One of my favorite programs at our weekly Rotary Club of Morgan Hill meetings is the annual speech contest for high school students. This year’s contest was held January 30 at our Community and Cultural Center meeting site, and I definitely came away from it thinking it was the best one ever! Of course, I have thought the same thing for the last twenty-two years that I have been in the club.

We had ten kids this year, seven from Sobrato and three from Oakwood. Unfortunately Live Oak had no representation this year, hopefully they will next time. All contestants were dressed to the nine, definitely for success. Along with their professional outfits many of the contestants also had choreographed their presentation, walking around and using pleasing hand gestures that underscored highlights of their speech.

Rotary is all about service. Our motto, “Service Above Self” and the saying that “he who serves best profits most” were the underlying themes upon which the kids built their speeches. They were also directed to tie in Rotary’s four-way test, which asks if it is true and fair and will it build good will, better friendships and be beneficial? 

All ten speeches were really well done, I have no idea how the judges were able to pick a top three but they did. All contestants met the 4-5 minute time limit, incorporated the 4-way test and really nicely stayed on the service theme using varying examples from their own experience.

The kids were inspired to service in many different ways: serving baked potatoes to the homeless, reading books to younger kids, boy scouts, the iconic leadership of Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln, the farm labor organization leaders, teachers, parents and grandparents, first responders and generous acts of kindness by people like buying coats for the homeless.

Third place went to Rylie Hauge from Sobrato who talked about her parents raising five kids while still finding the resources to enable them to also take in several foster kids. Oakwood’s Shria Bulusu took second place with her talk about the great sacrifices her grandmother made and how she is inspired reading to younger kids. First place went to Oakwood’s Lillianna Jaquet who also cited her grandmother, a Peace Corps veteran as her inspiration.

The other contestants included Shalimar McGinnis, Henry Evans, Crystal Garcia, Molly Foster, Myan Lam, Valerie Doan and Madina Turaeva. All participants did a fantastic job and I left the meeting very much inspired, not only to keep volunteering my service, but also to keep working with these wonderful kids who are our future and if these contestants are representative, it is truly a bright future.

Steve Tate

Saturday October 27 bloomed with a slight fall weather chill but as volunteers gathered at Hacienda Mobile Home Estates in northern Morgan Hill, the sun established itself and we were treated to beautiful weather throughout our project labors.

Rotary project leader Judy Henry greeted volunteers in front of the Hacienda clubhouse, gave them their t-shirt and directed them to project location. Morgan Hill Rotarians were joined by a group of youthful Japanese friends and by longtime Rebuild project partners Jody and Mike McRoberts and their daughter Shannon, photographer for the day.

We met mobile home owner Tom and our project manager from Rebuilding Together, Lynn Alens. We also got acquainted with the mobile home on the property, placed there in 1976 and never painted before, so in real need to a fresh coat. Tom had done extensive prep work prior to Saturday, removing window shades and moving rocks that blocked skirt panels that needed some repair as well as painting.

One group worked on skirt panel repair while most volunteers spend the entire project time priming and painting the home. We started about 8:30 and finished about 2:30 with a well-deserved pizza break at lunchtime.

The skirt panel team was hindered by a PVC drain pipe that blocked panel placement and against Judy’s advice, cut the pipe shorter to avoid the blockage. Roger Knopf, who cut the pipe, awarded a necklace of PVC pipe segments to Judy during the lunch break, further cementing the camaraderie and good vibes we all had as project volunteers. 

Owner Tom was thrilled with the results after interacting with us all during the day. Thanks to our leader Judy and fellow Rotarian volunteers Lisa Bjarke, Chris Foster, Roger Knopf, Ken Murray, Jan Reed, Brian Sullivan, and Steve Tate, it was a fun and fulfilling day!

For more on this story, see the article in the Morgan Hill Times.