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.
Reports from the Field:
Red Badger Lori Teller reported that there were 1500 people at the RYLA Fall Leadership Conference in San Jose. Lori attended to fulfill one of her badge requirements. Youth Services Chair Trish Glassey encouraged those with an in at Aptos High School to press for a new teacher advisor for their Interact Club. We are competing with many service clubs there already.
 
Our Hero!
Dr. Art Dover will receive the Aptos Chamber of Commerce Community Hero Award, at a dinner and auction at Seascape Resort on November 4th (not the golf club where we meet).  Standing ovation for a well-deserved award, Dr. Art.  You can sign up with Doug Deaver who is handling the reservations, so far we have about 20 Rotarians attending.  Tickets are $85, pay Julie so we can cut one check as a Club. Do not RSVP through the Chamber Form as you won't be sitting with the other Rotarians, unless you don't want to be associated with our two tables in which case RSVP to the Chamber!! 
 
Community Service Opportunities:
Second Harvest Food Bank needs volunteers for upcoming food distributions at the County Fairgrounds, October 24th, November 7th, November 21st, December 5th, December 24th. Let’s support the beneficiary of our annual fundraiser! To sign up click here 
 
 
Save the Dates:
The Club is planning a field trip to Loaves and Fishes on Tuesday morning November 15. Our members are encouraged to volunteer at Loaves and fishes Tuesday November 15th,  we will be working in the pantry 9 to 12, then serving lunch.
 
Sam and Karla Nigh are hosting a Christmas party at their house in Soquel on December 4th at 4pm, details to follow.
 
District 5170 Official Protocols: DG Savita Visit is confirmed for Thursday, October 27th. Please RSVP to Kendra, via email or the Google Form Link ASAP as we expect more than our usual attendance so need to ensure there's enough tables and food for everyone coming!


The Community Grants award luncheon to be held by our club is December 8th at Seascape golf course big room. Deadline to apply for one of our Community Grants is fast approaching, Thursday 10/20 is the deadline. Application is available on our website on the "Community Grants" tab, then email the completed PDF application to caprotary@gmail.com 
 
Guatemala Water Project:
There were flyers on the table for the Rotary 5170 district-sponsored Guatemala water project we have contributed to in the past. This next part of the project is adding fresh water to upper floors of the hospital.  The introduction of clean water has resulted in a complete elimination of infant deaths from the formerly-contaminated water. 

Detective:
Apologies to Trish whose name was omitted as the prior week's last-minute fill-in detective.

This week' s Detective was Rich Hamlin, who ironically was inspired to educate/quiz us on shampoo.

$20 fine to Al for quipping that Rich "is Head and Shoulders above everyone else."

Worse-there's a horrible pun somewhere in there about the follicles of educating people about hair care ($25 fine).

We learned about the colonial lexicology of the word, that its main ingredients include a surfactant, that dander is caused by a fungus (blech). Rich atoned for any transgressions with his loot bag of shampoos.

Guest Speaker Amy Red Feather and Furry Friend:
Our guest Speaker was Amy Red Feather  from Native Animal Rescue.
 
Amy is a wildlife tech and neonatal and bunny expert, but cares for all the animals that come into the facility. Amy referred us to the website and focused her discussion on things not on the website.

One of the programs Amy spoke about was having ambassador animals visit with kids. A recent addition to the ambassador animal core - and fast-favorite - is a long tailed weasel.

Native Animal Rescue’s goals are to rescue, rehabilitate, and release. They accept animals that people decide they cannot keep as pets- without question and without repercussion. They accept any animals except mountain lions (too dangerous) and marine mammals, which are helped by the Marine Mammal Center.

The most common advice Native Animal Rescue gives to people contacting them about an animal they found or one they need to get rid of is to put it in a box and deliver it to the center. Do not try to feed a found animal.

Native Animal Rescue has a wildlife hotline open 8am- dark that gets calls from all over the USA and sometimes other countries. It forwards to Amy cell phone after hours, which she keeps on until bedtime.

Amy commented on the local bird flu influx. She cautioned to be especially wary of waterfowl acting oddly.

Amy also commented on the Increase in raptors locally because of habitat shift from fires and rodenticides. She attributed increased sightings of wildlife in urban areas more to the drought than wildfires.

Nelson Crandall volunteered that he delivered frozen trapped rats to the center. Yum. Actually, Amy said that frozen rats are very helpful. More appetizing- she encouraged people to drop off apples.

There was a discussion about rabies and distemper. Dr. Art said he recently treated people for rabies from raccoon bites. Amy said that there is a prevalence of distemper in raccoons. Unlike rabies, which is contagious and deadly to humans, distemper is not contagious to humans. However, it is highly transmissible to dogs and deadly to them.

Lori said she has squirrel problem. Al noted that the club has a lawyer infestation.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was Amy’s guest, Ambassador Possum Frankie. Frankie was a pet, relinquished by a family, who has found a new and welcoming home at the shelter. Possums do not make good pets and they only live a year or two.
 
 
Great thanks to Amy for her presentation and to program co-chairs Anissa Novak and Rich Hamlin for bringing her in.
 

 
 
 
 

See everyone Thursday!