Meeting Minutes
March 4, 2021
President Alex Robertson brought our Zoom meeting to order at 11:00 am and led us in reciting the 4 Way Test.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Diane Remick who read us a quote by Adlai Stevenson, a former governor of Illinois and US Ambassador to the UN:
“True patriotism is not manifested in short, frenzied bursts of emotion. It is the tranquil, steady dedication of a lifetime.”
Dan Barrios inspired us with a story about a miner during the Gold Rush. He was told by a mining engineer that he had been very close to a big find when he decided to quit. Dan encouraged us persevere during adversity. If you have a goal, go for it.
Virtual Greeter Bob Vaughn welcomed our guests including SDSU Rotaractors Azareel Canizales, JR Lauron, Charlie Sallee, Bell Phommavong, Carissa Fong, Mika Sueyoshi and Winson Tsai. Joel Doss sang them our welcome song, which they thought was pretty cool.
President Alex noted that March is Women’s History Month and reminded us that Rotary did not admit women until 1987. Women are now in key positions at every level of the organization, and essential to everything Rotary does. To recognize the contributions women make to our club, Mike Fuqua and Judy Lutticken created this image:
which will run in the Pomerado News later this month.
If anyone pictured does not want to be published in this way, please contact Mike who will remove that photo.
As club foundation president, Mike then presented a $1000 matching grant to St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center in El Cajon. The grant was sponsored by Maguy Feghali. Development Director Joe Perucca told us how they educate and empower individuals with developmental disabilities to realize their full potential. Their programs are nationally recognized as being innovative. They combine a culture of care and creativity within quality programs to provide liberal arts education, practical skills development, employment, and dignity for a lifetime.
Arilla St. Laurent, sporting a fabulous blond hairdo, informed us that the Family of Rotary is well.
Then Arilla stepped in as Finemaster and suggested that all the women who would be getting their picture in the Pomerado News could donate a Happy Buck or two. Many did. Then she collected more Happy Bucks from several folks; see the list in Treasurer Pat’s summary email. The most inspiring of these was $330 from John Goodrich to celebrate his 33rd anniversary of joining Rotary.
Michael Ortiz then introduced our speaker, Dr. Kathy Head. She is an associate medical director in the Occupational Medicine Department of Scripps Rees-Stealy in RB.
Kathy spoke to us on COVID-19; it was great to hear from a professional directly, without any media spin.
Terry Heck presented Kathy with a speaker’s gift; a book titled Invisible Enemies about infectious diseases. It will be donated to the Bernardo Heights Middle School Library in her name.
Past District Governor Mike Stelman updated us on our holiday poinsettia event; it raised $7000 to support the military. Past President Dave King then told us he is trying to track down the corporal who received our sword last year, but he has been deployed. We did donate 22 gift cards of $25 a piece to marines at Miramar.
Past President Jim Hyldahl told us that we will be able to resume our junk-hauling projects in RB communities when the County of San Diego Health Department decrees that we are in the Yellow Tier. He also said that North County Stand Down would be held this year at the Green Oak Ranch in Vista from April 15-18. This will not be a club activity this year, but individual volunteers are needed. See: https://www.ncstanddown.org/the-stand-down-event/
President Alex thanked today’s volunteers: Zoom setup by Mike Fuqua, newsletter posting by Bill Angus and these words by your scribe, Dave Brooks.
President Alex adjourned the meeting at 12:15 pm.