Escondido Sunrise Rotary; “County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar and RYLA Recognition”… February 14, 2019…
President Dave, returning from his Caribbean cruise, led the meeting…
Past President Kelly Ponder Mayberry led the pledge to our nation’s flag… And
Past President Jack Anderson offered the invocation…As part of the thought for the invocation, Jack shared the recent 39th anniversary of Sunrise (West) Rotary serving our community region and the world. Escondido West Rotary was chartered on February 5, 1980… The charter night was held on February 23rd… Charter members still active in the Club are Past Presidents Barry Baker and Jim Lund… Past President Jack Anderson joined in February, 1980… just moments after the charter celebration…
President Dave thanked President Elect-Elect Chris Miller for leading last week’s meeting in Dave’s absence… Dave brought Chris some ‘coca’ from Costa Rica… My bad, it was cocoa…
Thanks for a great job last week Chris…
Visitors and Guests:
District 5340 Governor Mel Gallegos was with us this week, as part of the recognition of RYLA
Christie Knight of the San Marcos Club was with us; she also serves as Senior Policy Advisor to Supervisor Gaspar… Welcome Christie!
Also visiting was Carol Ponder, bride of Past President Jim and Grandmother to JD Mayberry who was also visiting with his Mom, Kelly… Welcome Carol and JD…
Ron Lieberman of the Encinitas Club was also visiting; Ron is one of the RYLA Committee Members for District 5340… Welcome Ron!
Two RYLA Alums from San Pasqual HS joined us to help celebrate RYLA and its recognition by Supervisory Gaspar…
Julia McCullock and Esmeralda Santiago were with us and each shared brief comments about their RYLA experience and why they wanted to come back as Alumni to help lead the 2019 RYLA event…
Julia (left) and Esmeralda sharing their RYLA enthusiasm…
Birthdays:
February 20: Silas Harrington…
Anniversaries:
February 17: Mike and Pam Morasco; 40 years… Congratulations!!
Rotary Anniversaries:
None this week
Dates to Remember:
February 16: Tijuana House Build
23: District 5340 Peace Conference
25: Fisher House delivery; Moved to Monday February 25 due to weather…remember to bring items to club meetings or to All Star Signs… Priority items include; bottled water, paper towels, powder-free disposable gloves and toilet tissue… We will be collecting beginning now until the scheduled delivery date…
March 1-3: District Conference; Catamaran Hotel, Mission Beach
April 29: Rotary Foundation Gala
Regarding upcoming dates; Past President Rich Aeling commented about the Tijuana House-Build project and possible weather concerns… Watch for updates…
Past President Rich reporting on the Tijuana Building project… Rich shared that in addition to the house building, our donations will provide a microwave and other household items, including a welcome mat for the entrance to the new home…
Past President Rich updating members on the house-building project…
Past President Dave Casey commented on the successful North County Veterans Stand Down held last weekend. Dave shared that 210 homeless veterans were provided care, use of personnel hygiene facilities, and received clothing donated through our recent clothing drive… Additionally, a Homeless Court proceeding took place during which judges forgave over $65,000 in fines that had been carried by the veterans…
Past President Dave Casey sharing the outcome of the North County Veterans Stand Down…
A photo montage from the Veterans Stand Down, sponsored in part by Escondido Sunrise Rotary…
Past President Dave was not completely finished with his presentation when our speaker, Supervisor Kristin Gaspar emerged with Dave’s gavel… It seems the last time she spoke to us, she smoothly swiped Past President Dave’s treasured gavel… She had hoped to attend his demotion and present it then, but had to miss that opportunity to help demote Dave… She is a quick-witted, fun Rotarian and appropriately ‘shamed’ our esteemed Past President as she returned his gavel…
President Elect Brian Murphy attend PETS last weekend… For those members that have not stepped into line to become President, PETS is the President Elect Training Seminar… hosting President-Elects from all over southern California and even some snow birds…
President Elect Brian with the 2019 Rotary year Banner and Theme “Rotary Connects the World”…
Rotarians Having Fun… Photos:
The only fun had by Rotarians last week was President Dave and Kathy enjoying a cruise and travel to Costa Rica and Panama… Glad you had fun; welcome back!!
High Fives and Announcements:
President Dave shared the sad news that Chuck Barnett, Past President Nick’s father passed away recently… Chuck was a member of the Escondido East Club and was an active participant in Rotary Golf in past years…
John Schwab took our appeal for Fisher House supplies to his friends outside the club and announced that Joe Coyle made a donation to our project to serve the Fisher House guests… Thanks John and Joe…
Past President Kelly Mayberry had a wonderful High Five… Assisted by her young son, JD, a gift was made to Rotary and our philanthropic projects… Seems that Kelly has instilled a sense of prudent financial management in her young son… JD brought his savings that he has been accumulating for Rotary… $72.00 in penneys… Way to go JD and Mom Kellly…
JD and Kelly Mayberry presenting his gift to Sunrise Rotary…
Program: Kristin Gaspar, Third District Supervisor and Chairwoman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors…
Supervisory Gaspar is a Rotarian in Encinitas, and very nimble in her presentation, covering multiple topics and sharing the passion she has for our County to serve the residents better and more efficiently.
She started by acknowledging the great leadership training that takes place at RYLA. Kristin presented a proclamation designating April 13 as RYLA Youth Leadership Day in San Diego County… That April date is the time when RYLA will take place in Idylwild, hosting over 300 high school juniors from District 5340.
Supervisor Gaspar presented the proclamation to our RYLA representatives, including District Governor Mel Gallegos. Pictured are; Mel, Rorie Johnston, Tina Pope, Supervisor Gaspar, Kelly Mayberry, Esmeralda Santiago, Julia McCullock, Jim Ponder and George Beitner…
Supervisor Gaspar spoke about a number of issues impacting San Diego; among them, the impact of human trafficking and the need to work together across political aisles to bring an end to this travesty that brutally affects many young women in our county.
She also spoke about the problem of prescription drug addiction; in 2018, 527 SD County residents overdosed on prescription drugs, with that number of 73,000 nationwide. Amazingly, a regular source of such drugs comes from people’s medicine cabinets…. Working with realtor groups, the concern is to stop people from going through open houses for sale and stealing drugs from medicine cabinets. Supervisor Gaspar is spearheading a program to distribute bags that can be sealed with unused drugs inside and mailed to a safe place for destruction…
Pictured is Supervisor speaking to our club…
Finally, Supervisor Gaspar spoke about the need to prepare people to overcome homelessness… In her view, it’s not enough to give a homeless person housing, they need help in learning to overcome their plight…She shared an example of a program in Salt Lake City called “The Other Side Academy” and the way that program has been accepted by the community as homeless people re-engage with their communities… He comment was that we should not wait for people to fail at life, we need to engage with prevention activities…
Next Week’s Program:
A recap of the Tijuana House-Building Project…
OpportunityDrawing:
Grand Prize: $397; Past President Mark Hoekstra… Sorry Mark, better luck next time…
Lunch Money: $15.00… And, the winner is… Past President George Beitner…
