BECOMING A ROTARIAN IS A MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCE....
Invite a friend, family member, colleague to join Rotary.
Encourage Them to Be Part of Something GREAT!!!
Why wouldn’t you want them to be part of an organization that feeds the hungry, cures the sick, provides education to women and children, provides clean water and sanitation. And now is taking on the environment.
See Susan Murata for Membership Information
susanmurata9@gmail.com
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MANDATORY PARTICIPATION EVENTS FOR ALL THOUSAND OAKS ROTARIANS:
CHILI COOK-OFF- May 3, 2026- SEE MARISSA BUSS
WINE FESTIVAL-June 14, 2026- SEE DAVE MASCI
STREET FAIR -3rd SUNDAY in OCT 2026 SEE CRYSTAL EVANS
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Program Chair Domini Pinos introduces guest speaker
Guest Speaker Deputy Andrew Van Gundy
The Thousand Oaks Rotary Club is proud to be a Peace Builder Club.
The lunch meeting was called to order by President Darin Arrasmith at 12:30 pm.
INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT: Immediate Past-President Pat McCoy honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Pat talked about how Dr. King said that love has the power to change lives, that justice is not loud and showy, that it is lived everyday through passion & love, and that we need to hold everyone in our hearts. Pat then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by Michael Ladd leading everyone in the room in singing God Bless America.
GUEST INTRODUCTIONS: Marc Feigen handled the introductions: 1) Mark Frankcom was there to check us out for possible membership at the behest of President Darin, 2) Matt Lallo’s guest was his wife Teresa, 3) Keith Wintermute’s guest was his wife, Jody.
BADGE GRADUATION. President Darin presented Gary Siegel with his Blue Badge, for completing all of his New Member Assignments
PAUL HARRIS AWARD.Rotary Foundation chair, Laura Conway. awarded a PHF+4 to a well-deserving and generous - Nancy Wohl.
NEW MEMBER INDUCTION: Alex Reviakin, who was sponsored by PaulDryman, was inducted as a new member and given his Red Badge. Alex said he was looking forward to all that Rotary has to offer, as well as giving back to the community.
Vicki Arndt had a happy $100 for the amazing experience the past weekend in Tijuana.
Steve Stanley thanked Susan Murata for putting out the Bulletin each week as it often helps him catch up with what’s going on with the Club.
Keith Wintermute $20 to express thanks for the wonderful weekend in Tijuana and thanked Vicki for all her hard work.
Marc Feigen’s $20 was for thanking the many folks for their well wishes for his wife’s surgery recovery – he had an additional $20 to thank Jeff for inviting him to the UCLA basketball game where they beat the number four team in the country.
Laura Conway had a happy $20 for an unforgettable weekend in Tijuana.
Christy Wilson said the trip to Tijuana was beyond words and that the Tijuana Rotarians were amazing, making us all feel like family.
Sevak Khodabakhshian was happy to report that we were up to 82 sponsor seats for the Economic Forecast Conference and also wanted to give a big shout out to Pat for all his help.
Jim Friedl had a sad but hopeful $20 for the recovery of Mark Sellars who has been in the ICU since Thanksgiving.
FINE SESSION- Fine Master Dorothy Sullivan had dual themes of Word Nerd and Marine Biology. Dorothy had questions for people at eight different tables. The fine for correct answers was $77 and the fine for incorrect answers was $800. She fined by Table.
Trevor Tylock's table had the CORRECT answer, they knew that a group of crows is called a Murder. (Dorothy added that two crows is called an attempted murder).
Paul Dryman’s table was INCORRECT – they did not know that a group of Storks is not called a Steam.
Keith Wintermute's table had the INCORRECT answer as they did not know that a group of Rhinos is called a Crash.
Nelson Buss’s table was INCORRECT as they did not know that a group of Raccoons is not called a Mob.
The table with Pat Mc Coy, Vicki Arndt, Steve Stanley and others was INCORRECT as they did not know that a group of Penguins is not called a Shiver.
Christy Wilson's table was CORRECT as they did know that Phytoplankton, Dinoflagellates, and Green Algae are all a type of Plankton.
Laura Conway, Marc Feigen & Anthony Linquata’s table was INCORRECT because they did not know that a Horseshoe Crab is not a Crustacean.
Nancy Wohl’s table was INCORRECT as they did not know that an Octopus has Blue blood.
PROGRAM: Dominic Pino introduced Deputy Andrew Van Gundy from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Van Gundy heads up the Fraud Prevention Unit for Ventura County. The overarching theme of his presentation is that scammers will attempt to get into your pocket to get you to give away your money.
Deputy Van Gundy showed a series of slides:
If you can answer Yes to any of the questions presented, you may be getting scammed. Among them are being contacted by people you don’t know, being told you won a sweepstakes, you’ve been asked to wire money, or you’ve been asked to purchase gift cards to pay off a debt.
Current Scams can be hidden in the form of online purchases, romance, a family member in need, and overdue bills.
Common Tactics include that you must give money NOW, threats to lock you out of your bank account, being told additional funds are needed, and requests for payment via cryptocurrency.
Ticket purchase sites and Google search sites can be disguised to look like the real thing.
Getting pop up messages telling you that you need to do an unnecessary Security Upgrade.
Receiving emails that look real but have certain letters out of place can ultimately be costly.
Deputy Van Gundy also showed a series of videos showing the types of conversations that can fool you into handing over money. He added that if you are told that it’s really a “great deal,” it will still be here tomorrow.
Deputy Van Gundy’s closing advice was that it is helpful to be skeptical every day and to share this skepticism with your family and friends.
President Darin had Deputy Van Gundy sign books for a Title One School.
Pres. Darin concluded the meeting by thanking all who attended.
