Board of Directors' meetings of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill are held at Heritage Bank of Commerce (18625 Sutter Blvd., Ste. 100 in Morgan Hill) on the third Tuesday of the month, starting at 6:30 p.m.
By the numbers...Around the world there are 1,225,827 Rotarians, another 194,028 Rotaract members (young men and women between the ages 18–30), 429,203 Interact (boys and girls ages 12–18) and another 197,869 Rotary Community Corps (RCCs) are team members who work in partnership with Rotary clubs to improve their communities.
Under the watchful eyes of Event Chair, Valerie Alves, this year’s Harvey Barrett Annual Senior Dinner went off without a hitch at the Buddhist Community Center on Saturday, March 19. Named in recognition of Harvey Barrett, the 29th President of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, and first held in 1983 under the leadership of the 1983-84 Club President, Marvin Cohn, the event fed, entertained and celebrated Morgan Hill's elders.
A scrumptious meal was prepared by Rotarians under the direction of Rosy Bergin, Rotarian and co-owner of Rosy’s at the Beach. Directing the kitchen staff since 2004, Rosy once again complimented the Rotarians and the dozen Interactors noting “It’s an amazing crew we have in the kitchen and in the BBQ area to feed so many people.”
My wife Elena and I have always had a moderate interest in visiting India, but never a strong enough interest to plan a trip.
Then an opportunity came along to travel in relative comfort (western-style hotels and our own guide and bus driver) and with a bunch of really good people (Rotarians). It worked out great. We spent two weeks in India in February on a two-part visit: Tourism and Polio.
I was asked five years ago by Arlene Greenberg to chair a project to give dictionaries to all third grade students (re-named" kids" for the project) in Morgan Hill. I was a new Rotarian and needed a project and it sounded good to me. I agreed to do it if Samia Reichel would agree to co-chair with me, which she did. So for the last five years Samia and I led the project which surprisingly proved to be somewhat controversial in the club.
Why the controversy? When Arlene told me about the project I had the same reaction as many other Rotarians: “Why give a very expensive dictionary to a child in the age of the internet. Why give them a book when they are using tablets, computers or hand held devices to look things up?”
Having witnessed the reaction of the students for the last five years I have seen firsthand that the gift of this book leaves a huge, positive impression with the kids. They literally "ooh and aah" and rub the cover. It is a beautiful book. They can hardly sit still bursting with excitement as they look at the pictures on the pages and listen to Morgan Hill’s Police Chief and Rotarian David Swing in uniform.
For many students this is the first time they have ever heard of Rotary Club of Morgan Hill. Police Chief Swing explains what we do and why, focusing on "service to others" to which kids can relate. He walks the third graders through a few exercises, explains that it is a personal gift from the Rotary club to the youngsters that they can take the dictionary home.
My son is in 3rd grade at Paradise Valley Elementary School. He came home yesterday so excited about receiving a Dictionary. I called the school to find out who Officer Joe* was that read to them and gave them the book. They informed me it was actually a gift from the MH Rotary Club. I think it is wonderful that you reach out to our youth to provide them with tools to become successful individuals.
As a parent, I wanted to let you know that our family very much appreciated the time, effort and gift you gave to my son yesterday. It was more than just receiving a dictionary, it was a life lesson. Sharing is Caring and giving goes a long way!
Thank you,
Erika Rose
*Editor's note: Officer Joe was Morgan Hill's Chief of Police, David Swing
JA served nearly 20,000 local students during the South Bay, including students this year in Morgan Hill when Rotarian Armando Garcia led a new JA project sponsored by the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill.
The program started in Oct. and ran for 13 weeks. The program helped prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.
Ten Morgan Hill students (9 sophomores and 1 junior) were tasked to come up with a business idea, develop a business plan, select company leaders, raise capital to fund their plan, and then execute their business plan by producing and selling their products or services.
The students initially decided to manufacture mobile phone cases using Live Oak’s 3D printer and sell each case for $7. The students then sold 70 shares of common stock in their company at $5 a share to raise $350.
When Clara Montanez was a student, she never heard the word mentoring. The idea of having a role model help you pursue your ambitions was unfamiliar to her.
"You basically chose your career based on personal interest and hoped you could find a job," says Montanez, senior director of investment for Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. "I went the route of getting married and having children first, and started my career later in life. I had no model for how to do that."
That changed for Montanez the day a friend invited her to join Rotary.
"Frankly, I was dragged into Rotary. I didn't see a connection at first," says Montanez, who's been a member of the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., since 2003. "But then I met several women, including Doris Margolis, who took me under her wing and started mentoring me on how to get more involved. I began seeing the value in having someone I could count on as a mentor, and I have become more of a leader in our club, in my community, and at work."
Rotary's mentoring opportunities motivated Montanez, Rotary's alternate representative to the Organization of American States, to help organize an event for International Women's Day, 8 March.
gmh Today featured several Rotarians in the March/April 2016 issue. Roger and Janie Knopf were on the cover and profiled in a six-page spread, starting on page 48 of the magazine. The publication also included an article on Leadership. Among the people highlighted in that story were Jeff Perkins, Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce's Man of the Year, and Sandy de la Cuesta, Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce's Woman of the Year.
The Rotary Club of Morgan Hill raises about $130,000 each year to sustain its philanthropic endeavors.
Leadership Morgan Hill (LMH) raises about $60,000 each year to develop future community leaders through hosting its leadership Excellence Award Dinner each July. This year's honoree is Joe Aiello, owner of Uesugi Farms. Both organizations develop leaders.
Rotary builds its own leaders through various training programs at the local, district, national and international levels.
LMH graduates about 20 leaders a year through a nine-month program. Many LMH participants can be found throughout our community.
The relationship between the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill and LMH has been strong and mutually beneficial.
Rotary has benefited from this relationship. Thirty-five of our members are LMH graduates and three of our members, non LMH graduates, Dana Ditmore, Del Foster and Roger Knopf serve or have served on the Board of Directors of LMH.
The Fun Committee is resurrecting an event that was well attended several years ago and lots of fun. We’re calling it International Dining. It’s not mandatory that it be an ‘international’ meal, it’s whatever the host/hostess likes.
Here’s how it works:
We need at least 6 hosts/hostesses (more if we need them) who are willing to co-ordinate a dinner in their home for Rotarians and spouses (or not) for a minimum of 8 Rotarians. This means the hostess determines the theme, cooks the main entrée and guests bring a dish to accompany the meal. Since the hostess is coordinating the dinner, she/he could request a specific dish or just ask you to bring a dish. Each couple is asked to bring a bottle of their favorite wine.
Team Morgan Hill had a great time at North Star on March 12 and brought home a trophy. This year's ski squad representing the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill was comprised of Randy Toch, "Ed Fish" a loaner from Los Gatos Rotary, Laura Lundy, Steve Betando, Louise Fry, Tom Fry and Kristin Fry.
Our Laura finished with the second fastest time for the ladies!
Former Morgan Hill Rotarian Robin Nielsen has recorded her first single, a motivational song called “You’ve Got the Magic.” The song is available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and many other sites.
“It’s for all the beautiful women (and their men) in my life and around the world that have nourished my heart and life in so many ways,” said Robin, who started singing lessons a year ago to prepare for this recording. “I created this song to remind you of what's important. To help you dust off the muck so you can let your inner sparkle shine. I invite you to dance and sing, and celebrate the joy and pleasure that is yours…and if you find yourself stuck, to play it again to get back on track,” she added.
In today's world where social media plays a large and growing role, the number of Facebook “likes” matters. One of the goals of our club's public relations committee is to communicate our club' philanthropic servicesto not only our own members, but to our community at large. And Facebook can play a part in in that goal. A strong Facebook presence can also encourage Rotarians and other community members to also get involved in civic minded activities.
One of the ways in we have chosen to engage with social media is through our development and on going weekly postings on our MH Rotary Facebook Page. Our recent Call to Action continues to be an ALL CALL to our club members to log onto our FB account and engage in a few easy ways. Please like our Facebook page by hitting the thumbs up logo on our Facebook page, share our page to your social circle of “FB Friends,” and consider adding a comment of review about our Club.
The goal in choosing to participate in social media is to make sure we remain relevant and to give a glimpse of what we do and who we are. We are 147 “likes” away from our first 500 benchmark goal. We cannot reach this without you taking action.
Rotary International has approximately 1.2 million members and has held that count level for about 20 years. However, Rotary membership in the US has lost 20% or 60,000 members over the past 10 years.
At the same time, social media has experienced explosive growth in the past decade.Facebook has 1.2 billion members, and Twitter is at 400,000,000 members. The dynamics of Rotary clubs is changing dramatically.
How has this transition affected the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill?
Here we are well past the half way point of the 2015/16 Rotary year and in the middle of several big projects. We just finished up the fifth year of our Dictionary Project and are about to serve the Senior Dinner. Dazzle is only a few months away.
Next year’s Board has already started the planning process for Theresa Kiernan’s year as President. This year’s Board is making sure our goals and plans have been carried out.
So make sure you are involved. If you can’t be at the Senior Dinner, look for other opportunities. After five years working with Samia Reichel, Janene Towner-Chernoff will be handing off the committee leadership role for the Dictionary Project next year so we are looking for a Rotarian to step up and assume that position; Dave Allen is assuming the chair of the Youth Services Committee and Jeff Santos, chair of the Public Relations Committee is looking for a new newsletter editor; and we can always use more advisors for Interact. There are many other opportunities to serve available; be the best Rotarian you know you can be! You will get much more out of Rotary the more you put into it. Trust me, this is my best year yet!
The Rotary Club of Morgan Hill's mission is to provide tangible benefits locally and internationally through service projects, charitable giving, fellowship and youth leadership training.
Former Morgan Hill Rotarian Robin Nielsen has recorded her first single, a motivational song called “You’ve Got the Magic.” The song is available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and many other sites.
