President Mark told us that change is in the air - after looking at many options, we will be moving our meetings to the Days Inn in Valley West. The change will take place with the first meeting in August. He said we owe a debt to Sir Charles Giannini, who checked out the access, the parking, the food (lunch and dinner), and the meeting space. The proximity of the venue to NAPA Auto Parts is purely coincidental.
Over the past seven years or so, we have been making donations to the Wheelchair Foundation in honor of our weekly guest speakers. We began this tradition during Janice Newman's year as Club President, and she gave us an update at our meeting. So far, we have purchased 28 wheelchairs for needy individuals in countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Mexico, and Colombia. Click here for more information about the Wheelchair Foundation.
SPECIAL DAZE
Past-President Lori Breyer's birthday was July 16th, and the festivities began with a Sunrise Rotary Board Meeting, which was immediately followed by jury duty. Woo-hoo! The birthday present was that she did not have to serve on the jury. She celebrated with friends visiting from Oroville, and they gathered around Lori's new dining room table!
Bryan and Susan Reeser celebrated their anniversary on Saturday, July 12th. Since they are remodeling, they planned a romantic trip to Home Depot. They did manage to squeeze in a dinner in Brookings, however, at the Whale's Head Beach Resort.
TALES OF FINEMISTRESS JESSICA
Robert Goodman was the first to feel the sting of Finemistress Jessica McKnight's talons last Friday. "You outed yourself last week," she said. Huh? Apparently Robert (or as we affectionately call him, "Robt") had something done to his hair, or he was doing something with his hair. Whatever it was ... it cost him thirty bucks.
Nothing happens in Karen Burgesser's life ... except when she goes to Oahu for a family vacation. Twenty-five people from Karen's side of the family converged in Hawaii for a week-long trip. The event was a Christmas gift from Karen's sister to the whole family.
Lori Breyer had to get her checkbook out again to pay for her "incredibly accomplished children". Lori admitted that the Redwood Acres Fair had been "a Breyer Bonanza" this year. Daughter Katie entered several baked goods, but her blueberry muffins were blue ribbon winners. Lori won her own blue ribbon for a quilt in orange, yellow, and brown.
Cam Appleton was recently OOT (out of town), for a family reunion, although he "was not in the sun, like Karen". His clan went to Lopez Island, one of Washington's San Juan Islands. Cam said that about 20 to 25 family members were in attendance, including his daughter Thea and son Chris. The event took place on the Fourth of July, so there was quite a bit of fireworks flotsam in the front yard the next morning.
Kathy Fraser also traveled north recently, but not quite as far. She had an interesting trip to Crater Lake - more interesting than usual because the lake could not be seen due to the smoke from nearby fires. Pressing on, she hooked up with her son, daughter-in-law, and their daughter. Her son soon returned with Kathy's husband Bill to Alameda to remodel a home, while Grandma Kathy, her daughter-in-law, and Kathy's granddaughter took a more leisurely return path.
Don Andrews is very proud of his daughter Sara, who "as we speak" was filming an episode of Monk, playing the wife of Eric McCormick. If I Googled accurately, the show (Monk's special 100th episode) will air on September 5th on the USA Network.
PROGRAM
Our Guest Speakers were Klark Depew, Kyle Clausen, and Jennifer Kinikin. All three are former Rotary Exchange Students who are now District 5130's Rotex Representatives. They all work and attend school, and they share their passion for the Youth Exchange program with Rotarians and potential Exchangers.
They reported on their trip to Los Angeles last month to participate in the Rotary International Convention. Their stay began with two pre-Convention meetings - one dedicated to Rotaract (500 new clubs are expected in this Rotary year), and the other focused on Youth Exchange.
Once the Convention began in earnest, there was no shortage of workshops. One workshop illustrated potential problems with Exchanges using skits. Among the topics were dropped exchanges, sending students home early, miscommunication between districts, and parents visiting host countries during the Exchange.
Another workshop was presented by District 5020, from Northwest Washington. That District's Youth Exchange Committee required their rebound students to write research papers about their host countries. The rebounders and their families were given their assignments in January, with the final paper due in June.
Klark attended a workshop that explored the use of popular films to explore cultural differences and similarities. One of the movies they discussed was "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Klark also told us about a session on short-term exchanges - those that last two to three weeks.
Kyle participated in a discussion of the pros and cons of recruiting Exchangers via social groups on the internet, such as MySpace and Facebook.
