A Letter from President Ray
My Fellow Rotarians:
As unbelievable as it sounds, I have approximately four months left of my term as your club president. Since my last report to you, a lot of exciting things have happened.
As you know, October to December are busy months for us. It started out with the pancake breakfast, and as usual, the Interact kids from Warren High and Downey High were a great help, and Roger Brossmer did a great job of running the operation along with other Rotarians.
That same evening, some of us also attended the Foundation Dinner. I was in good company with the Davises, the Browns, the Lopezes, and our secretary Patricia—and apparently, I had a good time.
Our golf tournament was a success, thanks to a myriad of helpful Rotarians, and Rich Strayer was instrumental in getting hole sponsors.
The Christmas party for needy children turned out great, though we scrambled around for a venue due to the weather. But thanks to Steffi McMains, (Principal at OLPH) and our own Diane Davis, we were able to secure the facility at OLPH. Thanks also go out to Willie Medina who did a great job as Santa, as well as Patricia Megallon and Shirley Johnson for the additional gifts. It was really something to see the reaction of the children as they received their gifts—it is such a worthwhile event.
Anne Ullstrom was in charge of the needy families program this year, and as usual, all of you who participated provided great gifts. Good Job, Anne!
We also had our Christmas movie night get-together. Alex Lopez did a great job of selling tickets and helped us break even with the movie expense. The party continued at the Palms Restaurant with about forty people, and we had a great time.
As I mentioned at our club assembly, we are working on a three year strategic plan for the club; the committee consists of Past President Diane Davis, President elect Paul Velasco, Vice President Larry Garces, and yours truly. The plan was presented to the Board during our first board meeting of the year and has now been approved. The mission statement is to make Downey Rotary the most progressive and innovative club in district 5280. The goals are to increase the membership to 90 by the end of Larry Garces’ term and to have fundraisers that rival what we raise from the golf tournament. We also strive to increase community involvement.
Events are already in motion to accomplish some of these goals. We have obtained a spot for a fireworks stand this coming 4th of July--Larry McGrew is heading up this effort and doing an excellent job. Dale Self and I met with the Cal-Met folks to discuss having an e-waste fundraiser which is still in the works. And Diane Davis and I met with Greg from Rancho Los Amigos and are in the preliminary stages of coordinating an art contest with a “peace through service” theme.
As you know, we inducted three new members. Welcome, Greg Welch, Alicia de la Cruz and Dahlya McDonald. Kevin and Raul are doing a superb job with membership, and I think we have at least three more potential members in queue. Also, thanks to sponsors Jim Reynolds and Brian Saylors.
Congratulations are in order for a couple of our members. Doug Baker is going to be the District Governor again, which makes him DGEA (my acronym for district governor elect again). Then he will be DGA, and after his term, PDGA. Also, our active Past President (again I thank my lucky stars) Diane Davis, has been appointed Senior Assistant Governor of new Generations for the remainder of Governor Lew Bertand’s term and will continue in that function in Governor Baker’s Term.
Finally, thanks to Lorraine Neal and Manny Castro for the great work on the Art and Speech contest—the art and the speeches were fantastic.
Thanks to all our members for their valued contributions to our efforts. Let’s make Downey Rotary the most innovative and progressive club in district 5280.
Ray