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Monthly newsletter from Rotary District 5280 (Los Angeles area)
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5280 Monthly District Newsletter
September 2011
Governor Brad’s Message
Brad
N ew Generations Service
recognizes the positive change
implemented by youth and young adults
through leadership development
activities, involvement in community
and international service projects, and
exchange programs that enrich and
foster world peace and cultural
understanding. September is New
Generations Month, and we are putting
special emphasis on youth this year.
With the help of our SAG of New
Generations, Jaimee Sul, our events
will be ―family friendly,‖ with special
emphasis on youth projects and
programs. Our District Picnic is coming
up on the first Sunday in October
(October 2nd), and this is always great
fun for the entire family. Chair Wendy
Clifford has a great day planned for all
of us including our annual boat races,
plenty of food and entertainment too.
It is not too early to begin your plans
for RYLA. We will be back at Lake
Arrowhead this year and Chair Elyse
Beardsley and Co-Chair Joe Harding
are already hard at work organizing the
activities for the event. Students will
participate in a jam packed, three-day
leadership seminar. Find out more by
visiting New Generations on our web page
and clicking on the RYLA link.
On November 6, we will have our
Foundation Celebration at Circus Vargas
at the Del Amo mall. This is another
event where Rotarians are encouraged to
bring their families. Chair Jerrie Heslov
has been working on this event for over
a year now, and we will have the entire
tent to ourselves for the first show. You
can order event ticket books by contacting
your Club President or by clicking on the
Celebration link at the right side of our
web site (and don’t forget to order your
drawing tickets to support The Rotary
Foundation). I have offered a special
challenge to our District this year. If we
sell 1,000 event tickets and 1,300 drawing
ticket books, I will perform a trapeze act
during the Circus Vargas show.
There will be several other youth related
events during the year, but special
mention should be made of our District
Conference because our Rotaractors will
be partnering with the San Diego
Rotaractors on a project that we will all
visit as part of the conference. Chair
Elsa Gillham and Co-Chair Rick Searey
have developed a great agenda for us
and you will be hearing more about this
in the next few weeks.
As you can see, we have many youth
oriented activities planned for the year.
We don’t have room here to list
everything, but we encourage you to
support the youth activities in your Club
and in the District. Supporting our youth
and the New Generations Avenue of
Service is our investment in the future.
Let’s help build that future today with
your support.
September - New Generations Month
W e are not
clowning
around when we
say that the Foundation Celebration is
important to the Annual Giving of District
5280. This year’s special event is fun and
entertaining.
Everyone who knows the governor, knows
his love for the trapeze. Now we get to
share that joy with him. Fill the tent and
see you at the circus!
Congratulations and thank you to the
many clubs who mentor, sponsor, lead
and, yes, follow these young people in New
Generations, the Fifth avenue of Service.
This month we have a new font and new
layout hoping both make the newsletter
easier to read. Thanks to the example of
Palos Verdes Peninsula and Bulletin
Editor Christine Barnicki.
We have so many articles that we are
preparing a bonus newsletter issue from
what we could not include this month and
last. Keep those club bulletins, stories and
pictures coming!
Carmela Raack
District Newsletter Editor 2011-12
. . . From the
Editor District Breakfast
O ur next District Breakfast is
set for Tuesday, September
27th at the Weston LAX Hotel, 5400
Century Blvd., Los Angeles, 7:00—
9:00 am. Free parking.
Our speaker will be Val Zavala,
KCET Anchor and Vice President for
News and Public Affairs. District
Breakfast Chair Jim Dyer states that
Val’s topics will include community
television, the role of media, and
KCET looking forward. She will also
touch on her view of the expanding
role how NGOs like Rotary are
changing the world.
Cover: Youth Exchange Students
enjoyed the 14th Train Trip around the United States. Story page 10.
SEPTEMBER
01 Giving Thanks Food Drive 9/1—11/12
17 Rotaract Beach Bonfire for Everyone!
27 District Breakfast
OCTOBER
02 District Family Picnic
03 Presidents’ Dinner
09 District Youth Conference
15-16 Rotaract Big West Convention
21-23 Multidistrict Interact Symposium
24 World Polio Day
24-28 Pennies for Polio Collections
25 Ethics Forum
NOVEMBER
01-07 World Interact Week
06 Foundation Celebration
12 ―Rotary Got Talent‖ Show
16 Presidents’ Dinner
TBA RCA Meeting—Toy Collection
DECEMBER
17 Giving Thanks—Food Packing
JANUARY
10 District Breakfast
Backpack and School Supply
Collection for Homeless Students
25 Presidents’ Dinner
FEBRUARY
05 Chinese New Year Parade
08-13 District Trip Puerto Rico
MARCH
17 Rotary Day of Service
BIGGEST FUNDRAISER
of the Year!
27th Foundation Celebration
Circus Vargas
Sunday, November 6, 2011, 11:00 AM
Admission Tickets may be ordered from your Club President or with a credit card at
www.rotary5280.org
Drawing Tickets are available from your President or Foundation Chair.
Credit card payment may be made at
www.Rotary.org. Copy the receipt with your ticket stubs.
Jerrie Heslov, Chair
Circus Fun,
Lunch, Big Tent Snacks,
Surprises, Laughs,
Be Astonished and Thrilled
Live Auction and Drawing Tickets
Have a Great Time While Contributing to
The Rotary Foundation
Be at the District Breakfast for three
special Early Bird Drawings of the
Foundation Celebration Drawing Tickets.
Payment and Foundation Donor forms are
needed with the drawing stubs.
Annual Foundation Celebration
Focus on New Generations
I t’s September and you know
what that means. It is New
Generations Month! It means it’s
time to take a look at our club’s
newest venue of Service, New
Generations, figure out what MORE
we can do to vamp up our club’s
energy and bring down the average
age at the same time. Let’s Reach
Within to Embrace Humanity!
Last year, our clubs in District 5280
set the record in establishing
Youthact and Interact Clubs all
around our community. It is now
time to create and execute fun and
interactive service projects and
incorporate youth clubs and Rotary
clubs together to Service Above Self,
New Generations style.
We have so many wonderful events
and fun activities planned throughout
the year. Some that will change lives
and some that will change the way
we think – hopefully some that will
make us better people while making
friends everywhere. To help us, we
have our leadership teams set up,
ready to go.
Leading Team Interact is Jenna
Hoover, District Interact
Representative and her amazing
members of the District Interact
Board. We have our purple District
Interact shirts and are ready to hit
the pavement! Then Team Rotaract
has Jonathan Keisner at the
helm…a quiet storm but ready to
rock and roll when the time is right!
He has a group of amazing young
adults who are full of energy, ideas,
passion and the mind set of true
team work.
With these future Rotarians leading
our year, join us as we embrace
what is ahead of our Rotary New
Generations adventure. To find out
more, just ask any one of us below!
New Generations Advisor
Olivia Patterson
Interact Advisor Jeremy Brown
Rotaract Advisor Christina Chan
See you at the District Picnic, we’ll be
the ones in charge of the fun games!!
Senior Assistant Governor
Jaimee Sul
W ould you believe that in a
country as wealthy as the
United States of America, 25% of the
children are food insecure. One in
every five homes in America relies on
emergency food sources. Many new
families, victims of this difficult
economic time, now join the ranks of
those needing emergency assistance.
The Los Angeles Regional Food
Bank, www.lafoodbank.org, helps to
fight hunger in our local communities.
Food and other products are acquired
and distributed to needy people through
charitable agencies or directly through
programs.
Since its beginnings 38 years ago, the
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has
grown in size, service and scope.
The Food Bank provides food for nearly
900 member agency sites including
abused and abandoned children homes,
battered women shelters, senior
centers, local food pantries, soup
kitchens, AIDS hospices and more. In
2010, the Food Bank distributed 62
million pounds of food for the hungry
in Los Angeles County.
Rotary District 5280, New Generation
Clubs choose as a joint service project,
a food drive to fill the under stocked
shelves of the Los Angeles Regional
Food Bank. Rotarians are invited to
join NG in the fight against hunger.
Items will be collected during the
months of September and October,
culminating on November 5th, with
―Rotary Got Talent.‖ This will be a
celebration of a project well done,
showcasing the talents and gifts of the
young people and Rotarians alike.
Items most needed are: canned meats,
canned vegetables, canned fruits and
peanut butter. Collection points are:
The District Breakfast
September 27th, Westin Hotel
Rotary’s Got Talent
November 12th
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Fellowship Hall, Westchester
Sign-up for the talent show no later
than October 24th at
Olivia Patterson
New Generations Advisor
310-946-5454
Embracing Our Communities: Hunger at Home
Rotaract
W elcome to New Generations
month! I am very proud
and excited to be your 2011-2012
District 5280 Rotaract Representative.
With the focus this month on New
Generations and Rotaract, The Future
of Rotary, it is our time to go bigger,
do better, and be bolder as we Reach
Within to Embrace Humanity. With
the support of Governor Brad
Robinson I know we can and will
succeed.
I am passionate about the Rotaract
program and want to take my talents
to the next level. Along with my board
I will put 100% of my effort towards
providing an outstanding program so
everyone in the Rotary
family may participate.
Our calendar is filling up
fast. We will be participating
in a massive Los Angeles
Regional Food Bank joint
project with Interact this fall,
have already started work
on a life changing
international project in
Puerto Rico to take place The Rotaract5280 Board for 2011-12 were installed by
Governor Brad Robinson at the annual Ciao Dinner.
Jonathan Keisner and District
Rotaract Chair Christina Chan.
in early 2012, will be working with
Rotaractors from San Diego at our
District Conference to serve our
Southern California community this
spring, and are planning a retreat to
Las Vegas to end the year.
Our first social is coming up on
September 17th. I welcome each
and every one of you to join us for
this welcome event, our Beach Party
& Bonfire Social at Dockweiler State
Beach. For more details, go to our
website, www.rotaract5280.org.
As you can see collaboration will be
a major theme with Rotaract this
year. We feel that it is time to go
bigger and do better and include all
of our Rotary brethren in our efforts.
We are all in this together, trying to
make our world a better place. What
better way to do this than to include
the whole family.
With 100% effort on everyone’s part
we can do it, we can make it the best
year Rotaract and Rotary has ever
had! I hope you have the same good
feeling that I do. Now is the time!
Jonathan Keisner
The Future of Rotary
Interact
R each Within to Embrace
Humanity. This year’s
Rotary International President
Kalyan Banerjee, chose this motto
to inspire Rotarians, Rotaractors,
and Interactors to make our motto
of Service above Self a way of life.
For Interactors, this is a task that
we are more than ready to take on.
As students, we are developing as
individuals and leaders, and during
that development, I hope that each
and every member of Interact will
adopt a passion for service that will
allow them to make the most
positive impact possible on their
communities, those around them,
and the world as a whole. I know
that is more than possible through
Interact District 5280.
This year, the Interact District
Leadership Team is aiming to help
Interactors achieve that growth by
providing them with service projects,
social events, and leadership-building
programs ranging from the New
Generations Conference to the LA
Marathon Water Station to the End
Polio Now Bowling.
As a district, our goal is to provide
meaningful opportunities for Interactors
to embody the spirit of Service above
Self. However, in order for Interactors
to achieve that service-focused mindset,
they must also learn from the
experiences of you, the Rotarians of
District 5280.
I urge you to get involved with the
youth of our district. Ensure that your
Rotary Club supports its Interact Club
by getting to know its members, and if
your Rotary Club does not sponsor an
Interact Club, start one with the help of
the District Interact Leadership Team.
On behalf of all of the Interact Clubs in
District 5280, I invite you to attend
your Interact Club’s meetings and
events and sponsor and accompany its
members to events ranging from the
Multidistrict Interact Symposium to
RYLA. Also, give your Interactors a
glimpse of what is like to be a Rotarian
by inviting them to your Rotary Club’s
meetings and events.
By working together as Rotary,
Rotaract, and Interact, we can ensure
that by the end of this Rotary year, we
will all Reach Within to Embrace
Humanity.
Jenna Hoover
Interact Representative 2011-12
A ll young people need a chance to become
leaders. With your club’s help these teenagers
to be future Rotarians.
At RYLA, the Rotary youth leadership training
in the San Bernardino mountains, high school students
learn about teamwork and communication skills, trust
exercises, personality styles, how to be out of your
comfort zone and still succeed in a group.
This amazing 3-day weekend has created fantastic
leaders out of many high school students. We love to
train 9th through 11th grade students so they will come
back and be leaders of your Interact clubs.
Most students say RYLA is one of the best experiences
of their young lives. Please consider sending some
deserving students to RYLA this coming year.
The dates are April 27th through the 29th, 2012. The
cost of this leadership weekend HAS GONE DOWN It is
only $180.00 per student. We need your financial
commitment by December 15th, 2011.
Elyse Beardsley
310-322-3252, [email protected],
Joe Harding
RYLA Co-Chairs for
nearly 10 years Joe
Harding and Elyse
Beardsley.
Youth Exchange F or three dozen Rotary Youth Exchange Students who spent the year living in
a five-state region from Hawaii to California, a train trip criss-crossing the
United States is the last month of their journey. This year the students represented
15 countries, spoke 8 languages were from 10 Rotary Districts.
To celebrate the close of the school year, the students stay with Rotary host
families, in hostels, dorm rooms and hotels. Leaving from Los Angeles, they ride
the rails making stops in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, West Glacier, St. Paul,
Chicago, Niagara Falls, New York, Boston, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and New
Orleans.
"If you just go visit another country, you only see what you want. But if you
actually live there and learn, you experience whole new cultures and lifestyles,"
Julia Stalhammar, of Sweden, said.
And that is precisely the point. Melody and Paul St. John started the train tour
as a way to reward the students and experience more after a year of studying.
"They experience the whole circumference of the United States," said Paul. "We
make 13 stops in 30 days and meet a lot of different people along the way."
"This is like a big international family," said Camilla Pagnacco, of Venice, Italy.
"You get a very special bond traveling like this and living together. Sometimes you
have prejudices and discriminations at first, but you get to know so many different
cultures and different lifestyles that you open your mind."
In Montana, the tour hit a stumbling block this year because of severe flooding in
North Dakota. The group had to endure a 26-hour bus ride, including a flat tire, to
Minnesota.
They enjoyed July Fourth festivities in Boston. ―We had a great place to watch the
beautiful fireworks,‖ said Valentina de valle Maldonado of Chile. ―We laid down
on our backs and the fireworks exploded on top of us.‖
There are 6 chaperone’s on the trip. The students are hosted by Rotarians in four
locations. They traveled by Amtrak 8,725 miles, spending 179 hours on the trains.
In the 30 days, they walked 160 miles.
Overall in 14 years, there have been 678 students from over 30 countries speaking
many languages doing a lot of walking! And they would all do it again!
Paul St. John, Los Angeles 5, middle of
the back row, chaperone Cheryl Wong, South Bay Rotaract, back right.
Melody St. John, Hollywood, laughs
through the ride in the back right.
Transformers—Transforming the Lives of Others
At their Governor’s Visit, Hermosa
Beach honored Dave Garett. The
club also contributed $500 to Polio
Plus in Dave's name and made him a
Paul Harris Fellow.
Manhattan Beach honored
Randy Meadors for spending
other weekend… and more… in
Mexico saving an orphanage
with 30 kids in Ensenada.
Koreatown acknowledged
the many efforts of Gene Ho
as a Transformer.
Outstanding Downey Rotary Transformers for years
of excellent service, Kevin McDonald, Darren Dunaway and Paul Mathys with Governor Brad.
LAX Rotary and President Tom
Johnstone saluted Rosemaire Neckelmann who worked with
the UCLA School of Medicine for 150 boxes of medical supplies for Chile. She is developing a Lennox
renaissance coordinating together several community programs.
Editor’s Note: There are many
more Transformers that will be featured in future issues. Please
continue to send pictures and information.
Redondo Beach Rotary had three recipients
of the prestigious Transformer Award. Dr. Larry
Hashimoto for providing pro-bono dental services
to the South Bay Children's Health Center, Karen
Weigel for all her work in Fiji, and PDG Vicki Radel
for her work with Mama Hill's organization.
Club Corner ...The Wilshire Rotary Club Facebook
Page is a HUGE success! Since June
2011 over 4,200 viewers have visited
the page!
...From Wish Lists, Culver City Rotary
donated school supplies to 5 schools.
The Culver City Education Foundation
Newsletter noting the contribution is
emailed to every family in the district.
Great Public Relations! With discounts
and coupons the club provided far more
than their dollars. President Ann
Murakami can multiply money!
...Manhattan Beach also fills out their
local school Wish Lists. They have also
adopted a school in Lennox.
...Lawndale Rotary has adopted a
battalion in Afghanistan. Wish Lists are
sent to the club. Children in the
Lawndale schools write letters and cards
that are appreciated with the gifts.
...Bill Paul helped Angela Peterson
make over the Hermosa Beach web-
site. Bill has helped many clubs
understand and master the tools they
already have. The results: The club
members are excited about the new look
and the club projects a stronger image
to its community. (Editor’s Note: Learn
more in the next newsletter issue.)
...The Rotary Club of Downtown
Los Angeles is hosting their annual Suite Night at the Los Angeles Sparks
game on September 10, as the LA Sparks take on the Chicago Sky.
Your $89 ticket includes access to the
luxury suite, a silent auction, and a full (not a hot dog in sight) dinner. All
of the proceeds from the evening will go to The Rotary International Foun-
dation.
Saturday, September 10, 2011Tipoff:
7:30 p.m. (don't be late, you'll miss the dessert cart). Location: Staples
Center Suites, you won't be sitting in a folding chair dodging cotton candy.
Contact President Ginny Brideau [email protected]
...At the beginning of the year Presi-
dent Gail Goldstein, Playa Venice, set a goal of raising $1,000 to help
eradicate polio. Each week auctions off ―Gail’s Goodies‖ to meet this goal.
Two months into the plan the club has reached $656 to kick polio off our
planet!
...Historic Filipinotown Rotary is
sponsoring its first Golf Tournament on September 19 at Los Verdes Golf
Course in Rancho Palos Verdes.
...South Bay Sunrise is again
sponsoring their Beach Bike Tour on September 24. They have
hundreds of bike riders participate.
...Carson-Gardena-Dominguez Rotary held an interesting meeting
featuring the travel plans for the Rotary year. Discussed was the
Group Study Exchange to Chennel, India; the District Trip to Puerto
Rico, the District Conference in San Diego and the Rotary Convention to
Bangkok, Thailand.
...Rotary Reality?? Stephanie
Stegall, Rio Hondo-Vernon
Rotary will host and employ Bristol
Palin in an upcoming Reality TV
show featuring Miss P's new life and
experiences in Los Angeles. Bristol
will work at "Help The Children"
and shadow Stephanie later this year
for several weeks. Congratulations
Stephanie on this exceptional
marketing.
Help the Children collects and
distributes foods to a number of food
banks and groups. Several youth
groups have donated and helped
pack supplies for victims of Katrina,
the Indonesia tsunami and Haiti.
