“The month of May is the gateway to summer.” — Jean Hersey
Coming Up | Looking Ahead
May 8: New Members Red Badge Bio
Meet two more new-ish Rotarians, Carol Ann Flint and Kalani Stone, who will present their Red Badge Bios! Everyone’s got an interesting story to tell us about themselves!
May 15: X Academy Robotics
The X Academy provide STEAM enrichment programs to kids in the Santa Cruz County region. It was inspired by the Math Circles operating in Silicon Valley and organizes weekly math sessions for students in Santa Cruz and Monterey County, including one-third from traditionally underrepresented
communities of color. X Academy sent a team of 10 students from 3 schools to compete in the Underwater Robotics Competition in 2021 and they placed 7th in the World Competition! Come and. hear about this exciting program and its many accomplishments!
May 22: The Reggie Stephens Foundation
The Reggie Stephens Foundation was created to help the youth and student-athletes in Santa Cruz County seek, believe, and achieve their goals in sports, arts, education, and culture. Reggie has enlisted the help of mentors, teachers, and coaches to better students’ mindsets in school, training, and life. Reggie coaches young student-athletes to reach college. RSF has an arts division led by Jason
Williams (Art by Willz), a local artist who shares his techniques and experiences as an artist. Both Reggie and Jason have backgrounds in the music industry and help educate and further kids’ dreams in the music business. The RSF helps the youth in Santa Cruz, the Central Coast, and beyond to realize that a strong work ethic, hard work, good grades,
May 29 – 5th Thursday, NO MEETING
The 5th Thursday is a Thursday that is the 5th Thursday in the month. For this Rotary year, our esteemed president has decided to give us all back the gift of time (which is a statement I never understood since the time was always ours to give and not theirs to give but I digress....) and so there is no meeting.
Our ROTM for May was Dr. Farris Sabbah! Thank you Farris for all your work on the speech contest. And for just being an outstanding guy and community leader.
Member Birthdays
Tom Crahen 5/6
Chris Piro 5/7
Kara Capaldo 5/13
Peggy Pollard 5/14
Romney Dunbar 5/16
John Gaallagher 5/22
Sharon Hoffman-Manning 5/22
Janet Russell Keller 5/23
Wedding Anniversaries
Peggy and Bob Pollard 38 yrs
Penny and Chris Leonard 16 yrs
Member Anniversaries
Roger Swenson 27 yrs
Faris Sabbah 8 yrs
Heidi Luckenbach 1 yr
Kalani Stone 1 yr
Club Happenings and Other News
Upcoming Community Service Events
-- Tiffany Wise-West --
Sat, May 17, 8:30-12pm; Exact place TBD. EPIC Rotary Day of Service. We will be joining clubs worldwide in getting out into our communities. Coastal Restoration Workday with Groundswell Coastal Ecology. This will be the 2nd of 4 bimonthly workdays the Club undertakes with Groundswell. We will be breaking into 3-4 groups and taking care of all the plantings along West Cliff this day, weeding, watering and etc. We are looking for up to 40 Rotarians/Interactors/Young Club members to join! Stay tuned for more details.
Sat June 14, 10-12 pm; 10 volunteers needed. During River Health Days, we will be removing invasive plant species and weeding and watering native plants along the lower San Lorenzo River. During the rainy season, we will also be planting new native plant seedlings. Please wear comfortable gardening clothes, including sturdy closed-toe shoes and long pants. Bring sun protection and a reusable water bottle. Equipment, gloves and light refreshments will be provided. Volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. We will meet on the east riverbank between the Soquel Ave and Laurel Street bridges. Free parking is available in the CWC parking lot at 107 Dakota Ave. Paid parking is also available on Dakota Avenue or across the river in downtown Santa Cruz. The closest parking garage is at 601 Front Street.
CANCELED: June 5 Santa Cruz Sunrise Rotary Community Svc Committee Mtg - Tiffany will be out of town this day. Meetings will resume the first Thursday in July!
Stay Tuned: TBD July Coastal Restoration Workday 3 of 4 and TBD August Farm Workday with Common Roots Farm
Deep Thoughts from President Ari
