Club Service Chair, Karen Pelle told us that, so far this year, Club Service worked

on the July 4th  Picnic in the Park, Pinedorado Parade and the District Gover-nor’s Reception. On Dec. 4th,    Hospitality Night, we will be in front of Mi-mosas with Santa from 3-7 and we will be offering framed photos of children with Santa. And, on December 8th, we will be gathering for our annual Holiday Party. It is always a fun time. Tickets are $55 and you have your choice of Prime Rib,

Salmon  Mediterranean, Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan. Make your reserva-tions today!!

Community Service Chair, Sandy Cha, explained that the Community Service Committee meets via Zoom at 11 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month. Meetings typically last less than an hour and we welcome anyone interested to join us. Committee members work

together to choose projects that the community needs, the community wants, the commu-

nity supports and the club supports.

So far this year, we have donated to: American Legion Fourth of July; Beautify Cambria trash can maintenance, Cambria Grammar School PTA Taco Night, Cambria Chorale program support, Cambria Historical Society School House Project, CUHS Bronco Boosters (banner), Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Estero Bay Kindness

Coalition’s Got Your Back program, Honor Flights and Vineyard Church Feed the Needy program. 

Luanne circulated a booklet about the Santa Lucia Middle School field trip to the Catalina

Island Marine Institute. 7th Grade Science teacher, Kasie Hoss, took 30 7th graders from her class to Catalina in September for a 3 day, 2 night outdoor science school. Our Youth

Services Committee approved a donation to help fund the trip and a number of club members made individual donations. The trip was a huge success judging by the letters the students wrote and compiled into a booklet about their trip. It is attached to the email. Just one

more way our club is making a difference for students in our community.

Chuck told us that The Rotary Foundation (TRF) was built from the bottom up. It started as one club in Chicago and has grown to be a huge international organization that fights poverty, disease, hunger, thirst, illiteracy and promotes peace. 

Rotary International: RI is the administrative arm of Rotary. The dues we pay to Rotary International (RI) goes for administrative costs, not charitable giv-ing. 

TRF is the charity arm of Rotary International. It’s a non-profit supported by contributions from Rotary members and other donors who share our vision of doing good in the world. The Foundation’s mission is to help Rotary members advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through local, national and international humanitarian and educational programs. 

You can specify where you would like your donation to go. If you write TRF in the memo section of your check, it will go to charita-ble giving and help fund the 7 Avenues of Focus: Peacebuilding, Disease Prevention, Water & Sanitation, Maternal & Child Care, Basic Education and Literacy, Community Economic Develop-ment, Environment and Disaster Relief. You can indicate The An-nual Fund/Share so that a portion of the funds are returned to the club in the way of District Designated Funds. Donation to the Polio Fund go directly to Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio. By noting Endowment, your donation is invested to support Rotary's causes today while generating funds that will further the work of future Rotarians committed to Doing Good in the World. 

Laudon told us that she really did not know much a out Rotary when Dr. Joe brought her to her first meeting. She was amazed at how passionate members were when discussing Polio. Two of her cousins, brother and sister, contracted Polio. The sister still walks with a cane and the brother was confined to a wheelchair. So she and her family have been touched by Polio leading her to want to do something to help eradi-cate the disease. 

Julie explained that she contracted Polio at 8 months old and her dad contracted it 10 days later at the age of 30. Despite having Polio herself, she really didn’t feel driven to get involved in the End Polio campaign until her dad’s condition deteriorated in 2009. There was nothing she could do for him but decided she would get involved in the End Polio movement in his honor. People often think Polio is not a big deal. So what if someone walk with a limp. But, Polio can do so much more destruction. Julie showed us photos of some victims in the poorest communities around the world. She explained that there is no cure, only prevention. 

Jane told us about “NID’s”, National Immunization Days. 3 or 4 times a year, Rotary International teams up with the World Health Organization and local Rotary Clubs to vaccinate every child in countries where Polio is endem-ic. Bruce and Jane originally went to India and Nigeria on NID’s. The local Rotary Clubs were the key because they knew where the children, who had not been vaccinated yet, were located. People with Polio in these re-mote areas can’t work and their families often are embarrassed and shun them. One Polio victim Bruce and Jane met decided to build a bicycle that could be ridden using your hands rather than your feet. This invention has helped many victims who previously could not get around at all except by crawling. 

Chuck announced that in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of Polio in the world. Today there are 7 cases in just two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Rotary Foundation has created a global infrastructure to reach the most remote areas so children in those areas could be vaccinated. To date, 3 billion children have been vaccinated and an estimated 20 mil-lion did not contract Polio because of this effort. Even after Polio is eradicated, the infrastructure will remain and will likely help to combat other diseases. 

A copy of the slide show that was shown during the meeting will be attached to the email with this newsletter. Laudon will be reporting on the very successful 5K Walk/Run for Polio at Friday’s meeting. 

ADG Michelle Lilley told us that it was fitting that, after visiting all the clubs in the county, they ended up her for the last meeting because “you guys are the best and so much fun”. But don’t tell Cayucos she said that. 

Michelle read Marta’s bio: Marta joined Lancaster Sunrise Rotary in 2005 serving two terms as Club president, receiving co-President of the year for District 5260 during her first term. She has served five years as Assistant District Governor, was a multi-year District Trainer and Group Study Ex-change (GSE) member, staff member and Director. In 2015 Marta moved to Ventura County and joined the Oxnard Rotary Club, in District 5240. Pri-or to being chosen as District Governor Designate in 2021, she served the District as the PRLS (Practical Rotary Leadership Seminars) Director for two years and as District Trainer for three years. Marta is a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Paul Harris Society Member, Major Donor and achieved PRLS and Master PRLS Graduate in 2006. Marta is Co-Founder and CEO of Smart Coast California and has had a long and successful career in housing and community development in California and Nevada. She accepted this position in February 2023, following eight years as the Government Affairs Director for Ventura County Coastal Association of REALTORS®. Smart Coast California supports property rights in coastal communities and in 2022 she received the California Association of REALTORS President's Award for leadership for this work. She’s earned the National Association of REALTORS’ Realtor Association Certified Executive (RCE) designation, exemplifying a goal-oriented association executive with drive, experience, and commitment to professional growth. She was one of only 510 association executives nationwide and just 38 in California who held the designation when she received it. Marta resides in Ventura, California with her husband Forrest, and they have a daughter, MacKenzie living in Col-orado. 

As Dr. Kate has told us before, “It is better to be wrong in the ER than to be right somewhere else. Kate covered a 10 signs and symptoms that de-mand immediate action: 

Headaches: a severe headache could indicate a brain bleed. 

Dental Hygiene: a cracked or broken tooth can lead to an infection which can increase your risk of a heart/cardiovascular issue. 

Shortness of Breath: a sudden shortness of breath could indicate a clot in the lung or a heart attack. 

Blood Pressure: normal is 120/70. It is important to know your numbers. If your top number goes over 180 or your bottom number goes over 100, go to the ER immediately. You could be at risk for a stroke or heart attack and your organs can begin to shut down. 

Chest Pressure/Pain/Nausea: indicates a heart attack. 50% of people experiencing these symp-toms do not make it to the ER because they wait too long. 

Piercing Stomach Pain: could be an ulcer and, if left untreated, it could perforate your stomach. 

Injury: if you cannot put weight on the area, if it bruises and/or swells immediately, it is likely a fracture. 

Bleeding: Sudden bleeding from rectum, vagina or bladder could indicate a cancer risk. 

Weight loss: Unplanned, unexpected weight loss could indicate a cancer risk. 

Swelling and redness in one extremity only: an ultra-sound is needed to determine if you have a blood clot. 

Thank you Kate for making sure we know when to go to the ER. Trust me folks, Kate knows what she is talking about!! 

Coastal Pines Medical Group is a collaborative effort between two fami-ly practice physicians who share a deep commitment to caring for their patients as they do their own families. In order to provide excellent standards of care, CPMG has adopted a membership based practice model. Sometimes called "concierge medicine", this model allows the physician to spend high quality time with patients. This model results in a deeper and more rounded relationship between physician and pa-tient, as well as being more cost effective and providing higher quality care. Dr. Dave Griffith was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona but in a family with deep roots in California. Dr Dave attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut earning a BA in physics and obtained an ED.M. from Harvard University. In a desire to understand how the human body works, he went to UCSF medical school in his early 30s. Dave chose to specialize in Emergency Medicine and did his residency at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Dr. Dave joined the ER group at French and Arroyo Grande Hospitals in 2010 and branched out into a solo practice of elderly homebound patients in 2018. He plans to continue to care for the patient's in his home visit practice several days a week while staffing the clinic at Coastal Pines Medical Group on the other days. He continues to find his home in medicine as a place he can pursue lifelong learning and growth and finds his life enriched beyond measure by the relationships he has developed practicing primary care since leaving the emergency room. 

Dr. Brooke LaDuca joined CPMG in July, 2023. She comes to us from more than 15 years in academia, teaching new physicians at the Long Beach Memorial Family Medicine Residency program. She is fantastically overquali-fied to run our little clinic but has amazing ideas and plans. She is brilliant, experienced, wise and compassionate. She is committed to her future role as the “community doctor” and sees each patient as a complete individual. She believes in wellness and health, not just treating disease. She is trained in “Lifestyle Medicine”, amongst nu-merous other accomplishments. 

Dr. Kat Estopinal grew up in Houston, Texas. She attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC where she received her BS in Biology of Global Health. After graduation, she completed two years of service work, first with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Sacramento, CA then with AmeriCorps in Austin, TX. While in medical school at Texas A&M College of Medicine in Temple, TX, she joined the US Army via the Health Professions Scholarship Program. During her residency at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, TX, she built a foundation of full-scope Family Medicine which she continued at her next duty assignment at Brian D. Allgood Medical Center in Camp Humphreys, South Korea. Dr. Estopinal utilizes evidence-based medicine to provide preventative and wellness medical care for all ages from newborn to geriatric patients. The Jesuits’ motto cura personalis (caring for the whole person) particularly resonates with Dr. Estopinal. As a Family Medicine doctor, she values taking care of the whole family, as well. She has significant experience with women’s health, sexual assault medical care, and transgender medicine. 

Kathe Tanner has been writing about the people and places of SLO County’s North Coast since 1981, first as a columnist and then also as a reporter. Her career has included stints as a bakery owner, public relations director, radio host, trail guide and jewelry designer. She has been a resident of Cambria for more than four dec-ades, and if it’s happening in town, Kathe knows about it. Cambria has had a local paper for over 150 years. The Cambrian was launched by Marcus Waltz in 1931. She began writing for the Cambrian and Tribune in 1981. When she joined the paper as a part-time reporter (after spending a decade as a columnist), the staff included an editor, news editor, sports reporter, full-time photographer, four staff writers, various interns and “stringers,” and advertising and circulation staffs. Now it’s just me, covering from Big Sur to Cayucos, and sometimes farther down the county’s North Coast. 

Many of the priceless documents from the Cambria are now housed at the Cambria Historical Society’s Moure Resource Center, because when the Cambrian’s office closed down in 2018. Kathe stuck to her guns and insisted that the archival newspapers belonged to the community and needed to stay in town. 

Wade Nomura is involved both local and international humanitarian causes, having worked on more than 200 charitable projects benefiting over 2 million people, including an NID to India, where he has a special passion, having had polio as a child.

Wade is an organizer for Cadres of technical advisors globally and serves on the Long-Term planning committee for the Rotary Foundation program.

Wade is the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Rotary Action Group’s

(WASHRAG) Operations Chair and Technical Officer, and Projects Support Committee Chair for HANWASH (Haiti),

Wade has received Rotary International’s highest individual award, the

Service Above Self award and Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and their highest individual award, the Distinguished Service award.

Wade is a Charter member of the Rotary Club of Carpinteria Morning, and District Governor in 2011-2012. He is also the Multidistrict PETS Alliance Executive Director, a Rotary Rose Parade Float Director and past 2 times chair, Leadership Training Director, and Rotary International Presidents Representative (12 times).

Wade is the former Mayor and spent 28 years volunteering for the City of Carpinteria, California. In addition to

many other local projects, he was the General Coordinator of Tomol Interpretive Play Area, a $1m partnership be- tween his Rotary Club, the community, local, state, and federal governments. In 2011 he was selected as

Carpinterian of the Year.

A regular keynote and workshop presenter, Wade focuses on topics including building better sustainable projects, leadership, performance improvement, Civil Rights and more. He produces and hosts the TV show Rotary, Serving Our Community (www.WeAreRotary.TV)

Wade was also a multiple BMX National Champion, Hall of Famer and designer of the Nomura Racing bike, an icon

among the avid BMX collectors.

Recently Wade coauthored his biography Creating Destiny, with his wife Debbie Nomura, who is also a Rotarian.

Bob told us that he was asked to speak with us today because many people are wondering how our very rainy winter might affect this year’s fire season. We live in a Mediterranean climate where we go for long periods of time without moisture which increases our fire risk. Many of our area native and invasive plants, shrubs & trees are used to going long periods without pre-cipitation. Many contain resins, sap and other materials that help them survive long periods without rain, however this also adds to how intensely they burn. 

What does 2023 look like? It is all about four variables: 

 Fuel (we have plenty of that, and much of it is old) 

 Weather (hot, dry weather, hi temps, low humidity, dry winds) 

 Topography (we can’t change that, we live in an area that is ripe to burn) 

 Fire starts ( one of the few things we can try to reduce..) 

Typically, Cambria & the North Coast are not in prime wildfire season until late August through December. That doesn’t mean we cannot experience a wildfire. 

A slide show attached to this newsletter gives us some excellent information on how to protect our homes and what to do IF we are faced with a wildfire. We are so grateful to Bob for brining his 35 years of expertise to our club. 

Bob told us that he was asked to speak with us today because many people are wondering how our very rainy winter might affect this year’s fire season. We live in a Mediterranean climate where we go for long periods of time without moisture which increases our fire risk. Many of our area native and invasive plants, shrubs & trees are used to going long periods without pre-cipitation. Many contain resins, sap and other materials that help them survive long periods without rain, however this also adds to how intensely they burn. 

What does 2023 look like? It is all about four variables: 

 Fuel (we have plenty of that, and much of it is old) 

 Weather (hot, dry weather, hi temps, low humidity, dry winds) 

 Topography (we can’t change that, we live in an area that is ripe to burn) 

 Fire starts ( one of the few things we can try to reduce..) 

Typically, Cambria & the North Coast are not in prime wildfire season until late August through December. That doesn’t mean we cannot experience a wildfire. 

A slide show attached to this newsletter gives us some excellent information on how to protect our homes and what to do IF we are faced with a wildfire. We are so grateful to Bob for brining his 35 years of expertise to our club. 

Local experts say human trafficking impacts thousands of people in California every year and warn this crime could surge during Super Bowl weekend. Most victims of human trafficking are forced into sex work between 11 and 14 years old — lured in with drugs and expensive gifts. Many remain trapped for years, or even decades. 

Marianne Jackson, a human trafficking survivor, said she was a sex worker for more than eight years and she shared how she broke free. “I was on the street and I did-n’t have anywhere to go, anything at all,” Jackson said. “I got talked into getting into this lifestyle. It was portrayed as something really glamorous and empowering, but it was nothing like that at all.” 

Jackson said her trafficker went to prison for murder, but it still wasn’t easy to leave sex work behind. 

“I was able to break free from my trafficker, but I kept doing it on my own because that’s how I knew how to sur-vive,” Jackson said. “These girls really aren’t out there by choice. Whether they have a pimp or don’t have a pimp, like I said, it’s all about survival.” 

Now she works for Magdalene Hope, a local group that serves and rehabilitates victims of sex trafficking. 

“My daughter-in-law went to church one day and they were talking about Magdalene Hope and how they helped girls get out of the sex industry,” Jackson said. “When I first got into the program my four front teeth had been knocked out by a guy. We got a grant to fix my teeth and now I have my smile again. It was a free program. They provided everything for me. My life changed completely, it’s a blessing.” 

INTERNATIONAL SERVICES: Julie Jenkins gave us an update on the works of the International Committee. The main purpose of International Services is to promote peace and understanding. So far this year the following donations were made: $1,000 Compass Zambia; $1,200 Whisper & Thunder; $924 + a $780 District Grant to Lor-des Meade in Uganda; $825 Grace Center in Zambia; $1,000 committee donation and $1,000 member donation to Turkey & Syria Earthquake Relief; $1,150 Water for Honduras; $2100 San Miguel de Allende (empowerment for women); $500 Arco San Pedro for a 7th grade classroom; $800 Roses of Mbuya, Uganda to purchase sewing ma-chines for young mothers; 4 Committee and 1 Private scholarship for girls to attend PACE in India; $1,000 to Shel-ter Box. A copy of the slide show will accompany this email. 

NEAL JENSEN FOUNDATION: Dennis White and Mike Griffin announced that the Neal Jensen Fund is now at almost $700,000! They also told us about an exciting new project. Thanks to Andrew, a 4 acre parcel at Cam Ocean Pines where we will be planting 38 trees: one for each club member who has joined the Neal Jensen Fel-lowship. Greenspace has agreed to help us by telling us how to plant and space the trees. 

YOUTH SERVICES: Cynthia Woodruff Neer told us that Luanne Kittle will be co-chairing Youth Services next year! Thank you Luanne. She also announced that there will be a reception at Camp Ocean Pines from 4-5 on June 7th to honor this year’s scholarship winners. 8 students will be awarded scholarship this year. And, for the first time, one of the students is a home-schooled student. RYLA is coming up and we are sending 8 students who will be attending our weekly meeting on May 5th to tell us about their experience. On May 12, we will be hearing from the 4-Way Essay Contest winners. And, plans are that there will be an Interact Club at the Middle School next school year. More information about that will be forthcoming. A copy of the slide show Cynthia presented is attached to this email. 

TRF: PP Chuck told us that everyone in out club donated $50 a year to Polio Plus and $100 to the Annual Fund. This is possible because funds raised each year from fundraisers such as VIVA, go to the Cambria Rotary Founda-tion. 25% of those funds stays in our Foundation while the remaining 75% funds go to our Avenues of Service which includes TRF. The portion that goes to TRF is used to make the donations in each members name to Polio Plus and the Annual Fund. The 25% that remains in the Foundation grows due to dividends. A link to the slide show that was shown during this presentation will be in the email with our newsletter 

CUHS English Teacher, Ogo Agbo read the 3rd Place Essay from senior Emily Reed who could not be with us due to illness. 

Patricia Acosta, also a senior, submitted the 2nd Place Essay. Patricia will be attending Boston College on a QuestBridge Scholarship. 

Declan MacKenzie, a sophomore, received 1st place honors for his essay. Declan was home-schooled in Viet Nam, where his family lived due to his father’s job, until last year when he relocated to Cambria and enrolled in Coast Union. 

Don Maruska engages people around the world to take climate action and have fun doing it. Since 2003, he has brought together people from scientific, environmental, business, government, and community organizations to boost awareness, actions, and advocacy for steward-ship of natural resources. 

Don’s new book, “Solve Climate Change Now: Do What You Love for a Healthy Planet” includes stories and examples of Rotary Clubs and community groups working together to make a difference. As a mem-ber of Rotary San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, Don has earned a President’s Special Recognition Award and a District Governor’s Award for his climate action leader-ship. He’s delighted that Rotary International has awarded collabo-rating Rotary Club’s “Day of Service” recognition for their results. 

Earlier in his career, Don founded and was CEO of three Silicon Valley companies, earning a National Innovator Award. Now he’s a Master Certified Coach helping others succeed. Don is also author of “How Great Decisions Get Made” and co-author or “Take Charge of Your Tal-ent.” He earned his BA magna cum laude in government from Har-vard and an MBA and JD from Stanford. 

Major publications including Fast Company, Inc., and Entrepreneur have quoted Don for his expertise. He has also appeared on over 30 radio and TV stations across the country. Businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and community organizations enjoy his inspiring keynotes and productive workshops delivered both in person and online. 

A copy of Don’s presentation is attached to this email and his book is available on Amazon