Craft Talks, Blue and Red Badges and More

by Sue Vogl

We have so many new members this year that we are doubling up on our Craft Talks. This week we heard from Martha Tapias Mansfield and Shweta Kapoor.

But first, another new member, Grace Adams, led the Pledge of Allegiance and read a quote from Jane Goodall about our impact on the planet.

President Cedric Tuck-Sherman called for guest introductions. We had two spouses attending – Russ Samuels’ wife Sondra and Larry Johnson’s wife Mickey. Larry, wearing a surgical collar (if that’s what it called), showed up post-surgery. He must have missed us!  Also with us, Kelly Stroman’s guest Katie Richardson, Gerry Morton’s guest Antoinette Sloan and my guest Deborah Lynn.

Announcement Time

James White urged us to keep Sheena Khanna happy by buying our Magic in Giving tickets promptly, and there is an incentive. If you purchase them before April 1 ($250), you won’t be fooled into paying a higher rate ($300). Also, you can buy a four-pack for the bargain rate of $750.

President Cedric is looking for “ambassadors” to pitch the Zimbabwe Wash project to other clubs. Loli Ramezani gave us a history of International Women’s Day, which had its 115th anniversary on March 8. Dine Around sign-ups have come out, and they fill up quickly. And the Connection Challenge continues.

Thanks to Skechers taking over the Westdrift, we were in a narrow slot of a room. Nevertheless, we were able to line up to shake hands with Gordon Cook, sponsored by Kathleen Terry, who got his new member red badge. Then another Kathleen Terry sponsored member, Kate Orroth, got her blue badge. Good job, Kathleen!

Martha Tapias Mansfield started her Craft Talk by thanking her sponsor Geoff Bremer. Martha is an LA native who has lived in Manhattan Beach for 36 years. Every summer, she and her family traveled to Mexico to stay with her grandparents in Jalisco, where she and her two brothers were immersed in the culture.

Martha was the first in her family to go to college in the U.S., starting a family Trojan tradition. All three of her children earned degrees from USC. In fact, when Martha went back to get her master’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2023, she “walked” in her commencement ceremony with her son Nick.

After graduation, Martha started at AT&T, then on to Univision, Prime Ticket and the LA Times, putting her Spanish to good use at each job. She returned to USC, where she works in fundraising for the USC Caruso Catholic Center. Earning a laugh, Martha said she’s been married for 34 years to Peter, who is British and Jewish. They met on a plane, a good choice since they both love to travel.

Shweta Kapoor focused her Craft Talk on the influences that shaped her. She grew up in a large family where her father’s taught her that there are no limits on what you can pursue. Her mother taught her financial literacy. She moved to New York as a teenager and graduated from Columbia. Shweta met her husband there, started her career as a consultant and had a boy and girl six years apart. She and her family loved New York but traveled to California many times to visit friends and found themselves falling in love with Manhattan Beach.

Shweta took eight years off to raise her family, then returned to work at Goldman Sachs. This experience started a passion for helping women return to the workplace. Her volunteer work includes The Bottomless Closet, that provides not just clothing but other services to women in need entering the workplace.  Not long after moving to Manhattan Beach, the Covid shutdown hit, so it was a while before the family could meet anyone. Her son, a Mira Costa grad, attends college in Boston, and her daughter is at Grandview. What’s next for Shweta?  Giving back what she’s received, building community, being present for the next generation, staying curious and growing.

For more meeting photos, go to SmugMug.
 

Rotarians in the Not-So-Wild
by Editor

If you are out and about in Manhattan Beach, you just might run into Rotarians "connecting" as part of their Connection Challenge. That's what happened to me when I stopped in Coffee Bean Tea Leaf at the Manhattan Mall, and saw Barbara Matles and Duke Winser. Rotary Reads also continues, and this week our Rotary readers are Lee Walker, Don Jung and Norm Levin, and our "Connection" photos include Rita Crabtree-Kampe and Richard Montgomery, Harrison Clay and David Hadley, Duke Winser and Barbara Matles, and Nelson Gray and Steve Delk. Now, I'm challenging my readers. Please send your Connection Challenge and Rotary Reads photos to me at svogl@usc.edu. I promise to publish them in the weekly Bulletin.

Homecoming for Larry
by Editor

Thanks to Vinny Fazzino and his gang of Rotarian helpers -- Steve De Baets, Coby McDonald and Cedric Tuck-Sherman -- Larry Johnson returned home after surgery to shower renovations that will make life both easier and safer. Larry has provided so much service above self, that it is only fitting that he's now the recipient of Rotary Cares.