Two Monks
-by Jim Hallett
It was Monday, April 5, 2021, and President Tim Hageman hung on every word as Ken Deemer recited his parable of the two monks, one of whom helps a woman across a river while the other complains about breaking vows not to touch women, to which the helping monk replies, “I left her at the river; you are carrying her with you.”…..Our attendees included four people in other states and countries, notably Annie Hendrickson in Taipei and Lindy Murrell in Wellington…..Richard Montgomery looks forward to our city moving from orange to yellow; the status of outdoor dining remains “to be determined.”
Director Reports
Director Reports included:
Annie Hendrickson, Vocational: Covid has prevented programs like Rotary Reads, but we are still planning for police and fire awards—and maybe a super celebration of all our teachers.
Marcus Chang (co-director with Harrison Clay), Community: Ongoing programs include Warriors Pantry, Camp Pendleton, Sandpipers, Operation Teddy Bear, the Roundhouse, Schools on Wheels, and Grassroots Neighbors.
Nina Patel, International: We focus on Zimbabwe, with orphanage and kids’ cancer programs. We work with James Kennedy on the Puerto Rico Project. We provide scholarships in Livingston, Zambia. We have two Kenya clean water projects.
Vinny Fazzino (not a director program), Baja Orphanage: Lawrence Flechner went down there with Vinny to experience the restrooms project and was impressed. Vinny had special thanks for Club members who have contributed.
Shannon Ryan, Youth: Costa Interact has 12 members, mostly girls (mostly? I’d have joined in a heartbeat at that age). MBMS is active with Jan Buike’s letter writing project. Both clubs are active with our Camp Pendleton work and both will attend RYLA April 24. We also support Hawthorne-Lennox Rotaract.
Other Member Activities: President Tim was on the YEA Shark-Tank-style panel (Shannon Ryan’s daughter Taylor won the competition last year), a program also supported by Jordan Holbert’s website work. And Ed Kushins is pursuing Big Brothers, inspired by our recent speaker Kim Bogucki of Seattle Police.
Memoirs of World War II
President Tim followed online and finally landed as our speaker Joshua Scott of Memoirs of World War II, which videos and publishes interviews of individuals involved in World War II. (Examples we watched included a Medal of Honor winner, a Tuskegee airman, and a Holocaust survivor.) Of 16 million World War II veterans, about 300,000 still survive. Joshua’s YouTube channel now has 267,000 subscribers. He is starting to reach out to non-U.S. veterans as well. He is financed by crowd funding and is pursuing grants. He presently works with his wife Heather Scott and a team of two other audio/video experts. He welcomes volunteers and contributions.
Zoom
Soon we will be back together in person, and we look forward to that. But President Tim has found the silver lining in our isolation, bringing Rotary to our homes on Zoom and bringing guest speakers, like Joshua Scott in Ohio and Kim Bogucki in Seattle, to our meetings. Rotarians somehow always find a way. (Speaking of which: the papers are reporting the murders of vaccinators in the two remaining polio-endemic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Can we find a way to protect these courageous heroes?)