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
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, RichSchwartz-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, MarciaKoenig (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.
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,
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.
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.
Fine Master-Haider Alawami Theme was Senior Citizen Texting Codes. Fine amounts for Correct Answers would normally cost $9.99, and wrong answers wouldcost $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.
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:
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.
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.