Rancho Bernardo Rotary June 8, 2017 Meeting Minutes & Images by James Kaspar

Posted by Karen Stelman on Jun 09, 2017
Ronald McDonald House
The schedule for this year's 2017 remaining dinner service is:
 
Tue Jun 20
Wed Aug 23
Tue Oct 17
 
Please check out our volunteer page where you can find out information on all upcoming service projects.
Please join us this Rotary Year 2016-17 in 'Serving Humanity'! http://www.rbrotary.org/Page/volunteer
 
June 8, 2017
 
 
Benita opened the meeting, thanking all the volunteers that worked that evening. ....  Joel at the front desk with Sonny, Doug did the room set up, Mike Fuqua led us in the pledge, Benita introduced our guests and Karen was scribe.   Joel also led the welcome song with great enthusiasm!  Brian gave the Inspirational Message with a personal note of encouragement to his friend Frances Blair.  It read, "You never know how much courage you possess until courage is your only option."  Great food for thought!  As always, James Kaspar documented our meeting with photos.  Thank you all.
 
Vern and Frances are collecting new underwear to be given to homeless vets at their annual Stand Down Day where they are treated to showers, hair cuts, meals, legal assistance and medical treatment as needed.  They have asked for larger sizes this year as that is an area where they run short (or small as the case may be).
 
Vern announced that our club donated 3600 pounds of food to the Food Bank at Interfaith.
 
 
Mike Fuqua, coordinated efforts for our booth at RB Alive, our very popular street fair here in RB  (est. 30,000 in attendance)!
 
Many of our club members volunteered their time and efforts to support our booth and showcase Rotary.  We even had a Shelter Box set up that drew a lot of interest.  Our best effort was put forth when several of our members were able to talk and invite people to our meeting that showed an interest in Rotary.  This was a great idea and hopefully we'll continue with this.
 
The last District Council of the year is being held on June 26th where the incoming presidents will be formally inducted into their new roll.  Car pools will be set up so please consider going to this important "changing of the guard" event.
 
Ronald McDonald House still needs volunteers if you'd like to car pool and join the group that serves families of children under going treatment at this hospital.  It's a very worthwhile event and they can always use the help!  The date is June 20th and you can contact Larry Saunders for details.
 
 
Arilla is in charge of our Demotion Party this year being held on June 29th at 6 p.m. at Bernardo Heights Country Club.  Please RSVP and get your checks in to Charley Crew or pay at the check in desk next week.  It's always lots of fun!
 
Mike, Doug, Toby and Benita volunteered their time to attend AVID where high school students are preparing for college and need help and advice to gain confidence, compose letters and be interviewed for practice.  It was a great experience for all!
 
 
Dave Brooks is the President of The Spirit of the 4th and needs more volunteers to help with traffic control, serving lunch at the VIP area, set up and of course, clean up.  Please contact him directly if you can be there that day.
 
Karen reported for The Family of Rotary.  April Saunders is recovering nicely from lung cancer surgery and "they got it all!"  She was even well enough to visit her family in Salt Lake City and welcome the newest grand son into the family the day after she arrived there.
 
Brian Flaherty is still fighting the skin cancer on his face but got good news that his latest biopsy showed this one can be treated with a cream.  His wife, Bibi, is recovering nicely from hip surgery and faces heart surgery next month.  Frances came down with a bad back last week that will put her out of commission for a couple of weeks.  Her physical therapy is helping to ease the pain and get rid of the cane she needed for awhile.
 
 
Scott and Alex Lawn (father and son) were inducted into Rotary this evening.  They  own of Greenway Lawn and Aeration.  They also offer irrigation installation, lawn care and landscaping.  They can be reached at 858-486-8277, right here in RB.
 
They are enthusiastic and will make a great addition to our club.  Please give them a warm welcome!  Don Glover is their sponsor and Dave Brooks will be their mentor.  
 
 
We also had both contestants running for RB Honorary Mayor attending our meeting.  They were each given a few minutes to talk about themselves and give out dates for their fund raising parties.  Tracy von Putten is a member of the RB Sunrise and her major event is July 26th where they will be selling raffle tickets for several prizes including an all expense paid trip to Cabo.  Our newest member, Alex Lawn, is also running and will have his largest event on Aug. 28th at CCRB from 5:30 to 7:30.   His Dad, Scott, was Honorary Mayor in 2012-13 so if Alex wins, it will be our first father-son to be our "mayor" in RB.   All the proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets go to support the community of Rancho Bernardo.  Please go to the web site of Rancho Bernardo Business Associates (RBBAconnect.com. or call 858-451-3406.  You can also call Alex Lawn at the above number for a list of his events.
 
 
Our Fine Master finally got his day (or night) in Rotary after several weeks of  full agendas and no time for him.  He did a great job of collecting fines and Happy Bucks to raise money for our club.
 
 
Ron Hunt, speaker chair for this quarter, introduced Frederic Fournier, Consulate of Canada.  We have actually had a Consulate here in San Diego since 2004.  Frederic is joined by 3 other Canadians and their primary goal is to promote trade between the US and Canada.  They focus on bringing companies to CA where they are taught new innovations which they either take back to Canada or open new businesses here.  Since the 1994 NAFTA Agreement, a tri-lateral agreement,  there has been a 400% increase in trade between the US, Canada and Mexico.  Canada is our main partner with trades of manufacturing, oil , gas, and auto parts creating $45 billion a year in jobs and goods sold.  
Jim Hyldahl did another great book presentation to our speaker.  I find that we almost look forward to this more than we do listening to the speaker!
 
 
Our upcoming programs are:
 
Family Day - June 15
Larry Saunders (on computers) - June 22
Demotion Party (please RSVP to Charley) - June 29th
 
Dave Brooks closed the meeting with this quote...."Live life to the fullest and focus on the positive."
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Stelman, Scribe