After President Jim Reid called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone, we all recited the 4-Way Test.
President Jim led us in the Pledge. Thanks were expressed to today’s meeting volunteers: Pat Chaffee and Mark Alberts (front desk), Joel Doss (room setup), Bill Brehm (photography), Katie Hunter (Greeter), Resa Coopat (Scribe) and Dave Brooks (audio and visuals).
Katie Hunter helped us recognize our guests and welcome them with our song led by President Jim.
Announcements
∙ Transportation Committee has been formed to offer to drive Rotarians to meetings, if needed. John Mullin and Bob Vaughn have volunteered. More volunteers are welcomed.
∙ RYLA 2024 – John Goodrich asked for volunteers to evaluate student applications and interview students who would like to participate in the youth leadership conference taking place over 3 days in Idyllwild.
∙ Virtual District webinar January 20. Learn more about Rotary membership and its offerings. (RVSP – District Site)
∙ See’s Candy – Cathy Glover announced that $462.55 had been raised for High School Scholarships.
∙ Check Presentation by Charlie Crew to Terry Norwood of RISE Resale. The $2,200 grant will be used by RISE for a security system. ∙ New Year Prayer in Song music video was played by Gary Saks.
Family of Rotary correspondent, Sandie Dewane, shared news about Sonny Googins being back from her car accident, Mike Fuqua had hip replacement surgery yesterday, Pete Griffith is recovering from a fall, Athenea was at Urgent Care this morning with breathing trouble and Bob Vaughn was ill today. Please keep them all in your thoughts.
Sandie Dewane will be presenting Fun Facts about members at upcoming meetings. Members who would like to share a fun fact about themselves should get in touch with Sandie. Paul Courtright shared today.
President Jim was the Happy Bucks leader in Athenea’s absence. (We missed you Athenea!) Some good happy statements and buck$ were collected.
Gary Saks introduced guest speaker David Wambaugh, whose topic was Lives Lost Because of the Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness and Suicide. Wambaugh told us he was dual diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and ADHD. In addition to the dual diagnosis, he also suffered from addiction. He was treated. Today, Wambaugh is a California licensed drug and alcohol counselor who was hired to do interventions. Wambaugh says that 1 in 4 Americans suffer from mental illness and that there is a correlation between suicide and mental illness. His message to us today was to listen to the unspoken words of our loved ones, to see the suffering inside our loved ones and make it ok for them to come forward and seek help. If we listened more we’d hear their call.
Respectfully submitted,
Resa Coopat
