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Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks
 
 
Here's What Happened at the May 15th Meeting      THE RYLA EXPERIENCE
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Next Week's Program - May 22, 2025-
Youth Citizenship Awards
                            
                                
Executives & Directors
President
 
President-Elect
 
President Elect Nominee
 
Immediate Past President
 
Secretary
 
Treasurer
 
Club Administration
 
At Large
 
Family of Rotary
 
Vocational Service
 
Community Service
 
International Serv
 
The Rotary Foundation
 
Executive Secretary
 
Executive Treasurer
 
Membership
 
RYLA Coordinator
 
New Generations
 
Peace Chair
 
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Louis Hirsch
May 7
 
Mike Murphy
May 20
 
Anthony Linquata
May 26
 
Pat McCoy
May 29
 
Anniversaries
Matt Lallo
Teresa Lallo
May 6
 
Jacqui Irwin
Jon Irwin
May 10
 
Victor Hayek
Angela Hayek
May 10
 
Rick Lemmo
Lou Ann Lemmo
May 15
 
Kyle Lundberg
Genevieve Lundberg
May 17
 
Ernie Sandlin
Jean
May 18
 
Danny Lampert
Marissa Buss
May 19
 
Marissa Buss
Danny Lampert
May 19
 
Michael Pruner
Diana Pruner
May 19
 
May is Youth Services Month
Laura Conway-Foundation Chair
Cherry Wang carried the Happy Cup
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President Pat Mc Coy - 2024-2025
 
Vision Statement
Our club is a group of individuals who 
together demonstrate service above self through our actions to create lasting change for the betterment of our local
and global communities.

Mission Statement –
We provide service to others 
by applying our diverse talents and resources in meaningful projects that support our community and youth programs while building friendships through fellowship.
 
Values –
The 4-Way Test, 
Fellowship, Leadership, Integrity, Diversity, & Service
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Thought for the Day
Joke of the Day
Fine Master-Haider Alawami
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MANDATORY PARTICIPATION EVENTS FOR ALL THOUSAND OAKS ROTARIANS:
 
CHILI COOK-OFF- Concluded for 2025- SEE MARISSA BUSS
 
WINE FESTIVAL-SUNDAY AUGUST 24TH- SEE DAVE MASCI
 
STREET FAIR -SUNDAY OCTOBER 19TH SEE CRYSTAL EVANS
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Felix Wang RYLA Counselor
Darin Arrasmith-RYLA Chair for past 21 years!!
Riley Phillips
Elyana Estrada
Alex Masci
Club / District Links
Social Media
Conejo Valley Rotaract
Rotary District 5240
D5240 High School Clubs
D5240 Young Adult Clubs
D5240 Youth Exchange
D5240 Youth Leadership
Web Links
On-Line Makeup
Club Directory
Conejo Valley Rotary Clubs Video
Rotaract Club of CLU
Rotaract Club of Conejo Valley
Rotary District 5240
D5240 Leadership Seminars
D5240 Youth Leadership
Rotary Rose Parade Float
Rotary Club of Tijuana (Sister Club)
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President Pat Mc Coy - "Welcome to the best club in the World
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The lunch meeting was called to order by President Pat McCoy at 12:25pm.
 
Pat started out the meeting with a few announcements of his own: 1) He asked everyone if they would sign a get well card for Hugo, who has taken a leave of absence, 2) Today is the 51st anniversary of Felix Masci joining the Club – And, he has had perfect attendance, 3) Fred Lindberg will be leading up an assemblage of Group 4 Rotarians in October to setup an outdoor free clinic in Mexico, 4) District Awards have been sent out and he expects the TO Rotary Club to receive most of the Awards at the Rotary Awards/District Governor’s Step-Down gathering on June 14th in Nipomo; there will be carpooling to the event, 5) Pat asked Board Members to stay after today for a Special Meeting to consider a new member, getting their Second Reading, 6) Preliminary to today’s RYLA program, Pat read the letters of five students who had comments on their recently completed attendance at RYLA.
 
Judy St. John led all with the Inspirational Moment and Pledge of Allegiance. Judy was inspired by the research she did regarding the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance. She noted that it was written in 1885, with subsequent rewrites in 1892, 1923, and 1942 when it was formally adopted by Congress. It was not until June 14th, 1954, that the words “In God We Trust” were incorporated into the Pledge. Her major takeaway is that it is more than pledging allegiance to the flag, but that it is also our pledging allegiance to our Republic and what it stands for.
 
Following the Pledge, Michael Ladd led all in singing God Bless America.
 
David Masci handled guest introductions: Nelson Buss’ guest was his wife Amy, who he noted had just broken her foot, Gary Siegel- guest of Karen Albaum, Rich Schwartz-guest of Susan Murata, Kyle Lundberg introduced his guests-his wife Genevieve and 9th grader son Jeremy who would be speaking later about his RYLA experience, President Pat’s three guests were Julian Mascarade, Pat’s wife and first lady, Naomi, and Naomi’s good friend and teaching colleague, Marcia Koenig (whose husband was mayor of Agoura Hills), David’s guest was his daughter, Alex Masci, who recently returned from RYLA where she was a counselor.
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Judy St John  Pledge and Inspirational Moment
Michael Ladd "God Bless America"
David Masci
Guest Intros
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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
 
Michelle Nash-Fireside chats coming up in two weeks and is requesting more signups; Michelle noted that there will be attendees from Montana via Zoom 
 
Vicki Arndt said she was skipped over in Guest Introductions-her guest was Prasanna Shanbhag from India, who is looking for a club to be the international partner for a grant outside of Mumbai.
 
David Masci announced that next week’s program is the Youth Citizenship Awards and that we should expect to see 100 guests in attendance and that we all need be on our best behavior, but also wanted all to be aware that one of the students has Tourette’s Syndrome. David specifically said that if we witnessed something that we found shocking or made us feel uncomfortable we needed to ignore him, treating him just like we would treat Jeff Borenstein; David also announced that on the upcoming Saturday there would be  Harbor House sandwich making (90 sandwiches) at Sue Engler’s house.
 
Vicki announced that there will be a Grant for a girl's school in India-nearly $100,000 to provide vocational training to girls who might otherwise be victims of human trafficking; she asked for a raise of hands of 25 people willing to donate $600 each towards the Grant, which would result in the donation being matched and earning Paul Harris recognition, 
Michelle Nash
Vicki Arndt
David Masci
 
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Special Presentation- PAUL HARRIS AWARD
 
Laura Conway had a special Paul Harris presentation. An anonymous Club member used 1000 of his/her available points to honor a relatively newer member of the Club for her high level of volunteerism, her friendly demeanor, and her ability to find time to give so much back to Rotary and those that we serve. The person that received this special Paul Harris was our very own, Cherry Wang.
 
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CONGRATULATIONS CHERRY!!!
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HAPPY DOLLARS: Cherry Wang carried the Happy cup
 
Steve Stanley-thanked the Chili Cook-off volunteers who helped him and was glad to be doing well after recent head/neck surgery.
 
Jeff Borenstein -thanked David for the lowest thing anyone has said about him.
 
Darin Arrasmith-was happy that he was asked to attend a meeting to discuss the launching of RYLA’s in Ukraine and Russia.
 
Kyle Lundberg gave $22 for the 22 years of marriage he was celebrating, and an additional $22 for having his son Jeremy there to talk about RYLA. At this point, Jeremy Lundberg offered his comments about his recent RYLA experience: He said it was life changing, that he was taught leadership and team building, and how he was allowed to express himself. His spending four days with strangers was something he never thought was possible.
 
Michael Ladd was happy that his Doctor is Steve Stanley and that he is glad that Steve still has his head after his surgery.
 
Felix Masci-proud of his granddaughter, Alex Masci, especially for her being Valedictorian and a RYLA counselor and said “I love you dear”.
 
David Masci-congratulated his Dad for 51 years of perfect attendance, and was glad to have Alex there.
 
Leanne Neilson was happy that there were 1,015 students graduating from CLU.
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Steve Stanley
Jeff Borenstein
Darin Arrasmith
Kyle and Jeremy Lundberg
Michael Ladd
David, Felix and Alex Masci
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Fine Master-Haider Alawami Theme was Senior Citizen Texting Codes. Fine amounts for Correct Answers would normally cost $9.99, and wrong answers would cost $19.99. But with 100% tariffs, the revised costs are now $19.98 and $39.98, respectively.
 
He subsequently asked twelve people to say what particular texting abbreviations REALLY meant.
 
BTW – David Masci – Correct Answer - Bring the Wheelchair.
BFF – Larry Baker – Correct Answer – Best Friend Fell.
LMDO – Vicki Arndt – Correct Answer – Laughing my Dentures Out.
LOL – Felix Wang – Correct Answer – Little Old Lady
ATD – K.T. Connor - Correct Answer – At the Doctor’s
CBM – Trevor Tyloch – Correct Answer – Covered by Medicare.
FWIW – Ken Warner – Correct Answer – Forgot Where I Was.
BYOT – Pat McCoy - Correct Answer – Bring your own teeth.
OMG – Karen Furnari - Correct Answer – Oh, My Gout!
TMI – Michelle Nash – Correct Answer – Triggers My Indigestion
FYI – Steve Stanley – Correct Answer – Found Your Insulin
OMSG – Paul Dryman – Oh My! Sorry, Gas.   
 
All twelve contestants had the WRONG answers.
David Masci
Larry Baker
Vicki Arndt
Felix Wang
KT Connor
Trevor Tyloch
Ken Warner
Pat Mc Coy
Karen Furnari
Michelle Nash
Steve Stanley
Paul Dryman
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SERVICE ABOVE SELF.....Things to do and help in our Community.....
 
Fireside Chats May 29th and 30th
 
June 5th Rotary Blood Donation Day- in parking lot before Rotary
 
June 7, 2025 Cancer Support Community from 8:00 AM -11:00 AM at California Lutheran University's William Rolland Stadium, 60 W Olsen Rd, Thousand Oaks. 
 
June 14th  District Step Down Awards in Nipomo- Carpooling will be available
 
June 20th Kingsmen Shakespear Potluck Dinner- CLU 
 
Rotary Action Group for PEACE (RAG)-people from all over the globe meets regularly via ZOOM. 
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MEMBERSHIP IS IMPORTANT....
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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PROGRAM:
The focus of today’s program was on RYLA. Felix Wang started the program by talking about how 230 kids came together at the RYLA site in Ojai. He felt that the experiences were amazing for the kids as well as the counselors. He said we would be hearing from two of those students later in the program.
 
Next up in the program were comments from Darin Arrasmith, who has been running RYLA for 21 years. He talked about how RYLA brings fellowship across the district and how non-Rotarians get to see a service club in action. He said he will continue to run the program next year when he will also be serving as Club President. He said he continues to be inspired as the kids get the opportunity to grow as they step out of their comfort zone. There are two asks of the kids when their RYLA experience concludes: One is to write a Thank-You letter to the president of the Club responsible for their attendance, and two, write a letter to themselves, talking about the Magic of RYLA.
 
We next heard from two kids who discussed their experiences:
  1. Riley Phillips. Riley said that when she heard that she would have “Life Changing’ experiences, she was doubtful. She noted that not being able to use her phone was a struggle at first. She had special comments about the Ropes Course and how she was paired with some “random guy” she had never met. When it came time to choose between holding the rope or this stranger’s hand, he reached out and held her hand and she was able to let go of the rope without any problem. She summed up her experiences by saying she learned to trust other people.
  2. Elyana Estrada. Elyana’s first reaction upon arriving at RYLA was “Why did you take me here?” She was partnered with people she never met and admitted that on her first day, she was homesick. A major turning point was the Talent Show on Friday where she got to give standing ovations. Saturday was the Ropes Course where at first, she found herself crying, but was able to overcome that when she partnered with Maria, a foreign exchange student, ultimately learning about Team Building. She said mealtime was wonderful, getting to sit with people she didn’t know. She noted that not having phones was a good thing. She is really grateful for the experience and said she is starting a RYLA club at Thousand Oaks High School.
Alex Masci, who was a camp counselor, added her comments from the perspective of having been there six years earlier as a student. She found it life changing and was able to further develop her public speaking skills. The experiences helped her open up and be confident. She is looking forward to coming back again as a counselor.
 
Félix concluded the program by thanking everyone for their support.
 
Pres. Pat had program participants sign books for Title One schools.
 
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It Takes a Village to Run our Rotary Meetings.....Thank you to those who helped.
 
Club Administrator: Maria Prescott 
Greeters: ??
Guest Introductions:David Masci
Pledge/Inspirational Moment: Juda St. John
Song: Michael Ladd
Happy Dollars: Cherry Wang
Fine Session: Haider Alawami
Photos: David Masci, Laura Conway, Trevor Tyloch
Note Taker/Bulletin: Notes and Bulletin Marc Feigen/Susan Murata
 
Tech Support- Ean Kleiger, Trevor Tyloch
Sgt. At Arms: Hugo Roche, Jim Gilday, Jim Friedl, Steve Stanley, Felix Masci, Jason Corey, Eric Rubenfeld.
All things fiscal$$: Chris Steele & Nancy Wohl.
 
Pat's closing words: If it's Thursday, it's Rotary, Remember the 4-Way Test, and Tell someone you love them..... I Love you ALL....
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Seven Areas of Focus:
  • Promoting Peace and Conflict Resolution
  • Fighting disease and treatment
  • Providing clean water/sanitation
  • Saving Mothers and Children
  • Education and Literacy
  • Growing Local Economies
  • Protecting the Environment
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PAST PRESIDENTS
58-59 Don Odell
59-60 John Heywood
60-61 Marv Burrow
61-62 Ross Duskin
62-63 Roy Mc Comber
63-64 Paul Pace
64-65 John Conlon
65-66 Carlos Scuria
66-67 Merrill Darling
67-68 Phil Ozab
68-69 Wm Vanderwann
69-70 Alvin J Hotz, Jr.
70-71 Ben Cranmer Jr
71-72 Glenn Goodwin
72-73 George Vasliff
73-74 Henry Still
74-75 John Tuel
75-76 Kenneth Hanson
76-77 David Huang
77-78 William Haas
78-79 Felix Masci
79-80 Harland Jones
80-81 Dave Wender
81-82 George Gibb
82-83 Norman Nagel
83-84 Bill Peterson
84-85 Mike O'Bierne
85-86 Marv Sosna
86-87 Fred Ferrarni
87-88 Doc Needham
88-89 Kenneth Roberts
89-90 Jeff Borenstein
90-91 Dennis Gillette
 
 
ROTARY CLUB T. O.
91-92 Merv Kopp
92-93 Tom Glancy
93-94 Hugo Roche
94-95 Brian Back
95-96 Tony Kourounis
96-97 Dick Wieler
98-99 Judy St. John
99-20 Mike Gonzales
00-01 Neil Scribner
01-02 Bob Biery
02-03 Harry Selvin
03-04 Rick Lemmo
04-05 Doug Tapking
05-06 Kathy Hill
06-07 Pete Turpel
07-08 Vicki Arndt
08-09 Martin Anderson
09-10 Keith Parks
10-11 Frank Corrigan
11-12 Richard Williams
12-13 Susan Murata
13-14 Carol Freeman
14-15 Nate Harimoto
15-16 Mike Murphy
16-17 Robert Bianchi
17-18 Tim Weaver
18-19 Karen Furnari
19-20 Herb Gooch
20-21 David Stowell
21-22 John Bradley
22-23 Paul Dryman 
23-24 Patricia Jones
The Thousand Oaks Rotary Club is proud to be a Peace Builder Club.
 
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