President Christine Jensen rang the bell and welcomed a full house of club members and guests, necessitating additional seating, to the Mighty Rotary Club of Arden Arcade.
Pledge:
John Gabriel
The Prez asked John Gabriel to lead the pledge to our flag.
The Prez led the club in reciting the 4-Way Test:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
She then asked Joe Green to provide the thought of the day.
Thought of the day:
Joe Green
Visitors and Guests
Visiting Rotarian - Jeannie Sparks
Rotary Youth Exchange, 5180 District Chair
Keira Elizabeth Matthews
Rotary Youth Exchange
1 of our 2 outbound students
Sherry Matthews
Rotary Youth Exchange
Mother
Inbound Host Family
John Matthews
Rotary Youth Exchange
Father
Inbound Host Family
Guest - Lydia Wytrzes
Lisa Asperger introduced her friend and neighbor and former Rotarian, Lydia Wytrzes, for a third time. It is nice to see her as a regular attendee... maybe she will stick around even longer.
Guest - Kari Gutierez
Rolundia introduced her friend and former coworker, Kari Gutierez. Kari was interested to see why Rolundia loves Rotary so much, and just what Rotary is and does.
Matthew Romsa
CASA Donor Relations Director
Tom Goode introduced Matthew Romsa who is interested in learning more about Rotary.
Guest Speaker - Jackie Simon
CASA Community Relations Coordinator
Prez Jensen introduced Jackie as today's guest speaker. CASA is near and dear to the Prez's heart as she was with them for seven years and she loves the program and can't wait to share the program with the club.
Correction
Rachel Hock - Happy Bucks
It was reported last week that Rachel shared that she just got back from "skiing" last night. In fact, she had just gotten back from Spain. It is unknown if she went skiing while in Spain.
Rolundia - Bell Ringer
Rolundia shared that before she was officially accepted as a member of the club, she ordered her Rotary shirt. She is ringing the bell now in honor of completing all of the Red Badge requirements to get her Blue Badge.
The Prez was beaten to the punch by Rolundia's Bell Ringer announcement.
She called Rolundia up to receive her shiny new Blue Badge.
Tom Goode - Bell Ringer
Tom rang the bell for missing Charter Night but heard it was a great event. He was away having fun with his family in Hawaii. He has enjoyed watching his daughter go from a 6-month-old, spitting up the entire vacation, to 1.5-year-old a bit braver, to 2.5-year-old and wanting to jump in the pool without mom or dad, even though she does not know how to swim. They had a great time... no lives were lost.
Bruce Stimson - Bell Ringer
Bruce is ringing the bell and confessing to the fact that he too missed Charter Night. He was at the North American Youth Exchange conference, along with Jeannine Sparks, in Mexico, along with 385 other Rotary Youth Exchange volunteers from all over the world. This is Bruce's third year and it is a fantastic time. He is now on their board.
Richard Goore - Bell Ringer
Richard reported that this is his son's senior year and the start of track season. He is excited to see what his son can do and finish school.
Emily Ballus - Bell Ringer
Emily is ringing the bell in honor of Steve Turner's daughter, Audrey, who is turning 15. Also, for Steve being a great mentor to Emily... and a great dad to Audrey. Steve rang the bell.
John Gabriel - "Happy" Bucks
John is happy to have found $5 in his pocket, kinda like finding change in the couch when you were 10 years old. The secret word is happy. "The sun is shining, it is a beautiful day, and I'm happy."
Duane Oliveira - Happy Bucks
The club is reveling in the simple things in life today, and Duane is "happy," just to have a chair to sit in, rather than standing up to eat today.
Jenny Davini - Happy Bucks
Jenny is happy that she went to the Charter Night celebration. It was nice to see everyone and have a nice time.
Happy Bucks Correction
The Prez gingerly broached the subject of Club Bulletin inaccuracy with the club's bulletin editor. As it turns out, her daughter, Rachel Hock, was not learning how to safely navigate herding eight seniors while in Europe this summer. Her time "skiing" was erroneously reported. She was, in fact, in Spain, a country located on the western edge of the European continent. This does make much more sense than learning safety while skiing. If she wanted that, she just would have spent a weekend with Linda Bigler in Tahoe. An official correction has been made at the start of this segment of the bulletin.
Mike Grace - Sad Bucks
He shared that he woke up at 6:15 am on Friday just in time to watch the news coverage from Eastern Oak Park. The coverage of the Rotary event was phenomenal. Mike also shared that, while not yet needing sign language, his hearing is not what it used to be, even with the aid of his phone recording the meeting... which may account for other nonsensical stories reported herein. He was also sad that he could not attend the charter night celebration and was glad to hear it was a great success.
Al Cady is just Fine!
The prez asked Al to self fine himself, as she somehow ended up with a briefe case full of club member badges. This is not normal.
District Governor, Steve Turner, noted that the year is moving fast and is past the halfway mark. It is time to decide whether or not you are going to the District conference in L.A. at Disneyland.It is a one day conference. You can fly in early Saturday morning, go to the Disney Institute of Leadership and then go to the conference. You can stay the night and then go to the park the next day. Steve is encouraging everyone to participate. it is going to be a fun time. Also, it is important for everyone who registers online to click the link for staying at the Disney hotel to get the discounted price for park entry, even though you do not stay at the Disney hotel.
2025 Poker Tournament Volunteer Sheets
Heather Wulfert reminded everyone we are having a poker tournament on March 22nd at Niello BMW. She is passing around the volunteer sheet from last for people to review and approve or change the assignment up for this year. Joe Green needs four people to help him serve the evening meal. We now have to concentrate on getting players signed up. All of our sponsors are strongly encouraged to get the names of their players in to the club through the AllInForArdenArcade.com website. We have a new blackjack side game set up to win drink tickets.
AED Grant Event at Eastern Oak Park
Matt Ross thanked 17 people for getting up before the sun rose to show what Rotary is doing for public safety at Eastern Oak Park. Media had to be there at 5:00 am and there were some potentially competing stories that they were afraid might flair up and cancel the coverage for our story. Fortunately, that was not the case. We ended up with roughly 30 minutes of TV coverage. KCRA covered them at 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 5, and 10 o'clock. Other networks covered the event too. It is estimated that that coverage was valued at $90,000 to $100,000 worth of air time exposure for our club.
Matt thanked: Al Cady, Danny Curola, Tim Cahill, Derick Ewing, Al Frumkin, Richard Goore, Bill Hambrick, Rachel Hock, Debbie Hudson, Christine Jensen, Chris Lewis, Rolundia Mitchell, Eddie Morlet, Rob Olmstead, Steve Turner, Roy Vogel, and Heather Wulfert for being there bright and early in the morning. Matt bought drinks for everyone at Charter Night and is donating to Rotary International on behalf of everyone that showed up. This comes up to $850 and he asked people to donate just a little bit to get the amount up to $1,000. John Gabriel offered to pick up the entire $150. However, there were others in the room that were not going to be left out. Steve Turner matched John's donation. The Prez cast her eyes towards Tom Goode and he, being on the spot, but coming fresh from an Hawaiian vacation, offered up $50. A voice, sounding like Rob Olmstead, matched the $150. Marisol matched Tom's $50. A voice sounding suspiciously like Jennie Davini was barely heard matching the $150. Apologies in advance if any donor was missed or misnamed.
Matt noted that the generosity of this club, of Rotarians, all that we do, that Bruce has done for Rotary Youth Exchange, is what makes Rotary Great. This is what we need to share with the community. The Prez shared, "We do amazing things in our community. We raise funds and have fun, and do good works... this is what our club is all about... Matt, we do not thank you enough, you are amazing!" The club agreed by a loud round of applause.
Charter Night
Al Frumkin thanked all of the members that helped make Charter Night a great success: Tim Cahill, John Gabriel, Bruce Stimson, Rolindia, Heather Wulfert, Rachel Hock, Debbie Hudson, Lisa Frumkin. They all did such a good job. It was a great night. We were honored to have Ken Boyd as keynote speaker. The decorations were above and beyond.
Lisa Frumkin Turns Blue
Lisa was awarded her Blue Badge, and would have been done so earlier but she was not able to attend several meetings. She has passed probation and will no longer be sporting a Red Badge.
Fireside Chats... can we talk?
Richard shared that there are three dates set aside in late April to conduct the annual fireside chats. Fireside chats are the opportunity for the club members to come together to let the incoming president know what they liked about the current year and what they would like to see different in the coming year. The current Prez is not invited to this meeting. The evening usually has adult beverages and finger food to help mute the effects of the adult beverages. Rob Olmstead has offered his house for one of them. It was noted that Linda Bigler usually offers her home, but she is not present to do so, or to counter the claim that if it involves alcohol she is all in. Please contact Past President Goore if you can host a meeting.
Tim Cahill announced that the Rotary House is undergoing a change in occupants and they will be cleaning up the house ahead of the new occupants arrival. Lisa Asperger secure the duty of cleaning one bedroom. This is not a large bedroom so only 2 to 3 people are needed to help this Saturday at 10 A.M. Please let Tim know if you can help.
Rotary Youth Exchange - Country Reveal
Bruce announced that he has a special, special, special opportunity to share with the club today. This is the day that our outbound student, Keira Matthews, learns what country she will be going to. Jeannine Sparks is the district's Youth Exchange Officer. Bruce serves as the treasurer and inbound coordinator. Jeannine shared that Keira will be a part of 6,000 students that participate in Rotary Youth Exchange from all over the world. She asked Keira what some of her goals were while on the exchange?
Keira's goals are to get better at getting up, in front of people, and becoming comfortable in speaking to them. Feeling comfortable socializing with people and getting to know them, especially in a different culture. She looks forward to coming back and sharing what she learned with people. Jeannine noted they are asked where they would like to go and if that can be accomodated it is great, but does not often happen.
Keira's goal is to become a better speaker, comfortable socializing with and getting to people of different cultures.
RYE students do not get to pick the country they go to. They are not going on vacation as a tourist. They are going as Ambassadors for Rotary.
Keira's top country picks were Switzerland, Sweden and Germany.
Keira was handed an envelope that had the name of
the country she would
be visiting inside.
She opened the envelope.
She was excited to see that it was Switzerland.
Bruce announced that he will be needing 2 to 3 volunteers to help interview the RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, student applicants. Talk with Bruce if you are interested.
Joe Green started up a travel fund donation opportunity for Keira. His sister was an exchange student and he knows there are a lot of expenses associated with it. The hat was passed and $400 was raised.
Lisa Asperger
Cheap
She won Ballast Point Beer
CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates
Jackie Simon, community Relations Coordinator for CAS, introduced herself to the club. The community is unaware of who CASA is and what they do. She is excited to see a few faces she knows as well as some that have CASA experience. She has been with CASA for 12 years. She has worked with 3 different youth. She is still working with youth #3 who is 17 years old. She was recently employed by CASA in October to do community outreach and engagement.
The following slides tell her story.
Judge Soukup developed the concept of community volunteers helping youth in need of guidance and helping making life choices. Jackie shared the progress made with her child, taking her from sub par performance in high school with little chance of graduating to being a senior on track to graduate. this is the kind of things she writes in her reports and how CASA can change lives.
Check out https://sacramentocasa.org/ for more information
Prez Jensen thanked Jackie for coming and presented her with the Rotary 4-Way Test coin.
President Jensen rang the bell, ending the meeting at about 1:04 PM, extoling all members to share the magic of Rotary.
Respectfully (more or less) submitted by,
Mike Grace
Reporter, Photographer and Editor
Hellen Weight
Ombudsman and Content Supervisor
DISCLAIMER - Some of the information provided in some of the articles, and possibly included in some of the "quotes" from club members, may have been a fabrication of a demented mind. It is up to you to determine fact from fiction. Individuals objecting to all or any part herein, are encouraged to go to Hellen Weight to lodge a formal complaint.
Club Information
Service Above Self
Tuesdays at 12:00 PM
Piatti
571 Pavilions Lane
Arden-Arcade, CA 95825 United States of America
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