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We had a presentation earlier this year from Education Partner with Businesses and they mentioned that they might want some of us to participate in mock interviews with students; the event will be held on February 6^th at Cuesta College if anyone would like to participate.

We passed the bucket to collect money to buy gift cards to give to the neediest members of the Coast Guard in our area. We collected $224.

Nelson Pamplona educated us about the stock market, since he works at Edward Jones. For the past few years we have been seeing a large increase in the market but it has been going the other way for the past few months. The Border Wall, our relationship with China, natural disasters, and other things are causing the sell off at this time. However, this may be a good time to buy, since prices are low. Bonds might be a good option at this time. He will be meeting with a PG&E client on Friday and hopefully will find out more about what they plan to do about Diablo.

The Board will be meeting tomorrow morning here at the View at 7:30.

The Four Way Test essay contest will start on February 1st and has to be done on March 1st. Andrea Turnquist is looking forward to meeting with Del Mar teachers and getting that started.

Melissa gave a Craft Talk; she has been in Rotary for five years and has a Massage business here in Morro Bay. Her grandpa was a member of MB Rotary, and she grew up here. Melissa has been married since 2012 and has a

child Stella, who is a Jr. Rotarian. She had several questions that she asked and answer herself, so that we could get to know her better. She hates it when someone uses the word “Expecially”, because there is no “X” in the word. So, I’m sure we will be ‘expecially’ sure not to use that word when she is President. Her ideal way to spend a weekend is to go camping and just hangout on the beach, with family and friends. She loves dogs and hates cats. She chooses to be an optimist. She is now the General Manager at the Pizza Port, and still will be doing Massage Therapy.

Our “Mystery Guest” was Walter, Jude’s Black lab stuffed animal support dog, who seemed to have a digestion problem. Sometimes Jude “wings it” and sometimes she does “triage”

. She loved being a Librarian and certainly is not the stereotypical librarian as she was known as the “Iron Fist with a Velvet Glove”. She liked being the Reference Person and she loved telling stories to the children. She has lived in Los Osos since 1975. Her husband, Gordon, is getting ready to retire and they are looking forward to being together full time - at least they think they are looking forward to it.

Lynn Sonne/Farmstead Education Program and Member, and Tally Farms will be our program next week, with a box of fresh veggies to auction off.

John Solu’s wife, Joan was named the Citizen of the Year by the Chamber and Kitzman Culligan Water was named Business of the Year. Congratulations to our Rotarians for making such a difference in Morro Bay!!

50/50 was won by Matt Franklin

Notes from our January 8th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jan 11, 2019

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

January 8, 2019

Invocation by Ken Stilts

Pledge to the flag by Doug Riddell

The co-host was Jeff Jones; he called the meeting to order and introduced the team who were with the special guest, Eddy, the K9. Dick Mellinger and Gil Igleheart were here with a presentation about Pawsabilities and the New Life K9’s Service Dog program, headed up by Jack Gould. Guests also included Bob Salamacha, Liz Clarke, Claire Grantham and Neil Farrell; it was also nice to have former Rotarians Brian and Kelly Griffith here today.

Co-host Jeff then introduced our President Jude Long who made special introduction of Rick and Claire Grantham, who are moving to Washington very soon. Rick sh

ared his experience of being a cheerleader - it was a Rotary thing - of course. Then Rick led us in WHOSE HOUSE IS IT? RAMS HOUSE!!! (Although I heard a few other teams in there?). They moved here in 1993 and made many friends over the years; including close friends here in our Rotary club. Our Best Wishes to them in this new chapter in their lives....I know of a very active Rotary Club there (whose president is a former Visalian) that will give them a warm welcome.

This is Rotary Foundation Month so Jude encouraged us to donate $100 to our own local MB Foundation.

Jude introduced Neil Ferrell who is the editor of Bay News which, along with two other local papers, has stopped publication. He is hoping another newspaper will open up again soon. Jeff Jones and Pete Zotovich both thanked him for the work he has done on behalf of the Fire Dept. and the school.

Judy introduced Jack Gould who is with New Life K9s Service Dogs and Pawsabilities for Veterans which helps create awareness of veterans with PTSD. The puppies they buy are taken to the California Men’s Colony where they are trained to become service dogs, by a staff of 24 trainers. They always welcome the help of others by picking up a puppy/

dog on Friday and returning it on Monday, so they can experience life outside the prison. After two years of training, CMC hosts a graduation ceremony to unite the trainer, service dog and veteran. We are encouraged to come to graduation and see what the inmates have been able to do with these K9’s in just two years. It is a very rewarding program for the veteran, the inmate and the K9. Community involvement is critical.

50/50 drawing went to Jeff Jones

Next week’s program will be craft talks by two of our own Club members.....it’s always interesting to learn more about each other.

It’s a Beautiful Day in Morro Bay!!

Notes from our December 11th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Dec 14, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING NOTES

December 11, 2018

President Jude called the meeting to order with an announcement that we have two presentations today - the Morro Bay High School Choir and Michelle Roust with the Winter Bird Festival.

Invocation by Nick

Pledge to the Flag by Dale

Sent around the bucket to collect tips for the wait staff; we’ll be sending it around next week too – bring some extra cash!!!

Next was the Morro Bay High School Choir led by Holly Banfield, who coincidentally was a recipient of one of our scholarships. Holly led them in a nice selection of Christmas carols; we even joined in on

the chorus of Jingle Bells and it sounded quite beautiful. We gave them a standing ovation and a check in the amount of $250.

Chalk one up for the President for being adaptable when we have a surprise...........two presentations on one day!

When Jude wanted to know what record was broken last weekend on the football field; Jeff Jones said there was an attendance record broken in soccer – the original “Futbol”, for which he was fined $20. Actually, it was a football record she was talking about - who knew? Army/Navy game .....Chuck wanted us to know Army won.

Pete brought avocados for sale with proceeds going to our MB Rotary Foundation. He also talked with Max and said he is doing great.

Katherine introduced Michelle Roust, who is the Co-chair of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, which is being held on Jan 18 -21. The Brant geese come to MB to eat the eel grass, which is one of the reasons it is a protected area. They fly like geese and honk like geese but they are smaller. Every Martin Luther King weekend, well over 500 birders visit Morro Bay. We are right on the pacific flyway for birds that are passing on to go south and then pass by again on their way home, so it is a great place to have a Festival. Bird Watching is a National pastime; birding can be quite expensive as “good glass” (binoculars) and travel adds up. Many of the Birders will go to Pacific Wildlife to hold a baby bird and see how the birds are cared for. On average, the Bird Festival will attract over 575 people; many of whom are not from this area. The cost for the entire weekend is only $85. The Festival bazaar will be at the Community Center, where there will be a “Birds of Morro Bay” quilt fundraiser, tee shirts, and other works of art. The Festival works exclusively with local business: restaurants, hotels, winery’s, printers, etc. This is a great area for birds since we have small population, and varied grass lands, estuary etc. The Festival website is morrobaybirdfestival.org. Over 500 people have already signed up for next year. International Audubon Society Bird Count is this Saturday.

Jack Keely won the 50/50

Jude shared a couple of inspirational quotes. “Remember that your natural state is Joy”. Rudyard Kipling “Delight in the little things”.

See you next week with whatever presentation Jude and Judy come up with.

Notes from our December 4th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Dec 06, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

DECEMBER 4, 2018

Meeting called to order by Jude....WE MAKE WAVES!

Invocation by Katherine Gillen

Pledge to the Flag led by Mike Pond

Guests of Rotarians: Our speaker, Melanie Williams-Mahan

Guest Rotarians: Marty and Eric who are members of the SLO Rotary Club. Soon to be member Nelson Pamploma, who will be attending an orientation at Lolos Monday evening.

We have been cleared to be at Albertsons to ring the Salvation Army Bell on Thursday for the next three weeks. Matt still has a couple of openings.

Jude gave special recognition to Don Doubledee for being Santa. Thank you so much to Don and everyone who has helped with the Lighted Boat Parade.

Chief Knuckles mentioned the KSBY stint that we did at the fire station last night. Jude was able to “plug” Rotary and the Lighted Boat Parade. Donations of non-perishable food and unwrapped toys to be used in this community, can be dropped off at the fire station.

Jude had to decide whether to fine the people who went to the fire station or fine those who did not. She decided to fine those who were there, which brought in over $100 in $20 fines.

Chief Knuckles offered to let us use their pop-up for the hot chocolate, coffee and cookies for the Lighted Boat Parade Saturday evening. Dan commented on a couple of people who came to the Santa House and were so happy to see Santa. We could still use Santa’s helpers to be in the Santa House to engage with people and encourage them to come in for a picture.

Received a nice thank you note from the Caroling Cops and Honor Flights; two organizations we provided money to.

Bill Pierce said he found more plush toys for the Caroling Cops to give out, so we are good for this year and part of next. The trolley reservations are full and even have a waiting list. He also said he had “5 IOU’s” from several of us.....I paid mine off!!

Pete brought avocados to sell with money going to the Rotary Foundation. Kathi had surgery three weeks ago today; send her a greeting. She is doing great but is a bit sore.

Birthdays this week......Gary Owens, Lori French, & Casey Watson.

Katheri

ne introduced our speaker, Melanie Williams Mayan, the Executive Director of PET, Partners in Equestrian Therapy, located in Atascadero. This organization works with children and adults with disabilities through equine therapy. Sometimes a child who does not communicate at home or school, will be able to communicate with a horse. Also, children in wheelchairs can have a great time on a horse and it gives them self-confidence, and sometimes even the feeling of being able to walk. The horses want to please and that makes them so accessible. The riders all have side walkers who make sure the horse is comfortable with the situation. They also teach the basics of horsemanship, including an “emergency dismount”, in case the horse gets spooked by something. A child who cannot see can learn to trust by riding on the horse. The PET Foundation is always looking for volunteers and financial gifts. They receive grants from the county every year but also need individual donations. They also work with veterans and “at risk” teens. A fun and informative presentation - thanks Katherine for bringing Melanie to us.

50/50 won by: Ken Stilts which he then donated to Melanie Williams, our speaker.

Next week’s program will be Michelle Roust whose subject will be “Morro Bay Bird Festival”.

Jude’s inspirational quote was, .......well.....inspirational.

Notes from our November 26th Rotary Meeting

Posted on Nov 29, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

NOV 26, 2018

Jude opened the meeting with......... WE MAKE WAVES

Kasey gave the invocation

Santa Don led the Pledge to the Flag

Guests of Rotarians...Dan brought his lovely wife, Linda, and his mother, Brit Sullivan; John Weiss brought Jeff Heller; Judy introduced Doug Garland, our speaker and Brian Shorts who was with him.

Visiting Rotarians: Fred LoBue, who is a member of the Visalia Downtown Rotary.

John Weiss announced that while he did not win in his bid for mayor, he is grateful for the support he received from many of us. He also announced the death of Clyde Ganes, a former member of our Rotary Club. Jeff Jones shared a few thoughts about Clyde and how he would come out when there was a fire, to make sure it was safe for the firemen, and also mentioned his great sense of humor. Mike Pond also talked a few minutes about Clyde and his ability to raise funds for Sri Lanka. John Solu met Clyde in 2002 when he was doing a remodel and was “red tagged” by him, but then Clyde came along, on the weekend no less, to help with his project. Jude had worked for him when she first came to Morro Bay in the early 70’s at Thrifty. His Memorial Service will be Jan 12^th in at the Paso Robles Fair Grounds, more information to follow.

Matt said we still have two slots on the 6th and the 13th for Salvation Army bell ringers at Albertsons and all day the 20th is still open. Let Matt know if you are able to help.

Bill Pierce said in the aftermath of the Camp fire, there are many animals that need to be taken care of by veterinarians. We passed the bucket and collected $304.00 that will be sent to the appropriate organization to help with these unfortunate little critters.

Still looking for a host family for Chiara, from December to February.

Dan Costly made announcements about the Lighted Boat Parade and the Santa House. We have made arrangements to use the space where the Off the Hook restaurant used to be for those who want to spend time during the Lighted Boat Parade in a warm and cozy spot. The cost per ticket is $10 which will get you munchies and comfort; there will also be an open bar if you need a little extra boost of warmth. We still need a few more cookies, which we will be selling along with hot choc and coffee. We need help starting at 4pm on Saturday to set up and also need more help to sell cookies etc. on Saturday night. Right now we are a “go”, but if there are heavy winds etc., we will have to cancel. John Lindsey will help us and keep us informed about that. John Weiss will be our announcer. Thanks to Don Doubledee who looks great and will be a great Santa. We also need a helper for Santa every night, because we will be selling picture frames in the Santa House.

Scott Collins said the MB Fire Department will be hosting KSBY’s Seasons of Hope on Monday Dec 3rd. KSBY will be there filming so we hope many of our club members will be there as well. Join them at the station at about 5:45.

Douglas Garland was our speaker today with the topic of “The Tall Poppy Syndrome”. Doug was a doctor in Orthopedics specializing in spinal cord injuries. Good envy is if your neighbor gets a new car, and you want to work harder so you can get one too. Bad envy is when your neighbor gets a new car, your desire is to key it. He had a lot to say about TPS in many countries as well as in the U.S.; while the Tall Poppy Syndrome is widely known in other countries, it’s a relatively new concept in the U.S. – even though we probably “live” the syndrome more than anywhere else. The main thought is “life is not always fair”....do your best, follow the Rotary Four Way Test, rejoice with those who rejoice, cry with those who are crying and help those in need.

50/50 was won by Jeff Jones.

Jude closed the meeting with Thankful Thoughts Awareness. Be aware of things that are going RIGHT in our lives, from the moment we wake up, if we can see, hear, move, think, etc......then we are truly Blessed. AND ...We live in this wonderful place...check out the waves today!!

Notes from our November 13th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Nov 19, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

November 13^th

Jude opened the meeting....WE MAKE WAVES!!

Melissa gave the Inspirational Moment

Don led us in the Pledge to our Flag

In honor of Mike and Andrea Pond being married 36 years, Mike was fined $36… CONGRATULATIONS!!

John Weiss is going to Reno for a Rotary event...he expressed his thanks to the club for enabling him to participate.

John Weiss and John Headding met last week to discuss the situations going on in Morro Bay and to agree to work together to make this City even better.

Matt Franklin passed around the signup sheet to ring the Salvation Army bell at Albertson's, please contact Matt if you’re able to help; we are responsible for Thursday’s (not including Thanksgiving)

We will have a Lighted Boat Parade Meeting at 11:00 before the next meeting on November 27^th. We still need help serving hot choc etc. the night of the parade. Let Melissa, Jamie or Elsie know if you can help; it’s a really fun and easy way to get involved.

Board of Directors meeting tomorrow at 730am at the Chamber of Commerce Meeting Room.

All our members who had served in the military stood up and told us where they had been stationed. Thank you for Giving your Time in Service of Our Country.

Guests of Rotarians: Judy introduced our speakers for today, Tony Wisneiwski and Jim Murphy, as well as Janice House who is a leader of the HONOR FLIGHT program for SLO County. We also welcomed Janice’s husband, Stan; Jody from Garden House; Elsie’s friend, Cordelia, and John Weiss brought his dad, Dick Weiss.

Last ye

ar, our Club donated $1500 to Honor Flight to sponsor one local veteran to go to Washington D.C. to visit the WWII, Korean, and Vietnam Memorials, as well as other points of interest. The Honor Flight group in SLO County has taken over 240 veterans. They will have a group of 50 men/women on each trip and go three times a year. As applications come in, the most elderly veterans are given priority. Tony and Jim each shared what was the most amazing part of their trip. They said wherever they went, they were treated with love and respect, causing these old vets to choke up. They said the fire trucks spraying water across the tarmac as the plane went through, was very emotional. Janice put out a call for “guardians” to go with someone that doesn’t have a family member to go. Jack Keely was a guardian a couple of years ago and found the experience amazing. They fly American Airlines out of SLO and a couple of times the group has missed the next flight because of delays. When that has happened, American Airlines has arranged for them to go on a chartered flight, so they don’t have to wait in the airport for an available flight.

50/50 won by Heidi and given to Chiara to add to her train trip jar.

DARK NEXT WEEK......HAPPY THANKSGIVING.........SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS.

Doug Garland is the speaker at the next meeting. His topic will be “The Tall Poppy Issue”. (google it, its not about the flower)

Notes from our November 6th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Nov 09, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

November 6

Meeting opened by President Jude with Bill Pierce leading the WE MAKE WAVES cheer.

Invocation by Ken Stilts with a special emphasis on voting and how privileged we are to be in this country

Guest Rotarians: Joel Clay the Manager of the View restaurant; Sherry Sim from Cayucos Rotary.

Guests of Rotarians: Nelson Pamploma, with Edward Jones here for the third time; Elsie’s friend Cordelia, from Orange County; Melissa’s friend, Jillian Montgomery; Judy’s daughter, Jody; and our speaker, Misty Wycoff,

Judy was fined $20 because she was properly dressed in red/white/blue on voting day.

Jude informed us of the death of Katherine Gillen’s mom who passed away last week. Our best goes out to Katherine at this difficult time.

If you are paying your dues in two payments, the 2nd Installment is due this month.

Melissa sent around a clip board signup sheet to open and lock up the Santa House. There will be two more meetings before December 1^st. Next week Terri Bayus will be here ....come to the meeting for the Lighted Boat Parade.....it’s kind of a big deal for our club.

Next week Chiara is bringing Italian cookies to share for a donation to help with her train trip. I’m sure she would appreciate any help we can give her to make this trip possible.

Matt Franklin is in charge of the Salvation Army Bell Ringing signups; come next week prepared to sign up for a one hour shift to ring the bell in front of Albertsons. Our club is responsible for the last Thursday in November and the first two in December. All the money they receive in their bucket here, stays in Morro Bay, so it is a worthwhile thing for us to do.

Daniel Bronstein was here to share his vision for Scouting USA. He wants our Club to Charter an all Girl Boy Scout Troop in Morro Bay. There would be a nominal fee ($100.00) and one representative to be the liaison for the Girl’s Scout Troop. Daniel has been a Rotarian for the past 8 years and a Boy Scout for the past 30 years.

Melissa introduced our speaker, Misty Wycoff providing us with an interesting presentation about the Elephant Seals.....”Bachelors and Harems”. Elephant seals can dive a mile down into the sea and can hold their breath 2 hours. There are 3 distinct seasons - (1) breeding and birthing; .mom has 28 days after her pup is born to pump calories into it. There are approx. 5,200 births a year, after the 28 days, she will breed and will go on her migration, leaving her pup behind. The fertilized egg will attach itself to the mom’s uterus, but will not begin to grow for another three months. (2) The molting season, where they lose all their outer covering once a year. It takes about a month to completely molt. (3) Fall Haul Out when young males come in and practice fasting, and strengthen their muscles on land. None of the seals eat or poop etc. while they are on the beach. The wildlife workers implant GPS devices on them to better keep tract of populations, journeys, etc. The beach in our coastal region is the only land they will ever touch; the rest of their life is spent in the ocean. Forty nine percent of babies survive their migration after they leave here. Wonderful presentation!! Thanks Misty!!

Honor Flight Program is scheduled for next week. Come to this exciting program just in time for Veterans Day.

Notes from our October 30th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Nov 04, 2018

Morro Bay Rotary Club Meeting

October 30, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by: Tom Hay

Pledge to our Flag by: Lorraine

Guests of Rotarians: Katherine Gillen brought her friend, Amber Clark, who is a new Chamber Member and the Manager of the Masterpiece Hotel.

Good to see Rick Grantham, who along with his wife, Claire, and three dogs are moving to Poulsbo, Washington. Claire is recovering from recent back surgery, and Rick has just had hip replacement surgery so they are in great shape to go to Washington where their kids “can take care of them” from now on.

Tonight is a social at the Brickhouse BBQ to meet and greet Chiara and celebrate with Jan on her move back to Visalia.

Elsie was fined $20 for the “Fake News” in last week’s bulletin, where she stated that Chuck Clarke is a Dodgers fan, but in fact, he is a diehard Boston Red Sox fan. Sorry Chuck.

Pete, wearing a Father of the Bride tee shirt, gave a run down of the wedding of his daughter last weekend.

Our speakers, Karen and Claudia with Pacific Wildlife Care thanked us for our gift of lights to them, which was important so the care givers can check on birds without disturbing them. The first animal was Ginger, a female common barn owl. She will have only one or two owlets per year; she eats mice, rats, rabbits etc. It is important that people do not use rat poison since it can be ingested and cause great harm to the birds. They will hunt in an area of 12,000 acres, and they are okay with several of them hunting in one area.

The next guest bird was CORAX, a male common raven. They have had him since he was just a baby bird, the only survivor in a nest of four birds that w

as found on the ground. Ravens will call in the big predators to kill the prey and then they can eat off the same animal. Ravens are very smart and can learn to imitate sounds and words. They are wonderful flyers, fun to watch, and they love to do acrobatics. Ravens have a reputation of coming around when there is death, which has been true sometimes in the past – for example, during the black plague, or executions when they came in after a death to do the cleanup. Pacific Wildlife Care is the only wildlife rehabilitation organization in SLO County licensed by US Fish and Wildlife and every year they provide treatment to between 2,000 and 3,000 birds, land mammals, and reptiles that are injured, orphaned, sick or starving. This is always a great presentation!! Thanks to the Wildlife staff for coming and sharing. Claudia closed with a quote from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”.

50/50 drawing won by Heidi.

Next week’s speaker will be Daniel Bronstein sharing his vision for the Boy Scouts USA.

Notes from our October 23rd Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Oct 25, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

October 23, 2018

President Jude called the meeting to order.....WE MAKE WAVES!!!

Invocation by: Dan Costley

Pledge to the flag led by Pete Z.

Guests of Rotarians: Lynne Enns was here to give flu shots; Melissa brought her friend, Jillian Montgomery; our Rotary Exchange student Chiara; Steve K brought Fire Marshall Matt Viera.

Katherine sent around a signup sheet for the social we are having at Brickhouse BBQ on the 30th of October between 5 and 7 pm. Come meet and greet Chiara and give best wishes to Jan who will be moving to Visalia to open up a candy shop there.

Melissa sent around a signup sheet for the open up and lock up of Santa House during the Winterfest, the details on keys etc. will be forthcoming; and Dan C sent around a sponsor signup for the Lighted Boat Parade. He said we will be roofing and painting the House soon. The Lighted Boat Parade is being held on December 1, 2018.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing is our other holiday project; Matt Franklin is heading it up. Signups will be for 2 hour shifts at the door of Albertsons; look to sign up soon.

Steve Carnes came up to say we are slowly getting geared up for the car show next May. He presented Pres Jude a check in the amount of $7,000 for the work our Club did for the car show this year......good job to all who helped!! What a great fund raiser!!

Melissa was fined $20 for announcing that she is in charge of sponsorship for the car show next year..........??

Greg Hardcastle was fined $20 because he and Gretchen went to France for two weeks; Tom Hay was fined $20 because he was a fan of both teams that are in the World Series; Chuck was fined $20 because he is a fan of the Dodgers; Jan was fined $20 even though her dad, Glen, played for the Red Sox Organization. Mary was fined $20 because she answered one of Jude’s trivia questions; Tom Hay, it seems, was the most knowledgeable baseball fan in our group. Bill Pierce says his left knee is healing but his rotator cuff is not. He bought a white Ford Edge so was fined $20.....regardless of the number of cup holders.

Judy came up and introduced our speaker, John Lindsey, who said he is very proud of the efforts of the Morro Bay residents who stepped up to build the Maritime Museum and who want to bring in an aquarium. He started by explaining El Niño, which we have all heard a lot about. The prediction is that we will have above average temperatures as well as above average rainfall for the next year. He believes the jet stream causes the warm water spots in the ocean. He says it looks like there will be lots of rainfall between Halloween and Thanksgiving, which is great for the firemen who desperately need a break..........It has been a long, hard fire season. In order for a hurricane to flourish, the water needs to be over 80 degrees. Someone asked if his job is in jeopardy because Diablo is closing. He said he will be happy to retire in a couple of years, and there is always something to do. The power plant is not needed like it has been in the past because of solar panels, and more efficient uses of electricity. Diablo has furnished 10% of electricity for the state, and 33% for their service area. Chief Knuckles thanked John for always being available to give information when they are out fighting fires. They will be putting in many weather stations in our area. By Monday we might see gale force winds on the coast line. “So there you Go!!”.

One more prediction from John...........the Red Sox will win the series.

50/50 was won by Steve Carnes.

Next week will be Pacific Wildlife.....always a favorite. Come and see what interesting animal or bird they bring this time.

Notes from our October 16th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Oct 19, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

October 16, 2018

Meeting brought to order by President Jude......WE MAKE WAVES!!

Inspirational Minute by: Melissa

Pledge to the Flag led by: Jan Lewis

Visiting Rotarians: Daniel Bronstein who has been a member of the Pismo Beach / 5 Citites Club.

Guests: Nelson Pamplona from Edward Jones; Erica Crawford, CEO of the MB Chamber of Commerce; Teri Bayus our speaker for today.

Cleaning the shed: Three of our hardy female Rotarians cleaned out the shed; stop by the shed and see if there is anything you could use - it will be open after the meeting today.

Katherine sent around a signup sheet for the BBQ we will be having on October 30^th at Brickhouse Bbq; come any time between 5 and 7pm. We want to welcome Chiara and wish the best to Jan, who is leaving Morro Bay to move to Visalia.

Melissa sent around a request for members to unlock and lock up the Santa House after Santa goes home for the night during Morro Bay’s Winterfest. There is also the opportunity for businesses or individuals to sponsor an evening at the Santa House which includes buying toys for the kids for one evening.

Chiara would like to stay with the host family in SLO until after Thanksgiving. We will need a host family in Morro Bay after that. Do you know anyone who would enjoy having this young lady with them for the rest of the school year?

Erica awarded our Club $5,000 for the work we did during the Avocado/Margarita Festival. Thank you to everyone who worked... it is a great way for us to make money with only one five hour shift each.

Dale Reddell’s birthday was October 14, for which he was fined $20; Jude brought various t-shirts for us to take home if we wanted one...... she got rid of several of them (or should I say, several lucky Rotarians went home with a Christmas Lighted Boat Parade t-shirt).

Teri Bayus was our speaker today and the topic was “Dinner and a Movie”. Teri does many things including writing a food column for the past 17 years; during which time she has had food poisoning 11 times. As a food reviewer, Teri has to be able to eat anything, including bugs, etc., but she has also been sent around the world to eat – a big bonus. Seems like a good job to me!! She says it is a good idea to wait a couple of months before you visit a new restaurant to let them get their menu right, staff informed etc. If you want to be a food column writer, pay special attention to your word count, deadlines, alw

ays double check owners name and address, and ask to tour the kitchen. She always orders appetizers when she reviews a restaurant and likes to take someone else with her to help eat the plates and plates of food. She posts on Yelp, Trip Advisor, dine.com, Chowhound etc. She started a tv show three years ago called Taste Buds which even recently got picked up by Netflix. Teri is a delightful and energetic person and always a good speaker. It would be fun to follow her on her blog...for more about Teri, go to teribayus.com

Pick up a box to mail to the troops. Jude had a few quotes about food.

Next week is Meteorologist John Lindsay .....”I can be totally wrong and still keep my job”.

50/50 won by Ken Stilts

Notes from our Oct 9th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Oct 11, 2018

Morro Bay Rotary Club Meeting

October 9, 2018

President Jude called the meeting to order, and WE MADE WAVES!!!

Invocation by Ken Stilts

Pledge to the Flag by Jack Keely

Visiting Rotarians: Gary and Leslie Vilhauer from Danville, CA.; Andrea Lueker, our speaker today, who was a long time member of our Club and is a member of the

Pismo Rotary Club.

Guests of Rotarians: Mike Williams asked Gary Christiansen to join us, and Chuck brought Liz, his lovely wife (and better half) of 62 years.

Jude and Judy went to the District Conference in Bakersfield.

Jude made a few comments about her football team, how well the quarterback is doing etc. etc....

Tomorrow you are invited to meet at the Rotary Shed at 9:30am to clean it out and possibly have lunch at Mi CASA.

Katherine has planned a social at the Brickhouse BBQ on October 30th to greet Chiara, our exchange student. She is enrolled at MBHS, but lives in SLO – for now. That is not a great situation, so we need to find a host family for her in Morro Bay. They don’t have to be a Rotarian, Mike passed out a flyer with the qualifications.

Heidi said Master PRLS is coming to Oxnard on October 26-28; you’re able to take all the classes in one weekend.

We’re having a Lighted Boat Parade meeting next Tuesday at 11am, prior to our meeting.

Doug Riddel was fined $20 for having a birthday; Pete was fined $37.00 for being married 37 years; and, Heidi has been married 30 years, which got her a $30 fine. Don Doubledee was fined $20 after volunteering his birth date; and Mary was fined $20 for having a birthday last week.

Judy introduced Andrea Lueker and told us a couple of things she knew about her that maybe the rest of us did not know. Judy also said our Recreation Dept was greatly improved when she was Morro Bay City Manager. Gary Christiansen, John Weiss, Carla Wixom, and Mike Pond told special little memories about Andrea. Andrea’s talk was about Port San Luis Harbor District, where she works with a 3.6 million dollar budget. The District owns Avila Beach, Avila Pier and the Port San Luis Lighthouse. They have the only active boat yard in the area. People ask about the Avila Pier, but it is expensive to replace and there is an oil plume to deal with as well. The District has plans to build more RV camping, Glamping, slides, harbor operations, and an infinity pool in the Avila Beach area. They are very interested in obtaining some of the property at Diablo Canyon’s 12,000 acres. Morro Bay has to be dredged by order of the Army Corp, so it is paid for by the Fed. Government, that is not true of Port San Luis so that is one of the expenses of the District. Pirates Cove Beach belongs to the San Luis Harbor District but not the parking lot, or the walkway, just the naked beach (lol…). Thanks to Andrea for bringing this interesting and informative presentation about the Harbor District “Where every day Brings a New Adventure”.

Jude ended the meeting with “amazing” comments and questions from visitors to our National Parks. Sounds like we need to put more emphasis on Geography classes in school.

50/50 won by Gary Owens.

Our speaker next week is Terri Bayus.

Notes from our October 2nd Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Oct 03, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

October 2, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by Katherine

Pledge to the Flag by Rich Riedel

Welcome back to Chuck who has been missing due to some health issues. We love you Chuck, and are glad to see you back!!!

Visiting Rotarians: Steve Peck, formerly from Visalia...now living in Morro Bay

Guests of Rotarians: Melissa brought friends, Morgan Wise and Emily; Tom Hay brought his friend, Larry Burke and our speaker, Van Curaza; Nelson Paloma, a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, MB also visited our Club today.

A card for Claire Grantham, who had recent back surgery, was passed around. Steve Knuckles announced that the Fire Dept. will be giving free flu shots on Sunday, October 28^th from 1–4pm at the Fire Dept.

Scott Collins and Jack Keely were both presented with their yellow badges... a very quick transition for these men - thanks for stepping up and being so active so early in your membership!!

In an effort to get a tad bit organized, some of us cleaned out the Rotary cabinet in the meeting room last week; on Wednesday, October 10^th we will meet at the storage shed to ruthlessly clean it out; we’re hoping to follow this up with lunch at Mi Casa, the Mexican Restaurant in the same parking lot.

Katherine Gillen was formally announced as our President Elect Nominee for the 2020/21 year.

Judy Salamacha sent a picture of Nahayo who we helped with medical school expenses. He is now officially a doctor. What a blessing to be able to help others attain their goals.

Judy also said she and Jude will be going to the District Conference to learn more about Human Trafficking. Jude had Opal’s very informative book with her to sell at a cost of $16.00. Elsie is making tee shirt dresses to sell in the “Million Kids” Etsy shop. Check it out ....jewelry and other handmade things will be sold to help fund this worthy organization.

Vacancy on the Board of Directors - we are in need of an Awards Chair. Please volunteer - Jude will be happy to help you with that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARY!!

A.G. Rotary is having a drawing for a 2017 Ruby Red Mustang; the tickets are $20 with a maximum to sell of 3,000. So far 1800 have been sold......so the odds are pretty good.

Tom

Hay introduced our speaker today, Van Curaza. On October 9^th thru the 15^th we will be welcoming our wounded military heroes to the Central Coast for Operation Surf! Van started by thanking the veterans and first responders. After battling and overcoming addictions in his own life, he was given the opportunity to work with veterans and now has his own organization: ”Amazing Surf Adventures”, which is a non-profit located in Avila Beach. Their mission is to help those in need overcome their challenges through the power of surfing, ocean education, and fellowship. In 2017, they welcomed 15 heroes to the weeklong surf therapy event in Avila Beach and Morro Bay. These veterans come on this all expenses paid “vacation” to learn surfing with world class surf instructors and at the same time, build trust and self confidence. They will be at the Rock in Morro Bay on October 14^th and 15^th. “Operation Surf helped me realize I’m not disabled, I’m just differently abled” said Martin P., an Operation Surf Family Member.

Jude closed with giving Van a “Be the Inspiration” pin. We appreciate his honesty in sharing his life with us.

Our speaker next week will be our own Andrea Lueker, be here for her exciting presentation.

The 50/50 was won by Doug who presented it to Van for his Operation Surf ventures. Jude beat Gary to the punch and told a great story on herself. It was funny!! See you next week!!

Notes from our September 25th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Sep 28, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

September 25, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Inspirational Message by Buddha read by Melissa

Pledge to the Flag led by Ryan

Visiting Rotarians: Ray from Taft; Skip from Lake Oswego, Oregon; and Dan who is from Morro Bay and was a member of the Pismo 5 Cities Club

Visitors: John Weiss brought Jeff Heller who is running for City Council, and Kerrigan, a friend of his.

Crab Feed meeting was held this morning; we need to pick a date and get it on our calendars.

We still need a host family for Chiara, our exchange student from Italy.

Katherine said we are planning an evening social at the Brickhouse BBQ; we will be welcoming Chiara and saying a special good bye to Jan – we will keep you posted on the date.

President Jude said she had been on vacation and really missed all of us. She talked a little about the Trafficking Summit and Opal. She will have copies of Opal’s book, “Seduced” with her next week if someone would like to buy one.

Heidi came late and was fined $20; Ryan reminded us that he works at Pacific Premier Bank and has two children, one born just 2 months ago so we passed the pail to start a fund for her - we collected $109 which will be doubled by Ryan to start a savings account for baby Chloe.

On the 9th, Nick is having a Meet and Greet at the restaurant for John Weiss. Nick was fined $20 - why? John fined Gary Owens $10 - why? I guess because they could…

Jamie Boucher went to Arizona for their 35th Anniversary. It was hot but they had a good time. Congratulations!!

John Weiss was our speaker today....talking about Peace Making within Rotary Clubs. He is the Chairman of this effort within SLO County.

Global Violence costs the world over 14 trillion dollars per year. If we can address the basic needs of individuals, including food, water, education, health care, etc., it will reduce violence throughout the world. Ken Stilts has been to Mexico to give dental care to people in villages where they are so grateful for the help. Our District has a micro-lending project primarily with a focus on women, which is a great program to get people jobs so they can become self sufficient. Rotary feeds the hungry, stocks food banks, encourages youth through exchanges, helps local veterans, supports free health clinics, mediates conflicts, and responds to disasters. Our 72 Rotary Clubs have impacted our community in the amount of $3,500,000. Jeff Jones is going to be our new Peace Chair, which goes hand-in-hand with his position in the Fire Service. Rotary, with 1.2 million members and 35,000 clubs worldwide is in the unique position to do what no government has been able to do. Thank you, John, for informing us about another way Rotary is enriching lives around the world.

50/50 won by Dave Owens who passed it on to Ryan for Chloe

Katherine Gillian is our new President Elect Nominee for the year of 2019/2020.

Tom Hay announced that, in October, wounded veterans will be coming to Morro Bay to surf with Amazing Surf Adventures. He will be our program next Tuesday, speaking on that effort.

Jan Lewis wrote a note of resignation to our Club because she is selling her candy store and moving to Visalia where she will be opening a Sweet Offerings store downtown. Jan, we appreciate all you have done to enrich our club - generously giving of your time, talents and, of course, yummy chocolates. You have been the perfect Mrs. Claus. We will stop in and visit you whenever we are in Visalia.

Notes from our September 11th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Sep 14, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

SEPT 11^th

MEETING called to order by President Jude

Invocation by Tom Hay especially remembering those in our group who have health issues and also a special prayer for our nation as we remember September 11th.

Pledge to the American Flag: Greg Hardcastle....back after having back surgery. Good to see you, Greg!!

Welcome back to Gary Englund who has been traveling for a few months.

Visiting Rotarians: None today

Guests of Rotarians: Firefighters Sam Watson (brand new fulltime Firefighter to Morro Bay) and Michael Kelly (promoted to Engineer Paramedic) brought by Chief Knuckles; Keith Taylor brought by Carla; Jeff Heller brought by John Weiss.

Jamie said we provided the Avo/Marg Festival with “just” enough volunteer hours – we made it by 1 hour and so earned our $5,000 - Yea!!! Thanks to all who gave time and energy to this event.

Mike Pond gave us an update on Chiara, our exchange student from Italy.

This weekend is the Human Trafficking Summit at the Community Center; it’s sold out!!! Also, Friday night is a Meet and Greet at the Inn at Morro Bay from 5:30-7:30pm; its a chance to meet Opal Singleton. We will need help taking things down after the event on Saturday.

We are dark next week because the golf course needs the room for an event. There will be a board meeting Wed morning at the View at 7:30.

Fining time: $20 each to anyone who wore something Rotary, protested by Nick but alas, it didn’t change the fine; Peter Starlings brought a chair to the Avo/Marg Festival so was asked to stand up and tell us about his trip to Kansas, he was fined $20.

Nick Mendoza was presented with a special Rotary Recognition; Ken Casida was given a pin representing PHF’s - four gems; and, Ryan was presented with his permanent badge.

Chief Knuckles and Mike Pond gave our presentation about September 11, 2001. 2996 people died that day; 343 of those were firefighters. An additional 365 fire fighters have died since from effects of that day. Peter Starlings and John Weiss both had family members who were close to being at ‘ground zero” on September 11, 2001. Morro Bay had a prayer time at the center park a couple of days later. It was good for our community to hear from our Fire Chief and others at this time; it was definitely a time of healing. Mike Bonano had moved to Morro Bay from New York ... he lost two co-workers on that day.....and helped our station connect with the firemen in New York.

Mike and S

teve were awarded “Be the Inspiration” pins as a thank you for their Thoughts on 9/11.

50/50 was won by Greg Hardcastle

Remember, next week is DARK......hope to see you on the 25th.

Notes from our August 28th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Aug 28, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

AUGUST 28, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by Melissa

Pledge to the American Flag by Ken Casida

Mike introduced our exchange student, Chiara who is from Italy. He is still looking for a local host family and also drivers to take her back to her home in SLO after school.

There are still tickets available for the Taste of the Grove, Morro Bay’s Premier Food and Wine Tasting Experience, September 7th, the evening before the Avo/Marg Festival.

Katherine mentioned the September Mixer, on Sept. 12^th, which will be at the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, at 2988 N. Main St. There will be bbq sliders and pasta salad, beer and wine and a special speaker from the National Estuary program.

For those volunteering for the Avo/Marg Festival, you will need to check in at the corner of Harbor and Embarcadero where you will get your tee shirt and further directions.

Mike and Jude went to Deepa’s fundraiser Saturday night. The Syrah wine is excellent; if anyone wants to buy a bottle for $30.00 to support Pace Universal, please see Mike.

Next week the new DG, Sandi Schwartz, will be here. There will be an informal Board meeting with her at 11:00 to introduce ourselves. Jude still needs someone to play the guitar for 1/2 hour next Tuesday.

Don and Doug brought Jack Keely to the front to bring him into our club. He has been visiting for the past few months and we are very happy to have him join us. He is a charter member of the Los Osos Rotary Club, and has been in this area for 51 years.

Jordan Ridge, last year’s outgoing exchange student, came up to share about her year in Germany. She stayed with three host families in three different are

as. She said her host families were very kind and welcoming. She went sailing for a week in the Netherlands, and celebrated Oktoberfest in Germany. She also enjoyed skiing and playing in the snow. It was a very positive experience for Jordan, and she had put together a beautiful and informative presentation. She said she is very thankful to our club for the opportunity to go to Germany and surrounding countries.

Si Tenenberg, our special speaker today, was introduced by Doug. Si is responsible for putting together the boxes that Doug brings to Rotary to be mailed to troops overseas. Si has

mailed 20,000 packages (40 to 50 boxes a week), all going to our servicemen and women. He has helped over 400,000 of our combat troops. They also send boxes to the bomb sniffing dogs, and toys and supplies for the Afghani children. We have 50,000 troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Since the end of 2014, when we turned over all the security to the Afghan forces, Taliban strength has grown to 30,000.....we will be there a long time!! We also have 7,000 troops in Africa, which is one of the places the boxes are sent. Thank you Si, for your service to your country and your service to “your boys”.

No 50/50 today.....”someone” forgot to bring the tickets.

The quote today was one from John McCain who passed away earlier this week.

Notes from our August 21st Rotary Meeting

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

August 21, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by: Melissa

Pledge Allegiance to the American Flag led by Doug Riddell

Guest Rotarians: Jill Drexhage

Guests of Rotarians: Terri Bayus, who is the Coordinator for the Lighted Boat Parade, among other things.

There was a Lighted Boat Parade meeting today and there will also be one next week at 11:00. Come and join the committee for this fun event.

DDS Check for $1,040.00 received for a Rotary Grant....thanks, Pete.

Deepa’s wine event this Saturday.....Mike will be going down and if you can’t go, but would like to support Pace Universal, Mike will bring back the wine for you....it is $30.00/bottle

Our new exchange student has arrived from Italy. We hope to have her at a meeting real soon.

Jamie said we have about 34 signed up to help with the Avo/Marg Festival......we still need 50 total. If you have signed up, you should have gotten an email telling you where to go, who to see etc. If you have friends or neighbors who would like to help this community effort, sign them up and bring them with you. Contact Jamie (805) 801-7162

Frank Martinez said Hi and would like to come to a meeting if possible.

Terri Bayus talked about the Central Coast Writers Conference which will be held at Cuesta College on September 27-29. It is a conference with all levels of writing classes.....cost is $250 for the weekend. Sounds like many exciting classes for those who are interested in writing. Terri’s enthusiasm is contagious!

Our speaker, Robert Sachs, was introduced by Michael Shaffran.

His main focus is Ayurveda, which is a system of medicine with historic roots in India. Globalized and Modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of alternative medicine. The purpose of this type of medicine is to keep people healthy and happy. We may unhealthy because of Ignorance (lifestyle of coffee drinking etc.), Attachment (we like what we like) or Aggression (push back or stress). Our lifestyle contributes to 90% of how we feel. Exercise and diet are vitally important as well.....different kinds for different body types etc.

Detoxification......could change your health. Massage, hydro therapies, and acupuncture are also part of the program. The program points out the strong connections between the mind, body and spirit.

Robert and his wife, Melanie, live in Oceano and he has written several books, some of which he brought with him to sell.

Next week will be Si Tenenberg, whose focus is what we can do to support our troops. Si is always an interesting speaker and has greatly improved the lives of our military.

50/50 won by Mike Pond and passed on to the staff at the View. Thanks for your generosity, Mike.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi.

Notes from our August 14th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Aug 15, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

AUGUST 14, 2018

President Jude opened our meeting with a “Welcome to Rotary”; our response was

“We Make Waves”.

Invocation by Ken Stilts

Pledge to the Flag by John Solu

Visiting Rotarians: Mary Ellen and Kathleen from Palm Desert, and it was nice to see Eric Luthi and John Solu whom we have not seen for a while.

Guests of Rotarians: Steve Carnes brought Jeff Heller, who has visited Rotary in the past and is now running for MB City Council.

Thanks to Katherine for the birthday cake for Max’s mom; it was both beautiful and delicious.

Thanks to Chuck for the new laptop computer and accessories; we definitely needed a new one!! We will make sure the 10 year old stuff will be taken to an e-cycle center somewhere.

Katherine read a thank you note from SLONOOR for the $500 we gave them. And Matt read a thank you note from Big Brothers/Big Sisters who we supported in the amount of $250. A HUGE thank you to Heidi for the work she does on these grants.

Judy spoke about the Human Trafficking Summit which will be held in MB on September 15^th. She has posters and she also has tickets to sell.

Tomorrow is the Garden House event.

Maritime Museum will have its Grand Opening on September 29^th.

Mike Pond met the new Italian Exchange Student last night. Hope to have her at our meeting next week.

Deepa’s wine event at her winery will be on August 25^th. Free dinner; it’s a fundraiser through the selling of wine.

Call Jamie and sign up for the Avo/Marg Festival if you haven’t already. We are still in need of many more people to work during this event; you can even bring your family and friends to help us out .

Max’s family gave our club a gift of $300 and we plan to do something special with it. They made it home safe and sound and are home and doing well.

Ken Casida and Chuck Clarke awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship to Andrea Turnquist, who was chosen from one of the Quartets.

Elsie, Lorraine and John were fined $25 each for not giving quick answers in the 5 second test. Actually, it turns out whether we were quick or not, we were still fined.

Liz Moore and Ryan Mammarella were our speakers today. Liz is the MBHS Work-Based Learning Coordinator. Their job is to connect business with education. One of the things they are doing is the “Just 1 Job Fair”. What skills would a student need to be successful at a job interview? Confidence, appearance, how to speak, disclosing who you are, researching the company you are interviewing with are all answers to that question. It’s also important to bring evidence of your knowledge, and communicate well. Seniors probably will not have these skills, so Work Based Learning is very important. Sometimes they ask members in the community to give interviews and then give the student feedback from the interview. Businesses are usually willing to “job shadow” with a student. The Morro Bay High School “Just 1 Fair” is March 19^th, 2019. These students are the face of our community’s future. The entire Junior Class at MBHS is being taken to SLO to go to the “Just 1 Fair”.

Judy, Steve and Scott were next with the five second test.....they all lost the race, and were fined $25.

Next week’s guest is Robert Sachs, Meditation Strategies 4 Happy Living. Better come...we all want to live happy!!

50/50 won by Former Prez Pete.

Quote of the Day: “It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.” Ann Landers

Notes from our August 7th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Aug 08, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

AUGUST 7^th

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by: Heidi

Pledge to the Flag led by Max

Visiting Rotarians: Kathleen and Mary from Palm Desert; Dawn Addis and her family from Los Osos; Leonard with Los Osos Rotary who was peddling raffle tickets; Max with his parents and younger brother; Deepa; and Stella, our Junior Rotarian.

Guests of Rotarians: Emily, with Judy S.; the Browns who also work with Judy on Human Trafficking; Bonnie Jones; Judy’s daughter, Jody; Gary Owens brought his son, Mike; Paige who came with Elsie for the second time.

John Weiss announced that he has filed papers and plans to run for Mayor.

Judy S. and Bonnie Jones will have tickets available for the Human Trafficking Summit today and from now on.

We still need help for the Avo/Marg Festival; let Jamie know if you are available to help. We have about 30 volunteers, we need 50.

Next we gave a birthday gift of a homemade apron to Lawrence, Max’ mom; Katherine G also brought a beautiful cake for her. She said she had never had a cake before; Max’s family spoke in French, translated by Max, thanking our Club so much for everything we have done for his family. They awarded our Club a financial gift to help with all of the things we do. Next Max thanked us very much for all our Club has done for him. Max is a special person, we have all benefited from knowing him and I’m sure we will continue to follow his life. His brother, Clarence is just eight years away from being able to come here as an Exchange Student.

John Weiss introduced Deepa, our very special speaker today. This year’s theme for Rotary International is “Be the Inspiration”. Our world has many problems including poverty and human trafficking. Peace is not just the lack of war. Two million girls are sold each year into human trafficking. On the Central Coast, Human Trafficking is associated with gangs, the hotel industry, and the farming industry. Deepa says if you can get girls into school, you can change the course of a nation. Deepa’s school brings pride, laughter and hope to the girls. They have an After School Enrichment Program. The girls at PACE have an opportunity to write their stories and then act them out in front of the perpetrators. Deepa’s organization has brought in fruit trees, put in sanitation, built roads, and brought in electricity. Why does Deepa have such a passion to help? She wants to Change the Face of Hopelessness and Fear.

Deepa is having a fundraiser at her winery with all proceeds going to support her school for girls. We would like to have as many of us as are able go down to Solvang to support Deepa’s efforts. More details next week.

We awarded Deepa with a check that will cover expenses for two girls in her school. She also brought, and sold, many beautiful handmade pieces of jewelry.

Max leaves about 12 tomorrow. If any of us want to go to the airport to say good bye ....be there at 10:30 in the morning.

50/50 won by Nancy....$26.00......it was passed on to Deepa.

Quote for the day. “Your work is to discover the world and then with all your heart, give yourself to it.” Buddha

Notes from our July 31st Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Aug 01, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

July 31, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by Michael Shaffran, after which we sang a speedy version of “Happy Birthday” to Michael, our best effort ever!!

Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag: Katherine

Rotarian Guests: None today

Guests of Rotarians: Mike Williams introduced Ron Vasconcellos, from North County Adaptive Sports and Rec; Jordan Ridge who was our Outgoing Rotary Exchange student who spent last year in Germany; Kimberly Perez with Pacific Wildlife Care.

Jamie sent around a sign up sheet for the Avo/Marg Festival on September 8^th. We need to sign up 50 people for five hour shifts so we will have enough hours to earn our club $5,000.

Pete announced that on August 5^th, the Zotovich’s and the Kimbrell’s will be hosting a party for Max and his family, who will be going back to France on the 8^th of August. We want to get together to give them a good send off. Pete passed around a sign up sheet so he will know how many to prepare for. Bring your own drinks; food will be provided.

Heidi presented a check in the amount of $800.00 to Kimberly from Pacific Wildlife Care. This check will specifically be used for a video camera to monitor the Sea bird section of their facility. The camera will help keep the birds stress free while they are being watched.

Jamie was next with tips about the Clubrunner. She explained how to get on the website, how much info is on the site, upcoming events, the bulletin each week, etc. She told us how to get logged in for the few of us who have not ever logged in. We are able to get emails, phone numbers and birthdays from our site; as well as update our own information. We can also sign up to attend and buy tickets for the Human Trafficking Summit on Clubrunner.

Mike Williams introduced Ron Vasconcellos, who graduated from Cal Poly with an Engineering degree. He is now working closely with the Kinesiology Dept at Cal Poly to serve individuals with various special needs. They provide adaptive sports, including swimming, to help with building skills, gain self confidence as well as provide social interactions. This non-profit started in 2010 and has done much to enrich the lives of adults with disabilities. A bocce ball court which is used by Cal Poly as well as the Adaptive Sports participants was entirely built by volunteers. Everyone who works in this program is a volunteer from the top down. Basketball, volleyball, bocce ball, aquatics, line dancing (which has turned out to be a favorite), and broom ball are just a few of the activities that are offered. They now have an average of 18 Cal Poly students who help with their programs. Many of these students, including Tom Hay’s daughter Marissa, go on to have careers in this field. Thank you, Ron, for this informative talk. It’s good to know about the wonderful programs going on in our area.

Next week’s program will be Deepa Willingham, speaking about her PACE School and also Human Trafficking.

50/50 was won by Jamie............Well Deserved

Be the Inspiration. ”You can do anything, but you can’t do everything; so Choose Carefully” a quote from a Dove candy wrapper.

Notes from our July 24th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jul 26, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

JULY 24, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by Melissa

Pledge Allegiance to our Flag led by Gary

Guest Rotarians: Nope

Guests of Rotarians: Stella, our Junior Rotarian; Joel Erwin, our guest speaker from Cal Trans.

Upcoming Events: Garden House, August 15^th celebrating Wonder Garden. It is free and will have music and games. Burgers/hot dogs will be available for sale.

Avocado/Margarita Festival....passed around signup sheet. Coming up September 8^th, opportunities to sell tickets, work the bar, attach bracelets, volunteer check in, kids play area and more. Also, we need to go to surrounding towns and Morro Bay businesses to pass out posters. We get credit for everything we do, and with enough volunteer hours, we will receive $5,000 from working this event

Judy also had posters to pass out for SLO County Human Trafficking Summit. You can register on line; Jamie will have more information on registering next week. Deepa will be giving a presentation about this on August 7^th.

We received a nice thank you note from the Assistance League; with the money they received from our Club, they were able to buy clothes and backpacks for two school children.

We sponsored one Veteran to go on the Honor Flight; we also received a thank you note from them for our $1,500 donation.

Pete and Kathi took Max to see his parents in San Francisco. Their plane was delayed 7 hours, but he was very excited to see them. They are all in Yosemite now....

There will be a “meet and greet” with Max and his family on August 5^th at Pete’s house, 4 - 7pm.

Next week Jamie will be showing us all how to use “Clubrunner”.

Jude said that Greg Hardcastle has had back fusion surgery and will be home in a body cast for a while. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Greg and Gretchen.

Gary Owens asked how you get a personalized placemat? The answer is “Come late every week”, so Mike Williams is the special person that gets a special mat.

Lots of birthdays....each fined $10.00, including Ken C, Judy, Mike W, Rich Riedel, and Mike Shaffran

Nick was fined $20 for not knowing what was going on with the fireworks in Morro Bay by the Cloisters last night.

Michael Shaffran introduced the speaker, Joe Erwin who has been with Cal Trans for the past 13 years. Joe went to Cal Poly and lives in Morro Bay with his wife and two sons. He has worked on the Mud Creek Landslide since May of last year. Fifteen acres of land (5 million cubic yards) went onto the road and into the ocean. The road was built back up on top of the mud slide; literally tons of huge rocks were brought in to stop the erosion. The new roadway has been buttressed with a series of embankments, berms, rocks, netting, culverts ad other stabilizing materials. This will have a 54 million dollar price tag by the time it is finished. Very interesting and of interest to all of us; especially Jan since she has a business in Cambria and has already seen an increase in business.

Next week our speaker will be Ron Vasconcellos, North County Adaptive Sports and Rec.

50/50 was drawn by Stella and won by Ken Stilts

Exemption was won by Elsie

Notes from our July 17th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jul 21, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB

July 17, 2018

Meeting called to order by President Jude

Invocation by Ken Stilts

Pledge to the Flag by Steve Carnes

Joke by Jude.....camping/bear jokes....very good and funny.

Visiting Rotarians: Jill Drexhage from SLO who used to be “one of us”

Guests of Rotarians: Paige Wilhite, guest of Elsie; Jack Keely, guest of Doug R (this was his 3^rd meeting and will be brought into the Club soon); Jeff Jones brought his wife, June; Mike Pond introduced Jordan Ridge, our outbound exchange student; Allison from Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Ju Ju, Kasey’s dog who helps out at the Garden House; and Stella, our Junior Rotarian.

Jude announced new members, Chief Greg Allen and Scott Collins, and thanked them for joining our club. Jude said we had a good board retreat at the home of the Casida’s; our board meetings will be the third Wednesday of every month at the View at 7:30.

Jude’s focus for this year will be Human Trafficking and Peace Building (in need of a chairperson for this committee). She said Katherine volunteered to help us with our publicity. As part of Jude’s effort to bring public awareness of all that Rotarians do, she hopes we will wear Rotary apparel whenever we are serving the public.

We are still looking for our box of banners which has disappeared.

Membership letters announcing our annual fees have been mailed; they are very similar to last year except RI fees went up $5.00; our lunch fees remain the same.

Pete gave an update about Max who is now on a train and will be meeting his parents in San Francisco. We hope to have a “meet Max and his parents” social at Pete’s house on the 5th of August.

Avocado/Marg Festival is Saturday, September 8^th; we are in need of volunteers, if we provide 50 volunteers, we will be paid $5,000. Please sign up!!! A signup sheet was passed and will be passed around for the next few weeks.

Mike made an announcement about Deepa...she is having a wine tasting event on August 25 at TRATTORIA GRAPOLLO in Santa Ynez; maybe it can be an August Social?

Mike introduced Jordan Ridge, our outbound student who spent the last school year in Germany. She said the experience was amazing and she will be giving a program at another time. Jordan received one of our $2,000 scholarships awarded to MBHS students. We have another girl arriving in August and we still need a host family. In the meantime, she will be staying in SLO.

Heidi made a presentation to Allison from Big Brothers/Big Sisters in the amount of $250. Allison gave a brief presentation on what they do, including matching older students with elementary school students to meet for an hour a week.

Pete was fined $20 for taking his badge home....but he did bring it back. Judy offered to pay his fine by “Paying it forward”, since she was not fined by Pete for the same offense.

Geo Pecci, who joined twelve other Americans on an unsanctioned tour to North Korea was our speaker today. Their government is similar to that in Russia, China and Japan. We signed a truce with North Korea; not a peace

agreement, so it is the only nation we are still “at war” with. Kim is the world’s youngest leader. If you visit Korea you will get a blue card, but your passport will not be stamped. Geo did not know until the night before whether he would be allowed to get in. They have all Americans stay in a hotel that is on an island. He talked about the Christian Persecution in North Korea, which is the worst in the entire world. He showed a forbidden picture of himself with two soldiers; they don’t allow pictures of poverty or anything that might be bad publicity. The Korean people are not allowed to get close to Christians who are in the country for fear they may be given a bible. He feels that Clinton and Carter are responsible for North Korea having their nukes. China is the “big brother” for them and they want reunification between North and South Korea. There were talks about the “remains” of our servicemen who are still in North Korea being brought home to be buried in America.

50/50 won by Bill Peirce

Next week’s speaker will be Joe Erwin, Project Mgr. Cal Trans - Hwy 1 update. Come and find out what’s going on with Cal Trans.

Notes from our July 10th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jul 21, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING

July 10, 2018

Meeting was called to order by President Jude dressed in her robe and nightcap. She explained that she was not quite used to the idea of having to get up and get herself ready so early.

The Invocation was by Dan Costley

Pledge to the flag by Ken Stilts

Guests: Linda Costley and Chief Allen were brought by Dan; Stella brought Melissa; Doug introduced Jack Keely who has attended 3 Club meetings; Kasey brought her co-worker Jody.

Announcements: Food will be out until 12:15 to accommodate those who come late; we’ll have a special place for Mike Williams so he can always find a seat.

Standing Ovations requested for youth visitors, new members, and special speakers. After the meeting ends, make an effort to connect with those who have been up in front speaking, receiving an award or new members.

Mike said they had a great time at the Blues Game. Blues won and we had a seating area together.....it was quite warm but fun to be together and cheer on the BLUES.

Membership letter has gone out.....if you didn’t get one; let Jude know so that we will have a letter filled out by all members.

Board Retreat will be Saturday the 14th at the Casida’s We need someone who will take notes at our 11 board meetings.

Sherry Sims, Cayucos Rotary President this year and Monica, also from Cayucos Rotary were here to sell tickets for a chance to win a Street Legal Golf Cart. They are selling 390 tickets at $100.00 each.

Pete gave us a few highlights of his “Beemotion” and gave awards to the following members: Michael Shaffran for being the invocation leader, Nick for what he does for International Rotary, and Melissa for being very involved with our youth program. Gary Owens was also recognized for being the Sergeant at Arms for ten years......a job passed on to Mike Pond.

Jude gave the Paul Harris Society Award to John Weiss.

The box with our MB Rotary Banners has disappeared so if anyone knows where it is ....please let us know.

Don said there will be a special orientation for Chief Allen and Jack Keely on Monday night. Today we brought Chief Allen in as a member of our Club. Chief Knuckles introduced Chief Allen who already is so engaged with the community; he is a great addition to our club. Then Chief Allen gave a short synopsis of his life including 35 years on the police force. He loves to go back packing and has three grandchildren he loves to be with. But he said he really loves being engaged with people as he goes about his duties in Morro Bay which will be a great attribute in Rotary as well. We gave him our first standing ovation of the year.

Sherry Sims gave a few words about Toronto and why she loves to go to Rotary International Conventions. She said it is very inspiring and she especially liked the speech on literacy by Former First Lady Laura Bush.

Jude said we should sign up now to go to the Convention next year in Hamburg. Sounds like a great time to spend with other Rotarians.

Next week our program will be presented by Geo Pecci who has been to North Korea several times.

Stella pulled the lucky 50/50 winner who was Jack Keely.

Jude said Goodbye to Pete, but we will continue to see him at Rotary and all events. Thanks, Pete, for all you did to make your year fun and successful.

Notes from our June 26th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jun 29, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING

June 26, 2018

Meeting was called to order by Prez Pete - this is Pete's last meeting as our President!!! Thanks for such a wonderful year Pete!!!

Invocation by Judy - words of wisdom by Andy Rooney

Pledge to the Flag of the USA led by Scott Collins

Four Way Test recited by all

Joke by Pete....a Rotary joke...

Guests of Rotarians: Kasey brought Jody, our Junior Rotarian Stella was here with her mom, Scott Collins, Greg Allen, Doug Garland from Shell Beach, Honor Flight representative Janice House and Kathi Zotovich.

Passed around the tip jar for donations to the staff at the View

SLO BLUES Baseball game tickets; buy one for $10.00; will be a fun night; Sunday, July 8^th

Jude is having a good and informative time but is also looking forward to getting back. Jude’s first meeting as President will be July 10th when she will talk about her time in Toronto.

Anyone wanting to help decorate the float for the 4th of July parade; gather in Cayucos on the day before. Pete will send around an informative email in the next day or two.

Heidi gave a check in the amount of $1500 to Janice House with Honor Flights. This organization arranges to take veterans to Washington D.C. to see the war memorials at no cost to them. They are in need of guardians to accompany the veterans on this life changing trip.

Don D

oubledee introduced Scott Collins, the MB City Manager, who is as of today, a member of our club. He went to Lolos last night for orientation to learn more about what Rotary is and what is expected of him as a member. Scott received a pin and a packet and thanked us for inviting him to join our club. He told us a little about his past history, his job and his family.

Pete introduced our program speaker, Bryan Schwartz, who emceed our program today. We played a game of “Hot Seat” with Pete. Pete asked several members questions starting with Steve Knuckles -”where do you see yourself in five years”. Next Scott Collins - “what will it say on your tombstone”. Lorraine’s question was “Why did you join Rotary”? Gary Owens question was “How many years have you been in Rotary?”

Now it was time to ask Pete questions starting with his lovely wife, Kathi, whose question to Pete was “What is a little known fact about you that you would like to share”? Mary was next - “Who would you consider to be the boss of your family?” was her question. Scott’s question was “Did you ever get in a fight with one of your students?” Tom Hay had a question as well “what happened to the printing program that used to be in high schools”? Michael Shaffran was next with a question about the Indianapolis 500. Heidi asked “What do you and the Academy Awards have in common?” Don Doubledee asked Pete “How long have you been keeping bees? And how many times have you been stung?” Heidi asked about Pete’s family....in addition to the bees, cats and dogs. Mike asked where he met his wife and where did they go on their first date? Jamie asked Pete “Do you have any Trekkie costumes? I don’t have room for all the answers ......you just had to be there. It was a really fun meeting!!!

Jamie won the 50/50....Hope to see everyone on Friday night at the View at 5:30 for Pete’s BEEMOTION.

The question is not “who will let me...the question is who can stop me”.

Notes from our June 19th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jun 20, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING

June 19, 2018

Meeting called to order by Prez Pete

Invocation by Michael Shaffran

Pledge to the Flag by all

Joke by Pete.......how to name our kids ....Very Funny

Visiting Rotarians: Joyce & Clyde Ganes and Dannie Tope all from the Paso Robles Rotary Club.

Visiting Guests: Judy’s daughter and Kasey’s employee, Jody

Assistance League Representative, Charlene

Scott Collins brought by Chief Knuckles

Brian Schwartz, our special speaker

John Weiss thanked our Club for all the support; he had a fun Step Down, with several of our Club members present. Mike gave him a special thank you and we gave him a standing ovation. He also mentioned several special awards that were given out at the Step Down.

Jude Minute: Mentioned the Chamber Mixer which will be at the View Wednesday evening. She continued with the auction of the honor of throwing out the first pitch at our BLUES game. The bid was at $40.00 last week and since there was not a higher bid, Lorraine got it at that price. This year our Club received the Gold Club of Distinction Award.

Mike Williams mentioned his Annual BBQ for Project Surf Camp on Friday, June 29th which will start at noon and goes til 4pm. His goal is to raise $6,000 this year; so come on out and enjoy lunch and buy a bunch of raffle tickets to raise money for a worthy cause.

Also on the 29th we will have Pete’s “Beemotion”. A fun evening to thank and razz Pete for his year as our President. If you haven’t signed up, check your calendar and we will give you another chance next week; or email Elsie or Jamie to say you can come!!!

Our Rotary Exchange student from Italy will be arriving in August. Mike has the first host family lined up but is looking for others. Also Mike has SLO BLUES Baseball tickets to sell; buy some and enjoy the evening as well as help out our club’s fund raising efforts.

Judy mentioned the brick selling fundraising efforts for the Maritime Museum; the deadline to purchase is July 5th for the first set of bricks which will be set in the front of the building.

Heidi presented a check from our Club in the amount of $250 to Charlene with the Assistance League. The Assistance League buys new clothes and shoes for children in this county. The students are able to go to the store and pick out their own clothes. It is an all volunteer organization making a big difference in these kid’s lives.

Fines - Judy was recognized for being married 46 years; Chuck Clark was fined for not having the correct answer to a question taken from the Rotarian; Don Doubledee was fined $32; Jamie got her question right; Jeff did not know how many trees were planted this year – 1.2 million and was fined $30; Heidi took Max down to the train station to go on his U.S. trip, but was fined $20 anyway; Bill Pierce was fined $20.

Judy introduced our speaker, Brian, Schwartz who has been entertaining at the Wine Seller once a month – along with his Ukulele group. He shared with us the struggles he has gone through in the past few years. He said one of the best things about the Centra

l Coast is the Community here. When you step up and join things within the community; it becomes much more your home. His recipe for Health and Happiness is writing, yoga/meditation, and Ukulele playing. Surprisingly, there are several groups of Ukulele players here on the Central Coast. He played a couple of songs for us, and will be back next week to put “Pete in the Hot Seat”; it’ll be a fun day, be sure to come.......

Pete will ask questions from the Rotarian next week ....so read your Rotarian magazine.

Jamie won the 50/50.

Enjoy your week.....see you next Tuesday or at the Chamber Mixer on Wednesday evening.

Notes from our June 12th Rotary Meeting

Posted by Elsie Casida on Jun 14, 2018

MORRO BAY ROTARY MEETING

June 12, 2018

Meeting called to order by: Prez Pete

Invocation: Melissa

Pledge to the Flag: Katherine

Visiting Rotarians: Dan Dow, SLO Rotary

Mike Williams gave an announcement about Project Surf Camp fundraiser on June 29^th - his annual BBQ Potluck and Blood Drive; it’s being held from noon to 4pm at SLO Sports Therapy. There will be an opportunity to buy raffle tickets to win great prizes.

Katherine told us about the June Chamber Mixer - right here at the golf course Wednesday, June 20^th from 5:30 - 7:30pm. It will be fun!! And there will be food!!

Three individuals have filled out applications to become members of our club...Police Chief Greg Allen, sponsored by Steve Knuckles; City Manager Scott Collins, sponsored by John Weiss; and Jack Keely, sponsored by Doug Riddell.

Chuck Clark brought proof concerning his talk last week; although I don’t think anyone accused him of giving us Fake News.

Jude Minute: We will be selling tickets for the SLO BLUES BASEBALL game - everyone buy a $10 ticket or several - It’ll be a fun night and it’s a fundraiser!! Jude tried to auction of the opportunity to throw the first pitch; she got an offer of $40 - to be continued - bring money with you next week if you want this once in a lifetime opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a BLUES game.

Heidi came up to award $250 to Circle of Friends, a non-profit who feeds the homeless and $500 to The Noor Clinic; an organization that gives free medical, dental and vision work for those uninsured and in need. That is just two of the many community grant awards given out by our Club this year.

Doug brought boxes that need to be mailed.

The square board is back up today so buy a square for $10 for the opportunity to win a PHF.

Max was our next speaker. He showed slides from the beginning of his journey to the U.S.A. until the present time. He boarded the plane in his blue blazer with no pins on it; now his entire jacket is covered with souvenir tags from everywhere he has been. He has loved his time in the USA with “MumZ and DadZ” and Heidi, Noah and their family. Morro Bay is the “California Dream” and part of that “dream” was going surfing for the first time. He joined the water polo team and the baseball teams at MBHS. We gave him a standing ovation.

Next, Judy introduced Beth Raub from Victim Witness program. District Attorney, Dan Dow started the SLO Task Force to stop Human Trafficking. There is labor and sex trafficking, which are both financially driven, the average age is between 19 and 21 years old. In SLO County we have had 8 cases that have been prosecuted. Be aware of “Red Flags” that may show up when you go into a business, or if you own a business that deals with the public. Traffickers may pose as spouse, partner, or employer, and they may answer all questions, and confiscate all ID’s etc. Put this number in your phone 888-373-7888; you may need it if you see something you feel needs to be reported. Or call your local Police Dept. and report your suspicions. Join with Rotarians who have taken up the cause, including our own Rotary Club. Plan to come to the Human Trafficking Summit, September 15^th at the Morro Bay Community Center.

50/50 won by Don Doubledee

Next week’s speaker is Pete Schwartz

Connecting the world

After the storm

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Rotary honors UK Prime Minister Theresa May

5 reasons to give to Rotary on Giving Tuesday 2018

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Morro Bay Golf Course

Jan 22, 2019
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Dr. Jill Stearns, Cuesta College President
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Jan 29, 2019
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
SLO Film Festival, Chris Aho, Development Director
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Craft Talks
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11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Historic Fremont Entertainment Ctr, Bruce Howard
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Feb 19, 2019
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Rotary Board Meeting
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Feb 20, 2019 7:30 AM
Police Chief, Jody Cox
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Feb 26, 2019
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Climate Change Reality - Paul Deis
Morro Bay Golf Course

Mar 05, 2019
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Craft Talks
Morro Bay Golf Course

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11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Morro Bay Outlook - Mayor John Headding
Morro Bay Golf Course

Mar 19, 2019
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM