Eight Sunrisers Visit Kagoshima West for Their 60th Anniversary in Rotary! by Dave Lorenzen, Harry Coffey, Paul O'Rear, and Steve Amend (with a little help from Shauna, Judy, Penny, and Kathleen!)
Our special guest speakers for May 4, 2023, were Sunrise Rotarians Steve Amend, Harry Coffey, Paul O’Rear and Dave Lorenzen, recapping their 2-week trip to Japan to help celebrate Kagoshima West Rotary’s 60th Anniversary. Also attending the trip were Penny Millar, Shauna Lorenzen, Judy Coffey, and Kathleen Amend. Our relationship with Kagoshima West Rotary began 36 years ago, in the first year of our club’s existence, when former member Dan Lambert was approached by Fran Harger with an idea about a student exchange program between Santa Rosa and Kagoshima. Dan Lambert was interested and set up a committee to investigate this idea with Dave, Tom Eakin, and another former member. Kagoshima West agreed to partner with us in the endeavor and in 1987 we sent students to Kagoshima for the new Santa Rosa Kagoshima Student Exchange Program (SRKSEP). In 1989, a “sisterhood” agreement was signed between Kagoshima West and Sunrise. Since that time over 300 students have participated in SRKSEP, one of our club’s most foundational programs.
Dave Lorenzen gave a brief overview of the trip. The main purpose of the visit was to join Kagoshima West in their 60th anniversary. Our intrepid travelers, however, did much more than celebrate in Kagoshima. They first flew to Tokyo, then to Osaka, took a car to Kyoto, and spent 5 days in Kyoto. From Kyoto they took the bullet train to Hiroshima where they were greeted by the Hiroshima Metro Rotary Club and spent three days. From Hiroshima they took the bullet train to Kagoshima and enjoyed the celebration and the hospitality of the Kagoshima Rotarians. Hiroshima even had a crew or Rotarians waiting for them at the train station with smiles and waves! Starting with their arrival in Hiroshima, everything was arranged by the Hiroshima and Kagoshima Rotarians. Harry Coffey gave us a colorful summary of the visit to Kyoto. What a place! They even had a temple right across the street from their hotel. Kyoto has 4 of the top 10 temples in the country. Every temple is unbelievably cared for, manicured, and trash free. The Chery blossoms were out in force, and floated down like snow. Paul O’Rear talked about the Hiroshima leg of the journey. They took a bullet train from Kyoto to Hiroshima. It took them 85 minutes to travel 205 miles! They attended the lunch meeting of Hiroshima Metro, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and the museum (which Paul described as disturbing and astonishing, and had dinner with the club that evening, with speeches, toast, and good cheer. Paul bragged that they ate so much in Japan he gained 10 pounds! Japanese fare isn’t so light when you eat it 10 times per day! They took a boat to Miyajima Island, a small island an hour outside Hiroshima. The magnificent torii gate is a World Heritage Monument.
Steve Amend summarized the trip to, and celebrations in, Kagoshima. As in Hiroshima, they were greeted warmly at the train station. They had dinner with Mr. Kogi at the Friends of Santa Rosa Association, met many old friends and former visiting students, and celebrated in several venues, including on a ferry. They also visited the Nagasawa Wine Club hosted by Mr. Kogi at a local hotel. They visited the Heritage Center on the coast, a 300-year-old glass factory, were hosted for dinner and speeches on a ferry, and attended the 60th anniversary celebration, which included the city’s mayor, the governor, and a past International president. The long history of our relationship with Kagoshima West was also highlighted at the celebration. Steve brought up a couple of additional topics, including a proposal that will be made to the Board of Directors to establish an ongoing fund to pay for a blow-out celebration for our own 40-year anniversary in a couple of years and some thoughts about how we can reinvigorate the SRKSEP program. The issue with the program is that we need to fill it with students and Steve urges us to do whatever we can to find local students interested in participating in SRKSEP.
Well done, Sunrisers, and thank you for giving us a wonderful tour of your fascinating and productive 2-week trip taking care of Sunrise business in Japan. (By the way, to learn more about our relationship with Kagoshima West, see our summary of the program from April 7, 2022, in which Keisuke Kogi was the featured speaker.)
Click HERE for a limited time recording including very nice photos!
