November 21, 2019 .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Co-President Susan King opened the meeting with a salute to the Rotary Club of Rancho Bernardo who is celebrating it's 55th year of service to our community and around the world! .jpg)   We recited the Four Way Test and John Mullin led us in the pledge, reminding us of what a great country we live in. Rick Bramble gave the inspirational message and one of our newer members, Athenea Luciano, was our Greeter. Jim Sommer and Gary Saks led us in the Welcome Song and a Birthday Song to celebrate our club. Karen Stelman is scribe, John Goodrich and Lisa De La Torre worked the front desk and Bill Brehm did double duty as Set up Crew and Photographer! John O'Neill is our Meeting Organizer.  We changed our meeting agenda and put our speaker on first to accommodate her schedule. Bob Chambers did the honors of introducing Elkie Wills from the SD Humane Society. Her co-worker couldn't attend but we saw a nice video of her giving us some additional information. They have been serving San Diego since 1880. They do more than just shelter and adopt animals. They are a safety net for animals and the people who love them." They have Campuses in San Diego, Escondido and Oceanside. They have 5 adoption locations at Petco and PetSmart stores in Escondido, La Mesa, Vista, Pacific Beach and Sports Arena. They also handle Wildlife Care and Rehabilitation offering an emergency animal drop off available 24 hours a day. They found homes for over 15,000 pets last year. Even though they are a California business, they also travel all over the country to help during disasters such as fires and floods. You can get involved in several ways....Adopt, volunteer, foster, donate and report abuse. You can see more at their web site: sdhumane.org.  ANNOUNCEMENTS:  * Congratulations to Dave Brooks - 2019 San Diego North County Philanthropy Volunteer of the Year! Way to go Dave!! * District 5340 Golf League will have their first matches on Dec. 4th at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. Still time to sign up. Let President David know if you're interested.  * Vern Cook will be hosting a Holiday card signing session on Dec. 5th in the "lobby bar" area after the Dec.5th meeting. Bring a pen and he'll provide the rest! * Our Holiday Dinner will be held December 12th at BHCC. An Evite will be sent out shortly. * Greeters are needed for the RI International Assembly Jan 19 thu ? This group represents all the new, incoming District Governors from all over the world (500+) and speakers from far and near. It's a great experience and is followed by a thank you dinner at the hotel the last evening. Contact Alex Robertson for all the details. * Thousand Smiles is going to Ensenada on Feb. 7/8 to donate their time to help children in need of oral/facial repair. See John Goodrich or Doug for more details. The Sunrise Rotary Club is organizing this trip. * There will be a Peace Forum Feb. 22nd. Please see Doug for more information on this days event. * Cathy Glover is selling See's Candy again for the holidays. They make a great gift for everyone on your list!  ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: "The 55-year history of the Rancho Bernardo Rotary Club is dedicated to the honor and memory of the men who organized and chartered our Club in 1964. Since then, Rotarians of our Club have fostered the highest standards of business and professional ethics in the RB Community. "Service above Self" has been the guiding principle in the funding and sponsoring of numerous meaningful community and vocational projects for all ages. In celebration of the 55th anniversary, we would like to play the 50th Anniversary Video."    November is also The Rotary Foundation Month. In celebration, Dan Barrios provided a short information brief regarding TRF. Additionally, all fines and Happy Bucks will be donated to TRF. The five major goals of the foundation are: 1. Eradicate Polio 2. Promote Peach and Conflict Resolution 3. Support Education 4. Fight Disease 5. End Hunger.   President Susan gave us the sad report that our former member, Frances Blair, passed away this week. She battled many illnesses but unfortunately they found her cancer returned after they moved to Texas and she passed quietly at her home on Tues. with her loving husband Earnie and their adoring dog, Enza. A service is being planned at St. Barts church here in Poway with a time to be determined after Earnie flies back with her ashes. He's asked that he would like peace at this time with no calls or cards. We will keep you posted.  Athenea had the winning bid for a beautiful Thanksgiving Day center piece. Bob Vaughn was our auctioneer and raised $50 for our club! He's very, very good. This could turn in to a full time job! Thanks to you both!  Bill Brehm was our Rotarian of the Month for all his hard work on behalf of our club. Great job Bill.  Troy Daum gave the Joe Max moment with a Thanksgiving Theme. Briefly, he told us the male Pilgrims pants kept falling down and they couldn't figure out why. Then, one day, one of the ladies pointed out that they were wearing their belt buckles on their hats instead of their belts!" Short but got a roaring laugh from the members!!  WE WILL BE DARK ON THE 28th IN HONOR OF THANKSGIVING. Enjoy the Day and Happy Thanksgiving to all! .jpg) Karen Stelman, Scribe |