I’m Toru Minami. You can call me Toru. I was born in 1949 in Yakushima Island in Kagoshima, Japan. Yakushima is the island of world heritage and blessed with magnificent beauty of nature and is called the floating Alps on the ocean.
When I was 19 years old, I decided to study abroad to Hawaii. I graduated from BYU-Hawaii majoring in Biology. However, I’m not a Mormon. I lived in Hawaii for 8 years and moved back to Japan in 1980. Then I started my small school to teach Japanese history and culture in English.
I joined the Rotary club in 1996 and I was asked to be a President for Kagoshima West Rotary Club from 2010 to 11.
Kagoshima West Rotary Club was founded in 1963. For this coming year, we will have the history of 60 years. So we have decided to celebrate it on April 17 to 18 in 2023 for our 60th year’s anniversary.
I was asked to be the committee Chairman for this special occasion. This is the reason why myself and Mr. Keisuke Kogi visited your club to ask many of you to come and enjoy this special occasion together.
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
On Tuesday, June 14th, our night sky is going to be illuminated by the second super moon of 2022: The Strawberry Moon. The moniker of "Strawberry Moon" comes from the Algonquin Native American tribe, and this moon is revered during the time when strawberries are ripening and we are on the heals of the Summer Solstice.
This year's Strawberry moon is in truth-seeking, bold, and fiercely independent Sagitarrius. This full moon wants us to kick back, be curious, have fun, and connect at a deeper level with the cosmos. The moon also illuminates with other planets in its proximity, and this time it is dreamy, fantasy-loving Neptune. Therefore, things might get a bit messy, because Sagittarius is going to influence us to find the truth and seek knowledge while Neptune urges us to be completely comfortable with the unknown.
How do we navigate this polarity? We must surrender! The true power of a full moon ritual lies in the practice of letting go of what no longer serves us. This full moon is the perfect opportunity to release what has been bogging us down. Create a ritual to celebrate this massive orb illuminating the night sky by lighting some sage to spiritually cleanse your space, sink into mediation to be clear on what you want to let go of, write it down on a piece of paper, and then light that piece of paper on fire and make sure it extinguishes in a damp spot, i.e. your sink. Then thank the Universe for all your blessings. You will feel light, and your knowledge will be from your meditation, and your acceptance of the unknown will be that release.
Above, Jim Moir, Eloise Tweeten and Marty Behr pause at Larkspur Landing as Advance Planners awaiting the arrival of Sunrisers coming on the next train.
Marty's expertise at organizing primed wanderlust for the members.
Couples Amend, Anderson~Seelye, Banks, Coffey, singles Behr, Moir Randolph and Tweeten, Rodrigues and Burns capped of the lively contingent.
From lunch, the group followed Marty's route toward San Quentin State Prison. The half-mile trek was accented by wildlife and cooling bay breezes. Marty has aviary connections and arranged cameo appearances by Cormorants and Egret.
The captions could be many. Needless to say everyone was glad to be an outsider.
Marty's historic narrative gave perspective to this California landmark: built in 1854 by inmate labor, the institution hods 3000 inmates, including 700 on Death Row. Women once were incarcerated until the 1940's when a separate facility was built in the Central Valley. The last execution was in 2006, and one woman was put to death there in 1941. The prison does have rehabilitation programs to help prepare inmates for productive lives following release. It is the only prison with its' own inmate published newspaper
A very SMART way to travel: Together hand in hand, Mary and Peter Banks lead the group back for the return trip to Santa Rosa. Another acronym for SMART ~Saturday Morning Adventuresome Rotarian Trekkers!
Thank you Marty for a definite **** adventure. Where to next?
Three Rotary Club members, all a little hard of hearing, were standing by the bowling green in the park. One remarked to the other "Windy isn't it?" "No" the second man replied, "its Thursday". The third man nodded in agreement: "So am I. Lets have a cup of tea"
You have lived up to every challenge, including to grow more, do more, and Rotary has grown in a way that we haven’t in many years. This year saw life-changing new projects across all areas of focus, as we took up important work at the highest level — with UNICEF, the Commonwealth, and global leaders. Our efforts opened opportunities to empower girls, improve the environment, and advance literacy and health.
I want to thank each of you for your proactive service. I also want to thank the wonderful Rotary staff for ensuring that we can work with care for our fellow human beings, with peace in our hearts.
Personally, this has been an extremely enriching year for Rashi and me. We’ve met with thousands of Rotarians and been inspired by their great work around the world. We were also able to showcase Rotary’s work at the highest level, meeting with heads of state, leaders, and bureaucrats and offering to work with them to show that Rotary cares and brings peace in this world. With our swan song, Rashi and I wish you the very best as you Serve to Change Lives.
“Time can be an ally or an enemy,” author Zig Ziglar once wrote. “What it becomes depends entirely upon you, your goals, and your determination to use every available minute.”
Every June, as we wind down another year in Rotary, I ask myself if we have used the past 365 days well. To answer, let’s look at what we have accomplished.
Cases in the remaining wild-polio endemic countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, are at their lowest level in history. Challenges to global eradication remain and our work is not yet finished, but we are making encouraging progress, which wouldn’t be possible without your support.
Rotary needs to raise $50 million each year for polio eradication, and doing so during a pandemic is no easy task. But Rotary clubs adapt quickly. When in-person events weren’t possible, many clubs successfully raised funds online.
We hit another memorable mark during Giving Tuesday in November, when The Rotary Foundation got a boost by raising $1.2 million. We reached out to more current and prospective donors than ever before — almost 500,000 members across 40 countries. Some of our most engaged clubs were located in the Bahamas, India, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. We thank all of those members who made Giving Tuesday a success.
Due to travel restrictions this year, Rotary representatives couldn’t visit potential host universities as part of our ongoing effort to establish our next Rotary Peace Center in the Middle East or North Africa. But nothing stands in the way of our pursuit of peace; plans are still on for the Rotary Presidential Conference in Houston, 3-4 June, which will focus on peace, and I look forward to being there.
This year, Rotary made another contribution in our commitment to peace, approving more than 1,000 global, district, and disaster response grants to fulfill the needs of thousands around the world. For until hungry people are fed, families have access to clean water, and children everywhere are educated, we won’t truly have peace in the world.
We have used our time well this year, but our work is never complete. We always need and welcome more Rotary and Rotaract members who bring their hands, minds, and gifts so that Rotary-led Foundation projects will create lasting change for those who need it most.
As we approach 1 July, let us heed Ziglar’s words, remembering that how we spend the next 365 days largely depends on us and our determination to reach our goals. So let us do the best we can with the time we have been given, today. And let us begin again, every day.
Conference highlights Rotary’s commitment to peacebuilding
Peacebuilders from around the world came together before the 2022 Rotary International Convention not only to reflect on Rotary’s extraordinary response to conflict this year, but to strongly reinforce our commitment to creating environments where peace can flourish.
The Rotary Presidential Conference Houston: Serve to Bring Peace, 3-4 June, began with recognition of Rotary’s support for peace in Ukraine and emphasized the effect that Rotary’s vast network has had in providing rapid humanitarian relief in the country and to millions of people who have fled their homes.
Rotary General Secretary and CEO John Hewko, whose parents were born in Ukraine, spoke during the opening session about Rotary’s Disaster Response Fund and how donors swiftly contributed more than $15 million to provide Ukrainians with water, food, shelter, medicine, and clothing.
“In the midst of this terror, destruction, and loss of life, we see extraordinary acts of kindness, humanity, and dedication,” Hewko said. “And this gives me, and I hope each one of you, great optimism for our great organization and for our future.”
Hewko’s parents emigrated to the U.S. state of Michigan after World War II. His father, Lubomyr “Lu” Hewko, joined the Rotary Club of Clarkston, where he organized several projects to help Ukrainians. After Ukraine declared its independence in 1991, Lu Hewko helped charter the first Rotary club in the capital, Kyiv. John Hewko, a charter member of that club, lived in Ukraine in the 1990s and helped draft the country’s new constitution.
Following Hewko’s remarks, Myroslav Gavryliv, a member of the Rotary Club of Lviv, Ukraine, spoke about how clubs in the country have mobilized to coordinate incoming relief supplies and how members are assisting their neighbors. He was among several Ukrainian members taking part in the convention.
This was the capstone of six presidential conferences around the world and gave participants a chance to network with other peacebuilders and hear from people who are engaged in peacebuilding in many different ways.
ShelterBox CEO Sanj Srikanthan discussed how Rotary and ShelterBox, which are partners in providing disaster relief, work together in responding to crises of all kinds.
Azim Khamisa, an author and activist, spoke about founding the Tariq Khamisa Foundation after his son was killed by a gang member in 1995 while delivering pizzas. The foundation is driven by the principles of restorative and social justice to help people choose forgiveness and compassion rather than revenge and bitterness.
The Rotary Peace Fellowships allow up to 130 dedicated leaders a year to train to become effective catalysts for peace. The Rotary Positive Peace Academy, created in partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, introduces people to the framework of peace being more than just the absence of violence.
Peace is a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission and is inherent in all the work that our organization does, said Celia Cruz de Giay, chair of the presidential conference in Houston and a past Rotary International vice president.
At the closing session of the peace conference, Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones joined the chief executive of UNICEF USA, Michael Nyenhuis, in announcing a partnership to empower girls. The issue has been one of RI President Shekhar Mehta’s presidential initiatives and will remain a focus for Jones.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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