AROUND THE WORLD
It seems this past week has been filled with events around the world which began this past Monday with our guest speaker AG Bill Wittich’s tips on travelling the world.
The Rotary Club of West Sacramento is seeking a home for one of our Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) students. Moritz Steiner is arriving from Switzerland the end of August. He will need a family to host him in their home for the first 3 months of his one year experience in California. Moritz speaks English, French and German. He will be attending McClatchy High School, so a host family within proximity to McClatchy is preferred. Trusting you are able to host Moritz please contact Rotarian Mark Ludwig at 916-935-1527 or Mark.D.Ludwig@healthnet.com. If you have not had the occasion to host an RYE student, it is a wonderfully rewarding experience.
Speaking of RYE, we enjoyed an enlightening report from Jeff vonKaenel’s daughter, RYE student Natasha, adorned in her pin laden jacket and a Danish flag to boot. Natasha just returned from a one year experience in Denmark. As Jeff says “She came back a changed young lady.” What a wonderful perspective world travel instills in each of us.
Meanwhile Bill Knowlton’s daughter prepares to depart for her one year RYE experience in Brazil. We will look forward to her reflections next year.
We have been particularly moved by fellow Rotarian and new member Seifu Ibssa’s remarkable work over the past 5 years in his home village in Ethiopia, with the help of our World Community Service Committee funding the village water well, only one component of Seifu’s dedicated work in his village. We look forward to more updates from Seifu after his return from Ethiopia this October.
And your District Designated Funds (DDF) of just over $3,000 will be hard at work funding a new and different wheel chair project in Peru ($1000) together with several other clubs in your District, funding District Governor Jack’s project this year, Safe Blood Africa ($1500) and with the balance of our allocated funds to be put to work by our World Community Service Committee under the direction of Clayton Lee and John Phair.
Many thanks to Jim Leet for becoming a Hiker in recognition of his spread in Super Lawyer magazine and for achieving the remarkable feat of ascending two vertical feet to the top of the planter boxes while in London for that better view, to Chris Ann Bachtel for her contribution of $200 in recognition of the remarkable response she has received from fellow Rotarians for their donation of ladies gowns and shoes for her upcoming charity gala.
Last but certainly not least your Rotary softball team has made the playoffs with a decisive win over West Sacramento (20-1)! The next game is 6:30 pm Monday, August 15th at the Sacramento Softball Complex (Watt and I-80). We hope to see you there rooting them on to another victory!
Don’t forget to sign up for Brown Bag (August 29), your foursome for Golf for Kids (Oct 3), with an early bird sign up incentive I understand, a Yosemite stroll this Saturday with Jim Phillips and the Youth Incentive Program (YIP) swim and BBQ at the home of Eric Solis this Sunday the 14th from 1-5 pm.
Enjoy a terrific week, strive for those summits!
Ken Noack, Jr.