It’s been an interesting few months at the club. We have had a flurry of new members and I want to welcome them all in as Rotarians. I look forward to watching all the great things they will be doing going forward.
A few things to mention: The Clergy panel was very successful and powerful and I wanted to thank Anna Sakvarelidze, Ron Supancic and Sandy Rosenholz for working so hard in making this a successful event. Special thanks goes out to Anna’s husband Julian who worked really hard in setting up and breaking down the room. My intent is to continue to grow the event and expand the participation.
Having Henry Oster a Holocaust survivors speak at our club for Holocaust Memorial Day was an honor and it is important that we continue to memorialize that horrific time in the worlds history. (see story and photos below)
As most of you know we are partnering with the Calabasas club this year for our Poker & Casino fundraiser on June 3rd at the Canyon Club in Agoura. We all like to do projects and many of us come to the club for funding of their projects and favorite causes. Needless to say the money does not grow on a Rotary Tree, we need to fund raise. Quite frankly, I have an expectation that every club member do their part in a way that they can. There are multiple ways for club members to help. Buy tickets and attend the event, buy tickets for friends and family, help sell tickets, buy sponsorships, donate auction items and help spread the word. This is the opportunity for each and every club member to be a giver. We are 5 weeks away from the event so let’s get to work! (see information below)
Yours in Rotary service,
Paul
Bringing Peace to Our Community
by Ron Supancic
"Somewhere within us all exists a supreme Self who is eternally at peace."
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
At the April 17 Peace Committee meeting the Bill Eddy method of high conflict problem solving was revisited. There was discussion of the tactics, techniques, and steps that are necessary in separating people from the problem. It is best to focus on issues, minimizing conflict, stimulating conversation, and provoking solutions that end conflict.
Members of the Peace Committee are encouraged to share incidents, events, and opportunities for using the tools from their Peace Maker Tool Kit. The kit is being developed by the United States Institute of Peace coordination with the United Nations Mediation Support Unit and in collaboration with a number of other mediation institutes and experts. The toolkit will include a series of "best practices" on key aspects of mediation and peacemaking.
During Ramadan, between May 15 and June 15, there will be a dinner with the Muslim community. A Peace March will be held in West Hills on Valley Circle, from St. Bernadine’s Catholic Church to Temple Alia and ending at the mosque in Woodland Hills across the street from El Camino High School. The Peace March Committee will be meet at 6 p.m. on April 30 to discuss the event.
The club has 10 Buddy Benches ordered and three schools are confirmed. Seven additional schools to be confirmed. The process starts with locating decision makers the selected schools and sending a congratulatory letter to them. A meeting is scheduled with the decision-maker, faculty, and student council to talk about any objections or concerns. It is vital that we establish an installation date, which should be an event in which we invite the media so that the community is informed of Buddy Benches and their purpose.
Buddy Bench coordinators included Sheri with Pacific Boys Lodge, Jeff Stern with Reseda Elementary and Serrania Charter, and Ava Teherani with Willow Elementary and Lupin Hill Elementary and A.E. Wright Middle School. Other places being considered are Viewpoint, Fulbright Elementary, Woodland Hills Elementary West Valley Girls and Boys Club and New Directions for Youth.
The club's first Buddy Bench.
Casino Night Volunteers Are Needed
Auction prep - put together auction baskets and other items, make bid sheets, create master list of items for tracking and close out
Auction set up - On the day of the event, set up auction items and bid sheets at the venue
Auction monitoring and close out - Monitor auction tables through out the event, pick up bid sheets at the end of the auction, assist with collection of funds and delivery of auction items to successful bidders
Venue set up - One the day of the event, set up and decorate prior to the start of the event
Check in table - Check in guests and provide instruction/direction on the night of the event
Your name, email address, phone number and the area(s) you are available to help.
Please indicate if you will be able to help on the day of the event. Remember, if you are playing poker or casino games, you need to tell me that so we won't be counting on you to help during those hours.
(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
Stories
Braille Institute Party
For the past 45 years Rotarians have provided support for the Braille Institute Student Holiday Party. This year, they will once again host two Holiday Parties during one week. The scheduled dates are Tuesday, December 12 and Wednesday, December 13, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. -12:00 noon. The theme for this year’s celebration is… “The Soulful 70’s!”
There will be petite appetizers and entertainment provided by the Braille Institute staff and they would love it if you could be a part of the festivities. Please choose which day you would like to attend, and let us know at your earliest convenience. We are asking that you arrive at 9 a.m. for a short briefing of the day’s activities which begin promptly at 10 a.m. We would love to have 20-25 Rotarian volunteers to assist us on each day of the Holiday Party.
Rotarian duties will be to Seat, Serve, and Socialize with the students.
Braille Institute is located at 741 N. Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles at the corner of Vermont and Melrose, There is free underground parking off New Hampshire Street.
Please RSVP to Rotarian, Jim Miceli by Monday, December 4, 2017 regarding your club’s interest in joining us for our Student Holiday Party, by calling Jim at 818-763-5693, or by sending an email toJimMiceli@aol.com.
We appreciate your continued support of Braille Institute. The donations you have provided through the years have greatly benefited our organization, and we hope you will find it in your hearts to continue this support. We look forward to seeing you soon.
It’s the Holiday Season … so allow me to be the first to say…Happy Holidays from Braille Institute!
Posted by Dana Sherman
Fleet Street and Angel City Celebration THANK YOU all for enabling Fleet Street to participate today. I am not sure who had more fun....the kids or the Fleet Street volunteers. Certainly, the volunteers had a positive experience. Bette, please thank Sally for me. The best thing about Sally helping us is that, unlike the rest of the Fleet Street volunteers, she doesn't spend the entire day looking for opportunities to make smart axx remarks to me :)
I estimate based upon the number of activity forms completed that we positively affected about 500 kids. And the kids and their parents learned a little about bike helmets and bike sizes, Franklin Roosevelt, and polio and Rotary (and also World War III). (it is hard for me to pass up a teaching opportunity).* In total, we distributed 25 bikes and helmets. The seven bikes that remained Steve took to another community based event that was this evening from 4:00 until 9:00 p.m.
Season's Greetings to You All,
Dana Sherman
* The $5 multiple choice question was: Franklin Roosevelt was President during which major war?
A. The War of the Roses
B. The War on Poverty
C. World War I
D. World War II
E. World War III
The predominate response was World War III.....what a country !
Fantasy Flights
On December 2 Dale Barnes and Jill Mellman participated in the annual Fantasy Flight program. On the historic flights children and their familes and volunteers took a real 777-200 airliner to the North Pole. On the journey the children meet elves, clowns and many other specially appointed Santa's helpers in route to our final destination, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus at the North Pole.
Fantasy Flights began in 1992 at Washington DC’s Dulles Airport with the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, for terminally ill children. The children wished to tour the airport and to fly on a plane. Therefore, employees of the Dulles Airport conjured up a plan and decided that Christmas would be a wonderful time to grant them their wish. The Fantasy Flight program instantly grew from one airport location to forty-six domestic/ international locations. Over three-thousand young children attend this event at various airport locations. LAX began their magic in 1993. The children are referred from many different social service organizations.
Participants included the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, the Children’s Hospital, Department of Family and Children Protective Services, South Bay Vocational Center, and various social service establishments for youths.
Holocaust Survivor Henry Oster
At the April 11 meeting Henry Oster told his compelling, inspiring life story, battling prejudice and the politics of fear as a Holocaust survivor. As a young German boy he survived deprivation in the Lodz Ghetto, a life-or-death selection in the Birkenau extermination camp, a firing squad in Auschwitz, being strafed by an Allied fighter, and starvation in Buchenwald. Henry rebuilt his life in America, arriving at 18 with no family, no English, no money and no education. Of 2,011 Jews uprooted from Cologne, Germany in 1941, he is the only survivor. Henry was still working as a world-respected Professor of Optometry on his 89th birthday, helping the world to see.
Michael Turner ► editor ► bearsworth@earthlink.net
P.O. Box 144 ► Woodland Hills, CA 91365 ► (818) 344-5776