Our Rotary District is busy!
Read about it at http://getrotary.org/.
Invocation: Sandy Grasso-Boyd
Pledge: Jill Ireland
Raffle: Andy Doerr brought a gift certificate for two for lunch at El Encanto and movie passes
Guests: Claire Cooley, Savannah Cooley, Catherine Cooley, Ted Deck, Alex Duran, Saji Gunawardane, Christel Hartman, Jacqueline Duran
Announcements:
- Claire Cooley heads to Naples, Italy, as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student.
- Rotarians at Work Day was a success at Elings Park. Special thanks to Mark R., Bill B. and all the volunteers.
- Zoo Day was also a success.
- The golf tournament is still May 20. Andrew Chung needs silent auction items! We have about 75 golfers and would like more! Please sign up to volunteer.
- The community service committee will meet Tuesday May 14. Talk with Susan Klein-Rothschild for more details.
- Elizabeth Werhane invited all members to a social event on the Landshark on May 29 from 6:30-8:30 PM. There are 44 spots available for the 2-hour ride. Food and drinks available at $20 per person.
- Club Foundation board is still accepting candidates for the next 3-year term. Contact Jody Dolan-Holehouse if you are interested.
- David Velarde awarded a Paul Harris Fellow +2 to Elizabeth Werhane.
- The members inducted new member Jacqueline Duran. E.Russell Smith is her sponsor. Elizabeth Werhane is her mentor. Sandra O’Meara presented the first bill.
- Pay and tell with Sergeant at Arms Bob McPhillips.
Program: Craft talks with Tom Heath and Claude Saks
- Let’s start with Tom Heath, a 20-year Rotarian, shall we?
- Tom was born in PA on 9/11/64. He was a very young Eagle Scout. He came to SB in ’80 and graduated from San Marcos High School. He graduated from the Builders Institute at Penn State, and became president of his father’s contracting company.
- To stand out, he tried to be more professional. Dressed well, used computer estimates, and such.
- Tom married Raquel in 2002. She owns Organic Aesthetics, a spa in Santa Barbara.
- He likes cycling and wine.
- Tom shared a slideshow of Athena Contractors Inc. projects. Beautiful work! There was residential new construction, remodeling, additions, fountains, cafe, bathrooms, kitchens, etc.
Claude Saks
- Claude has been a coffee dealer, author, publisher and adventurer.
- He’s had a busy 75 years, starting in Belgium in 1937.
- In May 1940, a bomb destroyed the house next door. The family escaped Belgium through Europe and then traveled to Mozambique. After a few months they took another voyage to New York.
- The family moved back to Belgium, but Claude felt very American already. After 5 years, it was back to U.S.
- He went to St. Lawrence University and Colombia University (civil engineering).
- He fell in love with Betty, who he still loves.
- He won first prize in an art contest and decided to become a painter. His father threatened to disown him. He continued with the original plan.
- He and his bride moved to Virginia, then Pittsburgh, where he became an assistant project manager on a steel and paper mill project.
- He became a U.S. citizen, and he completed a MBA.
- He joined his father in the coffee brokerage business, and tried to convince his father that they should become dealers instead of just brokers.
- Together they expanded the business. Telex has just appeared. He began to travel to Kenya, Zaire, Cameroon, Indonesia, etc.
- He developed a 3,000 ton deal in Cameroon — the biggest deal ever. His father told Claude to get out of the deal or put in $20k of own money and lien on house. His buddy Howard partnered with him, and they made a fortune. This was 1971.
- He and Howard started Saks Int’l in direct competition with his father. They started doing bigger deals — like 5,000 tons.
- Then, 2 months before his 40th bday, Claude had a heart attack.
- He started to meditate. Decided to get out of the company. They sold it in 1984.
- He was involved with zZn Buddhism, then Taoism.
- He and Betty moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- On a trip to Egypt, a channeler told him “You have a contract to fulfill. You need to go shake hands with death.” He told him to go to Tibet.
- He went. He lost 17 pounds in 10 days. After 6 months of meditation, he could put the trip together. He wrote “Inescapable Journey.” Started Hearts Fire books. He bought it. He published 17 books. 2003 they moved to SB
- They probably tested 40-50 cups of coffee a day. One day he had a bad reaction. Now he drinks tea.
- David Velarde awarded Claude his blue member badge!
Become a Board Member of Our Foundation
April 25, 2013
Sunrise Rotary Foundation, the charitable giving arm of the Club, has two open positions on the board of directors as Judith McCaffrey and Jody Dolan Holehouse complete their three year terms and take a hiatus in accordance with the bylaws. The three year terms both start 7/1/2013 and end 6/30/2017. Eligible candidates are those Sunrise Club members with at least three years membership, who are interested in fundraising and stewarding charitable funds with an interest and aptitude toward allocating resources in accordance with furthering the club’s service goals.
Board meetings are held 5 – 7 times a year generally bimonthly. Election of officers are held within the sitting Board and include President, currently held by Jody, Secretary, currently held by Judith, and Treasurer, currently held by Janet Napier. Continuing board members include Sandy Grasso-Boyd, Don Bennett and Karin Napel. ExOfficio members by virtue of their positions on the Club Board starting 7/1/2013 are David Velarde (Past President), Kimberly Coley (Community Service) and Bill Ringer (International Service).
Interested persons should contact Jody at (805) 963-5109 or jdolan@nhhco.com by May 10, 2013. If more than two are interested, written voting will be held at a Club meeting on May 15, 2013.
Invocation: Claude Saks
Pledge: Tom Putnam
Raffle: Our hero, Bob McPhillips
Guests: Pat Hardy, Michelle Sullivan, Stephen Pope
Visiting Rotarians: Alicia Journey
Announcements:
- Idea from another club: Polio pig. Each week a member takes a piggy bank to their workplace and tries to raise money for polio eradication.
- Andrew Chung was spotted in Noozhawk giving $5,000 on behalf of his bank to the Rotary Club of Goleta for its scholarship program.
- Rotarians at Work Day is Saturday morning at the Elings Park picnic area at 8 AM, continuing until 2 PM. Enter it from Cliff Drive. Bring gardening tools, shovels, gloves, wheelbarrows, knee pads, etc.
- Chris Tucker announced that the new Spirit of Fiesta has been dancing at Garden Court for years. One of the Garden Court residents was the first spirit of Fiesta.
- Next week’s meeting will be replaced by the May 3 visit to the zoo. Join the fun at 4 PM and see the new baby giraffe.
- The RI convention will be June 23-26 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- The Peace Scholar applications are due May 6. Our club may have a candidate recommended by E. Russell Smith.
- Susan Klein-Rothschild said the dental clinic was a success. Thank you to the volunteers. Chris Tucker said the residents at Garden Court who got help truly appreciated it. The volunteers taught dental hygiene to the participants. Bill Boyd has started flossing every day. Susan also shared this fun fact: Floss before you brush.
- The golf tournament is May 20. We need more golfers. Steve Kally asked members to go to other Rotary clubs and recruit golfers. Scramble format. Give silent auction items to Andrew Chung. Darren Doi asked for volunteers for the event.
- As of July 1, we’ll have a lot of new officers on the board. We also need to elect new Foundation members. Two members are rotating off the foundation board, Jody Dolan Holehouse and Judith McCaffrey. It will be a 3-year term. Nominees should be members of at least 3 years with an interest in fundraising and talking about money. It’s an exciting time with the new Global Grants process. Also on the board Don Bennett, Janet Napier, Karin Napel, Sandy Grasso-Boyd. Joining will be David Velarde, Bill Ringer and Kimberly Coley — due to their roles on next year’s board.
- Andy Doerr announced the Fiddlers’ convention will meet May 2 at MTD at 5:30.
- There’s a board meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM. All are welcome.
Program: Andy Doerr announced Pat Hardy and Stephen Pope, who run the Alternatives to Violence Project California.
- The organization hosts workshops at prisons and in communities.
- They shared a video of testimonials about the community workshops.
- Stephen described the personal growth seminars they do in prisons.
- People in prisons are not always the same people they once were.
- The workshops are part school, part church, part therapy, part theater and part recess.
- They build community, teach communication and incorporate games.
- There are similar programs by other names.
- They did a similar youth program in Goleta.
- It has positive results. AVP cuts recidivism nearly in half.
- You can volunteer.
- The group will now focus on Santa Barbara to build community across groups. Has some similarity to Just Communities.
- AVP has huge support from the prisons. The demand is high, and AVP could use more volunteers to meet the demand.
- In California, we’re recycling 20,000 people into the prison system each year.
- In honor of our speakers, 15 dictionaries will be donated to third graders.
Minutes: The One with the Scam Advice (04/17/2013)
April 21, 2013
Substitute president Scott Burns called the meeting to order.
Invocation: Bill Abel
Pledge: Tom Heath
Raffle: Diana Cecala
Guests: Tana Truelove, Ed Torres, Claudia Lopez, Vicki Johnson
Visiting Rotarians: none
Announcements:
- Betsy Munroe spoke about District Assembly #2 in Oxnard. The district themes for July through September will be about membership. Wade Nomura will be in charge of the Rotary Rose Parade float.
- Betsy Munroe announced next year’s board:
Membership: Gillian Avery and Tara Stoker
Club Service: Diana Cecala
Treasurers: Sandra O’Meara and Darren Doi
New Generations: Lucille Ramirez
PR: Amy Clemens
Community Service: Kimberly Coley
Vocational Service: Tom Putnam
International: Bill Ringer
Future vision: Tom Heath
Secretary and President-Elect: Dana Goba
VP: David Velarde
- Dental clinic: April 19 at the Neighborhood Clinic. Susan Klein-Rothschild is getting lots of calls and interest in this. It will be at 923 East Milpas. The dental hygiene training is Thursday night. There has been a great response. Thank you to volunteers.
- Rotarians at Work Day returns April 27 at Elings Park picnic area. Drainage and path work and weeding. Mark Reinhardt invites all of us to help. Start at 8 AM. Bring gloves, shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows.
- The Group 8 Zoo Day is Friday, May 3, starting at 4 PM. It replaces our May 1 meeting.
- The Golf Tournament, one of our two major fundraisers, will be May 20. Distribute new brochures. We need auction items and golfers. Steve Kally asked members to visit other Rotary Clubs to talk about the golf tournament. We want to encourage teams from other clubs to participate. If one of those foursomes wins, their club will get a $200 donation in addition to other fabulous prizes. Darren Doi announced we need another 50-60 golfers. We have an extra recruitment challenge this year in Tim’s absence. We’re trying to get the equivalent of $1,000 from each member.
- Peace Scholar applications still being accepted. Six universities participating. Applications due May 6 to Janet Napier. They can be found on the RI website.
- The RI Convention is still June 22-26 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Joanne Schoenfeld Orenstein and Scott Burns presented the student of the month award to El Puente student Claudia Lopez. She encouraged members to watch The Real El Puente on You Tube.
- The Rotary Club of Carpinteria Morning hosts its Casino Night on April 20 from 6-10 PM at 700 Linden.
- Tecate fundraiser this weekend.
- Westlake 5k/10k run for global clean water on April 14.
- The Rotary Club of Ventura East celebrates 50 years on May 23 at the Pointsettia Pavillion in Ventura from 6-9 PM. 1960′s theme.
- Pay and tell with sgt at arms Dana Goba.
Program:Andy Doerr introduced speaker Vicki Johnson.
- She shared scams targeting seniors in our community.
- An 84-year-old man was scammed out of more than $4,000 during a phone call supposedly from his son. The story was that the son had been in an accident and hit a diplomat in Canada and needed to pay a bond. She hears a story like this every week.
- Even if you think YOU are too savvy to fall for anything, inform the seniors in your life. And, scammers may be smarter than you when emotions come into play.
- Elder financial abuse is wrongfully taking a senior’s money or property.
- Seniors who have been scammed have a 3 times higher mortality rate.
- It’s extra devastating for the elderly to be scammed because there is no way they can recoup their losses.
- $3 billion annually in U.S. alone. 1 out of 5 seniors has been affected.
- Who’s doing this? Big organized crime groups in other countries. Also, local scams like contractor who just did something f for a neighbor, said they have extra materials and can give you a great price. They pretend to work for a day and disappear with your money.
- The “Beverly Hills of Nigeria” was funded by foreign lotteries and other frauds.
- They put you in panic mode…need to move quick.
- Seniors are extra vulnerable because their brains are betraying them. They may be lonely and open to people being nice to them. Loss of impulse control, loss of ability to make good financial decisions. There is a part of our brain that helps us know when people are lying to us, and that part deteriorates with age.
- A SB woman wired $500,000 to China because she thought her grandson had been in a car accident and needed the money.
- Another scenario is children taking money from their parents.
- Sweetheart scam: Insurance agent befriended 87-year-old woman with caretaker and became her best friend. He isolated her. He gave her advice. He paid her bills. He paid himself $4k a month. He sold her an annuity that wouldn’t kick in until she was more than 100.
- Telemarketing facts: $40 billion lost each year. It’s illegal to play a foreign lottery.
- Alert the seniors in your life. Almost every sweepstakes is fraud.
- Don’t ever ever give anything over the phone.
- Tax-related scams. Don’t give info.
- Protect routers at home.
- In honor of the speaker, 15 dictionaries will be donated to third graders.
Acting President Liz W. called the meeting to order.
Invocation: Sherrie F.
Pledge: Scott B.
Raffle: Steve B.
Guests: Carol Schwyzer, Elizabeth Schwyzer
Visiting Rotarians: none
Announcements:
- District Assembly #2 is in Oxnard on April 13. All members welcome.
- The dental clinic is April 19 at the Neighborhood Clinic. Contact Susan with questions.
- Rotarians at Work Day returns April 27 at Elings Park picnic area. Drainage and path work and weeding.
- The Group 8 Zoo Day is Friday, May 3, starting at 4 PM. It replaces our May 1 meeting.Bring your family, a special friend and potential Rotarians.
- The Golf Tournament, one of our two major fundraisers, will be May 20. Distribute new brochures. We need auction items and golfers. Contact Steve K. with questions.
- Peace Scholar applications still being accepted. Six universities participating. Applications due May 6 to Janet N. They can be found on the RI website.
- Give Joanne program ideas for next year.
- The RI Convention is still late June in Lisbon, Portugal.
- The Rotary Club of Carpinteria Morning hosts its Casino Night on April 20 from 6-10 PM at 700 Linden.
- Tecate fundraiser. Tickets available for April 20 event.
- Westlake 5k/10k run for global clean water on April 14.
- The Rotary Club of Ventura East celebrates 50 years on May 23 at the Pointsettia Pavillion in Ventura from 6-9 PM. 1960s theme.
- Board members, get your club awards info to Julie.
- Rendezvous will be Thursday at Sandbar 514 State Street.
- If you want to help with the step down for our president, contact Joe W.
Program: Elizabeth Schwyzer presents the Group Study Exchange’s trip to Sri Lanka.
- Elizabeth is a writer, teacher and dancer.
- The team was in Sri Lanka for one month.
- Sri Lanka is an island south of India and about the same size as our Rotary district.
- They spent most of the time in Colombo, where many of the Rotary clubs are based.
- The team was Pat McCollum, Levi Palencia, Dr. Brandon Todd and Greg Woodburn.
- The heat and humidity were relentless. That was one of many things they had to adjust to.
- They attended the District Conference, along with our District Governor Frank Ortiz.
- The team members made vocational visits to exchange information with people who practice their same craft. For example, she visited the Sunday Times. She spoke with journalists, dancers and martial artists.
- They visited an Indian elephant orphanage.
- They saw a lot of domestic and wild animals, including monkeys in the cities.
- Manacare village was home to one of many service projects the team visited. At the Center for the Handicapped, they saw production of prosthetic limbs. Limbs are needed because of the past civil war and traffic accidents. Rotary is a primary supporter and founder of these projects.
- Rotary also supports The Foundation of Goodness, which was founded after the 2004 tsunami. It includes a mental health clinic, training centers for trades, education facilities.
- Elizabeth’s favorite part was meeting people,staying in their homes and eating and talking with them.
- The team attended many Rotary meetings. Out of 31 days in he country, they probably gave about 20 presentations. It was a very demanding schedule.
- They met the first lady of Sri Lanka, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, the mayor of Nuwara Eliya (who is very interested in sister cities).
- Learn more: cfhsrilanka.org Mangacare.org.uk Unconditionalcompassion.org
Liz thanked the speaker, telling her 15 dictionaries will be donated to third graders in her name. Thanks to the people who served the club for the meeting.
