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 Wiltshire who 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.
 


 
Lisa gave a moving talk about the importance of supporting park the park because of its value to kids and community health and well being. It provides opportunities for social interaction that aren't available at most parks and helps show that kids have far more similarities;, diversity and  inclusion teaches that they are not so different.

Lisa shared that her daughter Kayla was born  in 2005 4 months early and spent several months in neonatal care.  She had physical impairments but defied the odds and learned to walk with a walker and went to mainstream school.  She had quite an impact on her classmates.  Tragically, Kayla passed away 4 years ago but unquestionably she was and would be a strong advocate for this park- she had always wished for an all-inclusive park for her and her friends.
Let's help this worthwhile project people!
 
 

This week's meeting is at Seascape and is a club meeting!

See all there!