Mark Ober told us that it was his privilege to work on

the 4-Way Test Essay project. He thanked Whit Donaldson,

Middle School Language Arts teacher and

Laura Weaver, CUHS English teacher for encouraging

their students to participate. This was the first year

that the high school participated and, even though it

was a voluntary assignment, 18 students participated.

He also thanked Donna and Julian Crocker, Lorienne

Schwenk and Nancy McKarney for reading all 43 essays

and selecting the 6 winners. It was not an easy

task! The students had to expose themselves by telling

about mistakes they have made and how they

might have done things differently had they known

abut and followed the 4-Way Test. Each student did a

commendable job. When the students were reading their essays, you could hear a pin drop in the room.

These kids sure made us proud.

The winners from the Middle School were: Kevin Merced, 3rd place; Weston Gustafson, 2nd place and,

Dereck Quintero, 1st place. At the high school, the winning essays were Ethan Wade, 11th grade, 3rd

place; Shanyra Cardenas, 11th grade, 2nd place andSean Schalk, 9th grade, 1st place. Ethan Wade was unable to attend because he was at RYLA

Janet Meyers told us that we were here to celebrate Suzette

Morrow, art teacher at Santa Lucia Middle School and Coast

Union High School. Suzette holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s

degree in Fine Arts and has been teaching for 30 years.

Suzette told us that students 10-18 years old in her art classes

participated in the project. As part of the curriculum, they discussed

what peace is and what peace means to them. Students

were then asked to design a picket with that in mind.

Some chose to design their pickets with scenes that they see as

peaceful while others used animals to show how different species

get along.

Suzette thanked Rotary for the opportunity to participate in

this project saying that Rotary has contributed more to the student’s

education by getting them engaged in school and creating

a culture for our school and community.

Paula Porter, on behalf of the Peace Builders Committee presented Suzette with a

certificate of appreciation and announced that the committee made a gift to the

Rotary Foundation in her name and presented her with a Paul Harris pin.

Mark your calendars: We will be honoring and congratulating the students for their

outstanding work promoting art and expressions of positivity and celebrating art

teacher, Suzette for her outstanding lesson plan and guidance at a Peace Picket

Kickoff Celebration on Saturday, April 9 from 11 to 1 at the Cambria Historical Museum.

Suzette told is that the students and their parents are really excited about

this since they have not had a public showing or their artwork for a couple of years

due to COVID.

Paula also told us that the Peace Pole on the stage is from their home and, if you are interested, you

can purchase one online at PeacePoleProject.org.

Thanks to Suzette for what most of us thought was one of the best presentations we have had in a long

time. And thanks to the Peace Builder’s Committee for a project that is getting tons of attention all

around town and beyond.

Pres. Patty told us that she sat with Heide for about 3 hours putting together the slide show and she learned so much about this amazing woman. Some words come to mind: resilience, creativity, determination, curiosity. 

Heide told us that her family was from Berlin and had to escape during the Russian invasion when their home was destroyed. Heide’s mom took her older sister Hel-ga (14 years older than Heide) and sister Doris (10 years older) to Marienbad, a town on the border of the Czech Republic and Germany where, shortly after, Heide was born. Heide’s mom was dealing with health issues at the time so older sister Helga basically raised Heide. 

When she was 4, her family returned to Berlin to reunite with her father. He was an amazing man who served in WWI where he was shot 8 times and was exposed to mustard gas. They lived in a small town where her dad was in charge of a camp for Russian soldiers. At the time, there were only women in town because the men were off fighting so the fields could not be planted. He had the Russian soldiers plant the fields so the women would have food, which they shared with the soldiers. He also used to ride around on his bike collecting pinecones from which he collected the seeds so the forest could be replanted. He also collected apples and pears during the summer, had them made into juice so children would have access to fruit in the winter. 

Sadly, when Heide was 10, her dad passed away leaving her heartbroken. To help her take her mind off the loss of her father, she was sent, by train, to school in Sweden where she got to see the Alps and experience live in another country. When she was 12, she returned home and the family relocated to the larger town of Hano-ver where Heide could receive a better education, learning both English and French. To help with expenses at the time, her mother would rent out rooms in their house to students from Turkey. One of the students was a boy named Engin. After he returned to Turkey, he sent a letter to Heide and her mom inviting them to visit he and his family in Turkey. Engin came from a large family who had a beautiful home and a large ranch. Heide and her mom were treated like family while they were there and 4 years later, she and Engin married. They moved to Munich where Heide was first exposed to computers. She read about classes being offered and read-ily took them and became quite good at computer programming. Engin always dreamed of moving to the Unit-ed States. At the time, the wait for a German to immigrate was years. However, since Heide was born in Mari-enbad which at that time was part of Czechoslovakia, she was considered Czechoslovakian and was issued a visa. After spending some time in Rochester, NY, Heide finally came to California. 

Thanks for a very interesting presentation, Heide. We look forward to hearing more about your amazing life. 

Bruce started by talking about peace and ab out Ukraine. In 1950, shortly after World War II, some German and French Rotarians met in Strasbourg with a goal of building peace and under-standing. Together they made a gamble to emerge from tragedy through intelligence. What re-sulted from their talks was Rotary’s first-ever Intercountry Committee, or ICC. Jane Howard is the first ICC Chair for our District and also the National ICC Chair for United States/India. The US/Ukraine ICC was set to be chartered 2 weeks ago but the war has postponed that. However, Belgium/Ukraine ICC and French/Ukraine ICC are mobilizing to send money and supplies to Kyiv to assist the steady stream of refugees leaving Ukraine. Rotary has boots on the ground. It is because of Rotary members world-wide who, through their membership, have helped in this effort. 

Bruce presented Paul Harris Awards to Otis Archie (PH+4); Rick Auricchio (PH+4); Bob Kasper (PH+7); Nancy McKarney (PH+8); Mark Ober (PH+1); Dennis Rightmer (PH+2); Linda Sherman (PH+5); and, Tom Tierney (PH+1). 

Bruce reminded us that it is because of generous donations to Polio Plus that we have gone from 1,000 cases of Polio a day in the early 1980’s to 5 cases world-wide last year and 2 so fat this year. 

Gerry Porter introduced Erin Groble, The Rotary Foundation Planned Giving Officer, via Zoom. Erin explained that Gifts to Rotary's Endowment ensure that future Rotarians will have the resources they need to design and implement sustainable projects year after year. For more infor-mation about the endowment fund, go to rotary.org/legacy. You can also view Erin’s Power Point presentation attached to this email. She can also be contacted by email at erin.groble@rotary.org. Thank you Erin for speaking to us today and for doing it with very little notice! 

Gerry also welcomed, for the 3rd time, Ken DeCroo, author of the Almost Human series of books. Ken recently finished his 3rd book in the series, Becoming Human, a story about when three families are viciously massacred in the forest of the Pacific Northwest, and three young girls disappear, Dr. Ken Turner and his colleagues sus-pect the hybrid creatures they discovered in the jungles of Africa who were kidnapped by shady government agents. They find themselves back in pursuit of the half-human, half-chimpanzee creatures, and their missing colleague Dr. Melon. Their quest begins, at risk to their careers and reputations, in the little town of Willow Creek and the surrounding Trinity Forest where the mythical bigfoot is said to roam. Who or what will they find? Ken agreed to visit us in person on one of his next trips to the West Coast. 

A total of 14 baked goods were entered into this year’s Bake Sale. Interact President Lisi Happel, Vice President Caiden Kennedy and Secretary Emmy Johnson along with Faculty Advisor Ayan Johnson presented a slide show of all the creations. Auctioneer Bob Kasper joked and cajoled until every baked good was sold. In the end, a total of $5,770was raised for Interact. The student’s slide show is attached to this email for those who could not attend. Be prepared to have your mouth watering when you see some of these creations! 

Danny Community Relations Coordinator Danny Danbom knows a thing or two about loss. In her young life, she has been the primary caregiver for her grandfather, her grandmother, and her own mother in their final months—each suffering from their own degenerative illness. "Watching their decline gave me the courage and the confi-dence to speak about illness and death," she said. "That's a trait most people struggle with." With a Bachelor's degree in Recreation & Hospitality Management and a stint in the finance industry, Danny (short for Danielle) brings a wealth of knowledge and a sincere desire to be of service to her current position at Sydney Creek. "l want to be the advocate our community needs," she said. "It's my pleasure to articulate who we are, what we do here, and how we might help." 

A copy of Danny’s Power Point Presentation is attached to this email. 

Danny COMMUNITY RELATIONS COORDINATOR 

The Village at Sydney Creek 1234 Laurel Lane, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 

(805) 543-2350 | (805) 543-1948 

Sydney Creek Lic. #405800577 Garden Creek Lic. #405800467 

Danny Danbon, Sydney Creek Memory Care 

Each table was asked to discuss how to bring peace into family gatherings during the holidays especially during

COVID.

Nancy Bennett reported that her table discussed not talking about COVID or politics.

Elaine Beckham suggested being more like Rick Low (ha ha) but ended by saying that her table suggested that

we just listen.

Shari Long told us that her table suggested checking in with yourself. Be grateful for what you have; be kind

to others; communicate.

Jane Howard relayed a situation in her own family where she and her sisters got together for the normal holiday

dinner but one of the brother-in-laws is not vaccinated and nobody wanted to sit near him. It made for a

very awkward evening. The group had plans to meet again the next night with their 97 year old mother and

they were concerned about putting her at risk. So they told the brother-in-law that they love him but just

can’t have him there. It was very hard.

Paula ended the discussion by reminding us to love ourselves and understand that there are differences. Janet

added that we are the Family of Rotary despite our different nationalities, religions, political leanings.

She then wished us a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza.

Dr. Alex and his wife, Dr. Casey Erickson are the owners and practicing veterinarians at Cambria Veterinary Clinic. After relocating to the Cen-tral Coast in January 2016 and purchasing Cambria Veterinary clinic, we could have not felt more welcomed into a community that truly adores their pets. We are committed to high quality medicine and patient care, and also believe that you should have a doctor for your pet that you trust to offer you guidance and options in caring for your 4-legged fami-ly member. We are hard-working, honest and compassionate when it comes to advising you on anything from preventative care to difficult end-of-life decisions. 

Dr. Alex grew up in Los Banos, California and could be found cleaning kennels and helping out at his father’s vet clinic from a young age. Following in his father’s footsteps, he attended Kansas State University for his undergraduate studies and then graduated from UC Davis Veterinary School in 2008. During veterinary school, his studies focused both on farm animal and small animal medicine. After graduating he moved to Sonora, California, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains where he practiced at a busy small animal veterinary clinic for 8 years. Alex has addi-tional continuing education training in small animal dentistry and ultrasound. 

Dr. Alex told us that dermatology is the number one reason pets visit their veterinarian and, here on the Central Coast, there is no shortage of allergy triggers.