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Crow’s Call for June 21, 2018 By: Tom Port It was Lucky’s last day to preside over our meeting as Club President.
As always we were reminded that Mr. Ian Riseley of Australia is Rotary International President and that our motto, until July 1, is: “Rotary Making a Difference”. Barry Rassin, of the Rotary Club of East Nassau, Bahamas will be the incoming President on July 1. His theme is “Be the Inspiration!” Greeter Dennis Harvey offered some words of wisdom: “Happiness depends on how you look at it”. “Enjoy life” “Families are important”. The Patriotic Song, led by Don Jones and Mike Thelen, was the well known “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee I Sing”. Guests: Lucky Introduced a number of guests: Mr. Venkatramana was visiting us from the Rotary Club of Madras, India, Northwest (Dist. 3232). He said their club does a lot of work in education and in health care in their area. Also, we learned his granddaughter attends elementary school in the San Ramon Valley as was recently presented with a dictionary by one of our members. Ben Adhikari, a partner of Lucky’s, noted his disappointment that Lucky was being let go after only one year of service. Ben brought along some interns and employees : Natalie, who is on her Way to U. of Wash, and Patrick who also attended business school. Also, Enrique St. Martin of Peru. Recognitions: Don Jones for Cynthia’ birthday; Barry Toby and Cindy for their anniversary; Tom Port and Judy Thomas’s 20th Anniversary, Steve Wilcox’s birthday and perhaps one other. Lucky’s Last Board Meeting: Barry Toby and Glen Weber assisted in revamping our by laws, a much overdue project. John Millich will soon take over, though he is now at the Rotary International Convention. Jerry Marrs and Chris Gayler were welcomed as new 2018/1019 Board Members. The R.I. Convention for 2019 will be in Hamburg Germany. If you want a much reduced rate you need to sign up ASAP. PROGRAM: The new head of the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation, Vanessa Berastain, gave an interesting and thorough visual presentation of the activities of the Foundation. Preceding her appointment to the post Vanessa had been, and remains, a long time resident of the valley. Some 23 years. The Foundation is the main fund raising arm for 32,000 students and 35 school affiliates. It raises over 8 million dollars every year for the support of education in the valley. Besides fundraising, the goal is to promote an innovating learning experience, and to raise student achievement, although the SRV school already rank very high in that regard. It also seeks to build a sense of community. The Foundation provides mentoring to affiliates to help assure transparency, and assists with business matters such as finding affordable insurance. The annual Primo’s Run for Education will be Oct 14 this year. They expect 9000 participants and will rely on 700 volunteers to handle it. There will also be a “Mini Run” for kids as well as a “Friendship Run” which will be tailored to kids with special needs. There will also be a “Health and Wellness Expo” Vanessa went on to describe a new Foundation program. “Imagineering”. This will involve courses taught by S. R. Valley’s own teachers. The goal is to promote interest in science and technology with subjects such as 3D printing; Cyber security; anthropology; cosmetic chemistry; culinary science and food technology; computing with Rasberry Pi, and zoology. The Foundation’s Teacher Grant Program assists teachers financially with necessary teaching expenses that are not provided from other sources. The Foundation is planning a “Night with The Stars” to honor and recognize individuals at the various affiliates. Finally, Vanessa noted the our Cubs “Auction for Education is their biggest donor and is very much appreciated. This year it will be held Nov. 1 to Nov. 9. In appreciation for her talk Lucky presented Vanessa with a donation for the San Ramon library. RaffleL Ed Duarte won the Greeter’s Gift and also won the Progressive for a chance to win $180. However he drew a blue ball. Next Week’s Program: The Bolivia water project. |
