December 6 2016-Rotary Forum

Pres. Greg Baker opened the meeting at 12:38 PM, with his on ‘this date in history’: Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; John Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980; and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer performed in public on the December 6, 1949.

Steve Curry reported that the assembly of the Pismo Preserve benches will be postponed until after the first of the year. He also reminded everyone our annual golf tournament will be on May 1, 2017 and to start signing up sponsors. Paul Holden circulated a sign-up raffle sheet to win a Paul Harris Fellow at $50 each. Jim Lewis handed out forms to enable Pismo Beach City Council to prioritize among the 10 current city goals that we would like to see accomplished within next two years. Anya Stanley is tabulating the Community Giving votes and will have the results next week. Linda Osty along with Jim Lewis wearing his Santa hat reminded everybody of the Saturday, December 17 performance of “Going My Way.” Deenie Dotson urged everyone to come to the Christmas party tomorrow from 6 to 9 PM. Pres. Terry Fibich requested volunteers for the highway cleanup starting at 7:30 AM at Coco’s this Saturday, December 10. There will be a Rotary board meeting at the Arroyo Grande Hospital this Thursday, December 8. Mike Frederick did the honors to induct Owen Schwaezeree, who at 23 is our youngest and first Rotaract member to ever join our club. He is a banker during the day and and a baker at night with his chocolate chip cookie business.

Pres. Greg auctioned off the fine-free badge to Eric Mund for $50. Fine master Jim Lewis fined Pres. Greg $10 for not starting the bidding before Jim began fining. Terry Fibich was fined $20 for his club anniversary, another $20 for not remembering his club anniversary, and still another $20 for his birthday. Anya Stanley was fined $10 for a phone infraction. Owen Schwaezeree was fined $5 for not showing up on time to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and Michael Boyer agreed to pay the fine. The following members were fined $25 for not answering trivial pursuit questions: Dick Dannells, Anya Stanley, Jeff King and Lee Ann Liscombe.

Cathy began by thanking us for being so generous last year in providing holiday gifts for the children and she still has a few tags for either a toy for a younger child or a gift card for one who is older.. December 14 is a deadline for turning in the gifts. CASA takes the best interests of abused and neglected children that have become wards of the court. CASA’s mission is to recruit, train and supervise volunteers who give up their time to advocate for these vulnerable children. CASA’s goal is to ensure that every child is able grows up in a safe, nurturing, and permanent home. 70% of California’s prisoners come from foster care homes, but children from CASA for the most part do not wind up in prison. This is because foster care children outside of CASA are only seen by a social worker once a month whereas each CASA volunteer focuses on one child. Terry Fibich spoke on his experience in CASA after he went in training to be a mentor because of the involvement of his wife Linda in the program. If you would like to become a mentor in the program, there’s 30 hours of on-line training and 15 hours in person.

“Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit”