The speakers today were Allison Cruz from Estate Planning services, (Allison@Cruzkidz.com), Jen Walker, Programs and Development Manager from the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCAS) (www.scanimalshelter.org), and Renee M. Snow, PhD from ASL Financial (rsnow@sagepointadvisor.com). The topic was planning for your beloved pet as part of your estate planning or what happens to them if something happens to you
The District Governor visit is on July 28th. Board members need to be here at 10:30.
Tim announced that 4th of July will be our day to provide beer at the Aptos Park after the parade. Doug will send around an e-mail reminding volunteers of their time slots.
Doug read thank you notes from two students who have been awarded Rotary scholarships.
Heather Moffat was our speaker today from the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History where she has been director since 2015. Her degree is in geology and she has two master’s degrees. She came to us from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
Today’s club meeting was devoted to awarding our annual community service grants. Awardees and the awards committee are pictured in the photo above along with President Al. Twenty-three agencies, all non-profit 501C3 organizations, were awarded grants ranging from $500-$1500. Rotary fundraising throughout the year is the source of funding for these grants. A wide variety of populations are served by these organizations from the homeless to the elderly to the environment to children. The following is a list of the organizations that received awards and a brief description of the purpose of their award (if available) :
Toast and Toast will be at Gilroy next Thursday. The 23rd. If you signed up you are welcome to go.
Keith announced that he still needs a hula dancer for his party at 4:00 on Sunday, June 26th but that the party will be fun anyway. Come and join in!
Tim needs beer servers on the 4th of July. Sign up with him for a 2 hour shift.
Sandra introduced our speakers today from the Regional Occupational Program (ROP), Sheri Williams, Program Coordinator, Mark Hodges, Director of ROP and Jim Howes Assistant Director of the ROP.
The Toast and Roast is at Gilroy Gardens on June 23rd. Deadline to sign up is on the 15th. To sign up, see Al.
Michelle announced that the American Red Cross Heroes breakfast is on the 17th at 8:00 AM at Twin lakes Church. They will be honoring 11 local people. She is putting tables together. Let her know if you would like to go as her guest.
Keith’s party is on the 26th. If you haven’t signed up yet and are coming let him know.
Tim announced that as usual on the 4th of July we’ll be pouring the beer at Aptos Park. 11-4 will be the pouring time. Volunteer for a two hour shift.
Doug introduced our Interact scholarship students. They were a distinguished group including the valedictorian at Soquel High, a competitive dancer, a water polo player winning the coach’s award, a winner of all conference honors in various sports and is a CSF president and life member. They discussed their community service projects including restoring a trading post for the Nez Pierce Indians, doing a child care project in Guatemala, volunteering for Helping Hands which partners with people with disabilities to assist with household tasks and at Camp Hammer. Doug noted that all the students have had life challenges and have used them as motivation for their lives.
Karen Calcagno was our speaker today. The topic was “Your legacy have it your way”. She is the founder of Advantage Business Center, helping with estate planning and other issues. She is credentialed in coaching and mediation and focuses on financial and inheritance issues and helps people with the hard conversations.
Three Rotarians of the Week include Doug, Karen and Sandra for working so hard at the music festival!
On July 28th the District Board Governor is coming here. Board members should be here at 11:00.
Roast and Toast is on June 23rd. Sign up on the website (events.rotary.org) It’s $37 and it’s an open bar!
Keith’s party will be Sunday June 26th.
Claire McAdams announced the list of grantees. Grants will awarded on June 23rd at a luncheon will be in the big room. $18,450 in total will be awarded.
Doug Deaver announced that we made $1535 in tips for a net of $6200 at the Aptos Music Festival. Also he said we gave four scholarships each to Aptos and Soquel high graduating students.
Our speaker today was Hamutahl Cohen a PhD candidate from UC Santa Cruz. She spoke to us about wild and native pollinators (bees!). She is currently conducting research in bee/microbe interactions in gardens along the coast, focusing on the problem of bee decline.
Rotarian of the week for organizing the blues festival this weekend is Sandra Wallace. She has the list of volunteers and assignments.
July 28th the District Governor will visit. Board member and service chairs should be here at early at 11:00.
June 23rd will be the District Governors Toast at Gilroy Gardens.
Dr. Art received recognition for his donation to Rotary International.
Keith Madeiros party is June 26th at his house. He also reported on Neil McCallum’s funeral which 15 club members attended.
Claire McAdams reported on the grants committee. They are making decisions on scholarships.
Bee Peters introduced our speaker today, Dr. Casey Lucius. She was in the navy, has a Master’s degree in national security affairs and a PhD in political science. She teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School. She is running for Sam Farr’s congressional seat but was here at Rotary to talk about national security and ISIS.
The Redwood Mountain Fair is June 4th and 5th at Roaring Camp. The price is $29.00
Deadline to submit for DDF funds is at the end of this month.
Michelle gave us an update on the major fundraiser. We raised about $14,000.
If you would like to present scholarships at Aptos High, let Burt know. It is next Wednesday night (May 25th).
Empowering our Youth in a violent environment
Our speaker today was Daniel Nane Alejandras founder and national director of Barrios Unidos, a nationally and internationally recognized organization that works on youth violence and gang related activities. Mr. Alejandras is a Viet Nam vet and UCSC graduate.
Kyle Sharp, a financial advisor with Edward Jones, was inducted into the club today.
Michele reported that the net proceeds from our annual fundraiser were about $13,000 and were expected to be in the $15,000 range in the final accounting.
The Rotoract Club of Santa Cruz County reported on its activities. They said 82 students have visited the club with 30 plus active members. In the past year they volunteered almost 1000 service hours doing many things including beach clean-up and Watsonville Wetlands. Child Aid was their international project and their local project was Jacobs Heart. Interact with Rotoract Day was their major event. Fun events included a day at Big Basin, karaoke and Christmas together off campus. Their mentorship program is new and they passed out fliers about an event : Professional Development Workshop interview skills and dining etiquette on Friday May 27th 5:30-8:00 PM.
Keith announced that Neal McCallum’s funeral will be May 20th at Seymour Marine Memorial Center. Donations should go to his foundation at Ohlone College.
Keith also announced a Hawaiian party Sunday June 26th at his house at 4 PM.
Sandra presented the club a plaque as thanks for the scoreboard we donated to New Brighton Middle School.
Pam Goodman introduced our speaker for the day, Karina Pushnik ,
senior planner at Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)
Tomorrow night (May 6th) is the Rotary Annual Fundraiser, a roast for our retiring Congressman Sam Farr. It begins at 5:30 at Aptos Seascape. There are great silent auction items including motel stays, a wine wheelbarrow, a pontoon boat ride, a tour and lunch at Big Creek Lumber.
Delta Charter High School is having its first annual fundraiser May 25th at Sesnon House on theCabrillo Campus.
Our Rotary Club will be honored for the score board we donated by retiring supervisor Henry Castaneda at New Brighton Middle School at 3:30 next Tuesday.
Still need signups for the American Music festival on Memorial Day Weekend.
Pam Goodman introduced Janis O’Driscoll, our speaker today. She is the interim director at Santa Cruz Public Libraries who spoke to us about the library system. She began by saying a new permanent director will come on board in June.
Next week on May 6th is our annual Rotary fundraiser, a roast for Sam Farr, our retiring assemblyman. Be there at 5:00 for cocktails.
On May 28th and 29th we still need volunteers for the Aptos Music Festival. See Sandra to sign up.
Doug announced that there is a meeting tonight (4/28) on the future of the Rancho Del Mar shopping center.
Our District Attorney Jeff Rossell was the speaker today. He is a UCSC graduate and attended went to law school at USC. He has been in the District Attorney’s office for 26 years, first in Honolulu and now here since 1994.
Sam received a Rotary Pin for contributions to the Paul Harris Foundation. John Fisher said we contributed over $3000 to the polio plus effort through our donations to the foundation.
Sandra announced that we need help (volunteers) for the wine and beer booth at the Aptos Park on Memorial Day Weekend for the music festival. Volunteers need to be there all day. She needs people on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Laura announced that we applied for a RotoCare grant from PAMF and we’ll know in June whether or not we receive funding.
Doug Deaver mentioned that one of our students is interested in beginning a RotorAct club at Santa Clara University.
Sandra Wallace introduced our speaker today. Christopher Deming is the recipient of our Piatt Rotary fellowship. She gave us some background on the award. Henry Piatt was a member of the club who left an endowment for a graduate of Santa Cruz County public high schools and a candidate for a post baccalaureate degree in the natural sciences at any one of the UC campuses. Mr. Deming, last year’s recipient, is a local student who is now at UCSC. He works on synthesis and analysis in chemistry and already has published more than 10 first author peer reviewed papers. He is married and has a baby. He is hoping to teach chemistry at the college after he graduates.
On April 16th Interact is putting on their annual dinner at 900 high street (the old Congregational Church) . Tickets are $20 at the door.
Sandra is looking for volunteers for the SCAM festival. The dates are May 28th and May 29th at the Aptos Park.
Rob announced that over 20 applications for grants have been received. The due date is April 15th. Applications can be on line or hard copy.
Michelle announced that fund raiser plans are coming along. She discussed progress towards the dinner which is Friday May 6th and is the roast of Sam Farr. There are 60 RSVP’s.
There was no speaker today. Our president elect, Stan Hajduk adjourned the meeting.
Peggy from the Santa Cruz Sunrise Club spoke to us about Uganda and the Santa Cruz Sister Cities Delegation. She announced that Sunday April 17th there will be a cruise on the Monterey Bay with wine tasting and noshing from 10:30-2:30 PM. Tickets are $45 single $60 for a couple. It will benefit the Rotary clean water project in Lhuhwahwa Village, Kasese, Uganda.
Michelle announced that the invitations are here for the fundraiser on May 6th. Please take them and share with your family and friends. Kelly further announced that we need to sign up to go to the event and/or you can donate gifts and prizes. The cost is $150 per person.
Tim introduced the speaker today, Constance Chandlee, a prospective member of the club. She wrote and illustrated Dog’s Path of Life a book promoting intergenerational discussions for the entire family. The book teaches important life lessons, including respecting self and others, gratitude and interacting with the world. It discusses how to value and respect yourself and others. The book offers opportunity for dialogue between adults (parents) and children.
Art, Stan, Keith, Doug and Win were named Rotarians of the week because they are all going to the district assembly.
A reminder that the major fundraiser event sign-up sheet is going around. The event is on May 6th! Sign up! $150 per ticket!
Dr. Art Dover introduced our speaker for today’s meeting, Steve Nelson, CEO of Plant Sciences in Watsonville. He has a BS and MS in agriculture and, as president of Plant Sciences is a leader on varietal development of strawberries and other berries.
Doug announced that tomorrow (March 11th) the Rotary scoreboard for New Brighton Middle School will be installed beginning at 11:00 for anyone who would like to be there.
Al announced Apr 29th is the District Conference. Cost of $450 includes lodging
March 24th is the District Assembly. See Kyle Sharp to sign up. A limo will be available for the first 8 people signed up.
May 6th will be our major fundraiser. Live and silent auction items needed. We are looking for businesses to sponsor the event. See Michelle if you can help.
Doug said March 22nd will be the regional speech contest in Gilroy. If interested in going, see Doug.
Keith announced that 4 RYLA students were selected, all with excellent academic records.
John Fisher awarded Doug Deaver a pin for his contributions to the Paul Harris scholarship fund. In addition Art Dover was recognized as a major donor to the Polio Plus campaign. He was awarded a plaque.
John also gave us a letter from the District requesting that each Rotary member contribute $30 that will be matched by the Bill Gates Foundation for PolioPlus. Make out your check to Rotary foundation for the $30 donation and give to John.
The remainder of the meeting was an assembly to promote membership of younger people in our club.
On March 11th Brighton Middle School Rotary funded scoreboard will be installed. They would like as many of us as possible to attend.
Apr 29th is the district conference. The club will rent a limo and the first 8 people to signup will get a ride.
March 13th is Rotary night at the Warriors. Contact Al for tickets.
March 24th is the District Assembly. We will be renting a limo to go there also.
Stan announced that we need someone for the last Thursday in March to be detective and there are also sign-ups for April. If you haven’t done it before now is your chance!
Tim announced that the club is donating a bench at the Polo grounds. Dr. Art is the donor making Dr. Art the Rotarian of the week.
Blues festival is the weekend of May28th and 29th. Sign up to volunteer.
Freedom Rotary is having their casino night at March 19th at the fairgrounds.
Rich announced that next meeting is a roundtable on expanding club membership. It will be a dialogue. There will also be also be a discussion of contacts.
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Pam Goodman introduced Brian Peeples. He is from a political PACTrailnow.org that is targeting the rail trail initiative. They are going to promote getting the trail built but with no train. They are focusing on the railroad tracks that go from Santa Cruz to Manresa. They are interested in using this asset today within our lifetime as a trail without the train.
March 13th will be Rotary Night at the Santa Cruz Warriors. Tickets are $25.00.
Sue reminded us that applications for community grants can be obtained online and that the final deadline for submission is April 15th.
We were also reminded of our annual fundraiser on May 6th and our impressive line-up of ‘roasters” including Zach Friend and Jimmy Panetta among other luminaries. Tickets are $150 and all the money will be used to fund the above community grants!
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Today Capitola Aptos Rotary welcomed representatives from the SLV, Scotts Valley, Sunrise, Freedom and Santa Cruz Clubs, who were all in Aptos to support the students in the area speech contest. The winner will go on to Gilroy to compete further on March 22nd. Winners today will receive $200, $100 and $50. The theme for this contest is “Be a gift to the world.”
The winner (pictured below with Doug Deaver, the contest organizer) was very impressive. She spoke on the important issue of the need for mental health services in the schools. The three competitors were: Madeline Peterson from San Lorenzo Valley , Jacquelin Boyzo from Cila High School in Watsonville and Megan Goodhue from Delta Charter School.
Claire announced that we are beginning community grants season. April 15th is the due date. Rob Martin will take applications while Claire is away.
Michelle announced that Leon Panetta will do a video shoot to add to the Sam Farr roast for our major fundraiser in May.
Doug announced that Scotts Valley Rotary Trivia cup challenge is on Feb 27th. Cost is $50 per person. Trivia teams are made up of four people. Doug has sign-up sheet.
Aptos Soquel business showcase will be next Wednesday night, 4:00-7:00 at Aptos Seascape. We need people to staff the table. See Doug Deaver.
Next week is the area speech contest. There will be four contestants participating who are contest winners from their own clubs. There will be a large crowd so come early.
Richard announced that the beach clean-up is this Saturday at 9:00 AM at Dolphin and Sumner. Look for a red Prius with back open.
Sloane Devoto was accepted as a member into the club.
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Michele introduced Greg Peppin executive director of the Coastal Watershed Council, which is one of our (and other Rotary Clubs) grant recipients.
Th meeting today was a Rotary special event, the Richard D King Annual Youth Speech Contest. Doug Deaver emceed the event. Seven contestants came from Aptos and Soquel High. The names of the contestants were: Sara Pedro, Galen Anderson, Isabella Price, Elias Nepa , Will Murphy, Annie Nigh and Mackenzie Detter.
Speeches were scored by five judges. Students were judged anonymously to prevent bias. All speeches had to incorporate the this year’s Rotary theme, “Be a gift to the world” as well as the Rotary four-way test: Is it true? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill? Is it beneficial? The winner, Mackenzie Detter, shown here with the second and third place winners, won $200, but all the students will receive a monetary prize.
The winning student will move on to the district wide speech contest which will also be held at our club on February 25th.
Rotarian of the Week was Doug Deaver for pulling off the speech contest. It will be next week (Feb 4th) and the meeting will begin 15 minutes early so the speech contest can start promptly at 12:15.
Doug also announced that we are under contract for the American Musical Festival on Memorial Day weekend. We’ll pass around sign-up sheets.
The club be taking RYLA application shortly for RYLA summer camp. If you know Juniors in High School (in our area) who might be eligible let Doug or Sandra know.
February 20th is beach clean-up. Sign-up sheets will be passed around next week.
Invitations are out for the annual fundraiser.
Art in Correction Program
Pam Goodman introduced Jack Bower who represents William James Association, a non-profit agency founded in 1973 by Page Smith.
Bower explained that the prison system creates social problems that William James Association addresses. The Association has affected tens of thousands of inmates in California and around the country through their Arts In Correction Program.
Doug Deaver announced that we still have no speech contest contestants but are expecting two from Aptos High. He reminded us of our volunteer responsibilities on February 4th.
Richard reminded us of the Beach Clean Up on February 20th. He’ll send around a sign-up sheet next week. It’s a chance to get to know people and do community service.
Stan reminded us of our detective sign-ups.
John Fisher presented Dr. Art with his ‘eighth plus’ Rotary Foundation pin.
Cannabis 101 The economic implications of a changing policy
Pam Goodman introduced Gavin Kogan who is an attorney and VP of INDUS holding company. In 2015 he launched ALTAI and brought well -known brands of marijuana to the recreational marijuana market.
He travels throughout the state and speaks about this issue.
We were reminded that the annual fundraiser, a retirement party and roast for Sam Farr, will be May 6th. Zach Friend, Fred Keely, Bruce Medina and Jim Panetta will be among the participants. Invitations and save the date cards will go out soon. We need eight live auction items worth $500 or more and 30 silent auction items.
Rotarian(s) of the week for successfully completing the New Brighton Middle School Scoreboard Sign project were Doug Deaver and Tim Powell.
Sandra said that RYLA will be starting the application process soon. Juniors this year are eligible. Let Sandra know of any eligible students and she will get an application to them.
Speech club contest is February 4 and area contest is on Feb 25th. We are still waiting to know about participants.
March 10th will be club assembly. Rich Costa will lead it.
April 30th the Pope will performs Mass for Rotarians in Rome. Be there!
For bringing in a new member John Fisher received another pin. Burt Lemke was also awarded a pin. Sue Lawson was welcomed as a Paul Harris Fellow.
Doug announced that the club will contribute $500 to the repainting of the Aptos trestle.
Bee Peters introduced today’s speaker, Sarah Emmert. Ms Emmert is a UCSC grad and has a master’s degree in criminology from UC Irvine. She has worked in social justice and advocacy and with people in the community impacted by the criminal justice system. She currently chairs the Youth Violence Prevention Task Force for United Way, a task force of the Criminal Justice Council.
Al announced Rotarian of the Week. It was Tim Powell for taking over Sunday’s event.
Michelle reminded us that May 6th is our major fundraising event. Next Wednesday the 13th will be a planning meeting is at Kelly’s. She reminded us that we are looking for both silent and live auction items.
Stan announced we need detectives. Sign up!
Doug announced that for the speech contest no students signed up yet but we are still hoping. Doug will communicate with us by e-mail for those who signed up to help. He read us an article in the Aptos Times about the money InterActors had raised for meals.
There is a club assembly coming up that Rich Costa will lead on March the 10th. We are going to launch a public relations effort for the club. This will be the time to share any ideas you have to publicize and promote the club.
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Becky Herry, RN, spoke about her journey since being diagnosed with melanoma . She manages the Veterans Services program at LifeSpan and has had her story featured in news stories and films.
For surviving Keith’s party, Rotarian of the week is Rich Costa! He says he was out of the emergency room and the ICU the next day feeling fine!
We were reminded that the wheelchair project in Monterey, Mexico will be March 30th thru April 3rd. Rotary is sending 4 containers and raised $115,000.
Jan 31st is our deadline to pay for RYLA campers.
Doug reminded us about the club speech contest. As of now we have no students signed up but he’s expecting we will get some. Feb 4th is the date for our club; Feb 25th for area.
The nominating committee put forward the following names for 2016 club officers: Stan Hajduk, President; Win Fernald, President elect; Doug Deaver, Secretary; Rich Hamlin, Treasurer; Graham Stokes, Sergeant at Arms. The slate was unanimously voted in.
Dr. Art announced that you should see him about flu vaccine if you haven’t done your shots yet.
Please note: The club will be dark on December 24th (Christmas Eve) and January 31st (New Year’s Eve). See you next year!
John Fisher spoke today about Bay area ‘Honor Flight’ that he was awarded on Oct 22nd.
The table for the Jan 3rd dinner is full, but if you wish to be an alternate let Al know.
John Fischer reminded us of the deadline for foundation giving. You need to do it before the end of the year.
Michelle told us reschedule Friday May 6th for the roast for Sam Farr. She will update us soon on silent auction needs.
Doug announced the speech contest (for the club) will be February 4th. We are also hosting the area contest on Thurs Feb 25th. We need judges, greeters, floaters and other people to assist at both events. See Doug to sign up.
Keith thanked us for coming for the party which was well attended and a great time for fun and fellowship!
The Higher Ground played us into a great mood with their wonderful southern gospel music. Sam said they are available for events (for free!) especially for long term facilities, so let them know if you have a venue!
Rotarian of the week is Michelle Bassey for heading up the fund raiser.
Regional meeting is Jan 3rd at 5:00 Doubletree Inn in San Jose; $100 a ticket.
Michelle set the date of May 5th 2016 for the fundraiser (the roast of Sam Farr). Next Wednesday the 9th there is a fundraising meeting at Laura’s house at 6:00. Ideas are needed on who will do the roasting as well as silent and live auction ideas.
Tim announced that SPCA will be doing a free Christmas wrap at the mall. If you have extra wrapping paper, gift bags or tape give it to Tim.
Keith reminded us of his party on Dec 6th, Sunday, at 4:00 at his home.
Doug introduced two students Interact officers from Soquel High. They spoke about a drive for coats and clothing for the homeless shelter and how they are partnering with Toys for Tots collecting new toys for children this Christmas. All toys are welcome except for toys that look like weapons. Doug will be happy to collect.
Laura said there is a need for a temporary home for a 16 year old exchange student at Santa Cruz High.
John Fischer reminded us to make a donation to the Foundation and that there are a few days left to make it for the end of the year to get a tax credit. Give a check to John by December 15th or do it on line.
Sue Lawson introduced our speaker today, Sandy Lansdale. Sandy spoke about Walnut Commons, a three story condominium cohousing project. It is downtown on Walnut Avenue and there are nineteen investor/ owners. They started one LLC and then formed another one to build. Barry Swenson builders did it. The process began in 2011 and they moved in three years later in 2014.
Ian Wing spoke briefly about his Rotary experience in Japan as an exchange student, thanking the club for this opportunity. He is an artist and brought his paintings for us to see!
Rotarian of the week is Michelle Bassey for working on the fundraiser. She reported that there was a meeting last night. The idea this year is to do a roast and we will roast Sam Farr. Possible dates for the fundraiser will be circulated but it will be between next March and May (2016).
The youth exchange interview will be on December 6th. We’re looking for any possible host families.
December 2nd is the cabinet meeting.
Doug announced that Aptos Interact will do a bake sale to benefit Second Harvest the first weekend of December in different areas around Aptos. The Soquel Interact club will collect clothing for Homeless Services Center. Donations of warm clothing and socks are welcome.
Kelly introduced our speaker today, Jeff Gafney, from Santa Cruz County Parks Open Space and Recreation and Cultural Services. He graduated from San Jose state in 1993 and he assumed his current position in 2006.
RotarAct (for college age students) announced two fund raisers: (1) to employ college students to do things you don’t want (2) mentorship mixer coming up this Saturday.
Tim and Al will be at Aptos High School tomorrow (Friday) from 9:00 to 10:30 to talk to the students. You are invited to come.
Chamber of Commerce tree lighting will be Dec 5th. They are asking for donations for a string of 60-80 LED lights.
December 5th is the lighted boat parade at the yacht harbor and Kelly is in charge.
Our local supervisor from the second district, Zach Friend, spoke to us today about emergency preparedness in the case of El Nino. Camilla Boolootian from the Red Cross was also available for questions and information.
The amount of rainfall should compare to the 82-83 winter. November should be normal, but December – March, 220% of normal is expected. There could be blocked roads, slides and downed power lines. Public works has been going throughout the county to clear out culverts and pipes. Let them know if you have one in your neighborhood (831)454-2160. They’ve also been doing street sweeping to keep grates cleared.
The Rotary Foundation Board informed the club that we have left over $3200 which will be donated to RYLA. The members present approved the transfer.
Doug introduced InterAct co-presidents at Aptos High School, Cassie Smith and Lindsay Jones. They spoke about Aptos High and what’s going on there. Next week they will be working on Second Harvest fundraising. Last year they raised $12,000 and this year they hope to raise $14,000. They also spoke about their RYLA experiences which they characterized as ‘life changing’.
Todays’ Rotarian of the Week is Becky Peters just because it is her birthday!
Francie Neufield introduced our speaker today, Krista Almanzan news director from KAZU one of our local NPR radio stations. Her topic was ‘The reinvention of KAZU.’ She produces the long form stories locally as well as statewide. Her work has won KAZU honors nationwide, as well as the Edwin R. Murrow award. She produces a program called ‘Back at the Base’ reporting on veteran and military issues.
Congrats to Chuck in his new career as a LifeSpan model!
Dr. Art announced he still has flu and pneumonia vaccines available to be dispensed after the meeting.
Pam Goodman introduced the speaker today, Elizabeth Borelli, who spoke to us on Building Habits for Life Work. She is a speaker and author. She established Well Beyond, a game based program that helps people build healthier habits.
Feb 25th we are hosting the area 7 speech contest. Kate will be chairing that event.
Dr. Art reminded us to get our flu vaccines from him next week (and pneumonia vaccines also if you are on MediCare )
Story
Becky Peters introduced the speakers today, Gary Gillis and Frank Moore with the Scotts Valley and Stockton Rotary Clubs, respectively. Gary was with the Stockton fire department as fire chief. Frank graduated from USC and worked in a family business and is now starting his second career as a teacher. Both are long term Rotarians.
Rotarians of the week are Win and Keith for attending the public relations seminar on Tuesday night.
Pam announced that you can buy tickets to support the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk by purchasing a chance to win a basket for $5 a ticket or 5 tickets for $20.
There are new brochures to explain Rotary with applications attached. Ask Al if you haven’t already received one.
There will be a Barrel Wrap at Food Bank on Saturday at 8:00 to support Second Harvest. Be there if you signed up.
Stan says we still need detectives for Oct 1st and 22nd. If you have never been a detective, speak to Stan about volunteering!
Virginia Howard said they are part of a national network of programs that deliver research based interventions to girls aged 8-18 to prepare them for economic independence and confident adulthood. They serve almost 1000 girls a year.
The district is asking us to host the area 7 speech contest. Kate volunteered to assist.
Pam announced that we can buy tickets to support the Alzheimer’s Association Walk in October. There is a drawing for gift baskets each of which have $300 -$400 worth of goods. Tickets for the drawing are $5 each or $5 for $20. The drawing will be held Oct 1st.
Win and Rich Costa have volunteered to be our PR officers and will go to training on the 22nd.
A week from Saturday on the 26th there will be the Second Harvest barrel wrap.at the Food Bank. If you volunteered show up at 8:30 at the Food Bank.
Stan announced that he needs detectives for October and November. Sign up if you haven‘t yet done this!
Beach clean- up will be this Saturday the 21st at 10:00 AM. Meet at Sumner and Dolphin for a fun day!
Doug reminded us that the Interact clubs are meeting again and any help/support from club members is appreciated.
Pam Goodman introduced Jeri Ross our speaker for the day. She is a licensed health educator who was the public health division chief. She is now the founder of a skin care business and has a life skills coaching practice. She spoke about a program called Get on the Bus, a non-profit prison visitation organization.
September 26th is the date for the Second Harvest barrel wrap. Sign-up sheet will be passed around at next meeting.
Al read a letter from the District Governor thanking us for our welcome and hospitality.
From Unraveled ( pediatric cancer research group) we received a thank you note for our donation.
September 22nd there is a Rotary public relations (PR) meeting in Santa Clara. See Al for details.
Michele announced Notre Dame School in Watsonville is having a ‘brot and brew’ festival $40 per person for food and entertainment. $5 for kids.
Beach cleanup will be September 19th at 9:00 AM. We meet at Dolphin and Sumner.
Doug announced that first Interact meetings will be next week at Aptos and Soquel High. He’s looking for people who might want to attend some of the meetings to provide support. If interested let Doug know.
Art Dover introduced our guest speaker. Dr. Charlie Wasser , among other occupations a geologist and geographer, is currently developing a new business with Rotary logos on high end merchandise. For some years he has been very involved in our Rotary campaign to end polio as the PolioPlus campaign chair.
Our exchange student Celine Jolie is returning to France after a year at Aptos High School as a sophomore. We wish her luck in the future and many thanks to Sue for serving as host mom his past year!
Rotarian of the week is Jim for all the work he does for the club and for keeping Al DeCamera in line!
A grants seminar will be held at 8:30 July 11th in Los Gatos. We are required to go if we are going to receive DDF funds.
Becky Loy will be going June 30th toTibet but grant activities will continue into next year. Donations are needed to continue this work and should go the Capitola Aptos Rotary Foundation designated for Tibet Project.
The debunking will be held on June 19th at 5:30 at Seascape. Let Doug know if you will be attending, if you will be bringing a guest or not and your meal preference. Next week (Thursday) will be dark in preparation for the debunking Friday night.
Let Tim know if you wish to sign up for the Fourth of July fundraiser.
Win Fernald, recently retired to Aptos, was welcomed into the club as a new member.
Learn to Discover
We heard a report on one of our funded projects today, Learn to Discover, which allows youth to explore technical careers at an early age. The speaker explained the acronym “Steam” which stands for Science Technology Engineering Art and Math. Learn to Discover focuses on teaching kids how to think, problem solve and be innovative.
Today we got a visit from the District 17 Congressman Sam Farr. Guess what? Washington is in a stalemate polarized mess. Also present Zach the Supervisor Friend and CAP President Doug Deavers.
On October 31 We have the Honorable Sam Farr 17th District as our special guest. We have three blue Badges being presented (actually FOUR) and ONE DOUBLE Emerald Paul Harris to Tom McGranahan being presented plus Number of high school students to meet and greet their local congressman... Don't miss.. This is a BIG day for CAP Rotary and our New Blue Badge Rotarians!
Thanks to Helen Dillman, co vice-president of the Soquel Interact Club for updating us last week on the Fall Leadership Conference she attended and on updating us on the club activities. I asked how a junior could be so relaxed speaking to a large crowd, and she said got her self confidence at RYLA camp. We do make a difference!
October 24th was also World Polio day. At the meeting Helen read a proclamation from Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors declaring it World Polio Day to acknowledge Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio worldwide. We also distributed a club proclamation acknowledging the same. The following picture shows the club showing how close we are to eliminating polio worldwide.
Tammy Janosik of Rotacare was the main speaker. She said she had never talked to a Rotary Club that had so many members that were involved by volunteering at the clinic. Last year the Bay Area Clinics treated over 28,000 patients and the Santa Cruz Clinic over 1,000. Next year the RotaCare Bay Area will celebrate its 25th year anniversary on April 10, and the will honor all the volunteers, that is National Volunteer Week, and she would like all of us to attend. The 12 clinics are in 4 different Rotary Districts. She thanked all members for being involved with RotaCare.
Octoberfest! Who is the Speaker? The new President of Cabrillo College. How was Keiths Party? " Facebook ' Rotary club of Capitola Aptos"... BUT I DO have the Detective.. Michele ,( One l..) ( Wells Fargo... SCORE!) Bassi... Remember the rules CAP.. no eye contact or being nice to her as the Detective.. Go ahead smile and be nice and avoid her...... She always has YOUR name on her hit list....And if she fines the months Detective Director... Well expect some thing "Special" on the 31st.....
BTW Thanks Keith and everybody at his Solstice party for Rotary... Well done Mr past President.. We all had a great Time! Thanks for sharing MontMontre Keith...
14 CAP Members volunteered their valuable Early Saturday Morning Time to participate in the preparation of 1000 barrels for Holiday Food collection sites throughout Santa Cruz County. Accompanied by almost 100 Interactors and Other Area Seven Rotarian Club Members the monumental effort quickly coalesced into a well oiled machine of stripping, restocking and rewrapping. In less than two hours the job was completed and the barrels all restocked and ready to go. Nice job CAP Rotarians!
Rob and Jim, reversed left to right in Photo, spoke today from PGE. The presentation was " An Overview of Energy Alternatives to manage home and business Energy Bills".
Fascinating.
I meant to ask if with the new meters my friend Keith should feel safe enough to remove his nighttime " Tesla Home Aluminium Acme Propeller RoadRunner Geek Cap with Radiation Protection Rotor"Guaranteed!... But I'm Glad I did not.
Rachel filled in for Sandra who threw the detective finder under the Bus by pretending to be experiencing a life threatening illness. Got a Pulse? Show Up! Rache did a fine job filling in last minute confusing the Long serving expert Men from PGE with questions about simple PGE history then hearing crickets...So she shifted focus to embarrass the CAP members for non participation in last weeks Beach cleanup ( SOS) while 3200 other volunteers stepped up along 48 miles of coastline and picked up over two tons of trash...
Automatic exemption from the Detective fine next week, from nasty mean Kate: From Where, between Davenport and Big Sur was the majority of trash removed?
Don't forget the Second harvest Barrel Wrap on Saturday at 7 am.. it's really only an hour.
DO NOT FORGET AND PLAN ON ATTENDING the " Avenues of Service Spectacular" at 5170 in San Jose next Thursday...Rides are available thru Doug..." The District website reports it is a " 50,s, 60's THEMED attire reception at 4:30. ( I can't wait to see Elvis and Janis Joplin along with Frank Sinatra and Mick Jagger whooping it up at the Doubletree!
Hello New Member. You volunteer at the Vajrayana Foundation in Correlitos, a Buddist Meditation Center.. She lists her classification as Fundraiser. Welcome Rebekah! You are a prior serving Rotarian from Canandaigua, New York and an existing Paul Harris Fellow!
( The photo is of Rebekah demonstrating the Famous and Difficult (Sideways Budda Laughing Chi) Yoga Position... (Which will last until I figure out how to straighten it up in Clubrunner)
Past President (Octogenarian) Keith M out did his Social Director position with a line dancing event in La Selva rated par excellence! Led by the Nigh family of professional hoofers the CAP Lined up , gimped and twerked to the rocking sounds of Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart" and the Slide.The event was well atttended, Keith made certain there was Food and liquid refreshment in abundance for everybody( barkeeper Dr. Dover) and a grand time was had by all until... the Chilly La Selva Fog rolled in. As it always does!
(additional photographs of the event on Facebook: " Rotary Club of Capitola Aptos") All Copies on CD can be obtained from Rex Manson, Club Picture taker.... (g)
Thanks Keith. On Behalf of all of us at CAP and our guests, you put on a great Gig. We salute You!
Today Ken filled in to bring us up to date on the world famous Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Since 1907 the Boardwalk has provided entertainment to millions with constantly changing arcades and rides that give it a proud heritage among the best in the World. Of particular interest is the Carousel with a ring.. very few exist. The changes in food are consumer driven and the management is always looking for new ideas, and new space for additional rides. Thanks Ken.... Also for your 30 years as a dedicated Rotarian.
Dr. Art Dover will provide FLU shots here at Rotary next week when the new President of Cabrillo College will speak here. Not to be Missed. Al collected $1500 for the Red Cross for Colorado flood relief.
Happy Birthday Michelle! Happy Birthday tomorrow Kendra! Art Dover made NO friends today fining many attendees for thier lack of smarts about the flu or the need for Vaccinations. Claire would have won the drawing had she bothered to make the meeting. Bummer. Go Niners and Congratulation on winning the America's Cup Team Oracle! See you in Spring training Giants! Go A's.
Today we got an update on the ESL efforts of the Literacy program at the SC volunteer center. They Currently have about 120 tutors trained to share ESL programs in Santa Clara County. They have a number of people on a waiting list, they need funding and have a success rate 20% over the state standards.They are also active in the local correctional facilities and sheriff's office. We have for many years contributed to the Literacy Program.
Thanks for coming down and meeting with us today Genie.
We heard that one of our Senior members Gene Wright is having health challenges that require his residence at Stanford Univ. Hospital. Good Luck from all of us at CAP Gene! Chuck gently suggested that his buddy Gene may not want to continue writing the Hub, our in Club newsletter,Which he has written so well for so long, so we are seeking qualified, experienced and cynical but always accurate volunteers to try to fill big shoes...
Beer can Beach SOS Cleanup 9/21 8:55AM 2 HOURS supplies provided by team leader Richard Watson-Riley
At the board meeting Tim Powell was nominated and elected to a 2 year Board term. It was decided to originate a Community project but the actual project was left at the discussion stage. The Treasurer, Rich Hamlin gave us an up to the minute air tight financial report so well presented we immediately nominated him(G) for District 5170 Treasurer of the Month. Past President Rex Manson, lacking questionable pre frontal lobe cognition, proposed himself to serve as "RED BADGE Navigator", a term I suspect he made up ,( hey who wrote this anyway?) and was soon joined in this dubious optimistic project by additional volunteer ex club President, but always presentable Ms. Pam Goodman. These members will work with each new members to assist them in achieving Blue Badge status. The process is designed to get the new member involved with the club, meet new Rotarians (in our club and others), and experience some of the many activities and events we sponsor.
For the first time in Memory CAP Rotary achieved 100 participation in EREY. Congratulations Rotarians. Way to start the new year.
It was discussed and passed that Rex Manson, Rachel Hill and John Fisher would update the CAP Bylaws. Over time... in other words as long as it takes to get it right corrected, voted on approved and printed. The prospect of initiating a Aptos oriented community project was discussed
Al DeCamera announced a relief collection for the American Red Cross where he will match all funds donated by the Members to help the victims in Flooded Colorado. All contributions must be made before the END of next weeks meeting to the Red Cross.. Designate " Colorado". Thanks Al.
Kelly Nesheim would have won the drawing had he been present. (Like he needs it) Didn't happen So it rolls over.
Next week is going to be fun! Kris Reyes (and maybe Charles Canfield) will update the attendees on little known secrets of the Boardwalk. If you have never been to one of our meetings please join us as our guest. We'd enjoy meeting you.
Today Mr Coonerty presented his ideas from his new Book " The Risk of the Naked Economy". It's a Brave new world Rotary, work as we knew it, with job security, Loyalty rewarded with retirement benefits, time and bonuses are not the way of the future. It is recommended that every college Graduate be cross educated in one to four applicable compensable knowledge bases so as not to be reliant on any one employers benefits. Present Graduate Education is NOT meeting the requirements of the new Employment age. Jobs may no longer be Terrestrial or linear, time and compensation can be measured in Microseconds and compensation discounted accordingly. It's 1984 utopian synergy all over again with Some Pigs being more equal than Others...They may be termed fractional workers, Specialists or generalists.... My final summary surmises the Specialists end up in the demographic economic 1 per cent..
Thanks Ryan I am certain our Members are happy to be retired as retirement as we have known will disappear as will health and lifetime benefits, the Corner office and Full time employment going the way of the Tyrannosaurs.
Pam was the Detective the drawing was won by Scott. Too Bad he had already left.....Rollover. Special Thanks to Lynette Cleland for the PR article in the Aptos Times this week. Great start! More on the Coonerty Book soon.. I just downloaded it to my Kindle for $12 and plan on reading it tonight..GL
Great presentation from Phil Wowack the SC co Sheriff and several fellow Capitola officers. We got a presentation on the manpower budget issue, Jails and Law enforcement in SC co. Thanks Phil!
I should recognize Keith M on PHF number 3 and Laura Grinder on PH Number 1! Also a reminder that NEXT WEEK is the last week to donate WINE for CASA so Bring a Bottle to help CASA Kids!!
Doug announced that there will be a Board meeting on September 19 so mark your calender.
Michele Bossi Gets the "you crack me up award" for telling us over lunch " My life has been very hectic with my kids going back to school. I have already been "Voluntold" that I am a Team Captain... Voluntold? Where is Websters when you need them?
Today we met for our annual luncheon hosting Dist. Governor Angie Hassler and her husband, btw himself a past Dist 5170 Gov. Hassler. They were accompanied by our Area Seven Asst Dist Governor Jon Winston and several visiting Rotarians from Santa Cruz, Sunrise and Scott's Valley. Before the meeting we held a comprehensive Board meeting with Reports given by all 2013 committee Chairs. Doug Presided.. Tim, Pam, Rachel and John Fisher spoke, Rich passed around a fully balanced budget... 2012-2013.. It was a very good year, we got to help a lot of needy good people, Our Job 1, including expanding Rotacare ( now 15!) and navigating carefully coming out of a very challenging 2012 $$$$ situation.
There was a lengthy discussion of a project the members initiated ( Pam and Karen and Lori) the non DDF St. Judes Project. It is amazing what a few members dedicated to a purpose can achieve by themselves without asking for District support.. There will be a Guatemala DDF Project starting February 1 2014 and interested Rotarians are urged to sign on for a work project in Attilan, Guatemala.. also Laos.
34 Members received Double Sustainer recognition and Kelly Nesheim received his Fourth major donor Leaf. ImPast President Rex Manson was given his Seventh Paul Harris Fellowship Pin a double Ruby. All but two members contributed to the Clubs success with EREY. Congratulations CAP Rotary. We are off to new beginning!
Job One is telling the Community what we do and why, how we do it.. This will be a Major objective for Doug's year 20113-2014. As always New Members with new ideas and spirit and ideas are Priority #1...Thanks Angie for coming all the way to the midlands of Santa Cruz Co to meet with us. The drawing winner, Gene Wright, was AWOL..Bummer... Great to meet you Angie.
Today our Ex Presidents Andean Fife and Save Vermin For Honey Boo Boo Marching Band gave a photographic and retrocolonial shamefaced narrated Photo tour of their trip from Lima to Cusco to Macho Pichu up to the Floating Isles of Puno on Lake Titicacca, peered south at 14,200 feet to the mystery of Treeless Puma Punko, in Bolivia and saw evidence of the original IncaNet. Then we flew north to Sexy Woman and into the depths of the Equadorian cannibal infested head shrinking, disease ridden primordial Amazonian Volcanic Forest.. All during Lunch. No Inoculations even required!
Only took my back a month to recover. Worst most awful, toughest, corrupt, most beautiful, ancient and Exotic country I have ever seen. Whenever you are offered Guinea Pig...Flee. Chew your hand instead.I have seen and climbed the Swiss Alps/ Italian Alps, Rockies and Sierra, South New Zealand mountains and ...The Andes take the cake.
If it is a delicacy, I'm talking 4 star place to eat they might remove the Crunchy claws, eyeballs and tails..Not bad with the Peppers and onions..and beer. Altitude? Think the highest Mountain in Mainland America.. then go up. Another two miles.
Thanks to you all that "Dissolved" me from my Club Presidency Last Night. The music was Ingenious the awards magnanimous. Thanks again for the Great Year and all you do in Rotary.
Early in a busy day our Heroes smile for the camera on July 4th 2013. It was Quiet then it got VERY busy, warm and a little strange. (Note to self... careful of what Aptos women will offer to trade for 2$ tickets for beer.) Thanks all volunteers.
(G) Special Thanks to Tim Powell for outstanding work to make the 4th of July Day in the Park work. Great Job Tim!
I want to thank the members of the Capitola Aptos Rotary for allowing me to Serve this Rotary club as your President. Today was my last formal meeting as President and after the Board meeting today and upon his return from the RI Lisbon Convention I turn the gavel over to Doug Deavers. Good Luck to Doug, His chosen volunteer Board and the always generous CAP Rotary. It has been an honor to be of Service to You members, to Rotary and the Capitola Aptos Community.
I wish you all the Best and look forward to working within the Club in whatever capacity I can be found helpful.
Dave the photographer says this picture will be better...anybody that get s all the names and organizations right to left, in order, and how much they got gets a free drink at Keiths house at the next Social...( in September!)
We will distribute our CAP Community Grants at our regular lunch on Thursday. Your attendance and that of your invited guests are greatly recommended. Lets make it a great presentation.
Congratulations to CAP Rotary for a sucessful Sandy Lydon Roast and Toast. Special Thanks and recognition to Pam, Al, Rachel, Gene, The Evans, Maggie Driscoll, everybody who helped make it work, including the Interact and most of all to Sandy Lydon himself, for honoring Rotary and Volunteering to let us have some fun at his expense.
We will have a full board meeting at 1:30, May 9. We need a Treasurers report, minutes, Forward Review of the Sandy Lydon event, Blues festival, Community Grants, DDF and Fourth of July participation, Africa Project and Presidential Debunking along with the District Conference. See You There.
Here the two of them celebrate their private moment of Rotary International recognition and Special awards with Us (and their seven Billion New Internet BFF'S!)
Presented by Past Dist Governor John Fisher and Acting Asst Area Seven District Governor Jon Winston, Kelly and Marie were awarded recognition for an enormous contribution to RI and then received Benefactor lifetime recognition as well. Thanks Past Pres. Kelly! Well Done!
Kelly and Marie get Rotary's Highest Award Recognition.
Dark matter, dark Energy, Fuzzy Spots, Entropy and The Big Bang, multi dimensional string Theory and Hubbles focus on a grain of sand equal to 1 BILLION universes? .. Just another George Noory day at Rotary! Thanks Doc.. GL at UCSC. Glad your friends, the Hajduks brought you to speak to us ...Thanks and come back soon.!
Looks like some body broke into the Fund Raiser Wine a little early...( g) Congrats to John on Winning the Drawing! What's it been only about 35 years? Next week be there at the meeting and some thing special is sure to happen.
For those computer literate that may want air and travel miles for your credit card buying ..er.. Tax "contribution" to the non profit tax deductable 501.c3 Capitola Aptos Rotary Foundation Sandy Lydon Roast and Toast ...Google:
"Eventbrite", then watch the calendar roll down to Capitola / Aptos Rotary, the Roasting of Sandy ( the History Dude) Lydon, May 10, to buy your tickets to attend. Expect about 1% fee.
And No you get No Foundation credit to a PHF for attending. Sorry.
We are going to need every able body CAP Rotarian, and everybody they can contribute to step up, volunteer in whatever way they can, and offer the fund committee members help wherever they can( Pam, Al, Rachel) and as never before to make this huge Event work. This is going to be a very big, very fun, not to be missed in this once in a lifetime event!
Thanks, Rotarians, in Advance ( TIA) This is a Big challenge.. we will all step up and make it work!
This is shaping up to be a Historic, Funny and Sold Out event! The plans have worked out faster and better than anybody anticipated. Tickets are on sale NOW... The auction items are pouring in... This will be a night for all of Santa Cruz to remember!
All proceeds will go to LOCAL non profits, Local education and LOCAL charities. Reserve your seats today either on line by credit card or call Gene Wright 454-0813
Dr. Art Dover, the Aptos Travel Doctor, and Mr. Taj Dafour , Mgr Soquel Water were voted into CAP Rotary today. The 2012-13 Budget was passed and the Sandy Lydon Event Roast was announced, reviewed and approved for MAY 10, 2013, Coconut Grove, Santa Cruz. Details will follow in the new and revised HUB! Cost $125.00 or two for $200.
Bummer Doc. You shoulda bought a ticket.. but whats $100.00?
The CAP Board of Directors including Officers and all Committee Chairs are strongly encouraged to attend. The TWO MAJOR agenda Items will be 1, 2012-2013 CAP Budget as proposed by Treasurer, and 2. Capitola Aptos Rotary Fund raising event update.
This meeting is OPEN to all CAP Rotarians to attend.
Well folks your water rates are going up again. Today Ron the Conservation field manager from Soquel Water brought his lovely Wife and Boss, Taj Dufour to share lunch with us today. After announcements of Monmouth Thanking US for our contributions back in Novermber and Maggie Driscol getting front page coverage for her new Business in Watsonville, we rocked out the welcome song, Karen fined everybody for good news stories of 2012,( Keith rode an elephant!)we listened intently as to why our water rates must be raised again. As politely as possible we accepted the tokens thrown before us and accepted the inevitable about the water tables dropping, seawater infringing and Desalination necessary for the survival of the strawberry farmers in Watsonville.( Ok part of that was made up) Any Way Happy Anniversary to the Duncans, nice folks.
Today of Days.. Today we granted two distributions to our Community Service Groups at Dominican Hospital Foundation and our Own Rotocare.Sam Nigh also received his FIFTH Paul Harris,Al DeCamera got Rotarian of the Month, Pam announced a Warriors fundraiser for Tanzania, And our speaker, Dr "Nan" stole the Presidents Singing SANTA HAT! We also heard that Dominican has the highest paid Nurses in The COUNTRY, The Doctors have the worst reimbursement and Kaiser may be planning a move here with the Warriors. We also held a kinda" End of Days" board meeting planning Next years Fundraiser, a Secret Santa Trip was discussed, and our Budget is Fine. So besides the End of the World being predicted for the past 52 centuries by the Mayans for tonight we wish you all a Merry Christmas, Mithras or Saturnalia, Whatever and We will ( probably) see you next year! To begin the 14th Bahktun...
(Nice work Norm on holding the Rotocare Certificate where we can read it)!!
Craig Bagley won the $75.00 Drawing! Congrats!
Dr. "Nanette Mickiewicz, MD, CEO, Dominican Hospital
Sam Nigh brought the splendiferous Dew Wops to sing and carol holidaze songs today. Adorned in Santa Caps and surrounded by Christmas holiday lighting the twelve days of Christmas got a new rendition rated PG13, The President read the Politically correct quandry of Santa and the ecological Libertine Elves Unions, and Sue was seen bearing her new titanium hip and a solid singing voice! Happy Holidays All. Good to See Raisa today, The club is healthy and next week will be fun. Jim and Rex are flumaxxed once again trying to figure out the odds on the same member winning the drawing six times in four months!s! We even checked the bag for sandbagging duplicates...NADA! Be safe Rotarians and all the Best to you and yours.
Jim won the drawing.. for the sixth time.. haha he wasn't there to collect!
Thanks to all who attended the Party, posted on Facebook, sent cards or simply called to wish me a Happy Birthday. You are all the Best! Happy Holidays!
So our neighborhood Big Bang Astrophysicist spoke today from UCSC ( best program on this Planet)..Mark Mozena PhD. We found out in about 4 billion years, give or take, our local Sun will go supernova and we will have a very bad Day when the planet Earth burns up in a radioactive Firestorm.. Other than that the End of The World, due to the end cycle of The Mayan 13th Baktun, will not result in a reversal of the earths Polarity, We will not be struck by an Invisable marauding planet, The earth's crust will not Liquify and the StarGate Wormhole to the center of the Universe( cool as it sounds) does not Exist. He assured us it would be wise to continue buying Christmas Presents for that other Event on the 25th and If the world does surprise us by going Doomsday Solstice on the 21st to call him and he will file a complaint.
Dr. Mozena gave us a Humorous, well animated and Very thoughtful presentation on whats happening with the Higgs Boson, dark Energy, 11 dimensional String Theory and the Cern nuclear Accelerator all in a twenty minute summation.( Yeah right) Thanks Dr. Mozena... Really one of the Best speakers we have ever had. Thanks and we HOPE to see you again next year... (Gulp!)
(Jim won the drawing.. which he can collect when his leg heals up!)
The Sun, Moon and Stars and the End of the 13th Baktun...
Mr Kunst has published books and CDs on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Antecdotal and insightful Mr. Kunst presentation illustrated the compelling and evocative political and influential nature of President Abraham Lincohn. A well prepared and rehersed presentation by a scholar and Educated Lecturer. One of our Best Thanks Mr. Kunst!
UCSC today presented it's theater arts Department thru the speaking soliloquy of it's number one Thespian and his winsome lithesome wench from Sunrise Rotary, his Development director Ms Ann Gibb.. After sitting thru 30 minutes of Rotary's raunchy falstaffian "hilarity", hearing how and what we try to get done and speaking in honor of our contributions to Sandy, Marco Barricelli summarized the Rotary as incorporating all the best of Shakespearean iconic works, Grand emotions and human failures and foibles. He was very Impressed with the Collection of over $3700 from Cap to send to Monmouth Food shelter for Sandy Disaster relief while waxing historical and poetic about his being raised in Southern California theater before attending Juliard and spending the last Eight years at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. The Arts program he manages now is very successful and nationally recognized..participation by Actors on the Santa Cruz stage has reached worldwide acclaim.. Well presented Marco come back for an Encore next year! Huzzahs!
Btw one of our illustrious members was so moved to evocation by the ionic loquacious eloquence of Sire Marco she may have swooned and wrote Sandy an additional $500 check to help those freezing starving suffering right disaster coast victims. What a noble and worthy gesture for Humanity, Mickey Evans, Bravo! I will post the totals collected and sent as soon as they are reported to me By the Club Treasurer..
Rich Hamlin won the the drawing so I hope He confirms by calling Jim or me to say he read this!
Dr. Stan deserves high praise for his award of a second Paul Harris Fellow.. Laura Grinder is Rotarian of the month!
Happy Thanksgiving Rotary!!!************Be Safe and enjoy this Wonderful DAY of Celebration!***********
Marco Barricelli, Artistic Director UCSC Shakespeare
Today a great presentation from the local Second Harvest Food bank. 1$ can feed 1 meal to four people. 2nd harvest is supporting 128 food programs locally, including NP's and educational food sources. They are trying to educate students on healthy eating and to avoid cheap empty fatty carbs.. and this approach is responsible for healthier more attentive and successful students. They are also advocating nutritional training for new residents whose nutritional heritage may include many cheap but nutritionally empty carbohydrates from corn syrups, GMO's and Soy sources faking as necessary nutrition. Great work Willy. We at CAP support Your local years of worthy public service and are proud to have recently conducted an emergency collection and donation to the victims of Sandy in New Jersey, at the Monmouth and Ocean foodbank, your sister foodbank, that reports having served 3300 hot meals to the disaster survivors with our rotary Contributions. Thanks Willy and We WILL Collect here locally also for KATE!
Today Mr Milward from Hospice gave us an insightful and informed overview of the Committment of our local Santa Cruz county volunteers at Hospice. Both an Attorney and pastor Mr Milward presented us the history of Hospice, the facts of Hospice but most importantly the insight into the end of Life dignity that Hospice strives to provide. I want to thank Mr. Milward for the the work he has dedicated himself to and to Hospice for the difficult and challenging work they have done that affects all of us in one avenue or another.
Our speaker today serves as the director of development for Childrens Court Advocates AKA ' CASA". We learned that there are over 600 Foster children a year in Santa Cruz County and CASA has about 250 extensively trained Advocates to care for them. These Children have been taken away from irresponsible or negligent parents and placed in Foster homes. The advocates help the children transition by being an advocate not for the Courts or Childrens services but the Child. 70% of the Funding is Donated, CASA has a new Headquarters in Watsonville. Several of our members including Karen Semingson, Clair McAdams and Diane Deavers are volunteers. Thanks Linda for explaining this critical and valuable resource for the lost and often forgotten Children of Santa Cruz County.
Congratulations to Bill Weston on the presentation of his Double Emerald (x7) Paul Harris Award
Special Kudoos to our newly inducted Red Badge, Mr. Jim Klein, Financial Advisor Sevices.
I'm starting to suspect the Fix is in! Richard Watson Riley WINS the drawing AGAIN!!!
Gov. Joe and his lovely wife Kathy came to hear about CAP Rotary today. Eleven Intrepid Members each explained their assigned Goals and committee ambitions. From Finance to RYLA, InterACt to Second Harvest, Jabob's Heart and Beach cleanups, the 4th to the Blues Festival to The Grants Programs. You CAP Rotarians brought it today and Joe was impressed. Although we may be a small club we are fierce! Kathy was given receiving Blankets as she requested, 19 members got Double Sustainer recognition with three more getting Super Sustainer Pins! Kelly Neshheim qualified for a Paul Harris Society Award! The Big hits went to Al DeCamera's two son's who each were presented their Second level Paul Harris Pins while Daddy took home the Grand Prize.. The First Double Emerald Seven time Paul Harris Pin this club has ever presented. Great work everybody. ***********************(Richard Watson-Riley Won the drawing! Call Jimmy.)**************************
Governor Joe Hamilton District Gov Rotary Area 5170
Today we accepted a new Member to CAP Rotary. Moving here from Sacramento after serving some 15 years as a Rotarian Dr. Russel will take the Job Description of Chiropractor. Good Luck and welcome to CAP Rotary Dr. Russel!
Lori dropped by today to explain how she founded Jacob's Heart and the Hospice Childrens Cancer services fifteen years ago. Educated in Linguistics and Spanish at UCLA Lori taught for several years in Local schools before dedicating herself entirely to non Profits. She currently is working in the Develpoment of CIEBA School a charter school in Watsonville. Thanks for all the Great work Lori! Jim wins the TRIPLE CROWN! THIRD TIME
On the only HOT Sunny windless Day ever experienced by cogent locals in La Selva Beach, Keith Spoke to his "Buddy in the Sky" and voila'... Sunny and hot and a great turnout for games, Hot dogs and Burgers, garden Tours and Balloon animals. The Great time was shared in fellowship and laughter and we welcome Mylene and her three lovely daughters and Dr Russel to our happy Band of Brothers and Sisters in Rotary!
A local product and lifetime resident Chief Escalante made a presentation today concerning his jurisidiction. One point he emphasized was the importance of inter agency cooperation in santa cruz county... sworn in on April 1 of this year the Chief has 24 Officers and a multitude of volunteers that he appreciates in Capitola. He spoke about how important the public perception of his department is as helpful and non confrontational and how his Priority is Good public relations.Thanks Chief Come back for an Update! Stan Hujduk WOULD have won the drawing. ( Oh the irony!)
What's the newest thing to hit Santa Cruz? The D league Basketball Warriors! With city approval and ground already broken to begin the construction the Warriors are coming to Santa Cruz and bringing with them entertainment, employment, construction jobs, tax revenue and excitement. Built on a lost dangerous corner of Santa Cruz where over 300 drug arrests are made yearly next to the San Lorenzo River a new multi use facility is under already under construction. During Basketball season it will hold over 7500 fans, in the off season the Facility will bring Santa Cruz revenue as a multi use facility bigger than any square footage between Half Moon Bay and Monterey. As a year round facility many sporting events and Business conventions can be held there along with Cultural and music Venues. Great presentation and well received Jim. Looking forward to seeing the new Warriors facilities become a symbol of success for Santa Cruz! (Sue Lawson Won the Drawing!)
Mr. Minaldi is a teacher of Physics at Aptos High School. He has organized students over the past three years to participate Internationally in a Competition for Underwater Robotics. His Team won First place in the WORLD in 2011. For Bringing outstanding recognition to the Aptos Community he was Honored today with a Paul Harris Fellowship. He wife Christina was present for the recognition. Thank you Joseph and congratulations in receiving, and deserving, our highest award!
Joe Minaldi, Aptos High school gets Recognition from CAP Rotary
Adam spoke today about the legislative haggling occurring daily in Sacramento. He spoke about the impact of affordable health care, Medicare, District realignments and the budget considerations for his Boss, Assemblyman Bill Monning, 27th District. Before the Meeting Adam Presented Tiffany Lofton of Jacob's Heart two Assembly recognition Awards for their work with Children's Cancer Services. Thanks Adam.
(Richard Watson- Riley won the Drawing!)
Adam Spickler, Sr.Field Rep, Assemblyman Bill Monning
On behalf of ALL CAP Rotarians we were honored by CASA at their annual Dinner for our years of Sponsorship and Support. Thank you Karen and Claire for recognizing the generous members of CAP Rotary for their continued support. What a Great and Beneficial Institution for Foster children CASA is! Great People Wonderful Hearts. The picture ran continuously for the several hundred people that were in attendance at Chaminade Sunday Night.
PDG Jim Mealy drove down from Los Gatos Sunrise today to pull our attention back onto the purpose of Rotary. The Purpose of Rotary is "Service Above Self". A committment to help those we can to Improve Literacy, Develop Sanitary water and Food sources to Heal the Planet and Achieve Peace through Service. To those given Much, much is Expected and that is exactly where the Foundation, The Polio Project the Paul Harris Fellowships and GSE's provide leadership in the how, why and where we can add our contributions to help. We saw how RYLA was a life changing event for each and every one of our RYLA Students..How did we do it? By our Gifts we can keep on giving exponentially: the Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the Few. Jim as a 30 year Rotarian, Multiple Paul Harris came to refocus our attention today, to recommit us in our Purpose in Rotary. Thanks Jim we needed the focus to get back on track for EREY success and the Worldwide DDF/ Vision projects .
(Greg Evans would have won the drawing!)
Past President of CAP Rotary traveled from his home in Cormandel New Zealand today to make his presentation about St. Jude's School in Tanzania, Africa. Founded approx. 6 years ago the school has grown from inception to 300 then 1000 now TWO Thousand students.. Only the brightest of the applicants are accepted. The school performs with the Best in the country on academic Criteria and continues to progress. The school is oriented to students willing to perform and commit to stay in the country of Tanzania. Dave explained many Rotary Clubs contribute to St. Judes which is non secular and non partisan. Our club has generated a contingent of members who intend to travel to Africa next year to participate in the St. Jude Project. Thanks Dave first rate presentation!
" Keith Medeiros won the Drawing"
Henry Castaniada spoke today about the educational achievement challenges in the Soquel School district. Henry told us there is a vast discrepancy between class room curricula which results in the preponderant failure to prepare students for College. According to statistics over half the students at Cabrillo are unprepared to complete basic college work due to literary deficiencies. They cannot cogently write or even understand the intrinsic challenges of modern college work and only 20% will attain even an AA degree, even after six years.. The AG program (which I understood as Advanced placement) classes are unavailable to the majority of Soquel Students attributable directly to a lack of funding. The Failure rate to produce college graduates is astounding( approx. 80%) and Henry reports many more resources will be required to bring the programs up to par. He say's what is required is a public dedicated to the value of and recognizes the future importance of Education. Jim Klein won the drawing and was so thrilled he filed an application to Join CAP Rotary!
Henry Castaniada, Superintendent Soquel School Dist.
I thought the best part of the presentation of the PHF to Maggie was when I asked the Club "Who has Maggie helped out in this room?"
Almost every members hand in the room went up.
Congressman Farr is a great Guy.. But Maggie Earned it. PHF.
Today we had some fun with our visiting US Congressman Sam Farr. A long time friend to our Club Sam agreed to present a Paul Harris Award to Maggie Driscoll for her many contributions to not only Rotary but the NP community represented by our Members. Sam also made himself available for a Comerica check presentation to Jacobs Heart and finally spoke seriously to our club about the unmitigated strife in Washington. Sam voiced his disappointment with the divided non compromising and embittered partisan National politics and outlined Six MAJOR votes confronting the Congress this Fall alone. He went on to express his hope for the Pinnacles to be named a National Park, for Fort Ord to be made a California US Military Cemetary, for cooperative research on the Marine Sanctuary and a more unified cooperation between all the Advanced Educational institutions that literally ring the Monterey Bay. Thanks Sam. You are Always welcome to speak here.
(Sam Nigh won the Drawing!)
Capitola Aptos President Dr. Rex Manson, CAP Membership Chair Rachel Hill, Asst Dist Governor Area 7, Jon Winston, attended "The GALA Sunrise Fund Raiser" for the New Santa Cruz Monterey/ NOAA Sanctuary , August 11,2012. Also attending Rotary 5170 Dist Gov Joe Hamilton, PDG Ron Sekkel, SC President Janet Krassow, Sunrise Pres and Host Rod Caborn, Watsonville Pres. David Hemrick, Intl. Service Chair Georganna Hildebrand, Past CalState Senator Bruce McPherson, plus, Plus.. It was fun. Rotary is Funding an educational Classroom to educate children about the Mission and goals of the Monterey Marine Sanctuary.
EAC a 503c1 NP that makes a positive difference in the lives of Insulin Dependent diabetics by providing them trained medical alert service dogs free of charge. Based in Concord California The dog's are a Diabetics best friend, life saver and life changer.. A alert dog is intensely trained to smell changes in blood sugar levels high or low from children under 12 to the elderly. These dogs also make great companion dogs besides for the diabetic sniffing capabilities. Thanks for coming all the way from Concord and Good luck for a service well performed above the pale.
Thanks Micky and Greg Evans for your generous donations of over ten Bottles of Wine on top of the other 18 donated by members of the CAP RotaryFor CASA!
George won the Drawing!
Today we heard the first political local commentary from our elected (but takes office in January 2nd District) Supervisor. Zach will have little to say for the time being out of respect for our sitting Supervisor Ellen Pirie... Zach noted that his election brings many inquiries concerning roads, maintenence and ditches. He has suddenly, after winning his election discovered a multitude of new friends and everybody whether in the district or not seems to have voted for Him. Most Importantly (although nothing is official until it's official) in January he will be our new Honorary Member of the Capitola Aptos Rotary.
Tim Powell was awarded Rotarian of the Month for his outstanding work on the Fourth of July B-BQue. 13 bottles of Wine have been donated for CASA!
(John Fisher won the Drawing!)
" Good Captains are not made by sailing Calm Waters" was the theme of todays Meeting. Mr. Eady has been a Santa Cruz City Planner since his graduation from UCSC in the 70's. He worked through the reconstruction of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the devastation that resulted to old downtown Santa Cruz. So trying to tell the truth about and change a few minds about the advantages of a modern reconstruction of a 40 year old Safeway eyesore should be easy right? Mr. Eady has been attacked, accused of being a tool of a corporate Safeway evil mega corporation and the Destructor of the idylic Aptosian peace and freedom view of life. During his 1/2 hour presentation he calmly pointed out the myriad of improvements available both ecologically, economically and by improved ADA accesssability that the new shopping Centre will bring without necessarily devastating the "Aptos of Olde" or views of the Ocean. Thanks Charley for a first rate professional discussion on a badly overdue capital improvement. I hope to hear you speak to us again as progress and further developments surface we local Rotarians need to know.
( Dave Andrews won the drawing, was NOT present. Lotto rolls over!)
Charles Eady. Hamilton Swift Safeway Redevelopment
We are collecting to donate bottles of Wine ( a Wheel barrel of Fun) for CASA's annual Auction in AUGUST.. Not much time left and the CAPITOLA APTOS ROTARY CLUB will get printed recognition at the event for our contribution to the CASA Event. Rex Manson will collect contributions on behalf of Claire Adams, Chair of Friends of CASA. Claire will not not be available because our club friend Rich McAdams is having Back Surgery and our healing best thoughts will be with both of them.
We got thrown under the Bus (again!) No speaker showed up (AHS Robotics) so we held an informal Club Assembly, there will be three more this year. There will be an African Tanzania Fundraiser singing Karoake $$$$$$ at Brittania Arms (Thanks Pam!) There is a huge Area Seven Black Tie event to open the Marine Sanctuary on August 11. Congressman Sam Farr will be here August 16th. Kiwi Dave Campbell will be the speaker on August 31 addressing the St. Jude Project in Tanzania: He will have a slideshow..Nanette Mickowicz, President of Dominican Hospital will speak here Sept 11. Chief Escalante, Capitola PD will speak here September 27. The CAP Rotary Website and Facebook is Under new Mgmt and construction thru August.Constructive suggestions are appreciated please address to Pres. Rex.. A new Club Directory with Photos will be made available in September. There is no HUB so ideas about a informational e-mail Blast were discussed.
All of our Collective Positive thoughts are in Support of Laura Grinder.. Godspeed.... Graham won the Lottery:$25
Today was Physics day at CAP. After the New President stumbled thru his garbled agenda the meeting finally turned over for cogent learning about Roberts Book " Einstein and The Universe". We heard about the many failures of Einsteins mediocre early life until he published the quintessential E=mc2 theory in 1905. It took 16 years for him to be nominated for his Nobel Prize which resulted in the development of Nuclear energy and weapons, GPS, Microwave technology and perhaps a science breakthru bigger in power production potential than the Higgs Boson within Five years.(tease) He has been called the most Important person of the Twentieth century. We could have listened to this Brilliant Physicist for many hours but got instead a remarkable 30 minutes on a subject matter higher in complexity than our Paygrades. This Guy was BRIGHT!
BTW Check these stories EVERY WEEK to find the WINNER of the Club Drawing. They will be posted here by Members NAME. Today a visitor won $50 for just showing up! Next week might be you!
I am very honored to be elected President of the Capitola Aptos Rotary Club. I sincerely Thank you all.
I first joined Rotary in 1980, as a new Doctor and have since been a Member of seven different Rotary Clubs around central Northern California.
My Father in Law, Richard originally brought me into the Rotary Family and taught me the basics, essentials and commitments of being a "Real" Rotarian. He had 47 years of perfect attendance in an impossible professional travel schedule around the world and had served as President of the Beverly Hills, Ca. Rotary.
He was a man, an executive that received many high Professional National Honors, a CPA, A UCLA Summa Cum Laude, President of the National Board of Accountancy, but as he told me, his proudest plaque on his distinguished and extensive wall of recognized service and merit, was his Rotary Presidency.
I concur. I know some things about many of you, I do not know as much as I want to know about any of You. I am here to serve the Capitola Aptos Rotary. Everything I do as your President will be targeted at " What is best for the Capitola Aptos Club? " I will not always be " right" in every members opinions! Lets talk it out and work together to improve the CLUB. I need your help. I need every Rotarian to help me every day. I will make mistakes and I trust you can advise me constructively to make me a better President and ours a better Club.
Always Job ONE is: New Members! How can I Help you Bring a New Member to Rotary?
If you feel I could improve or even be more successful Please: tell me. If you have thoughts/ suggestions about the projects, new ideas, and directions of the club E-mail me. Lets Improve.."I can.. We WILL!"
Thanks for reading this far and Thanks for your confidence!
MY home Phone number is 831.662.3113, My e-mail is " Diskdoc08@Yahoo.com"
No Speaker showed up on Thursday. No call, no e-mail no nothing... So Keith jumped in with an interview with our esteemed 30 year Rotary member Doug Nakashima. Doug told the story as a POW Japanese American child he was interned during WW2 in Colorado, came home, after losing everything his family owned in the east bay, and went to Berkley during the Early sixties, worked with his father to sustain a very sucessful family cut flower business in Watsonville, underwent a personnal tragedy equal to the greatest Greek play and became increasingly involved with the Budhest Church. Now retired he provided mental counseling services for the prisoners in State prison. Now remarried he is seeking solstice through writing and meditation, public service with Rotary and CASA and continued explorations of world sites with his beautiful wife of ten years Sharon. Good luck Doug. Glad to have you with us.
These dates are muy importante! President Keith's Debunking is June 26TH( finally) and APTOS " World's Shortest Parade" is followed by CAP Rotary serving "LAUGHTER,FELLOWSHIP BEER AND BRATS" in the HISTORIC Nissene Marks Aptos park 11 TO 5. Come One Bring ALL to serve, dance and celebrate life in the Aptos...( where two rivers meet!)
JUNE 26, JULY 4th! MARK YOUR CALENDARS! CLEAR THE DECKS!
Sean Founded the PSF in 1990 while working as a commercial fisherman. At that time the Shark was an abhorrent monster of the deep praying on Bodysurfers and terrorizing small New England Resort islands. As a result of working with NOAA, The discovery Channel and National Geographic Sean has become an advocate for sharks promoting their preservation through education and an awareness program to eliminate the need less slaughter of hundreds of millions of these ancient sea denizens annually. Thru his work and presentations like today Sean wants to expand the Public conscience and awareness of the close ecologic respect we all must have with all living creatures to survive on our small blue planet.
As is our CAP Tradition today we distributed awards to over 22 people and organizations found worthy and consistant with the Community Service goals of the Capitola Aptos Rotary. Along with Merit Certificate we also passed out checks to each recipient. It was a grand event and a Great Success. We look forward to doing it all again next year!
This week we get to do what we do best: Honor and support deserving non profits of Santa Cruz county! 21 visitors will join us for lunch and the presentation of CAP Rotary Awards. This is the day to put our best( Club) foot forward so dress up and Bring a Friend or future Rotarian!
2012 Capitola Aptos Rotary Community Grants Lunch!
Today a Monterey docent shared his private obsession with Favio the wily Sea Otter. Bob has tracked Otters in Stillwater cove for many years and found himself drawn to one particular Otter whom he named " Favio". Bob tracked and recorded the annual territorial trials and travails of Favio and took hundreds of photographs to document his observations over 13 years. Favio lived many years with other otters off the pier at Stillwater cove at Pebble Beach Calif. In 2007 he immigrated, for reasons otterly beyond our understanding, 35 miles North to the Elkhorn Slough where he began to show his age and the wear and tear challenges associated with being a wild sea mammal.. Favio died in 2008 in September after a long normal life, well documented by Docent Bob. Thanks for Sharing your history with us Mr. Mannix, it was a delightful and spirited Tail...
Today we heard form the Job development specialist from the University of California at Santa Cruz. They specialize in assisting Non profits with voluntary personnel. Thanks Hayley.
Are you ready for some Rock and Roll Rotarians? The Blues festival starts Saturday with the Doobie Bros and Tower of Power! And they say our club is too old.. Blue Hairs ROCK!!!!! See you there in Fellowship for Charity my Fellow "Blues Brothers!"
Thank You Beth for your presentation on Strokes today. Concerning the signs and symptoms of this debilitating and often fatal affliction the Stroke Center at Cabrillo College has dedicated itself to the rehabilitation of stoke victims for over 30 years. Whether Vascular, A TIA or Clot the neurological catastrophe that follows an event are unmistakable, and often unreparable. Rehabilitation is an Emergency treatment that proves most effective the sooner it is initiated. Lest we ever forgot the signs thanks Beth for keeping us aware and up to date as to stroke Rehabilitation.
Today was our first run at an E-waste collection. With No cost to our club members some members showed up to help and spend appreciated hours of volunteer service collecting for Rotary, Comerica, Aptos Interact and Jacob's Heart. Doug Deaver worked most all day with interactors star Diedre from Interact Aptos who worked her tail to the bone ( 4.0) and stepped up to every challenge. Also to be recognized, the son of Rachel Hill , Chase who spent all day doing the heavy lifting and most of the heavy work for good. Thanks Doug, Rachel and Chase for our trial run at an E-waste Waste..collection. Especially Branch manager Rachel Hill for getting the donated space to do the collections at Comerica, Aptos....Our first..Also Kudos to Doug Nakashimi and Stan Abraham for your generous contributions..Man it was cold out there so thanks very much!
Today Carolyn Post gave us an update concerning the Children's cancer services of Jacob's Heart. Presently serving 157 children with cancer this 501c3 provides Financial, Psychological support and counseling services to Families in the Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito County Areas.Over 500 individuals have received care from the Volunteers at JH, often in the forms of Financial support for food and gasoline or direct service such as providing rides to the Cancer centers at Stanford. Thanks Carolyn I think the Story of this great Service touched the hearts of every Rotarian in the Room.
Do you have your reservations Yet? Monday 4/16 is your last chance to buy in!! Our own PDG and Rotocare founder John Fisher is being "Honored"by his Peers April 20 at his very own ROAST! A comedy/ musical hit not to be missed with Music by the terrific Sam Nigh and the Digbigs. Also there will be a silent auction and raffle drawing worth thousands of dollars in valuable prizes! All to support Rotocare and Dominican Hospital. For your last once in a lifetime chance to attend call the head MOC himself: Al Decamara...688-0500.ONLY $100.00 per ticket.
An excellant presentation was made today from the SC Sentinals staff photographer and ongoing Instructor of PhotoJournalism at Cabrillo College. Thru a montage of categories Mr. Thayler took us on a "images" journey thru sports, local and political events and special issues like floods, fires, accidents and natural disasters that he has captured in pictures over the past 25 years. Every picture, explained Mr. Thaler, tells a story of a fraction of a second captured forever without requiring words or explanation. Mr Thayler's rules of good photography: Being in the right place at the right time, being able to recognize frame, cull, crop and edit for effect, no written word required and having the right equipment and the experience and knowledge to use it for evocative effect. No Photoshop. No "FauxTography". Well done and appreciated by our Rotarians Mr. Thaler. Thanks for agreeing to return again for an update next year on your fantastic artful and esoteric work.
Saturday March 31 2012, Doubletree Hotel, 8AM to 2 PM San Jose. All Board and Exec. Board members, Chairs and BOD's should go. Great opportunity for Red Badge fellowship!
" Peace thru Service!"..Future Vision and Foundation Service was attended by John, Rex and Doug.. Membership and Grants saw Sue Lawson and Kieth. Sandra was seen at New Generations and RYLA the Real Fifth Avenue... Everybody at Lunch saw Brad Howard, North American Membership Chair give the best " Why are you a Rotarian?" retention speech of his lengthy stellar Rotary Career. Area Seven got high lighted for Guatemala, PDG Ron Sekkel, and Bad Lumpy gray "food" at SC Main. All in All Good Fun. All for 5170 Membership, Job #1, Area Seven Rocks! Arley Marley has been a good DG...During the Worst of Times, the Best of Times..
What do otherwise warm intelligent Rotarians do on a chilly damp Saturday morning while everybody else is inside avoiding the rain and cold? Why standing outside in the rain and cold doing what we do best: Collecting Food and Money where it will do the most Community Good of Course!
The Interactor clubs and officers from Both Aptos High and Soquel High came to lunch today to take over Rotary. Acting on Behalf of President Keith they called the meeting to order, Stood for the Pledge sang the Welcome Song and acted as Detectives fining members deficient in their knowledge of current InterAct fundraising events. They did an excellant job and we were more proud than ever to have these fine young people and the RYLA Leaders of tomorrow visit our meeting.
Today we met the Philanthropic services Director from the new local headquarters here in Mid county Aptos. Since 1981 The Foundation has provided guidance for Community giving and philanthropic funding. Multiple local non profits have benefitted from CF grants which acts as a clearinghouse for Meetings, computer services and information concerning Grants, and the means of appying for them. Thank you Randy come back again.
Mr Randy Balogh, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz
Today we were addressed by the Exe. Dir of a Center that teaches, trains and arranges for Local home Caregivers. John explained how his group worked with other groups to address the mainly physical and financial needs of the elderly and ageing mentally challenged. He also discussed the tremendous psychological and physiological degradation that accompanies the lonely trek of the selfless, and oft stressed anxiety, of the unprepared caregiver. Needless to say the room of graying Rotarians, those experienced as caregivers and those not as yet exposed to this sacrifice, was strangely muted by the information and complexity of the subject matter.
Saturday March 31, 2012, Doubletree Hotel San Jose 8AM-2PM ($39.00) All Club Officers, Board Members and Committee Chairs should attend. A must for Red Badges!
Signups next Thursday March 15 at the regular meeting.
Mr Zach Friend press Information officer from the Santa Cruz Police department spoke today. Predicated on a research algorthymn a data based research computer projection of probability has been developed in an attempt to predict crime in Santa Cruz. It has been used within Santa Cruz and can high light areas of 500 ft diameter of predicted crime in advance of the fact. Arrests have been made based on this data. The project is being evaluated worldwide and has been written up in the New York times and Washington Post along with Time magazine.Thanks Zach we will invite you back to keep us up to date on this important breakthru program.
Dr Kaupp gave us a visit today to relate his story as a start up entrepeneur, MBA and assumably rich Instructor at Cabrillo College. Heading up the Business communications department for the past 6 years he is tenured and therefore "able" to relate to problems with issues like "Facilitation of Change in an entrenched Institutional static Environment vrs the Fast Paced always late 24/7 mutable pace of a Silicon Valley Startup", including the early days of Apple Computer. Very funny, insightful and enlightening when presented the Compare and Contrast. Thanks Dr. Ray we appreciated your entertaining if somewhat sardonic viewpoint. Favorite quote of the day attributed to Steve Jobs: " Who hired that Idiot?"
An excellant presentation by a return speaker today and member of Sunrise Rotary Mr. Brian Liddicoat. Trains of the Santa Cruz mountains gave a historical perspective on the progress west of the great Train Barons of the 1800's. With a flourishing Logging industry quickly developing around the Felton Area a means of getting Lumber to market resulted in the building a of transportation from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos and San Francisco. Although the terrain above Lexington was challenging the lines were constructed at great cost and required the digging of the longest Tunnel in the west (some 5200 feet in length) above Scott's valley. Plagued by earthquakes and flooding the lines were sealed in 1942 but some decayed remains can still be seen and viewed. Excellant presentation by Brian and his efforts were well appreciated by the CAP Rotarians!
Today we heard an angel, Cory Ybarra from Building for Generations speak about " Supporting Special Needs Education Projects" Worldwide. With her own son a special needs student Cory took it upon herself to start an international 501c3 to support the needy in Peru and Africa. Since 1995 with only small donations from rummage/garage sales and cake bakes she began a program in Tanzania to house and educate the Lesser of the Least: the disabled and rejected special needs children. She has since traveled to Africa, and became enchanted with the African culture. She came today to inform us not to ask us how we can help. Without a cooperative AV projector for support she simply spoke extemporaneously about her challenges. There was no sense of complaint or entitlement in her voice just a passionate committment to help and assist her children that permeated a silenced room of Rotarians. Thank you Cory. We were listening and we will help where we can.
The Pulitzer prize winning local talent, journalist, teacher and International Musician came to visit CAP Today. Brad moved here from New York an epoch ago to work for the SJ Mercury news where he wrote for 22 years and won a coveted Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. More recently he hosted the afternoon "What's Left" radio talk show on KSCO while teaching Jounalism and photography at Cabrillo College and taking over the Editorship of the E-news website the "Santa Cruz Patch". A lively funny and talented speaker the room was rocking in response to many of Kava's stories and Quips. Well done Mr. Kava you get invited back.
An excellant presentation today by the" Rich Pig", Caleb Lawrence. A local financial advisor and radio show host on KPIG he has lived in the area for many years. He spoke about the 2007 Banking and financial collapse, The credit collapse that has resulted in the Banking and Mortgage fiasco's that have devoured AIG, Lehman Bros ,IMM and the IMF, caused 7Trillion$ in Pension losses,and resulted in a lack of credit and the collapse of institutional banks worldwide. A provocative fact filled history of gross malfeasence and the case was made implicating the Banks. FTC, IMF and Federal Reserve and a lack of Government leadership over the past 30 years. Many questions were taken from the audience and Mr Rich Pig agreed to come back for an encore update later in 2012.
Today we were introduced to Cindy Weigelt, Public Information Officer from Watsonville Hospital. Cindy brought us up to speed in the statistical achievements at WH: Patient satisfaction survey's in such areas as Medical care ,sanitation patient care are above those of Dominican or Urgent care centers. New Programs aim to provide Emergency services in the ER in an Incredible 30 minutes! Also WH is the ONLY local facility to have ALL er Doctors certified in Emergency Medicine. All our best Cindy come back and see us again next year?
Ron Slack came to speak today but not about his job at the Good times. Instead he shared his experience working with youth for summer employment. Ron described how with youth summer employment at record low levels going back to 1948 that Youth service is essential to the job training for later gainful employment. Thanks Ron for the work you do.
We welcomed an old friend and his wife for lunch today. David Campbell, now resident of New Zealand and long time CAP Rotarian came to visit. Good to see you David!
We got information about the crisis in Fukishimi and the encroaching debris and Nuclear contamination from the Eastern Pacific. Just this week debris was found in Washington State although it's origin was unclear. To date little to no Nuclear contamination has been found but the main body of the Debris, some 2400 million Tons, will arrive on our shores in Santa Cruz in 2012.
Mr Larry Wilde brought his inspirational stagecraft to Rotary with a series of Stories, Jokes and Motivational values. With a good attendance on CAP Rotaries part he was well received best by both genders of a Certain Age. There were many laughs and a well practiced and professional Presentation. Nicely Done Larry.
Larry Wilde, International Comic and Motivational speaker
October 28, 2011 || The Hub for the Watsonville Wetlands Field Trip
Dr. Lou and Joan Rose took their time today to give us a history and update on a valuable Birding and ecological preservation project for the Six Sloughs of Watsonville. This group has concerned itself with protecting and restoring the areas natural ecology and sharing their extensive knowledge with guided Trail tours. Headquartered at WHS they provide volunteers and experts to protect the wild lands of our valuable sloughs. We appreciate the dedicated work of your 400 members, contributers and Docents.
Besides being the Thursday Speaker at CAP Larry has been called " America's Best selling Humorist. "He has published 53 books and sold over 12 Million copies. He has performed on stage with Johnny Carson , Ann Margaret and Mary Tyler Moore!..Larry is going to give us a 45 minute presentation on how a healthy sense of humor can help relieve stress, maintain perspective and achieve personal happiness. THIS is the week to invite friends and family, even prospective members, to come to Capitola Aptos Rotary for a Very Special, informative and valuable presentation from one of America's top Motivational Speakers. And Lunch is only $16.00!
Our Rotary District 5170 Scholar spoke today to thank Rotary for helping her get her medical license to practice in California. Raisa, A native Russian trained as an endocrinologist in Moscow, emigrated to the US in 1992, moved for several years to Japan and returned here to volunteer at Rotocare in Capitola. She described life in the Old Soviet Union and was sent as a field researcher a week after the Chernaboyl Nuclear disaster. Living now with her son in Santa Cruz she is active with both the District Scholars Program and Rotocare. Thanks Raisa, Spacebo!
Merry Christmas and SAFE travels to all who see this page. Gentle Winds and Following Seas. We took some pictures and Sammy and the D Wops sang Christmas Carols.. Keith interviewed his new best NBBF friend, Rich. It just doesn't get any Better..
BTW if you want to see or download the Pictures go to, register and sign on: "the Rotary Club of Capitola Aptos."
On Thursday DEC 22 we will be taking PICTURES for the Membership directory. So bring your voice to sing carols with Sammy Nigh and put your best FACE forward!
Today we heard Mr. Bill Monning, State Assemblyman from the 17th District discussing the budget revisions in Sacramento and how it will effect the Education and state sponsored health services provided by the State. Needless to say times are grim with the news getting worse every day. Thanks Bill for the Update and Thanks for agreeing to return next year to discuss your upcoming Senate Race.
Sunday Dec 11, 4PM Home of the King of the Doo Wops!
BRING TWO bottles of Wine to" Auction for Africa"..( Sam will supply the Drinking Wine) Bring CASH to Buy Pointsettias for St. Judes construction in Africa from Lori and Pam. If you want to bring a salad or your favorite finger food.
MERRY Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Sam " Never Silent" Nigh's Never to be Forgotten X_Mas Party
Our new friend Laura gave us a presentation on domestic Violence and abuse which includes physical, emotional, financial and verbal. 85% of attacks are made on Women, 25% of pregnant women are abused. There is a high risk for younger women age 16 to 25 with a high and prevalent involvement with alcohol. The Month of the Highest abuse? January. Bringing the issue to schools and the public has resulted in decreasing incidents recently. Thanks Laura for the important and informative presentation , we Rotarians learned a lot from it.
Laura Segura, Exec. Dir. " Women's Crisis Support"
Denise York and Wendy Sarsfield gave us a presentation today from PG&E concerning tiered Pricing. Tiering is going to be used to decrease maximum power useage during high energy consumption times. Small Business can receive evaluations on volume and Times of service to reduce or control costs to Small Business. Thanks Denise for coming out to speak with us.
47 CAP Rotarians and mates joined 200 other attendees at a Rotact Dinner in Honor of John Fisher, Past 5170 District Gov, past Club President ,Original Rotaract Founder. Following a harrowing HWY17 busride hosted by Kelly Nesheim we arrived at the Doubletree in San Jose "well oiled" to enjoy comradeship and Rotarian fellowship on the special occasion in Honor of the lifetime achievements of our own John Fisher! BTW Happy Birthday John!
Toys are being collected for local Children with Cancer ," Jacob's Heart," at the Aptos Branch of the Comerica Bank.. Courtesy of our own Rachel Hill, VP. Branch Manager.
Today our Red Badge Sam Storey spoke about Community Bridges. Currently serving on the Capitola City Council Sam has worked for many years for this local non profit which over sees eight subordinate Non Profits, The largest of which is Meals On Wheels. These are Grant programs not entitlements and receive very limited State Funding and find themselves serving more and more elderly with sub poverty incomes with fewer and fewer resources. Thanks Sam a tough Job well done.
We were proud to invite our two Interact clubs at Soquel and Aptos High School to introduce their officers and advisors and explain the projects they have participated in. Each Club reports about 35 members. They have helped wrap Food barrels for Second harvest, Cleaned up the Aptos beaches with Save our Shores and assisted Jacob's Heart at Kidrageous. We were proud to award them Interact Club Pins and recognize them for the extraordinary work and community contributions they are doing thru Interact. Doug Deavers has done an exemplary job as Club Interact coordinator.
Thank you Ms Shareen Bell executive director of YFIOB. Today we were brought up to speed on a Professional mentoring program directed by Cabrillo College and targeted at getting High School and Jr College students in direct dontact with individuals in specific Professions.We and YFIOB will certainly have a shared future working together for education.
Rose and Lou hosted almost 20 of our club members to a Tour and Lecture of the Wetlands preservation in Watsonville. Following an outstanding Bag lunch prepared by Maggie Driscoll we toured the headlands and scoped out Herons, Egrets Loons Ducks Redtail hawks and MAYBE a Owl or Falcon we couldn't tell. Weather was fine and the countryside was open and typical middle kingdom California.
This past week President Keith and I spent most of our days and nights hosting Tusu, Our club Guest from Uganda CAP hosted at Presidents Keith's Home. After meeting, rehersing and picking him up in Almaden on Sunday we took him to see the Monterey Aquarium, Wharf and Carmel on Monday, The Sunrise and Freedom Clubs on Tuesday, Watsonville on Wednesday, CAP Aptos on Thursday and the District Avenues in Service, where he was a hosted speaker on Thursday night, in San Jose. Many meals, speechs, lectures and laughs later, along with 468 miles of driving we turned our guest over to the next clubs/ weeks hosts. We want to thank those generous members of CAP who helped host/ dine/ entertain Dr. Tusu: John Fisher, Al Decamera, Jim Kutch and Laura Grinder.
Tusu Tusubira, Avenues of Service, District Governor 9200, Uganda
Saturday Morning Annual Barrel wrap in Watsonville where 10 CAP Rotarians, led by Scot Iredell and interactor advisor Doug Deaver and 40 other members from Area 7 volunteered to help. This year however we were joined by some of the New Interactors from Paharo, Soquel and Aptos high schools. We had so much help that where in the past we worked for three hours with all the extra hands we were done in ONE! Also it was projected that we would do about 800 wraps.. We Did 1300! Great Job Rotary. Thanks Interactors nice to have you aboard!
Plan on Attending.. every Rotarian is invited. The Avenues provide leadership education and comeraderie to District 5170 Rotarians! Arrange a ride.. the fun begins at 4Pm and ends after a Dinner. See You There!
*********District 5170 Avenues of Service- Thursday October 20 4pm********
Watsonville Adult Education made a presentation today. The times as with all programs have been financially challenging and many much needed programs have been terminated or Curtailed. We admire the fortitude it requires to survive in these challenging financial times.
Today's speaker, Larry Granger, Santa Cruz Symphony's Conductor, was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow as recognition from our Club for his outstanding 20 years of service to the Symphony. Larry is retiring this year, and gave the Club a preview of the great things he has planned for his farewell season. Great job Larry. It's a pleasure to honor you.
Today was a first in the three year history of my planning speakers. At first we had no speaker, then we had a speaker( Brian Liddencourt, JD) who has been rescheduled) then the speaker didn't speak because his power point did/ would not run. Computer Glitch. So we Evaluated and Overcame and interviewed three notably outstanding members , Dr Stan, Lynette C, and Scott I ... Great stuff occurs when you are NOT attached to the outcome..
What if you planned a speaker and it did not happen?
Today the Executive Director of Rotocare, Tammy Janosik ,gave us a presentation on Rotocare. Rotocare originated in the mind of our own John Fisher 22 years ago. John is being Honored in November by a District wide celebration. Today was really John Fisher Day where all CAP Rotarians active with Rotocare got acknowledged for their community service
On Saturday Aug 27th, at 9 am many Intrepid CAP Rotarians met at the Sumner trestle to cleanup Beer can Beach. Led by Pam Goodman who supplied bags and gloves we broke into "Tallimen and Pickers" and treked down to the sandy garbage patch below Seascape. Many bags of assorted trash were hauled out and accounting will be forth coming by the Leader of the pack rats, Pam. Good Work Rotary!
Today Sam returned to give us the inside on the dysfunction in Washington DC. Doubtfull that the super committee will get it's budget done we can anticipate a montrous cut in Medicare and the Military. Thanks for coming up to see us again Sam!
Laura Marcus gave a lunchtime presentation on the Santa Cruz based low income non Profit Dental facility... Laura reports Dientes provided over 9000 services to the Santa Cruz Community.
Rebecca Costa gave us a presentation about the subject of her book" The Watchman's Rattle". This presentation was intelligent and compelling on the history and Sociobiology that contributes to the collapse of civilizations.
Mr. Manildi, Physics instructor from Aptos High School, brought his National Championship Team to explain how they won the US Underwater Remote Robotics Championship. In competition against 450 other teams from through out the Nation the competition was held last month in Houston over four days. The Aptos team won outright in several specific engineering categories and moved on to the finals. Their Remote robot was specifically designed for Deep sea Oil rig recovery. When the scores were tallied the Aptos team were National Champions! Today we met part of the team who each took turns in explaining their specific contribution to the overall project. This was exciting to see these young motivated College bound scholars so focused and proud to be a member of this select winning team. Thanks for your work Mr. Minildi, we will check back on you next year to see where we might be able to help.
Today our old friend and fellow Rotarian Dr Brian King spoke about What's up" at Cabrillo College .Currently Serving almost 15,000 enrolled students, and consistant in it's almost 50 year history, the college strives to address the needs of a diverse population with some times divergent needs, vocations and political views. The College was recently named one of the best in both California and the entire US. Many of the faculty members teach both at the JC and also up "on the hill "at UCSC. Cabrillo is now considered an invaluable local educational asset and iconic resource by the mid County population. When polled the majority of CAP Rotarians have attended classes or seminars at the College themselves. The goals of the college continues to include excellence in all it's many departments with an excellant record of promoting students farther into Upper graduate education.. Thanks Dr. King for your presentation today. We are here, you can always call on us, and we Rotarians "want to help.
Last night we dethroned, er, Debunked 201o-1 President Kelly ( Beowulf) Nesheim. Held at the SC yacht Club, hosted by the fire breathing Rev. Stan the Abraham Man and decorated by the artistry of Lori M, we all drank danced, pranced and laughed our way thru goodbye dirgey songs of tribute ( running Bear) from the Never silent Sammy Nigh and his two piece band , Al Nighter and the Dandy Dave Drummers... Short thanks alots were then inaudibly extended by the usually loquacious Great Leader, "Fourway" followed by a spontaneous celebratory Rotarian heathen version of a Freebird Conga line, which wound and rumbled its reptilian Pagan path rhythmically, ok provocatively, around the dance floor.... ImP Pres Karen then passed the enchanted eternal continuity " Golden Pins of Mordor" and (Gift gag-bags) from Pres to Pres Elect Keith M under the auspicious evil eye, and all watching blade, of the inflated Charon himself..( Precious, my PRECIOuS..) The final "coup d grace" came when Al , as first KNight , ceremoniously sent The magic Nordic "Walkabout Lance of Hadenoughyet" to an honored Viking eternity , by sacred immolation, sending the ashes to rest hopefully forever, forever to be unseen again, by human or Rotarian evil Eye, in the pounding fires of Valhalla.
In Other words we all had a great time, Kelly got retired to Past President and a new Day dawns under the Rule of the Duracell Grandpa, Keith.
Not everyday you hear about the most super top secret aircraft research ever conducted by these United States. Our Guest, Dr. Alan Brown, Past lead Engineer for the Skunkworks kept the room transfixed as he tried to explain the design challenges of the experimental F-117 Fighter known as " Stealth". He explained the tribulations of working daily with the Air Force Creme Test Pilots and top administrators from the Super Secret '"Skunkworks" from Lockheed Aircrafts Research( Burbank) and Design Division. Rules for building Stealth.. Borrow everything possible, No risky Epoxy transmutation.. Make the impossible work. Build a Mach .08 Fighter bomber with the Radar Cross section of an Eagles Eyeball,( Really) Make a totally unstable diamond shaped anorchaic structure fly without any Standard Flight characteristics, add computers that react so fast that humans cannot possibly keep up then give the otherwise useless Test Pilot all of 1.2 Seconds to eject and Voila! The most secret stealthy fighter Bomber ever designed. Need less to say This Rotary club was weak kneed at the conclusion that came way.. too... fast. We could have asked useless questions for HOURS but ALAS...Due to the patience of Dr. Brown, one of the Great brain buster presentations in Several years.. Thanks Dr Brown.. I wish we could have understood a tenth of what you tried to explain about the F117 Stealth Bomber..and we never even got to the secrets of of the mysterious Pahrumph Nevada, Area 51.
Today we held a successful " Why Rotary " Day roundtable where 14 Potential Rotarian guests were hosted to a "free lunch" then subjected, once trapped, to the history, purpose and contributions of the CAP Rotary.( We got the small room anyhow.. How.. intimate)
President Kelly ( I am BEOWOLF!) explained the importance of the Four Way Test and Introduced the Club's new successful thumping/ rhythmic songs of his Pagan Lutheran past unto the eardrums of our unsuspecting guests. Good Job Beowolf! Then President elect, Keith( the Duracel Grandpa,) explained the IntraNational, Regional and Local Projects that CAP ( Guatemala) participates/and contributes to. THEN..(Just to add to the frothing excitement) Lori Mullen (the Lion Tamer) was called upon to briefly speak on the FIJI Project (which may become the ( Shush!) Kenya Project This was followed by the CAP God father, ex district Rotary Gov John who attempted to address the now myriad Paul Harris Foundations. Club Disbursment Chair Claire M spoke for the efficacy of the newly Reformed/Grants Committee guidelines and the 14 local non profits we supported in 2011. All in All a successful meeting and perhaps we attracted some new Members. Time will tell.
Melanie Schumacher and Bill Kocher from Soquel Creek and Santa Cruz Water came out to give us a presentation on Water conservation and the Planned Desal Plant in Santa Cruz. Scheduled to be constructed in 2013 the Plant using Reverse Osmosis, would supplement the water available during years of Drought. It is clear the conservation of resources will never match the need and expected demand in this drought prone area. This is a Preliminary plan which anticipates a cost measure that will not affect the average user by more than 3% per year. We will see.
Today multiple non profits received grants from CAP Rotary. After careful consideration as to priority and need The CAP Club awarded over $17,000 to local Charities. In this very challenging year the need for Charity has increased many fold while it is more and more difficult to locate sources of essential funding. We Appreciate and respect the hard work and tremendous contributions these groups have made here locally. Many thanks for all your good work with Charity! Well Done Capitola Aptos Rotary! Service Above Self!
Rotocare, Dientes, Hospice, Jacobs Heart, American Red Cross, Helping Hands, Valencia School, Cabrillo Women,CASA,Symphony League,Save our Shores, Grey Bears, For Kids,Meals on Wheels, Sienna House, Advocacy Nursing Homes Big brother/ Big Sister, Boy Scouts, Helping Hands.
A small but hearty group convened on Beer Can beach for our regular beach cleanup. It was an absolutely beautiful morning, and Steve Allen's daughter won a prize for the most unusual item found!
Sara is an attorney( Cal Hastings) retired from practice who works full time to direct the Community Engagement and media Relations For Salud. This organization provides medical care in numerous specialties to poor and indigent communities. With Facilities in Santa Cruz and Watsonville over 300,000 services have been provided to the local communities. Well Done Salud Para La Gente!
Rotarian(s) of the week (for heading up the plans for the Governor’s visit) were John Fischer and Jerry Pettibone. The Governor gave them an official Rotary satchel for their Rotary work.
There will be a Project Fair before cabinet meeting on Sept 2nd
Art announced Stan is improving. Art can give you the phone number if you’d like to call or visit.
September 19th, Beach Cleanup will occur. The sign-up sheet will be passed around next week
“Rotary in Motion”
Out District Governor, Susan Valenta, from the Gilroy Club where she has been a member for 20 years, spoke to us today. She is retired after 24 years with the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce and is actively involved on community boards. She has three children (including one daughter in Aptos!) and six grandchildren. She spoke about Rotary District 5170.
John announced Camp RYLA barbecue tonight at 5:00 (August 6th). He said 238 people would be there from around the area.
Next week the District Governor is here. Come and bring a guest, especially anyone who is thinking of joining Rotary.
Doctor Art announced that Stan had a lobe of his lung removed recently. He is home now recovering. Send him greetings!
Story
Win introduced the speaker today Project Director Deutron from ‘PAPÁS’ who graduated with an electrical engineering degree from UCSC. In his introduction, Win said that one in three children live in fatherless homes, which leads to poverty, crime and suicide. The speaker stressed also that many social problems are connected to a lack of father involvement, but thinks times are changing. He showed us a Cheerios commercial featuring an involved father and said new ads celebrating fatherhood reflect a cultural shift.
The Governors visit to the club will be August 13. We will meet in the large room.
There is an opening on the Aptos La Selva Beach Fire District board of directors.
Brenda Mee is asking us to keep an application at all times for potentially interested members. They will be available at meetings.
We welcomed back Rich Costa to the club after being away for some time.
Story
The speaker today was George Dondero Executive Director of the Regional Transportation Commission. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and lives in Capitola. Karena Pushnick (see below) was also available to answer questions. The presentation today reviewed the passenger rail study for the rail line which was purchased in 2012.
Scott Gillette was formally inducted into the club as a new member today. He has had a 23 year career in banking and financial services and a beautiful girlfriend named Stacy who was here with him. Welcome Scott!
Today’s Rotarian of the Week was Chuck Witt for his work at the 4th of July fundraiser! Thanks Chuck!
Grants training is this Saturday, July 11th in Los Gatos. We still need people to go. Let Al know if you plan on going. There is also a makeup on the 25th in Hayward.
Area presidents meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30.
Tim thanked all the volunteers and announced that we raised somewhere around $4500 (net) at the 4th of July fundraiser in Aptos Park.
Our thoughts go out to Sandra whose husband is recovering from illness at home.
Our speaker today was Gayle McCallum ( Neal's daughter!) who spoke to us about the Sister Cities program.
Rotary is dark next week (July 2nd). Happy anniversary Al and Shari!
Al announced we need more 4th of July volunteers. See Tim to sign up.
Gloria Garry, past president of Freedom Rotary, announced that a trip to Vietnam is happening next month with InterAct students. They will distribute indestructible soccer balls to students there. If you would like to contribute, let us know.
Scott Gillette was welcomed as a new member. Full induction ceremony will be in two weeks.
Rich Hamlin was Rotarian of the Week for writing all the checks for our awards recipients today!! ( see some of them below!)
Todays’ Rotarian of the week (for her 50th anniversary efforts) was Laura Grinder!
We will be deunking Rachel on Friday night June19th . No meeting (dark) on Thursday the 18th. It will be at Seascape. At 5:30 no host cocktails, 6:30 is dinner. Sign up now!
Becky Loy announced that out Tibet project has been signed off by both Beijing and our district office. The foundation is next and then we will be good to go. Our infant resuscitation project will focus on saving lives of mothers and newborns in Tibet.
Avenue of Service chairs were determined. Brenda, Keith, Doug, Rob, Stan, John, Art and Pam Goodman agreed to serve.
The speaker today was the recipient of our endowment scholarship. Kenji Kurita was our 2014 Piatt foundation fellow. He is a local student who went to UC Berkeley then went to graduate school for analytical chemistry. He’ll be graduating from UCSC in two weeks and then will go on to a post doc at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He presented an overview of his work in grad school and where he will be focusing his research in the future.
Rotarian of the Week Burt Lemke was honored for his thoughts for the day
Debunking will be on June 19th Sign up now to go and let us know if you are bringing a guest
Sandra thanked everybody who participated in the American Music Festival. A total of $722 was raised on Saturday and $537 on Sunday.
Kate announced that she and Doug went to Aptos High School to present Rotary scholarship awards. One of the recipients (an InterAct student) came to thank us!
Tom reminded us of the 4th of July fundraiser. Sign up to help to sell food and beer at the Park.
Our speaker today was Wallace Baine from the Sentinel who writes a column covering the arts in Santa Cruz. He is also an editor and film critic and is a two-time winner of the national American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors (AASFE) Excellence in Writing competition for his well-known Sunday column “Baine Street.” He has also won the City of Santa Cruz Artworks award for leadership in the arts and his column is syndicated nationwide. He is the author of the book Rhymes with Vain: Belabored Humor and Attempted Profundity.
Rotary scholarships will be presented Wednesday May 27th at 6:00 PM at the Performing Arts Center at Aptos High School.
Rotary District conference will be next Thursday, May 22 (Rotary University).
May 29th will be the Rotary Golf Tournament.
The debunking date will be June 19th at Seascape.
American Music festival still needs people on Sunday May 17th. Contact Doug Deaver
Rotarian of the week was Pam Arnsberger as a thank you for reporting on The Hub.
Visitors from the UCSC RotorAct Club joined us today and gave us an update on their activities. Jessie Tate accompanied by three fellow students ( see photos below) made the presentation. There are 27 members including 10 Interact alumni . They have performed 718 hours of community service so far this year and hope to make 1000. The hours have been donated to organizations including Salvation Army, the Homeless Garden and Unchained, among others. Fundraising activities included hiring themselves out for $10 hour which raised almost $1,700 for the projects they support. Their international projects include child AIDS prevention and their local project is 180- 2020 to end homelessness by 2020. All area 7 rotary clubs are their sponsors, including Capitola Aptos Rotary. We were all very impressed with their industriousness and commitment to the community and wish them well in achieving their future academic goals!
The slate of officers and directors for the 2015-2106 year were named and approved.
Doug announced the blues festival, May 23rd and 24th, needs 7 more volunteers on both Saturday and Sunday. Great music and free beer!
Rotary sunrise golf tournament will be Friday May 29th. Two more people who can play golf (or not!) are needed! See Doug Deaver.
The Second Harvest food bank fundraiser will be August 2nd at the warehouse in Watsonville.
Rotarian of the week was Becky Peters who put forth a great effort for the 50th anniversary party which everyone agreed was a warm and wonderful event. Thanks Becky (and Pam and Laura) and many others who helped make the evening such a success!
Unravel pediatric cancer
Kendra introduced our speaker who spoke about the need to address finding a cure for pediatric cancers. A video was shown first of her daughter Jennifer and the story of her diagnosis. She was five when she was diagnosed with DIPG and lived only 3 ½ months after diagnosis.
Our 50th anniversary celebration will be April 30th 5:30-8:30. We are expecting over one hundred people! Get your reservations in by Monday the 27th. Call Pam Goodman to let her know how many people in your party and give her your meal preferences. Remember, club is dark next Thursday.
May 23rd Rotary University will be in Milpedes.
This is the last week for Human Race contributions; May 5th is the deadline for pledges. All checks for the Race go to Dr. Art.
The Sunrise Club Beach Party will be this Saturday, April 25th, from 2:00-4:00 at the Monterey Bay Marine Exploration Center at Cowell Beach. Donation is $30. The event benefits Ridethewave. org for kids with special needs.
Bob Fitch was our guest speaker today. He is a photographer who captured a changing nation. He has taken some of the most recognizable photographs of leaders such as Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez. He documented political campaigns and voter registration. In the next year, Stanford University Library will have his archives and they will be on web display.
Laura did a 50th anniversary celebration reminder. It will be April 30th at 5:30. There will be a trivia quiz and a new song! From 5:30-6:30 we will have cocktails with information tables about Rotary projects. Dinner follows. Zack Friend will be our speaker.
Sandra announced RYLA has selected our seven scholarship recipients.
John Fisher awarded Stan the Paul Harris pin for contributions to the Rotary Foundation..
Rotary University will be May 21 in Milpedes. It is a chance to learn more about Rotary
Doug announced the InterAct fundraiser will be rescheduled (not on April 25 as previously announced).He also spoke about the wheelchair program and said the district has agreed to do a 50% match for each wheelchair purchased.
Our speakers today were Terry Hancock and Ellen Pirie who spoke about their year in Ethiopia in the Peace Corps. They are both attorneys who have lived locally for 30 years. Ellen was also 2nd district supervisor for three terms. They retired in 2013 and decided to go into the Peace Corps where they taught English teachers to speak English.
The district conference is coming up. Go to district website to purchase tickets
Dr. Art reminded us about the Human Race May 5th deadline. Make checks out to Human Race.
Doug announced InterAct fundraising dinner on Saturday April 25th.
The board has voted for to purchase a scoreboard for the gymnasium at New Brighton Middle School as well as a plaque for community room. We hope to have the ability to use the room for functions.
Laura reminded us of the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration on April 30th. Sign up by next week!
The saddest announcement was that our beloved Rachel has a new position and will no longer be able to serve as president or remain in the club. We will miss her so much!! Al DeCamera will take over as president two months earlier.
Our speaker today was Craig Calfee. Originally from New England, Craig left school early and embarked on year long journey thru Europe and Africa. He was one of the first to use carbon fiber to make a bicycle. He was discovered by Greg LeMans who, while at the height of his career, bought Craig’s American made carbon bikes. He now makes roadbikes, adventure bikes, on and off road, and is a leader in tandem design. He currently employs 35 people in La Selva Beach and is a leading supplier of custom made bicycles.
District conference coming up. Special rate of $99 at Doubletree Inn extended thru April 9th
50th anniversary tickets are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased thru Rich at the front table. Specify entré and list your guest. Invitations were also distributed to give to other guests to introduce them to Rotary.
Richard said beach clean-up went well. 40 lbs of trash were collected. Next pick up on September 19th will be a large bay wide event.Human race deadline is May 5th. Get your pledges in to Dr. Art. He will send them onto the Human Race.
The speaker today was Patrick Dimick.
He is a home grown professional and Aptos High School attendee. He has been part of the Sheriff’s office for 17 years. He spoke about what Sheriff’s office is doing currently and crime prevention in Aptos.
Becky Peters announced that invitations for 50th anniversary celebration will be available at next meeting. Each of us will get one extra invitation to invite someone. There are two ways to sign up (1) At front table at a meeting. At that time you will need to name your guest and choose an entrée. Alternatively you can buy your tickets online at Eventbrite.com. If you do, you need to call Lifespan to choose an entrée.
District golf tournament is April 16th.
Sue Lawson reminded us that March 31st is our community grant deadline. Thursday June 25th grantees will be announced.
Art reminded us of the Human Race. Deadline to donate is May 5th. Volunteer Center keeps 25%, we get 75% or give money directly to our foundation.
John Fisher announced Dr. Art and Kelly were given awards from the Rotary Foundation for making a major donation.
Richard announced Beach Clean-up on Saturday March 28th. Meet at Dolphin and Sumner 9:00 AM. By 11:00 you’ll be done and gone!
Stan is being honored on May 20th at Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust (across street from Watsonville hospital). Tickets are free!! Just show up!!
Our speaker was Christina Borbely. She spoke about Children's Mental Health Interventions in the Schools.
A few tickets are left for Warriors game. Al has tickets.
Rotary District meeting will be Apr 17th– Apr 19th. For more information go to District Website.
Doug Deaver spoke about the Monterey Mexico trip. 42 Rotarians from all over the U.S. delivered wheelchairs. He encouraged members to participate in these projects as the opportunities arise because the experience is excellent.
Oliver Borg, senior at Santa Cruz High School and Interact district governor, announced that his chapter has been invited to the Rotary International Convention (RICON) at Sao Paulo, Brazil. Oliver will be a keynote speaker. In order to raise money for the trip they are having raffle drawing to raise money. Make checks out to Interact district 5170. Tickets are from $5 - $20 and there are many good prizes, including a weekend in Carmel!
Art reminded us the Human Race is coming up May 9th. We are signed up and ready to go. More information next week.
Stan will be honored at Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust on May20th at the Trust. He’d invited club members to be present. The ceremony is at the Trust at 5:30 or so till 7.
Sandy said eleven RYLA students have applied and we will choose seven. In addition she still has spots for volunteers American Blues Festival.
Claire said March 31st is the deadline for community grants. We have received many applications but there is still time for more.
Beach cleanup March 28th and everything will be supplied that you need. Sign up!!
The Interact annual fundraiser is on April 18th.
The very cute little Tyler Burke (Pam Goodman’s son) introduced our speaker, Lisa Smiley. She’s a professional face painter who has been doing it for almost 20 years. She started off with nothing then ended up hiring her whole family to work for her, as well as twelve employees during the season (she is hiring now!) In Monterey, she worked on Cannery Row and the Wharf as well as many festivals. Now she is at Boardwalk seven days a week from spring break until Labor Day. She will be opening a henna booth there this season also.
Rich reminded us about Rotary day at the Warriors, which is Friday March 20th. Extra tickets and extra shirts are available at $25 a ticket.
Sunshine Rotary is having a family beach party on Saturday April 25th at Cowell’s Beach Santa Cruz. Dinner will be at the Marine Sanctuary. Cost is $65 for adults and $35 for those under 21. 5 and under are free. Check website for more details SurfingRotarians @SantaCruzSunriseRotary.org
Richard announced Beach Cleanup is coming up on March 28th at 9:00 .
Tim did a quick scoreboard update. Discussions on dollar amount are currently underway. We have been approved to add a plaque for the community center.
Laura spoke about 50th anniversary celebration (see invitation by clicking on on event calendar).She encouraged us to think about who to invite as this is an opportunity to show others what Rotary is all about.
Sandra has signups available for the American Music festival May 23rd and May 24th. Volunteers are still needed for the event on both Saturday and Sunday.
Dr. Art reminded us he will be asking for contributions for the Human Race.
The speaker today was our own Becky Loy who spoke about Saving newborn lives in Tibet. She began by announcing that our proposal was accepted by the Rotary Project in Beijing. There are only two Rotary clubs in mainland China so this is our only opportunity for ‘local’ sponsorship (although Tibet is 4000 miles away!)
The budget for the project is $30,000, some of which has already been allocated from other funding sources. We still need DDF funds of $4,890 or other club donations of $6,520 !! IF you wish to make a donation for this much needed intervention, talk to Becky Loy or any member of the international committee!
Rachel said there were updates on the high school scoreboard for our 50th anniversary project, but that things were proceeding smoothly. Tim will keep us posted
Sandy reported on RYLA applications deadline is March 15th
Sandy also reported on the Santa Cruz American Music Festival (formerly the Blues Festival). She is taking sign-ups for volunteers for that event. She will give preference to club members, but mentioned that there are only so many volunteer bracelets available each day. It will be Saturday and Sunday May 23rd and 24th , from 9 until 6. Volunteers must commit to whole day!
Cathy Cress MSW was inducted as a member of Capitola Aptos Rotary in the category of gerontologist/author.
Our speaker was Captain and Commander Paul Vincent of the Highway Patrol of Santa Cruz County (see photo above with Becky Peters who lately is managing to get into all the speaker photos).
At the meeting on Feb 26th, there were the following announcements:
A reminder that RYLA is this August. Sophomore or juniors in high school can apply and seven applicants will be accepted.15 or more applications are expected.
Beach clean-up will be March 28th. Sign-ups will be next week .
Art Dover has agreed to lead the effort for the Human Race, one of our major fund raisers. Donation checks should be made out to Capitola Aptos Rotary Foundation to be tax deductible.
Rotary Day at the Warriors is March 20th. If interested speak to Rich.
The Fiftieth anniversary celebration will be April 30th 5:30-8:00 (ish) at Seascape. Sign up for the publicity committee, program committee or the attendance and decoration committee. Next meeting will be the 12th of March before the regular meeting.
Becky Peters introduced our speaker, Thomas Crubaugh ( see photo…. they share a grandson!). He is a UCSC graduate with an MBA from Rice and has served as Comptroller for many companies including INTEL and Nokia.
Thomas told us a local business success story about the founding and growth of CrossFit which began in Santa Cruz. It was recently featured on Forbes Sportsmoney website and the club had the opportunity to see the feature. The video outlined their business model where trainers take a course to become qualified and then, if they wish, open up their own gyms (called a box).
New member Cathy Cress was welcomed to our club. Induction will be held at a future meeting.
Next week there us an information meeting at 11:30
The District conference will be Apr 17-19th at Delta Tree Inn in San Jose. The Speaker is Ruby Bridges civil rights pioneer.
Rachel announced the Mother’s Day Cards fundraiser . A $10 will engender 10 foundation points and $30 donation to polio plus. For more info go to district website
Rob Martin was inducted as a member of Capitola Aptos Rotary. He was a school principal category. Now retired he is still working with the school District as a consultant. Welcome Rob!
The District 5170 Golf Tournament will be held at Coyote Creek Gold Club. Rachel has flyers or go to the district website
The District 5170 Tennis Tournament will be Tuesday April 14th in Morgan Hill. Again see Rachel or District Website to sign up.
Mexican Project Safari on March 11th. go to District Website to sign up.As of this weekend there only two openings left.
Rachel reminded us of the Chamber Showcase at Capitola Mall. Speak to Doug Deaver if interested in volunteering.
Sandra reminded u of the RYLA leadership camp August 2nd thru 7th. Sandra will take applications for Sophomore or Juniors.
Laura is chairing the committee which is gearing up for 50th celebration of Capitola Aptos Rotary. It will be held in the beginning of May . She needs volunteers for music and menu and publicity. This will be a Rotary Days event and we will invite the community.Anyone with highlights of last 50 years should give those to Laura
Rachel reported the Club accepted Rob Martin as new member. His induction ceremony will be next week.
Santa Cruz Sunrise Club Rotary Warriors night Version 2 will be Friday March 20th. There is a 7 pm tipoff . For more info contact jon winston at jon@winstonhome.com cell # 831 588-3452 . Cost is $25.00 ticket plus T shirt plus Free Beer!! They need to know if you plan to attend by March 9th, .However, to guarantee a T shirt get your order in by next week.
Story
This week our presentation was on LGBT issues among youth. It was facilitated by Stuart Rosenstein a leader in the gay community and Chair of the Queer Youth Task Force in Santa Cruz County. He has worked on LGBT youth issues for 15 years is a member of PFLAG and a UCSC alumnus. He began by thanking specific club members for their support and reminded us of the queer youth leadership awards to be held on May 9th at SLV high school . The remainder of the presentation was a report on the Community Grant our club gave to the safe schools project which is part of queer youth task force. The Aptos High School Gay Straight Alliance, now called the Rainbow Club, sent two members, Nicole and Karen Jimenez to report on their activities.
On Thursday February 5th, the Capitola Aptos Rotary Club was treated to a talk by Terry Corwin Executive Director for the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. She explained that a land trust is a non-profit conservation organization and that there are 1700 land trusts across the U.S. with 5 million members. Most are local community based organizations.Currently in Santa Cruz County, 13,100 acres are protected with $46 million raised for land protection. The mission of the Land Trust is to protect natural and working lands of SC county . This includes natural habitats as well as farm and timber lands. She clarified that some of these lands are private but cannot be developed; others are open to the public.
Announcements
The Rotary District 5170 Tennis Tournament is Tues April14th in Morgan Hill . Ask Rachel for more details
The Mexican Project Safari is on March 11th Go to district website to sign up
Sandy announced that she is beginning the RYLA award process . We will be sending 7 students to RYLA leadership camp August 2nd thru the 7th. High school sophomores or juniors are welcome to apply so club members are encouraged to get the word out to eligible applicants and their families.
Doug announced that Sunrise Rotary will do a fundraiser on Apr 25 at Cowell’s beach. There will be a number of fun activities including surf lessons.
There will be a business showcase sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce at the Capitola Mall Feb 19th 4:00 -7:00. We’ll be doing a table to pass out brochures about rotary. Sign up !
Pam Goodman and Claire McAdams were both recognized for their contributions to the foundation, They are Paul Harris Fellows.Neal McCallum was also honored as a Paul Harris Five. Congratulations to all for their exceptional work!
At the Capitola Aptos Rotary meeting on Thursday January 29th the club had an opportunity to listen to a presentation on issues in China today. June Gilliam introduced the speaker, Nan Su, who served as the news commentator on the International Radio Network. He spoke about Changing China: Past and Future, revealing the causes behind China's present economic success and the importance of preserving China's culture through the performance of traditional arts.
Announcements
Constantine announced next week's Sunrise Rotary Club meeting will be at Zero Motorcycles in Scotts Valley. It will be on Tues Feb 3rd. As it's name implies the club meets in the morning.
Next week (Thursday, Feb 5th) is the Capitola Aptos Club board meeting prior to the club meeting..
Rotary District 5170 Tennis tournament is happening Tues Apr 14th
Project Safari tri[p in March is filling up fast. Sign up soon.
District cabinet meeting is on Feb 4th. See Rachel for more information.
Save March 28th 9:00 AM for the Beach Clean Up at Beer Can Beach. Sign up will start in a couple of weeks.
Claire said she had applications for community grants. Applications can be e-mailed out . Deadline is March 31st.
This week our speaker will be Barbara Mason, the Economic Development Coordinator for the County of Santa Cruz. She will talk about the challenges of putting together an economic development team to build jobs and help change the county's reputation as unfriendly to business. She faces this challenge despite the fact that the State wiped out the redevelopment funds used to underwrite economic development. Please join us for a very informative presentation.
Happy Birthday to the March group - Neil McCallum, Dave Andrews, and Eric Costello. Also welcome back travelers Keith Medeiros and Claire McAdams from India - we'll have to ask the golf course to stock curry now! I wonder how many Rotary meetings they attended? Congratulations to Becky Loy who is a new grandmother to twin girls. Also best wishes to Richard Watson-Riley after his recent surgery.
On April 12th (Saturday) we will be again working with the Interact clubs for the spring food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank. We will be working with students from Soquel HS at New Leaf on 41st Avenue and with students from Aptos HS at Deluxe Market. The times of the event are 10am - 2pm. Scott Iredell will be in charge of signups.
On Thursday April 24th the Santa Cruz Homeless Shelter will be hosting their 15th annual Soupline Supper at the Cocoanut Grove. If anyone is interested in attending or volunteering please let me know. We're hoping to have both Interact clubs help volunteer for the event.
On Saturday May 3rd Rotary District 5170 will be sponsoring a day at the San Jose SaberCats. I've never seen an arena football game, but I plan to make this my first. The past 2 seasons the SaberCats have averaged about 11,000 spectators per game - fast, furious, and exciting! The ticket price will be $12.00 with half of the money going to sponsor RYLA. Where else can you be entertained for TWELVE DOLLARS? It will be a great event.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
The Rotacare 25th anniversary celebration will be held April 10th. We have 3 members attending - Sue Lawson, John Fisher, and me. The event is sold out which is great news.
This week our speaker was Dale Thielges, Director for the local Alzheimer's Association. Most attendees either have a friend or loved one who has experienced this debilitating disease or know of someone who has. Dale talked about new research on Alzheimer's and dementia, and talked about available resources in the community. The meeting was very interesting as was demonstrated by the great questions and discussions.
This week we had a very informative tour of the new Sheriff facilities at 2400 Chanticleer Ave, Santa Cruz - between Rainbow Carpet One and Staples. The tour was conducted by Chief Deupties Jim Hart, Jeff Marsh, and Jeremy Verinsky. We saw the new coroners section, DNA research area, the new patrol area, warehouse for stored evidence. Very interesting and informative.
Great Happy Hour at Lifespan Saturday night followed by an exciting Santa Cruz Warriors game. It was a lot of fun along with being a nice fundraiser for Rotary.
Our speaker this week was Patrizia Materassi who made an interesting presentation about plastic pollution in the world's oceans - the problem and solutions. "Plastics lost at sea are becoming a major environmental and health hazard". The problem is growing so fast that our sushi is getting contaminated. It was a great presentation and we no realize the importance of keeping our oceans clean.
Thanks to those who attended and supported the Interact fundraiser dinner at First Congregational Church on High Street. The event was a success, raising over $5,000- the most successful charity dinner in the ENTIRE DISTRICT.
Happy end of February. Time to get the umbrellas out (finally). We're supposed to get 4-6 inches of rain in the next week - mostly on Friday. Interesting that our speakers this week will be Melanie Schumacher and Director Rick Meyer from the Soquel Creek Water District to talk about the drought. As you know anyone living in the SCWD has been asked to make a voluntary 20% reduction in water use. District customers are already among the best at conserving water state wide - so how do we get another 20%. Melanie and Rick will discuss the current situation and possible strategies that we all can take to further conserve water use.
This Saturday March 1st - 6pm to 9pm will be the Interact fundraiser dinner at First Congregational Church on High Street. They will run the entire event, decorations, cooking, serving, silent auction, entertainment. Well worth the $15 price of admission it and a great opportunity to watch the Interact clubs in action. Unfortunately I have to be out of town this weekend, but it would be nice if several of us could attend. I believe members of the Soquel Interact club will be selling tickets again this Thursday.
Saturday March 8, 2014 will be the area 7 night at the Santa Cruz Warriors. We have already sold more than 30 tickets with more tickets available. Thanks to Pam and Becky who will again be hosting a club "happy hour" at Lifespan prior to the game. If you will not be attending the game please consider purchasing a ticket or two that we can donate to the Aptos or Soquel Interact clubs.
As an FYI Jerry West will be the guest speaker at the Santa Cruz Rotary club Friday March 7th - so if you've ever wanted to see him live this is a great opportunity. Please let me know if you want to attend and haven't signed up yet so I can let the Santa Cruz club know how many to plan lunch for.
Thanks to Steve Blank who presented on the Secret History of Silicon Valley. Much of the classified information of the 1940's 1950's and 1960's has been declassified, giving us new information that we didn't have in our history classes. Steve gave us a very interesting presentation showing why the U.S. technology hub moved from the east coast to Silicon Valley.
Thanks to Monica Martinez, Executive Director of the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz for giving us a very informative presentation last week regarding the homeless community population in Santa Cruz County and created steps we can take to provide the tools necessary to move many of them to a more stable and productive life. Great presentation.
The meeting started with a somewhat recognizable club rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas - music by Al Decamara and Sam Nigh - singing (sort of) by various club members. Great way to get in the mood for the holidays.
We then got a great presentation from Cabrillo Stage - Jon Nordgren (Artistic Director), Andrew Ceglio (Director and Choreographer), Max Bennett-Parker (lead actor), and Ashley Rae Little (Sophia). Got a chance to preview the theme of the play and hear some of the music. Well done - and great play...We're so fortunate to have such a great treasure in our community!
On December 13th Brett McFadden, CBO of the Pajaro Valley School District provided an update on Measure L School Bond Program. In November 2012 the voters approved the $150 million measure to repair and modernize aging classrooms and schools, bring existing structures up to safety and access codes, expand educational opportunities to students, enhance health and safety of school sites, and modernize classroom technology. Brett updated us on progress to date and future plans.
Brett McFadden provides update on Pajaro Valley Schools Measure L Bond
Congratulations to Dr. Art Dover on his generous donation to the Rotary Foundation specifically for the Polio Plus project to eradicate polio worldwide. Through generous donations like Art's we are just that much closer to eliminating a disease that has been so debilitating to so many worldwide. Here club president Doug Deaver is presenting a much deserved certificate from Rotary international. Thank you Art.
Our speaker December 5th was County Supervisor Zach Friend. He updated the club on current items of interest in the area including the current status of the Safeway project, the status of the Aptos Village project, and recent county and RTC decisions that affect local area transportation. We appreciate Zach's contribution as an honorary member of our club and frequent speaker.
Congratulations to the club team of Karen Semingson, Pam Goodman, Becky Peters who, along with other volunteers, went to the School of St. Jude in Tanzania last summer and helped put up a much needed shade structure. The school responded by putting a plaque on the structure saying "Built with loving hands by your friends at the Capitola/Aptos Rotary Club. Theclassroom doors at The School of St Jude have been open for ten years now. As a charity-funded school, St Jude's provides a free, high-quality education to over 1,500 of thepoorest children of Arusha Region, Tanzania, while also providing boarding for over 1,000 students. Additionally, the school now provides employment to over 400 Tanzanians and purchases the essential goods required to run the school everyday from the local community. The ripple effect of these benefits on the community and beyond has been incredible. Congratulations to Karen, Pam, and Becky.
Our speaker Thursday December 12th will be Brett McFadden, Chief Business Official for the Pajaro Valley School District, speaking about the Measure L bond and about current school finances.
On the following Thursday we will get a preview of the upcoming Cabrillo play "Lunch". Be prepared to join in song and festivities as cast members will show us what is coming in January.
If you are a guest and would like to attend one of our meetings you are always welcome - and if you want to learn more about Rotary please let us know. We are always looking for people wanting to give back to our community and to other communities throughout the world. Please join us Thursdays for lunch at the Seascape Golf Course.
Great meeting today. Happy Birthday to John Fisher. The club at the meeting took up a collection for Shelter Box, a non profit organization that works in conjunction with Rotary to place temporary shelters in disaster areas. The collection of $600 was to provide shelters to those families displaced by the tsunami in the Philippines. For more information about Shelter Box check out
Peggy Townsend a long time newspaper reporter and current fiction writer was our guest speaker. She talked about the art of "listening". She wouldn't have gotten some of her best material if she hadn't spent most of her time listening to the person she was interviewing. The key is to ask questions and listen. She currently has released a novel Safe Landings, available through Amazon.com:
Congratulations to John Fisher for being selected Area 7 Foundation Chairman of the Month. Welcome back to traveling members Sandra Wallace and Chuck Whitt,
Michael Watkins joined us today and updated the club on the numerous services provided by the County Office of Education (COE): Direct services including Regional Occupational Programs (ROP), Alternative Education Programs, Special Education Programs, Outdoor Science Education, and the Workforce Investment Act; and indirect services including Migrant Head Start, Foster Youth, Homeless youth, Child Development Programs, School Safety, and numerous others. If you want to impress someone at your next cocktail party you can tell them that Santa Cruz county has 77 schools, 39,334 students of which 28.5% are English Language Learners and 56% are eligible for free and reduced priced lunches. Schools have had $80 million cut from their budgets in the past 4 years, so when the voters passed Proposition 30 it merely restored money - it didn't add any. In addition we learned that California ranks 49th in spending per student and ranks 50th in number of students per teacher. We also learned about the new Common Core Standards and the pros and cons of implementing them.
Second Harvest Food collection at Seascape..10 Lbs each member or Cash.. Also today Is INTERACT DAY when the meeting is totally conducted by Interactors.
What a Great day to bring a potential New Member or Guest to see how CAP Rotary really works!!!!
The CAP Rotary Beach cleanup date has been changed due to a District conflict. Please note: Beach cleanup will now be on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10 AM followed by a Lunch at the Evans. Contact Pam Goodman for details.
On this Fourth of July 2011 At 7 am the east Pacific rising sun was visible unimpeded without our usual July (gasp) Sacred June gloom Fog.. then it held.. thru the morning , until after the Fabulous "Best ever( KSBW) attended" Aptos " Shortest Parade in the World"which ended by 11 am and we .. still had sun.. Glory! The CAP Rotary got very very Lucky. The day started off warm and clear for the first time this writer can remember in 10 years? Earlier, over a BA hosted Lions Breakfast shared with John the Grey Elder and Jimmy Pancakes Kootch the sun rose warmer and bright while below our station down in the Nisene Park, aka Strawberry fields, Tim and his intrepid , tho shorthanded, set up crew ( Al Nighter and the Eric of Beer) , made sure the barbecues were ready, the Beer was chilled and taste tested for freshness (to protect the Public) the positions manned and awaiting the inevitable heathen post parade onslaught.. And then they came...
By the thousands! Needing to be age verified, harrassed and carded, needing sustenance from our worthy crew of blaze flaming volunteers, requiring chips and basic foamy liquid reinforcement that only we brave Rotarian volunteers were( licensed) to provide..And Provide we did! For Hours Karen the Fair, of the Agile Lightening fast CPA mind, like Watson, pondered the hundreds of possible mathematical combinations of required cash to make change for drinks between 5 and 6 dollars..(ok there were three ,without one's) . Meanwhile Rex and a worthy band of capricious WristBander's ( including Pam, Kelly and Sandra) sometimes checked ID's and otherwise harrassed the mid life multitudes into interminable DMV like lines for wrinkle "Certification", then passed them on to drawn adult beverages with Craig and Genes Wright ,then over to food with Pancakes Kootch.... But all went well! We did it once again! We actually, thanks to Susy , got $$$Tips!
So Congrats ( those of you that showed up) Capitola Aptos Rotarians! We put up a great show and they ( John Q Unwashed Public) showed up Thirsty, tatooed and hungry again.. the Music was great , the sun was brilliant, Aptosian and Del Martian people danced and had a great Day and no hassles seemed to emerge.( good thing because I never saw Security)..
( At least by the time this lazy SOB.. er.. Writer.. left at 3:40 before cleanup, (but during the pre emptive Last Set) due to the fact he had lost all feeling once again in his left leg and lower back...)
Other than THAT loyal CAP Rotarians: Another Great, profitable and Noble Community fundraising service was once again conducted with professional aplomb for the many local non profits we support thru our volunteerism! Great Job CAP!
Two and one half days of Blues and Rock and Roll By the STARS!.. Sometimes Music played so loud that earplugs were advisable , which rocked Aptos this weekend ( ask my Newly Half Deaf dog in Rio del Mar!) .. Thousands of Local and rocker Fans enjoyed/ Survived a panoply of Woodstock like challenging clear blue skies, Rain, chilling wind and muggy afternoon sunshine to hear some of the Best Jimmy Hendrix memorial music ever to be heard live on the central Kali Coast. Of course CAP Rotary helped oil the wheels of celebration by the presence of a majority of it's membership who served our community again by volunteering to operate the Beverages concession. Good for Us, and Better for those many local Non Profits we support, and good Service by us recognized by the frequently expressed appreciation by the Locals: Good for the Music of the Santa Cruz Community. Well played By the Musicians.. Well served by the Rotarians of Capitola Aptos. Be very proud All of your dedicated work and sacrifice this last weekend..
In Particular some individuals need to be recognized: Sue Yost who headed up and organized this enormous project successfully once again, Pam Goodman who once again brought multiple volunteers to help out and Karen Semingsen, who provided several wonderful members of her staff (who also Volunteer on the Jacob's Heart Board)..
As is Rotary tradition : Thanks for your Service unequivocally to ALL who participated. Thank you. " SERVICE ABOVE SELF".
Today Lisa Miroyan spoke about the " Relay For Life" A fund raiser for cancer research and the ACS. The Event held at Cabrillo College on July16-17, Involves an active relay walk over 24 hours by Groups and members of the Santa Cruz Community. Although technical difficulty kept her power Point presentation under wraps she gave an impassioned explanation of her experience with cancer within her family and circle of Life. She passed out a well received pamphlet of information as to how we could contribute to the Relay. After her presentation she received a number of contributions from Generous Rotarians and seemed happy that she was so well received. Thanks Lisa come back next year , by then we will fix the technical problems so we can see the full special effects.
Court Appointed Advocates is a SC Non Profit that lends volunteers to act on behalf of children in Abusive family situations. After Child Court services has interviewed the child it may or not be determined that the child's situation with an abusive or drugged home situation requires monitoring. Ken explained how the best interest of the child is fitted between the Home and parents and a foster Home situation. Well Done Ken. We have funded CASA thru our grants programs for several years.
Today Lou and Joan Rose made their annual update presentation concerning the Wetlands Freshwater Slough restoration. Recently they have received some national press regarding funding and the sanctuary has expanded with the contributions of many groups and Volunteers. Over 275 species of Wild birds have been identified on this migratory pathway and recent attempts to restore the Natural Fauna has met with some success. Great work you two and we will see you again next year..
The National Marine Sanctuary provided a speaker for CAP today to present a slideshow about the New Exploration Center across from the Commercial Pier in Santa Cruz. This Multi year, Multi Million dollar project has been 20 years in development and ground got broken this past Monday to start the Building. It should be a fantastic Teaching marine exhibit for tourists and for educational purposes. A facinating and Complex presentation was provided by M.s Whalen about how this world class marine exhibition will affect how the world views the Sanctuary and Santa Cruz.
Today we learned the difference between Arbitration, which often has no appeal Process and Mediation which can be followed by Appeal at 1/5 the cost. Judge Joseph works as an independent Judge who is available to parties involved in Lawsuits to settle disputes and reach a mutually acceptable solution. These cases include Divorce, CIvil, Probate and Private Judging.. Thanks for coming in Judge.
The Red Cross is a world wide relief organization headquartered in Geneva. Our local district includes all the SF Bay area from the Bridge to Carmel and east to The Aquaduct including some 7 MILLION people. Earthquakes, fires explosions floods Tsunamiis house and wild fires and any other combination are responded too by certified Volunteers in a myriad of RC specialties. Susan is the top of the food chain and made a thoughtful and comprehensive presentation for what we learned Is national Red Cross Month! When most people are running away from a catastrophe the Red Cross rushes in. Thanks Susan. We all know you loved the World Famous CAP Welcome song!
Today we heard a controversial explanation as to the state of the US Economic Depression due to Wall Street banking and Political Contrivance. First it was the removal of protective stipulations by SEC/ Congress then a unsecured CDO contrivance where Investment Banks made profits on Both sides of the Mortgage market and Finally the collapse of the banking system on Wall Street. WOW if half of what he told us was true then the economy may take 5 more years to recover if it ever does and The Loss of Wealth by Middle class investors will continue to drain the security of current retirees.
Today the "Dividend Detective" gave us a complimentary presentation on High yield dividend investments. A long time local Mr. Domash taught econ many years at Cabrillo College and frequently contributes articles to the Santa Cruz Sentinal. Thanks for the recs Harry we can all invest a little better as a Result.
Today we were treated to a history of the logging trails, camps and Trains of last century Aptos.The modern Nisene Marks was a prime logging center since 1885 and was essentially logged out by 1930. Miles of track were laid thru an engineering nightmare of switchbacks and steep grades so the lumber could be harvested. Pictures from the Aptos history Museum provided a visual trail from the old to the modern where cities in Loma Prieta once thrived now the area has been restored to nature. Thanks Brian we hope to see you again. And also thanks again Brian it was nice to meet your Mother.
Today we were presented a pictorial Photo view of Island life in Micronesia. Aboard a Nat. Geographic sailing tour of several remote islands we saw the People, plants and sea life of this most remote and primitive culture. Thanks Elena the show was very much enjoyed by all.
Today we interviewed our own 3 special members. Al D was first with stories of bean farming to riches in real estate. He became muted when explaining how Rotary was his family and no other group meant as much to him. Pam was second with a story starting in Whittier Ca, then nursing school then Public school nurse thru 2 marriages and children to present CoFounder of Lifespan with 120 employees doing elderly support in Santa Cruz. Sweeping up Neil explained simple beginnings in the mid west, Working in WW2 in the Mare Island Naval Shipyards and finally an astounding educational rise from San Jose state then a Master's and finally a PHd in Education. Well presented Members we are proud of you for sharing.
Our very own CAP Rotarian Dave Andrews drew huge appreciative applause with an outstanding visual tale of his search for Bears in the Arctic. Dave has chased and explored Canada and Alaska in search of " The Arcticus" Polar, Brown and black Bears and most recently took photographs near Hudson Bay.
Once again Larry gave an excellant presentation concerning the History of the America's cup. Once having been the lone possesion of the US from 1851 to 1983 The trophy has since resided in Australia, New Zealand, England and now San Francisco. It will be contested again in the San Francisco Bay in 2013..
What a Great time was had by all! Michael Pritchard gave a inspirational performance, we sang songs, watched a Juggler, gave away prizes and generally had a terrific time. Thanks to Kristin and Lori et al for Their outstanding work.Good work Kelly in the Tux and bleu jeans!
Today Dr Susan Osorio Ed. D, Director of the Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services,gave our Luncheon presentation. JH is a local 13 year old Santa Cruz Non Profit that supports Financial, emotional and bereavement support services to families afflicted with Children's cancer In SC and San Benito Counties. They have helped over 125 families thru stressful Recovery and treatment programs, not always sucessfully. This Presentation struck me as why I am a Rotarian. Well done Dr. Osorio, our Fellow Rotarian from Monterey: Your presentation did not leave a dry eye in the House.
We have a deadline and need your Help. We need your Fundraiser reservations by Wednesday Night to make the final dinner count on Thursday. So If you have put it off PLEASE Call Bert NOW!!!
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS 688.6642 Thank You and Lets make this a great Sucess.
Great historical presentation today from one of our favorite returning speakers. We learned about the Banditos of the 1880's who ruled the wild West of Californio with sheer guts and blazing guns. One ends up hanging gutshot from a tree by Vigilantes for horse thievery and bank robbery. Another gets shot and Beheaded, presented in a jar for a reward. Such a fine subject over lunch! Thanks again Charlie we look forward to seeing you again this year to hear more about the Adobe Project.
Sue Lawson and Doug Deaver both provided a self enhanced history to CAP Rotary Blue Badges today. Sue is a Long time business woman who once worked as a buyer for I. Magnin and Macy's, then owned a smaller retail business with her husband for 25 years. A long time local she has volunteered with the coast Guard, was active in sailing and Dominican Hospital and she is active in her Church and family. She likes to Knit..
Doug is a Mid western "Purdue Preppy" Master's transplant that got caught up in Auto parts and later ground facility maintaince for Santa Cruz Schools then Cabrillo College until he retired. He tried to explain why he was the only English Baptist in Minnesota but some thing went wrong in the translation...An Englishman? In Brrrrr Cold Minnesota? Great information Red Badgers and Welcome to Capitola Aptos Rotary!
Today we were guided thru the efforts of the SC Literacy Program with ESL and Reading programs. The Volunteers who participate in this program have established a higher learning percentage than the Cal. Public School System. Well done Larissa on your two years heading this very succesful program that we Area 7 Rotarians of CAP are Proud to support.
Larissa Printzian, Director, Literacy Program, Co of Santa Cruz
Today our own members gave a photo assisted presentation on their recent trip to the deep South. The travels included New Orleans, Biloxi, Savannah, the Smokey Mountains and Nashville. Over 7000 miles in a Airstream RV together and they are still happily Married! Anyway home safe and sound with plenty of stories which we all enjoyed. Thanks!
A Christmas selection of songs and sing alongs was performed once again by the World famous Dew Wops! With Synthesizer accompanyment such classics as "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" thrilled and entertained the members who appeared delighted.. Many Club Thanks SAM! Very Well done once again!
Our annual Christmas gratuity to our Seascape designated server was given today from all Members of the CAP Rotary.. Many Thanks for your great service Amigo.
Today we initiated a Blue Badge Ms.Susan Lawson, a La Selva beach Resident and long time denizon of The Harbor Club and many local service organizations. Welcome to the CAP Rotary Club Sue. Glad to have you aboard!
Today we had to Improvise as our scheduled speaker cancelled with all of two hours until Showtime. So we turned the traditional tables, Kept up the " Nuts" trooper Holiday spirit, made lemonade and had two of our most prominent long serving Ex Pres Members get interviewed by " David Frost" Keith about themselves for the benefit and amusement of all the Red Badge newbe's....
I am sure everyone was exhilerated by Sam Nigh's "vague" recollection of his "Animal House" Rock and Roll band adventures in the North east girls college, surfer band circuit, driving the Painted Cadillac Hearst in the sixties ( early Prankster?)... What was that? Uranus and the five Planets?
Then" Grand Wizard the Grey" Bill Potter shared his paper salesman to real estate mogul climb thru history from Oregon to the Golden State with Sigma Chi.. Ah those bygone wild west days!
Actually the experiment went well and was both good for Fellowship and all members still awake at the end seemed pleased. At least they all seemed cogent and smiled. Keep a Watch out as when speakers throw the Speaker Coordinator under the bus at the very last minute.. this may be what you get...so prepare!
(grins).
Today members of the Capitola Task force on Local gangs gave us a welcome overview of the local Gangs of Santa Cruz / Aptos. We have a growing criminal street problem that demands being addressed. After an all to brief PP presentation our members swamped the Officers with questions about what we are seeing every day in the News. The enthusiasm about the Gang situation was so intense that the allocated time was gone in a flash so I invited them back in March. Well done Officers!
Detectives Marquis Booth and Dana van den Heuval, Capitola PD
The Sentinal today revealed that CAP Rotary's own, Sandra Wallace, was elected as President of the School Board... We of the CAP support our member and congratulate Sandra for her Service above Self!
Today we learned how to identify a stroke victim, the signs( disorientation, Numbness) and signals( Dysarthralgia) and what to do if we are present to see one occur." FAST" CALL 911.... Time is of the essence so get to Dominican stroke Center pronto for the tests and screening to save you/yours life! The first three hours are CRITICAL.. Major causes of Stroke are 1, High Blood Pressure,2. Obesity, 3. Smoking. Thanks Nurse Becky.
Today we heard the story of the swindler Bernie Madoff. From simple beginnings in Queens New York to the vaunted heights of a International billionaire Madoff schemed and took Billions in a Ponzi scheme unequalled in history. Thanks Larry todays presentation was a real treat.
Dr Bill is an Aptos resident of 20 years ( After Lawrence Livermore Labs) and serves as President of the Rio del Mar Improvement Association, RDMIA. Having about 400 members, the RDMIA is concerned with ecological and esthetic improvement projects affecting specifically the Rio Del Mar Area. The RDMIA have done volunteer work planting new Palms to replace old damaged ones in the Flats, participated in improvments to the Rio Del Mar Crossroads and planning protection of Beer Can Beach. Thanks Bill, best $25 membership we could help with.
Today we were visited by Emmanuel Nwankpa, Past District governor of Nigeria. Hosted for 1 week by Keith Madeiros, we visited the Gilroy clubs, Morgan Hill, San Jose and Santa Cruz clubs where Emmanuel spoke about and thanked the generosity of Area 5170 Rotarians who contributed to the Foundation projects in Nigeria. A wonderful person and new best friend of CAP rotary Chief/ Doctor/ Sir Emmanuel was a beacon of Charity to which all Rotarians can aspire.
Today we heard a presentation from First district Supervisor John Leopold. We heard his view on the budget reductions, Rail Projects and Renters issues which precipitated submission of " Leopold's Law" concerning the mid County beach flat rental controversy. Thanks John for the informative presentation.
Our brilliant Hub Editor , good friend Gene Wright recently fell and fractured three ribs and his left shoulder. Chuck Witt took him to the Er then went home and did a faceplant on HIS own stairs, injuring three of his ribs! Good luck and best wishes from ALL CAP Rotarians Gene/ Chuck, we all wish you well and a speedy recovery.
Today a controversial figure spoke from KSCO here in Santa Cruz. Mr. Zwerling made no apologies about being the sole central coast platform for Radio broadcasters like Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh. He made it clear that The station tended to the conservative but revealed a more balanced talk show format than most CAP Rotarians were aware of. Long regarded as an essential emergency beacon for Santa Cruz/ Monterey I think it is fair to say Mr. Zwerling supports a fair balanced sober but always independent discussion of political issues. Thanks for coming today Micheal we hope you will join us again.
Congrats CAP Rotary for the HUGE turnout at Second Harvest last Saturday. We had more volunteers and a Higher percentage from our CAP Rotary than any other participating Club. Way to knock it out of the Park CAP Rotarians, you know who you are.
Today we Welcome a returning transfer Rotarian to the ranks of CAP Rotary. Mr Douglas Deaver recently retired as director of Facilities at Cabrillo College.He lives in Aptos with his Wife Diane and is sponsored by Laura Grinder. Welcome To our Club!
Today the ranking officers of the ALSFD, Chief Tom Crosser and Division Chief Jeff Terpstra gave us a presentation on fire preparadness and an update on the Ridge, Trabine and Lockheed fires. The integrated roles of fuel, humidity and wind were addressed as to how each contributed to the " Perfect Fires of 2008". At 3 pm in one case the humidity dropped to 3% with a temperature of 112 degrees. Good advice from true Professionals. Thanks Gentlemen.
Today was some thing completely different. A Local musical troupe came to provide stylish singing and dancing to Broadway shows for our collective entertainment. They were not just good.. THEY WERE GREAT! Tickets for the shows at Seascape Resort on sale now! Life is a Cabaret, my friend...
Today the loquacious President Kelly of the Cap Rotary inducted another New Member to our club! A Fraternal WELCOME from all of us to new Member Curtis...( He was immediately fined five dollars to introduce him to Rotarians ways and means...)
Today the brave men of the Aptos FD C.E.R.T joined us for lunch. Captain Mike, a 27 year veteran, leads and teaches the local disaster response teams named CERT! With adequate training in emergency medicine, triage and fire control small teams of community volunteers can be a huge benefit in the time of disaster. Gentlemen: Thank you for your Brave service here in the Three firehouses of Aptos! Remember Members:You need 5 days preparation for self sufficiency following a Fire, Flood or Earthquake!
Community Emergency Response Team: Capt Mike Conrad
The Beginning of the End of Polio. On October 24 the four districts adjacent to the Bay will sponsor the 11 AM, 1.2 mile walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, followed that evening with a Historic lighting of the Ferry Building with the END Polio Now LOGO and a formal dinner limited to only 1500 lucky Rotarians! All the Rotarian partners will be there for a Meet and greet... Mark the date for History!
This foggy morning an intrepid band of CAP volunteers took it upon themselves to benefit the biosphere by cleaning up Sumner Beach. Bags of trash were stuffed and packed out off the sands saving the ocean and local ecology from impending pollution and potential DOOM! Thanks go to all Participants. Great Job Rotarians!
Today another speaker bargain 2 for 1! Today a volunteer parent at Valencia told us about a unique ADA upgrade we support at Valencia School. Great Slide presentation on the Why and How of the only ADA project of it's type on the entire Central Coast. Thanks Kim. Then a first rate presentation from Laura Kasa, Ex. Dir. of Save Our Shores and the upcoming Beach Cleanup and efforts to subdue the out of control use of Plastics in our Ocean Biosphere. Thanks to both our excellant speakers and I hope you will both come back soon for an update.
Kim De Serpa, Valencia School ADA, Laura Kasa, Save our Shores!
Today AHS Principal Casey O' Brian spoke about the challenges of huge budgetary cut backs and the effect on Aptos High School. Casey told us of the National Merit competition, The Graduating statistics, Athletics and Communities activity schedule. One of his teachers, Sara Roe also spoke about a pet project to enhance college attendance for Watsonville soccer athletes,called 'Breakaway", even Gang members, and asked if we could help with funds.
Today we were treated to an inspirational oration from the Dist. Gov himself, Roger Hassler. A 20 year member from Almaden the Governor first met with The B of D members to inspire them and compliment the fine work that our CAP Aptos has achieved. This was followed by a Presentation of recognition to first the committed Double Sustainers and then to our new Paul Harris Fellows (1 thru 5.) It was an outstanding and well attended meeting.
Saturday September 18 2010 5Pm: San Jose Spartan FOOTBALL vs So Utah Thunderbirds! We need 25 CAP's To sign up so THE Delux A/C Big screened Coach can whisk us effortlessly to (3PM) and from the Game to be home by 9pm. All for only $30/PP! WOW! Club Event. Fellowship. Free tickets Professional Driver. Contact for Reservations " Diskdoc08@yahoo.com"
Today had a busy Twofer from the Director of Santa Cruz's cash strapped Public Libraries, who described the Budget slashing cutbacks in all branches of Library services due to the 2007-10 Recession and the State gobbling up of local General funds. Also Claire Reported on the recent INTL Rotary Meeting in beautiful Montreal, where 23,000 Rotarians were entertained and shared good times and Club projects. Thanks Ladies.
Teresa Landers, SC Library Director: Claire McAdams: Int Rotary in Montreal
A fellow Rotarian from the SC downtown club presented today as Superintendent/ President of Cabrillo College. We were treated to a brief but informative history of the 50 years Cabrillo has served the Santa Cruz community. Since it's inception in a single building in Watsonville it has continuously grown to it's present 17.000 students and serves as a conduit for entry to UCSC and all other State colleges and Universities. Brian described how the demographic changes have presented unique educational challenges to Cabrillo which the Faculty and Administration continue to meet. Thanks Brian. Come back next year for an update.
Today we were treated to a true Californio Historian Charli " Castro "Kieffer, a blood relation to the original founding Castro Family of the Monterey/ Santa Cruz Hacienda Era. We learned about The De Anza and Portola Parties the founding by Cabrillo, San Jose and The Missions. Thanks Charlie you already accepted coming back to share more history with us next spring.
Todays speakers were Mike Chisholm and Kevin Richardson, Voice of the Spartans and Janikke Klem Director of Athletic Develpoment San Jose State U.We saw a preview of the upcoming Spartan football program and schedule starting the Season with, Gulp< Alabama!! SJS only plays 4 Top 20 Teams in it's first eight games so it will be a huge profile rebuilding year for the Spartans. The presenters did an outstanding job of explaining the Athletics program and the high expectations for the 2010 Season. Good Luck Spartans and we can listen and root on the SJS team on KION as they play Wisconsin, Utah, Boise State, Fresno State and Idaho... Should be a Great season!!
Today the lovely angel of Mercy came to visit from Hospice. She was explaining a new variety of Support programs that Hospice is offering including Grief counseling and transition. "Transitions" are a 5 Directives program to assist with the necessary documents needed to be prepared and witnessed before ones" Big Game."One of the most direct and informative programs we have had at Rotary. Even "Tackling" a uncomfortable subject Julie managed to interject some humor and then answer many questions. Thanks Julie, You make us Rotarians Proud to support Hospice.
Today was Busy. We presented 14 generous checks to Community groups and Charities and then heard from Four students who had recently attended the Ryla Camp. All were appreciative of the outstanding contributions made to them by CAP Rotary. Pictures are available at the New Facebook page for "Capitola Aptos Rotary". Check in, Friend Up and Check it out!
Past CAP rotarian Carolyn Swift spoke today and narrated a Photographic presentation on the historical development of the Capitola Aptos area. Starting in the 1890's the photos showed history as it progressed from the Nisene Marks Lumber era to almost modern day. Great pictures for perspective worth saving Carolyn, Thanks!
On the only foggy morning in weeks, CAP Rotary had a tremendous success in providing the "Throngs" of post Aptos Parade attendees with great Music and "The Best of ALL Possible" Barbequed, Correlitas meat and Spirits! Shoulder to shoulder we celebrated the birth of our nation.. It was Fun, as always and HOPEFULLY.. We will do it again next year!
Mr./ Rev. El Presidente aka "Running Bear" Uff Da Kelly officially took over the reins of the riotous CAP Rotary today. As the crowd snoozed in post prandial bliss Kelly embellished stories of personal past greatness equalling maybe Beowolf.. I AM Beowolf! Anyway the new Member Red Badges were great with tales from the Missouri Breaks( Eric) to Baba Ram Das( Gary) to " I'm writing a book"(Rich).... Anyway...Good Luck to our New President/ Members, the tone forward was well set and our new members are simply.. Great People.. Thanks for joining CAP Rotary.. "Service above Self". It is going to be a Great Year!
John Fisher, member and past District Governor has been named Grand Marshal of the Aptos world famous July 4th" World's Shortest Parade". Congrats John. You deserve it!
Karen you are officially debunked! You are IM Past President with many deserved accolades to your service as President of CAP ROTARY! Honors and gifts were presented by Past President Sue Yost and Incoming Kelly" Four Way" Nesheim; Kristin and Lori sang" Lorelei" praises with games and songs. Clever Poetry written and performed by the Big "Dew Wopper" Sam was appreciated by all. Congratulations on your well deserved retirement!
Today Mike Bethke joined us from the Sunrise Club where he is Im Past President. As new SC County Fairgrounds/ Events manager Mike has developed a 30 year build over of the existing grounds which include expansion of the Equine and auto racing facilities with additional year round privately funded events..Sounds Exciting so Thanks Mike and Good Luck.
"O' Neill Sea Odyssey provides a hands on educational experience for under privledged youth to encourage the protection and preservation of our living sea and communities"".. Dan is the executive director of this fantastic program funded by the O'Neill family and took over 2000 students sailing on the o"Neill Cat to experience the Biology, ecology and beauty of our Monterey Bay.
Superintendent Mike , a 30 year resident of Aptos, made an impassioned lunch presentation concerning the state of education in Santa Cruz County. Once he got rolling the volume and sheer magnitude of the challenges that are affecting the Administration, teachers and students within SC are ubiquitous. Including a 7 minute av DVD presentation there was not nearly enough time for Mike to share his overview and address the many questions from the members. Thanks Mike. Great Job under the circumstances and PLEASE come back soon to flush out the details of any one of the multiple subjects you were barely able to touch upon today.
Michael Watkins Superintendent of Schools, Santa Cruz County
For 2 and a half days CAP Rotary worked the well attended SC Blues Festival in Aptos. 3 Booths were worked by many Rotarians and Volunteers. We all owe the volunteers applause for their energy and commitment to our club and purpose. Suzy Yost did an INCREDIBLE job making everything work and deserves special Recognition for her gift of time, patience and skill in organizing this huge project for charity. Thanks Everyone who helped. With special Thanks AGAIN to Suzy!!!
Jon Nordgren, the Producing Artistic Director for all Cabrillo Stage productions was our speaker today. It should be a fantastic year for local theater with a schedule expanded for multiple dates and shows. Jon revealed his stage secrets for productions such as " Cabaret" and " Swing". This years knockout should be the satire of marital bliss " I love you.. Now Change". We look forward to seeing all these productions beginning in June Jon. Thanks for bringing your insider knowledge and lovely daughter Laiana..
We had a surprise visit from the soon to be incoming Rotary District Governor 5170. Arly told us his working history at Boeing Aircraft and the development of the original automatic 747 landing programs. Thanks Arley. Looks like the District will be in good hands 2011-2012.
Today we got an update on our Local CHP. A twenty year veteran, Officer Valdez related stories from his field service, Speed traps, statistics on Crime and Profiling. We appreciate his humor and insights.
Today we met two volunteers from the United Way 211 Program, Robert Halbauer and Tad Sterling. 211 is a new telephone information program to help offset pressure on 911. Real time people will answer any inquiry about a myriad of services from Home care to Support advocates. Thanks Fellas.
Today we got the low down on the much controversial railway purchase proposed by Santa Cruz County. A 32 mile rail line from Watsonville to Davenport is available. So is 12 million$ in Bond money that would purchase the line with its 32 bridges, potential walking bike trails and associated acerage. Should we buy it or is it an imprudent waste of money? Much misinformation has been discussed locally ad nauseum. Ellen , our Honorary Member at CAP Rotary, seems to agree the purchase should be made by June. We appreciate the information with the favorable and un discussed. We thank Ellen for a timely update on this polititical hot potato..
Today Mr. Laird spoke to us concerning the budgetary quandry in Sacramento and his view on several state propositions. He addressed issues ranging from State water issues to Commercial fishing to the AG lobby in Sacramento to Gerrymandering. We all learned alot from Mr. Laird and appreciated his taking time to address our club. Thanks for agreeing to come back next year John we will hold you to it.
This weekend we had the honor of hosting 5 members of the Brazilian team to our club and homes. They were History/ English ESL teachers, A media exec, a Parks Ranger and a health care Manager. Our team took immediate care of our wards at fridays SC Main Luncheon and hosted them to The World Famous Mystery Spot, The Long Marine Labs at UCSC, the Surf Museum at Steamers lane, Redwoods at Cowell Park, dinner at Palapas, and later some local Nightlife. Both they and all we who participated had a learning and wonderful experience. We want to thank all the Local generous Rotarians from Santa Cruz/ Sunrise for every assistance in providing our visitors a wonderful experience. For our new good bestest friends... It was the BIG FUN!!!
Today we hosted Congressman Sam Farr. Mr Farr gave a brief update concerning the Tri County economic area and it's surplus of Agricultural, Historical, Military, Oceanic and Academic resources. He then addressed the recent problems of passing legislation in a tempestuous Washington DC. Later he answered 10 provocative and timely written Questions. Thanks Mr. Farr. And thanks for agreeing to come back next year.
Today Robert Nelson presented information on the Military contributions made by Santa Cruz residents from the Civil war to Afganistan. Over 460 Vets, , including two women, have made the ultimate sacrifice for America. Mr Nelson has written a book about these veterans and is working on a Public Memorial for Veterans Day.. Thanks Rob.
Today we got a presentation on Coastal Climate Change, Sea level rise and Coastal retreat..... At issue is not the fact of historical repetitive coastal ocean level change and erosion of the California Coastline. The proven Geologic maps clearly indicate sea level Increase and decrease in level over hundreds of decades. What it holds for those of us on the coast is not in question. The Cause for these changes, global warming and the effect of increasing Co2 is still up to speculation and debate. Thanks Dr. Griggs for a World Class presentation.
Today we had another two fer. First we were presented a slide presentation on the Spring Second Harvest food drive. Food Collections this week and next. Second we had a in depth explanation of the Shelter Box Haiti program by Keith Henderson, IP President of Sunrise. Shelter box has deployed over 1100 Rotary shelter boxes to Haiti to date, three of which were from CAP Rotary. Thanks Keith!
Today we inducted a New blue badge member, Gary Gibbs, DO. Dr. Gibbs works with the County of Monterey Dept of Health and is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry/ Neurology. Congratulations Gary.
Today we got a twofer from Carlos Palacios, City Manager, and new Chief of Police Manny Solano. Mr. Palacios spoke of all of the great things happening in Watsonville, and noted some well-known national companies with corporate headquarters in Watsonville. He also discussed budgetary restraints and problems with the State adjoining funds earmarked for many other purposes while the Chief spoke about gang violence and what the City is doing to combat it. A great presentation for our Aptos Club. Thanks gentlemen.
Carlos Palacios & Manny Solano-City of Watsonville
The WheelChair Foundation. President Dave traveled over 2 hours from Danville Rotary to share his familial History of distributing Wheelchairs to the disabled worldwide... To date over 200,000 chairs have been provided to almost any country in the World. Dave brought a brief film from 2 weeks ago in Haiti where the Foundation distributed over 200 chairs and then stayed over to assist in medical aid and support for the quake victims.. A worthy project for Rotary. Thanks Dave.
Today Dr. Clint( A retired Dermatologist MD) gave us an update from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As an experienced docent Clint has donated 16 years to the world famous Aquarium and gave us a slide presentation on upcoming events concerning Otters, Sea Horses, Pink Flamingoes and Great White Sharks! Thanks for sharing with us Clint we appreciate your contribution.
This annual event at the Capitola Mall provided the platform for two of our Members to spread the message of Rotary, and the FOUR way Test, to the hundreds of Locals in Attendance. Club Thanks to Frank Horath and PPres. Scott Iredell..
Today Rich Hamlin was inducted as Capitola Aptos Rotary's newest member. Rich's Red Badge was presented by President Karen, and sponsor Frank Horath presented Rich with his new Rotary Pin. Welcome to our club, Rich!
Today our guest was the Administrative and Research Director for the Monterey Bay Aquatic Research Institute, headquartered in Moss Landing. George shared his extensive knowledge of the wide ranging research projects being conducted for Carbon Dioxide and Marine Wild life habitat in the Monterey Sanctuary. Our Bay is the most researched Body of oceanic water on Earth and still only 5% of its area has been explored. At 11,000 feet in depth most of the Marine research is being conducted at below 1200 meters or out of the light zone. Thank you Dr. Matsumoto for one of our best presentations to our club this year.
Ellen Pirie gave us an update on the Trout Gulch- Aptos redevelopment project proposed to modernise the "Historic" Downtown Aptos area. The project has been in the planning stages for over 30 years and remains the subject of much local controversy and debate. New streets and additional housing are being proposed along with the relocation of the Apple barn facility. A timely and informative presentation from our own Honorary Rotarian Ellen Pirie.
Today Mr. Gallegos made a presentation on the 100 years of Boy Scouts. BSA is the largest youth serving organization in America. Mr Gallegos reminded us of the long standing support the Boy Scouts have received from Rotary and the close relationship between the two groups. In fact our own Past District Govornor John Fisher serves on the district BSA Bd of Directors! Thanks for speaking today Albert.
Today, because of the Haiti crisis, we split the speakers between Shelterbox and The Sentinal. Shelterbox donations were collected for Haiti Relief, for which CAP collected enough for 3.5 Boxes! Congratulations Rotary!!!
Our Primary speaker was Don Miller, Editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinal. Don described the economic travails of print media in an electronic age and described how consolidation of News paper publishers has rapidly diminished traditional diversity in the age of FREE online access. The future of print appears uncertain and we thank Don for his presentation to the CAP Rotary.
Mr. Twisselman an Aptos local, today presented information on the Amgen Tour Bike Race. Matt is the Chairman of the Santa Cruz Leg of this Internationally recognized Tour d' California and told us that The Amgen is now the Biggest bicycle event in North America and the fourth largest in the World. They have raised $250,000 to stage this 8th leg of the race and described the logistics, financing and personnel required to stage such a huge event in May. We thank Mr. Twisselman and the Amgen for bringing such attention to Santa Cruz.
Today we got a presentation concerning Child Aids prevention from the Los Altos Rotary Aids project initiative. This project is centered in Liberia and targets Mother to child aids transmission prevention. 700,000 birth related Aids cases could be prevented by a $1 administration of preventative medicines. We thank the 4 Rotary members from Los Altos who took the time to make this information available to us. Many thanks for a worthy Project.
Today we were serenaded by the iconic Sam Nigh and his three melodius Elfin/helper Dew Wops. An excellant selection of Christmas tunes from Jingle Bells to Grandma got run over by a Reindeer. The Big Fun was had by all the singing members. Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks Sam.
Today we heard from the local founders of Get Gear, an organization to give athletic equipment, mainly soccer, to needy African teams. The needs and Logistics are enormous but this one family is dedicated to making a difference and asks that Rotary play a part. Good presentation for Get Gear!
Jim Richardson shared his career information on improving Public speaking with Humor. With 30 years experience honing the presentations of national Speakers and performers it is Jim's job to make the Audience laugh and be more receptive to any speaker, on any subject. Thanks Jim.
Today our speaker was a local volunteer Gina Libby. Gina is a UC Davis graduate who now works on behalf of the American Pain Foundation as a patient advocate. She spoke movingly of her own experience as a Scoliosis patient who endured a traumatic painful surgery to straighten her spine at 19. The surgery resulted in relentless neuropathic chronic spinal pain which has required extensive evaluation and treatment. Gina shared updated information concerning the epidemiology of pain Disability, pain treatment, the lack of Medical funding/understanding for Pain research and Addiction. Thank you Gina for a provocative and informative insight into the little understood world of chronic Pain management.
Today our speaker was the CEO of the Volunteer Center for the County of Santa Cruz. She has worked 23 years as a volunteer since graduating from UCSC in Political Science. Santa Cruz is building out a new 7000 SF , 5 million $ volunteer center in Mid County to consolidate many groups under one cost effective non leaking roof. Santa Cruz county ranks #7 in all the US for its contributions and volunteer services. Well Done Karen, and Thanks.
Today President Karen decided to Honor our clubs veterans. We had the opportunity to salute our comrades for their service to our country... We had WW2, Korean and Viet Nam vets from all services come up to be recognized. We are honored by the sacrifices they made on all of our behalf.
A group of very excited third graders at Valencia Elementary School received their very own dictionaries today as part of our annual distribution. See related News story on the right.
Today we heard an inspirational presentation from Sheila Barry. Sheila was the recipient of Rotary Foundation grants almost 30 years ago which allowed her to pursue her studies of language at the Sorbonne. After graduating she specialized in sign language for South American countries. She became a Rotarian in 1986 and has served in numerous positions since on both a local level with her home club in Cupertino and also nationally on a Presidential commission.
Today Mr. Ron Duncan and Shelley Flock from Soquel Water came to speak. California uses 200 million Acre feet of water a year, 65,000 gallons Per person. Water is allocated 46 % to Environment, 43% to agriculture and 11% to Homes and businesses.California gets it's water 20% from ground sources 80% from Surface sources but those numbers are reversed for our local SC Water district. We must all continue to conserve. "Turn off a Light to save water!" Thanks Ron and Shelley!
Today we heard Rebecca Connely, a local attorney, speak to us about issues of Constitutional law. She spoke on issues of Intellectual property rights and Trademark. Ms. Connely is a civil litigator working with a large local firm in Watsonville.
Today Mr John gallagher spoke to our club about the legalities of Organ Donation. Mr Gallagher , himself a Sunrise Rotarian, practices business Law at local Bosso Williams in Santa Cruz where he has practiced for 29 years. He told how he was deemed a compatible donor for his ailing sister and the travails of the surgery and it's sucessful outcome. He reported a tremendous need for donors and outlined how donation can be done thru the DMV or through legal documentation of an estate. Thank you John. A valuable example of true Service Above Self was presented today.
Our sponsored Interactors came to visit today. We met the Club Officers and the Aptos HS Principle, new on the job for only the last 2 years. We were updated as to the spartan budget and many programs being fiscally curtailed at Aptos HS which is continuing in these challenging times, to graduate highly successful motivated College bound students with excellant performance on National Exams. We are very proud of our Interactors!
Our own Club Rotarian Frank Horath spoke on Thursday Oct 1 concerning"Social Networking". Topics included Facebook, Twitter and business and personel networking applications of these new age phenomena. Great Job Frank!
Claudia, a columnist with the Santa Cruz Sentinel, spoke to our club about the importance of journaling, "writing down your story". Claudia's a dynamic speaker, and her topic was well received by the entire membership.
District Governor Loren Harper visited our Club and spoke about Rotary and its Humanitarian mission around the world. He also spoke to the Rotary theme "The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands", and his personal theme "One Child at a Time"
Members of the Club who traveled to Fiji in April for an international service project with Rotary clubs from New Zealand and Fiji presented a slide show on the work performed at Vuna Village school.
Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) is a program that offers an opportunity for local high school students to spend five days together in the beautiful setting of redwoods near Boulder Creek.
If you have suggestions for the Capitola-Aptos website or wish to include information or an article, please contact your webmaster, Sandra Wallace, at smswallace@gmail.com
Our next fundraising event is the 2nd Annual Kentucky Derby Party on May 4, 2024. 
Kevin Weatherwax, Ringland Lab (2022-2023) 
Dean Peter Biehl, Co-PE Kendra Cleary, Almut Wolf with UCSC Foundation Relations, Piatt Fellow Megan Durham, and President Ken Gorman
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October 24th was also World Polio day. At the meeting Helen read a proclamation from Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors declaring it World Polio Day to acknowledge Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio worldwide. We also distributed a club proclamation acknowledging the same. The following picture shows the club showing how close we are to eliminating polio worldwide. 
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He is a home grown professional and Aptos High School attendee. He has been part of the Sheriff’s office for 17 years. He spoke about what Sheriff’s office is doing currently and crime prevention in Aptos.
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