As Director of the acclaimed Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Anne Clark led operations and strategic direction across 11 different cities. She developed international programming with Shanghai Children’s Art Theatre and Free Performance Programs for over 800 students in the Bay Area. A nationally recognized, award-winning director, she directed, music directed and choreographed over 40 productions with children ranging in age from 2 years old to 18 years old all across the Bay Area. In Los Angeles, she established and managed Rockabye Dance, a children’s dance studio focused on creative movement, ballet and tap for children. In Pasadena, she was Company Manager and a teaching artist for Pasadena Musical Theater, and acted as Company Manager for the summer camp intensive of a new work by Ryan Scott Oliver, teaching choreography and advanced acting techniques. She earned a BA in Musical Theatre at UCLA, and was a participant in the prestigious Ray Bolger Musical Theatre Program in association with the School of Theatre Film and Television. Well-known in regional theatre in the Bay Area, she was featured in the film Dream Girls. She won acclaim as Snow White in the original company of Snow White: An Enchanting New Musical, Disneyland, Original Company, Snow White. Her Broadway experience includes High Fidelity the Musical, Original Broadway Cast, Penny Hardwick/Back up Chick; Hairspray, Neil Simon Theatre, National Tour and Thoroughly Modern Millie, 1st National Tour.
Marsha Lucien, Executive Director of the Family Justice Center
Our guest speaker for June 17, 2021, was Marsha Lucien, the Executive Director of the Sonoma County Family Justice Center (“FJC”). Marsha started as ED in December 2020 following a long career in a variety of criminal justice and non-profit organizations, including the Solano County Probation Office and the Volunteers of America, among others. Marsha has an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
The FJC concept came out of San Diego, where the City Attorney decided that forcing victims of family violence follow a complex process of traveling from agency to agency, telling and re-telling their stories, was counterproductive. The idea was to provide a one-stop-shop for victims of family and intimate partner violence; a single place where people could tell their stories one time and meet with a variety of knowledgeable and compassionate professionals. The first family justice center was opened in 2003; there are now 140 centers across the country. The FJC in Sonoma County is the fifth center to open and is part of the District Attorneys’ office.
The FJC’s clients are typically victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child and elder abuse, sex trafficking, and stalking. While the original goal was to triage the clients to identify sources of support, the FJC now focuses on providing ongoing services. Clients initially meet with a “navigator” who prepares an intake assessment and connects the client to the appropriate advocate and/or community service. The facility is “trauma informed;” a cozy, warm, and safe environment, including a children’s play area in which the children can see, but not hear, their parent(s) meet with advisors. They have yoga, art, and massage, and even a comfort dog, Miranda! The FJC also provides other assistance, including limited on-site food and clothing, computer access, and job assistance, as well as referrals to a variety of services.
The FJC’s clients typically have incomes below $35,000/year, half include minors, and one-fourth speak a language other than English. The FJC often works with a number of key partners, including the YWCA, the Legal Aid Society, Catholic Charities (immigration assistance), Verity, the Inter-Tribal Council of California, Ruthless Kindness, Sonoma Works, and JobLink. Covid-19 was a perfect petri-dish for FJC’s clients, frequently keeping family members at home all day with their abusers. Reportable abuse increased by 32% during the pandemic.
Thank you so much, Marsha, for the presentation and for the wonderful work you do at FJC. It is an amazing program!
View a recording of her presentation available HERE for next week or so.
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!
I thought I would cap off the year with some wonderful facts about what our District accomplished for the Rotary Foundation this year. I feel so proud to be a part of this type of organization that cares so much.
Contributions: Through mid-June, District 5130 contributed $458,297 to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund, a per capita rate of $210/member and ahead of last year’s $204/member. The District contributed $198,309 to Polio Plus and placed 3rd out of 30 Districts in Zone 26/27. Further, the District contributed $281,286 to the Endowment Fund, almost double last year’s $144,402. Total Foundation giving by District 5130 through June 14 was $997,705 (call it a round $1 million by June 30) which ranked us at #33 out of 535 Districts worldwide.
Recognitions: There were 326 Paul Harris fellowships awarded in 2020/21, including 150 first time Paul Harris recognitions. 891 Rotarians contributed at least $25 to the Annual Fund and 677 became Sustaining Members ($100 contributed).
Projects: 41 of 46 clubs applied for District Grants and all were approved for a total of $90,320. Fourteen District 5130 sponsored Global Grants are approved totaling $741,734 with another 14 Global Grants applied for.
Arthur is seated in shade adjacent the podium~ in Windsor's Town Center Saturday as part of the City's commemoration of Juneteenth.
Arthur Chaney reviews his notes before addressing the Juneteenth Celebration at Windsors' Town Center. The event, hosted by Windsor Parks and Recreation, and organized by Windsor High School's Black Student Union.
Currently President of the Sonoma County Chapter, Arthur gave an informative summary of 100 Black Men of Sonoma County's role in developing strong leadership and scholastic skills in Black youth. Read more about 100 BMOSC at:
Students invited community leaders, exhibitors, speakers and engaging entertainers to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
Originally observed in Galveston Texas on June 19, 1865 when 2,000 Union Army troops enforced the law in the previously Confederate Texas, Celebrations have continued and just this past week Congress enacted June 19th a National Holiday to observe the legislative abolition of Black Human slavery. For more on the history, check out the link from the National African American Museum of History and Culture:https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth
Thank you Windsor High School Black Student Union, City Park and Recreation, community advocates-partners for an inspiring reminder of the challenges and inspiration of youthful civic-mindedness. Respect, Collaboration and Perseverance, principles to practice all year long!
M.J. Girard is currently an on air personality on KOWSfm.com His “Roots of Rock” is broadcast every Sunday morning at 7 AM
Eight down…five to go! After Sargent Pepper’s, the members took a bit of a break, returning to the Abby Lane studio to lay down the sound track for the BBC televised special Magical Mystery Tour. Whilst in the studio recording their new songs, the Beatles continued their experimentation with effects that typified their two previous albums.
McCartney initiated this project in April 1967, and after laying down the title cut, which lay dormant until the death of their manager, Brian Epstein in late August, the remaining five tunes were written and recorded along side the filming.
This was a period of upheaval amongst the band, the involvement with TM* and their use of psychedelic drugs became obvious, leading some to consider this period aimless and disjointed. However, they persisted to record going back and forth between this sound track and the one destined for the animated Yellow Submarine feature film.
Transcendental Meditation* became the bands major interest during this period and consumed much of John, George and Ringo’s time and energies, Paul stayed focused on the recording projects thereby causing some dissension which ultimately lead to the breakup of the Beatles. The film was met with mixed reviews, however the sound track double EP release soared to the top of the charts, once again confirming the genius of the Fab Four!
This Sunday’s presentation of the Magical Mystery Tour sound track will include the other selections included in the EMI release in 1976, duplicating the 1967 Capital release. Thank you to those who have listened in to the Beatles Special as we continue to explore the Worlds Greatest Band! God Bless and stay safe.
In honor of our outgoing Treasurer, a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead are running from the police. They run into an old barn and hide in potato sacks. The officer chasing them walks into the barn looking for them. He kicks the first sack with the redhead inside and the redhead says, "Woof woof!" The cop thinks it's a dog, so he walks to the next one. He kicks the second bag with the brunette, and she says, "Meow meow!" The cop believes it's a cat and moves on. He kicks the third bag with the blonde, and the blonde yells, "Potato potato!"
In a time of separation, our winning photographers used their cameras to make connections
It was a challenging year for photographers. Once the pandemic hit, travel plans had to be changed or canceled. That was reflected in many of the submissions for Rotary magazine’s 2021 photo awards: Many more photos than usual were taken close to home, sometimes as close as the backyard. We did see breathtaking images of some photographers’ journeys, many from the days before the pandemic limited travel. Others took this year to experiment with extreme close-ups of a flower petal or a bird in flight. Many photos captured the way COVID-19 has transformed our world and our daily lives. And, perhaps reflecting the fundamental optimism of Rotarians, there were many images of hope, joy, and simple beauty.
Our judge, photojournalist Barbara Davidson, evaluated the photographs with an exacting eye. “I look for use of color as an element of composition, I look for degrees of tones in black-and-white images, and I look for strong composition and an advanced level of photography as craft,” Davidson says. But the technical achievement has to be in service of something. “The images that stand out invite one to linger on the photograph and successfully inspire an emotional response.”
In addition to the winners and honorable mentions that appear in this issue, the magazine will feature more of the photos submitted by our readers throughout the coming year.
.png)
.jpg)
