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Ren Adam, Editor |
August 28th, 2009
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August is Membership and Extension Month
September is New Generations Month
Upcoming Programs and Events
Presented by Program Chairman, Leland Hammerschmitt and his crew.
September 4th-John Johnston, CEO Ventura Co.-Managing Ventura Co.
September 11th-Laura Whitney-Ojai Foundation/Get Acquainted Talk
September 18th-Al West and Dave Brubaker-Craft Talks
September 25th-Dr. Laura Danly-Curator Griffith Observatory
In the Beginning....
Pledge: Bill Galbraith
Greeters: Bill Gilbreth and Kelly Randall
Mic runner: Jim Combs
Set-up: Larry Beckett, Jim Combs and Terry Beckett
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Visiting Rotarians included Dist. Gov. Maria Luz Ortiz-Smith of the Santa Barbara Sunrise Club, and her husband, E. Russell Smith; Paul Blatz of Ojai West; Mike Caldwell, Ojai West; and Steve Doll, the District's Assistant Governor, from the Ventura club.
Guests: Dick Weirick‘s son, Bill; and Dr. Andrew Eggebraten, DDS guest of Larry Simpson, who replaced Larry at his practice.
Announcements. . .
Dave Watson read a thank you letter to the club from a scholarship recipient, Tanner Starbard.
Mike Caldwell, president of the Ojai Education Foundation gave an update on six, education-related programs supported by Ojai's two Rotary clubs.
Pres. Scott acknowledged Drs Bob Skankey and Carl Gross for their international service – Dr. Bob, who is going to Niger this week, and both Bob and Carl for their medical mission in Roatan in early October.
Marty Pops told us about an upcoming Community Memorial Health Forum, set for Sept. 12 at Soule Park's banquet room, which will address the rejuvenation of our vision. Dr. John Davidson, an ophthalmologist at the Miramar Eye Specialists Medical Group, and assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA/Ventura County Medical Center, will present.
Also right around the corner is a joint social event/picnic featuring the Ojai Rotary Club and Ojai Rotary-West, set for Sept. 13 at Lake Casitas. Cost will be $10 and Andi Bloom will provide updates at future meetings.
Best Tennis Town in the USA
On Sunday, September 6th , after the 1st evening match on the Arthur Ashe Court at the US Open, the winners of the Best Tennis Town in the USA will be announced The evening matches start at 7 p.m. EDT and usually last from 1 to 2 hours. The 3 finalists in the contest are Midland, Michigan, Independence, Kansas, and Ojai. The finalists were chosen from 10 semi-finalist towns by email vote of the public out of a pool of 56 entries. You may see Ojai's entry along with the other top ten towns at www.besttennistown.com . This is the first year the USTA has run this contest which will be an annual event open to all towns across the nation with the exception of this year's 3 finalists. The prize money to be used for tennis programs and facilities is $100,000, $50,000, and $25,000 for the top 3 finishers and $2,000 to the other 7 semi-finalists.
Midland is sending a busload of 60 people to the US Open and Independence has about 25 going. Ojai has 13, including Mayor Joe Devito, City Rec. Director Dale Sumersille, Tennis Pro Rick Thompson of the ORD, Mark Weil of the Weil Tennis Academy, Director Emeritus Tony Thacher of the Ojai Tennis Tournament, as well as Jill Cox who put the Ojai entry together for the contest. All 3 towns' representatives will be sitting together in the stands, Ojai in green shirts and white caps from The Ojai. The locals are also hoping to catch matches featuring Sam Querry of Thousand Oaks and Bob & Mike Bryan of Camarillo who are past winners at The Ojai.
Jill will be sending text to the Ojai Valley News web site at http://www.ojaivalleynews.com/ every day beginning on Friday, September 4.
The US Open ( http://www.usopen.org/en_US/index.html ) is covered by ESPN, the Tennis Channel, Fox Sports, as well as the traditional networks where there may be interviews with the 3 towns' representatives on the morning or evening news shows.
Satellite View of the L. A. Fires: Submitted by Leland Hammerschmitt
The Program
Assistant Dist. Gov. Steve Doll introduced the day's speaker, Dist. 5240 Gov. Maria Luz Ortiz-Smith, who got her talk underway by saying she most enjoyed two aspects of being district governor: inducting new members and presenting Paul Harris Awards, which she did Friday by giving Carl Gross his fifth Paul Harris award.
Gov. Ortiz-Smith, a native of Mexico, had fun describing the confusion she confronts with speaking English, “... one of the most difficult languages!
“There is no egg in eggplants, for example, and no ham in hamburger, and English muffins are not made in England,” she joked. “Quicksand works very slowly, and boxing rings are square; and when the stars are out, they are visible, and yet when the lights are out, they are invisible.”
The governor then went on to extol the virtues of membership and of Rotary around the world.
“Rotarians make Rotary happen,” she said, and pointed out that the organization is constantly changing and growing. “The first meeting was in 1905 among strangers and it has never stopped growing. We cannot afford to stagnate.”
She pointed out that Rotary does not have weapons of war, but rather the programs of Rotary are its weapons of peace, specifically naming Kay Bliss and her projects as laying the foundations of peace.
“By members sharing Rotary, we are sharing the foundation of peace. Let's embrace the idea that Rotarians can create the environment in which people can live in peace,” she said.
Addressing District 5240 specifically, Ortiz-Smith noted that the district has 10,000 Paul Harris fellows, and is the first district to achieve that number.
“Now more than ever, contributions to the Rotary Foundation are needed, and we are hoping to see a 10 percent increase from district 5240.
“Matching grants programs awarded 10,000 grants between 1965 and 2000,” she stated. “By 2004, an additional 10,000 grants had been awarded.”
The District Governor's final words to the club were: “To Rotarians – in peace – worldwide!”
Pres. Scott then made the traditional presentation of Ojai oranges from Friends Ranch, and adjourned the meeting.
Coming Up Next Week...
| Sep 4 2009 |
| John Johnston , former CEO Ventura (LB) "MANAGING VENTURA COUNTY" |
| John Johnston , former CEO Ventura County : Topic: "Musings of a Has Been" Bio: Married with two children and five grandchildren. Bachelors degree in political science . Masters in Public Administration . Forty year career in executive management for both the public and private sectors . 38 year resident of the Ojai Valley, arriving in 1971 as the fourth city manager in four months. Recently retired as CEO of Ventura County. Currently serving as Chairman of the Political Campaign Ethics Commission for Ventura County. Adjunct instructor for California Lutheran University teaching in the graduate program for public policy. Labor Day weekend - Please hug an American worker... the most productive people in the world! Go, Red, White and Blue! America salutes you. |
Final Thoughts
"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."
Sir Winston Churchill
