Stories

A Look Inside the Big Wave Project

Members of the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay recently had the opportunity to tour the Big Wave Project, where Julie Shenkman gave us a fascinating and inspiring grand tour of the new facilities.

Big Wave is designed to serve adults with special needs and a wide range of abilities. At the heart of the project is a simple but powerful idea: creating a community where those who are more able can help and support those who may need more assistance. That spirit of community was evident throughout our visit.

Inspiration:  Our inspiration came from Nancy. Frederick Douglass—“Once you learn to read, you will forever be free.”  It made a profound difference in his life.

Guests—John brought Larkin and the Holcomb family, Alia, Kenji, grandma. Nancy’s cousin Barb surprised her with a visit and Stacy brought Doug.

Announcements

Nancy, Barb was able to raise $10,000 from Silicon Valley Foundation.  Liz said Clark is back in the hospital. Lobsterfest update—175 tickets have been sold, we need to sell 200. Ask for a few more helpers, she will notify everyone of their assignments.

Speakers: Rachel Sage Cabrillo Unified's Program Manager on Literacy and Kenji Holcomb on his year as an Rotary exchange student in Italy

Nancy Wolfberg
Management Consultant and Leadership Coach

Nancy Wolfberg is an Award-Wining, versatile change management and learning consultant with a proven track record of success improving business operations and leadership for a diverse array of clients.

She has developed innovative methods for workforce planning, talent management, global organizational design, leadership effectiveness, children's learning and sustainability education. Over the course of the past 25 years, she has worked in a wide variety of industries with companies large and small.

She is also a member of the Rotary of Half Moon Bay President- 2026-2027

Nancy is known for her ability to balance corporate demands and individual needs in her pursuit of business results and as a leadership coach. She is a person focused both on what she does and how she does it.

Here is what some of her clients say about her:

" Nancy combines outstanding skill and experience with a sincere personal interest in helping others find effective solutions for dealing with change. She can work wonders at both the individual and organization level."
- VP of Corporate Real Estate Strategy | Financial Services Industry

"Nancy is an excellent OD consultant and executive coach. She is able to work with all levels of management, understands corporate cultures and possesses high integrity and strong core values."
- Director of Human Resources | Technology Firm

"Nancy is one of the most gifted consultants I have ever worked with. She has a sharp mind, is a very quick study and has a knack for getting to the heart of an issue rapidly."
-- CEO, Talent Management Firm

President Kevin introduced the speaker, Joanne Lorraine Gunderson, a quintessential English mother originally from a quaint Yorkshire village who relied on a coin toss to settle on the East or West coast of the U.S., in search of the American dream.   “’From Yorkshire with love:’ Joanne (she goes by Jo) thanked Kevin for that introduction and said she was going to try to use her best Queen’s English to start off with but warned us that she might be ‘going into dialect at some point.’ She also thanked Irwin for bringing her today, though they had met under ‘excruciating circumstance’ of his removing two ingrown toenails.

She grew up in Yorkshire, a ‘big county in the north of England,’ and people sometimes mistakenly think that she is Scottish by her accent. She is not; she emphasized that that is a completely different country. She said that Yorkshire is named ‘God’s country,’ and called it ‘absolutely gorgeous; similar to the coast here.’ “The first time she came to America she was 15; her mother had emigrated to San Mateo, and the first thing she saw here was Crystal Springs; she’d never seen anything so blue, and wondered if, being American, it might have food coloring in it. There weren’t many clouds around here, so the reflection gave it that blue hue. Upon her arrival, her mother’s friends picked her up at the airport and got her a sandwich she called ‘bigger than my entire body,’ and took her to Crystal Springs for a picnic. Her mother at that time was a bartender at the Harbor Bar, where she met Jo’s stepfather; they’ve been happily married for 30 years now. She has strong connections with the Coastside; she mentioned five stepsiblings and a brother who also immigrated and owns Firewood Farms with his wife. Her stepfather had been a commercial fisherman for crab and squid in the harbor after having built his first boat. He now works in medical supplies and owns the business which he started in his garage in La Honda. 

She came to America and started hanging out here for a few weeks in the summer, and realized she could never be served alcohol; in England, she said, you can be served if you are 15 or 16; she was never a heavy drinker but found it ‘weird’ to never be served a drink at a bar – especially since her mother worked in a bar, where she could not even hang out. At first, she did not want to stay here, so she “trotted back to jolly old England” and finished high school – which, in England, you do at 16. Then you go to junior college till you’re 18, and then university, which she did. “To my grandmother’s angst,” her family put her through a private girls’ school, where she studied physical education. But she set her sights on being a writer or on TV or an entertainer, while using skills she’d honed on the soccer field in other sports you don’t find here, like field hockey or neckball; various things she did for years. But having “always had an affiliation for literature,” she figured she’d do something literary because she is English. There’s a lot of people from Yorkshire, she said, who became quite famous, such as the Bronte sisters, of whom we all have heard. There’s a film out now called “Wuthering Heights,” which she called “loosely based” on the novel of the same name. Like her, she said, the Bronte sisters grew up in a very tiny village, where there are literally more pubs in the village than churches; where she went to university in York, there were 365 pubs and she “probably frequented” about 200.

Kevin introduced today’s speaker:  Michael Tempesta, PhD, who is a natural-product chemist and biotech executive.  He began with a little about himself: he was the eldest of six, grew up in the Minneapolis area; his dad was very busy trying to support them all, but he was a property manager who got five chemistry sets when he was younger.

He was the last in the draft during Vietnam, and a conscientious objector who liked the country enough to get drafted, but he wasn’t carrying a gun so they made him a medic. He was in the 101^st Airborne Unit in the Army, trained to go to Israel; he swore he’d never go back to Minnesota even though he entered the University of Minnesota and got a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. A friend persuaded him to go to Arizona where he got his master’s degree and PhD in organic chemistry in three years, and worked in structural analysis trying to identify natural compounds; working with medicinal plants, fungi and the like. He published many graduate-level papers, got two degrees in three years, and was snapped up by what he calls “the best natural products chemistry professor in the U.S.” who looked at his record and said “You’re mine;” he had just opened up a research institute in Japan. He was invited to talk at the University of Missouri; “they offered me a job and I took it,” and was a young professor for years until he left to start a company.

The students in his international group there worked with natural products; one of them was from Peru (students worked on projects with the natural resources from their home areas) and hers ended up being a drug that had powerful respiratory effects. He left the university and started a company here, got on the public market; and the drug got approval…

“Not everything turns out to be a success;” he said; so he showed on paper some examples of  complicated marine molecules for which he was able to figure out the structure based on spectroscopic data. He also showed a marine natural product that is poisonous that he said ended up being involved with HIV and anti-cancer treatments. 

Some of his discoveries are still getting approvals and others have been used in medical treatments; in instances where the gut can repair itself, or to slow down inflammations. 

He was asked how did he get from discovering to isolating a treatment agent. He showed a folk remedy in Peru famous for wound healing but found that the molecules did not get absorbed well in the bloodstream, so they won’t “get you better if you have a cold or the flu.” That led to him discussing a sophisticated South American folk remedy.

He discussed Shaman Pharmaceuticals that he had started, and that had gotten funded to the a Hollywood opening of a film during which he was able to meet Sean Connery, a “real medicine man.” He called that “one of my life events.” 

He spoke of a company he developed which produced a nice booster used in a cold and flu products. He has worked with a lot of nonprofits around the world, and admitted that “my life isn’t going to last forever,” but it’s “doing good.”

We held our annual State of the Club and the Club Foundation Assembly today. 

Club Foundation Meeting was called to order.

We celebrated our final library payment with cupcakes, thanks to Liz. Liz summarized our involvement with supporting the building of the new library. We committed to supporting the plaza in the front of the library for $175,000 and worked with The Friends of the Library and the City. Liz was instrumental in leading this effort. Also, the city will repair our sign at the front of the building. Dianne summarized how the Club Foundation funds are managed, the role of the investment committee and how funds are distributed. She also spoke about the Robin Jeffs Fund. We purchased a bench at the Senior Center with a portion of those funds. We will begin work on completing the process of utilizing the funds he donated. 

Mary provided financial reports and walked us through the information. This year we had our  most successful fundraiser yet. Lobster Fest netted $45,000 to the Club, after the $30,000 to the non-profits and our club foundation.  The non-profits Big Wave, (for their Fall Festival) and Maiden Voyage (to fund an app for kids) were awarded, $10,000 each. $10,000 also went to the Club Foundation.  As Chair of the Club Foundation, Dianne explained briefly the history and structure of our Foundation, the ByLaws and the Chart of Accounts that guide our financial commitments in several areas. For example, one of these is our annual distribution of $3,000 for scholarships; another is $1,000 for disaster relief. Since 2014-15 part of that money is spent each year on Shelter Box as part of a collaboration with the Pacifica and Milbrae Clubs that started in 2024-25. And now 2 other District 5150 Clubs have joined this collaboration. International projects are targeted for 10-30% and our Investment Account is also to be funded each year on a sliding scale. There is an Investment sub committee that guides our Investments and other sub committee can be formed for special projects such as the separate fund established as the Robin Jeffs Fund. Any questions or ideas—ask Dianne or committee members/club board. 

The Club Foundation meeting was adjourned and the Club Meeting was called to order.

Mary walked us through the budget vs actual report. We haven’t raised dues and continue “pay as you go” for events. Pumpkin Fest was successful. Those funds are available for club expenses and $2,000 is earmarked for our small donations fund. Note—Ginger needs a couple of people for the Small Donations Committee. 

Then the other Officers and Board Directors gave an update on each area of responsibility as follows.

Liz Schuck, standing in for President Kevin at his request, called the meeting to order at about a quarter past 12. She began by telling us all “aloha” from Matt Pele (?) and the Hawaiian volcano, and noted that it was “freezing” where she was! Dianne led the flag salute.  Karen was our greeter today, asked her for words of wisdom. In response, Karen said she had two quotes: One from Mary Dunbar, an author and “witch” from Ireland: “We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light;” and “The noblest question in the world is, what good may I do in it,” by Benjamin Franklin. Applause followed as the Rotarians took their seats.

Liz thanked Paul Wrubel for setting up the room as he does every week. She added that he’d been setting up the room like this for seven years, every single week. More applause followed!  There were no visiting Rotarians. But even though she had been away because she was “in the land of sunshine” and missed Thanksgiving, Liz had a task for us. Since Kevin was not there, she figured we should have a quiz, and since she missed Thanksgiving because she was “in the land of sunshine,” she had treats for anyone who could answer the questions (and there were several tries and ties.) She said several times that she thought they were easy, but …

Which Christmas song was traditionally a Thanksgiving song? Answer: “Jingle Bells.” 

What did the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade replace? Answer: Live animals. 

What character was the very first character balloon? Answer: Felix the cat. (Liz.)

Liz tried one she called “closer to home:” What household hazard triples on Thanksgiving? Answer: Fire; Irwin got it.

What tradition brings good luck on Thanksgiving? Answer: The wishbone. (Everyone got this one.)

Here’s one only a chef would know: How can you tell if a cranberry’s ripe? Answer: When it bounces. Larkin got it.

Are pumpkins a vegetable? Answer: No. It’s a fruit. No one knew; but Liz said it. 

Statistically, what is America’s favorite Thanksgiving side dish?  Statistically, Liz said, stuffing. Also according to a poll, what is the least popular Thanksgiving dish? Answer: The green bean casserole. (Liz had to call that one.)

What type of food was eaten at the very first Thanksgiving, that isn’t included nowadays? Answer: (think where Plymouth is, she said) Fish. (Ginger got that one too.)

(Couple more): What historical figure wanted the turkey to be the symbol of the United States? Answer: Benjamin Franklin. (Liz asked, “Can you imagine a turkey on our flag?”)

 Thanksgiving leftovers led to what invention? (hint: something to do with TV.) Answer: TV dinners. Liz got it. 

 Black Friday is the busiest home repair day for what repairman? Answer: The plumber. (Sandra got it.)

What President declared Thanksgiving a national holiday? (Several guesses.) Answer, I think from Rosi): Abraham Lincoln. 

Mary Rogren amd Heather Bodmann received Paul Harris pins, 7 rubies gor Mary, 2 rubies for Heather!

This was definitely a different kind of Rotary meeting!!

On Thursday, Nov. 6, instead of a regular lunch meeting, the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay held a social at the Barterra Winery, at its new location in Princeton Harbor 

About 15 Rotarians were there plus spouses and partners, and those included club President Kevin with Debbie, Liz and Teri, Dianne, John and Larkin, Irwin and Nancy, Stacy and Doug, Ginger and Paul and son Chris, and Ralph. Also present were new or prospective Rotarians Karen Senffner and Karen Hampton, and guest Robin Chapman.

Among the comments there was a mention that a donation of food from the club members had been made to Coastside Hope. In addition many members brought canned and boxed food to social to donate as well.

Everyone sat down at long tables set up for comfortable conversation, and presently large pizzas with four flavors were brought in for everyone to share: pepperoni, mushroom and sausage, mushroom and prosciutto, and Margarita (really a great flavor!) The food was organized by Club member Ginger Child-Minoletti.

Longtime Club member and PP Liz Schuck noted: “I think it’s great to have different venues for club socials, and to invite different guests!”

Our speakers were Bob Kay, former HMB Rotarian, and spouse Taryn (sp?), from Belmont-San Carlos Club.  Using the couple’s native and professional abilities, their club now has a program, in cooperation with a Santa Rosa Rotarian, to take donations of salvageable and running vehicles, restore them to good running condition, and give them to veterans who need transportation and met certain criteria.  When a vet is matched with a car, it is presented in a ceremony at the Palo Alto VA.  A number of cars have been given this way. The Bemont San Carlos club also underwrites the first six months of insurance and registration costs. Cars that can’t fit within cost constraints are sold out to wholesalers or salvagers and the proceeds recycled into the program.  This is a worthy alternative to the other car giveaway programs because 100% of the value goes to a worthy recipient instead of a small percentage going to a charity.  The club was enthusiastic about supporting this effort. 

Added thought from Stacy, who took notes Thursday and would like to add the following email she received from Liz on Oct. 6, regarding this quote: “Dr. Jane chose, every single day, to make the world better. I hope, in her honor, we all choose the same.” Now, back to last week’s meeting:  

Kevin noted, “at the risk of offending some of our guests today,” he welcomed all “to the best Rotary Club in the world” which brough cheers. He also added “I’m sure also, like you, your members all arrive on time,” and ready to start the meeting,” and when latecomers arrive, we’ll be sure to welcome them.”  Visiting Rotarians included the speaker; guests for the meeting including Larkin Evans, still a guest until she fills out her application, Kevin said. He went on to note that next week’s meeting will be a social at 5 p.m. on Thursday, so we’re not going to have a meeting, at noon at the library. He asked for suggestions for where to have it; Sue has offered to hold the Christmas party at her house; location suggestions included from Stacy, though we just had a social at her house so it might be a bit soon; so her home is available if needed. Kevin thought we might do it at a local restaurant or bar, or whatever … Ralph also noted that since Kevin had a new remodel at his home, (“We’re close” his wife Debbie said, according to Kevin.) The Polio Plus jar went around. We’re this close, Kevin said, holding up two fingers very close together and noting that now polio was now in two countries,  Afghanistan and Pakistan. And Oct. 24 is World Polio Day. He’s not sure how we will recognize that day, but “we will do something.” He noted that the small donations jar is also going around.

He said there’s already a donation in there because our new member would like to share some information about her business. 

The new member, Karen Senffner, said she was looking for a long time and is happy now to have found a place to practice in – Shoreline Station. To tell about her business: She is a physical therapist, has been one for 34 years, and the particular technique she does is called “zero balancing.” It is centered at the level of bone, and helps relieve the stresses that all of us hold, following something recent like an accident, a fall, surgery, or something carried with us for a long time. She noted that this is not traditional physical therapy; Kevin noted that he and friends have found physical therapy very hard to get following procedures such as like joint replacements, “you have to wait a long time.” She thanked us for taking time to listen to her. 

John Evans was asked for an update on our exchange students. He mentioned Suzanne’s tennis buddy Emma Todd, (Suzanne was an exchange student here two years ago), and exchange students Pascal (exchange student from Italy) and Vicki (an exchange student with a San Mateo Rotary Club) were invited to go with Emma’s family to Gilroy to go apple-picking in orchards there (he was happily eating an apple right then from one of those orchards.) He said that besides apples there were pears, avocados and peaches. What was really interesting, he said, was to see the three teenagers having a great time. Vicki and Pascal had met, but had not met Emma, and John said it was like they all were kindred spirits, laughing and singing in the back seat and unaware of the adults in the front seat paying attention to them. He added that recently they had gotten an unexpected face-time call from Caroline from Belgium, an exchange student 10 years ago that many of us remembered. She is now 27 and she was talking about how different her life is now than when she was a teenager. She is now, this week,  in her second year of residency; last year she was in an ER residency and this year an OB-GYN residency. For six years. This is all in Brussels. She said, be sure and say hi. 

Kevin said, such a wealth to have these relationships with these young people. Just to add to that, another club member added, many years ago, their girls went over to Taiwan for high school, played basketball, and next year the Taiwanese kids came over and played basketball here. But when they arrived, we were all set up to play basketball, but they weren’t basketball kids, they were dancers. Which created a little problem but not much; they went and they danced at all these things. These girls did not speak much English, and our girls didn’t speak any Taiwanese, but they stayed with us for about three days … and they got in the hot tub and they were just chattering away, and we had no idea how they were communicating but they were.

Kevin asked for any other announcements?

Liz said the had one from Drew from the school district for those of us that signed up for Principal for a Day next Tuesday from 9 to 11: He will be sending us confirmations of our assignments; there was some playful bantering between Barb and Kevin about schools; Barb has Cunha and Kevin will go to Farallone View. Barb has a lot of relationships; she successfully pleaded her case, Kevin said. 

Kevin said that we have an exciting meeting today, for two reasons: one, we get to learn more about one of our new members, and two, we get to learn about a project that is “really innovative and exciting and will inspire us, hopefully, to do something that we would love to do here, locally.” We might even work with them, who knows.

SUE PRITCHARD  -  SHOP TALK

First of all, I’d like to ask Sue Pritchard to come up and do your shop talk. We call them “shop talks” because back in the day, you guys – especially the ones who have been around forever, who started the club – remember how it used to be about exchanging business leads and that kind of stuff? We called it a shop talk because it was about your business. We’ve always called it that, even though, really, what it has evolved to is just tell us about yourself, your family, that sort of thing. So, give Sue Pritchard a warm welcome!  (applause)

Sue said: I graduated from  U.C.L.A. with honors, (“Go Bruins!” Liz yelled,) and then my father died very, very suddenly. He was a founder of Long Beach Memorial Hospital, and my family just fell apart. Then I married somebody who ended up in law school in San Francisco, so there I was; and he become a hippie. So somehow, I survived all of that, which is delightful. I thought – the butterfly goes through an egg, and then a chrysalis, and they finally turn into a compound chrysalis and then an adult butterfly, and then the whole thing starts all over again. It’s a life cycle, and I’ve been through a lot of those. I’ve slept in a barn, I’ve slept in my car, I’ve been on food stamps, I‘ve been to Paris (couldn’t make the name of the location out) first class, and … I’ve painted in Monet’s garden twenty times, when only eight people were there, and it was a delight, an honor. I don’t know how I got there; it wasn’t just about money, it’s just that sometimes the universe puts you where you are supposed to be. I wanted to go to art school when I was a kid, (and) my father said oh no, no, no, you go to UCLA, become a teacher, and then you can support yourself the rest of your life, you won’t need to depend on anyone. And he was so right (laughter) … I was one of seven people that graduated from art school, and they were doing crayons – white crayons -- on white paper, and then maybe watercolor over that, so you could see the resist.  It was like kindergarten. And I was like, what’s going on here folks? … and they’ve done it all, it’s like boring, and then they started all over again, and I’m glad I didn’t go through that cycle. I learned how to paint on my own, I learned how to mosaic on my own, and I did that huge mosaic on the Goldworks building, Joe Cotchett hired me to do that, because I won a grant, and we were mosaicking Mac Dutra Park. 

Visiting and guests of Rotarians: Rosario from the San Carlos club, who, Liz said, wanted to come see how we ran our meetings. Guests of Rotarians: Susan Kealey introduced her partner Dennis Fisher, and Stacy Trevenon introduced her husband Doug Mallon. Guest Gail Evenari is on her way. There was some brief discussion as to the beginning time of the meetings: Dianne Bobko noted that on our Web site page the starting time of our Thursday meetings is noon. Kevin started the Polio Plus and small donations jars around, and emphasized what we are raising money for: to respond to requests from the community.

Ginger was introduced; she said she missed everyone when she was away over the last couple of months; in the tradition of the Rotary club Foundation, she presented a check for her birthday: when asked, she said it was for $74. (Applause!) 

No more news, so Kevin started to introduce the speaker, but it had to hold for a moment; Irwin Cohen spoke about radio station KCSM and its diverse jazz program he’d long been a fan of (“a big spectrum of music,”) Latin, salsa, jazz and more -- which he feels he can’t live without. Focus shifted to the station manager Dr. Robert Franklin, who has a three-page biography of which Nancy summarized the highlights:  Dr. Franklin is a broadcast educator and award-winning producer and ground-breaking journalist. He is the former general manager of WCSU-FM,  San Diego State University. He has spread compelling programming including a focus on polio and interviews and documentaries “designed to enlighten, educate and inform the community.”  His many awards and recognitions include the Congressional Journalism Fellowship that involved a one-year stint in the halls of Congress. He put that experience into a national radio documentary that featured women in Congress. For more than 26 years he has strived to make the world a better place. He is a PhD graduate of Arkansas State University, and a master of arts and bachelor of science graduate of Jackson State University. His journey has, she said, allowed him to educate, empower and give back to the community and impact the world. Great applause followed his remarks.

Magic of the Coasatside Libster Fest 2025  - Fund-A -Need Checks Presentation

Kevin noted that since a couple of people in the audience had to leave early, so he asked us to remember what was said and switched to important business: He invited the Lobsterfest committee to step forward to acknowledge them, and mentioned the funds raised at Lobsterfest this year. He recalled that initially several local nonprofits were asked to submit grant requests, and from those, the Big Wave Project and the film “Maiden Voyage” were chosen. The goal was to get $4,000 grant to fund the Big Wave celebration and the film; and any funds raised in addition to that would go to the club foundation for other uses. It turned out that the Lobsterfest “did significantly better” than the Rotarians thought it would; we had some “extremely generous people there that night,” and so the club presented these amounts to Jeff  Peck from the Big Wave Project and Gail Evenari from the film.

Invited to tell about Big Wave, Jeff noted that it is a project that took some 25 years to start, and is a community for adults with special needs. There are residential units there, and common areas, a farm (which he just left and has to go right back because this was Hops Picking Day). Gail spoke about Maiden Voyage: it is a nonprofit film production company which is making a film about learning differences and the implications of the things that happen to people who are marginalized with learning differences. So, they have a mental health journaling app that they are introducing to the Boys and Girls Club, which helps kids address and become familiar with, and get tools to help with, mental health issues.

Liz called for a drum roll, and made an announcement: we are dividing three ways: giving each organization not $4,000, not $5,000 … but $9,536 (great applause!) Jeff pointed out how much it means for the community to come together and donate to help these projects. He added that there will be a site visit to the building (which will be done in March), and we are invited to see where the money is going; the visit will be on Oct. 12.  He hopes to see us there; he’ll be there with Julie Shenkman (he was the founder of Big Wave but thinks that Julie will “speak and look much better than I do.”) (applause)

Gail spoke about the whole process, crediting the Rotary club with its generosity, and acknowledging that the money will be put to to use (“I can use every penny,”) and she said she would introduce this not just to the Boys and Girls Club but to the middle school and high school as well (“and, Kevin said, come back and show the film as well”.)

Gail mentioned the Big Wave festival on the past Saturday, and how much the residents and club members and their families who were there, enjoyed this “amazing” event.

“We’re very proud to be partners,” said Kevin.

Kevin mentioned that perhaps Nancy did not know this, but Dr. Franklin was a Rotarian.  “He can be again!” shouted Liz.

“And he’s tall,” added Kevin, before introducing Dr. Robert Franklin.

Presenetation by Dr. Robert Franklin of KCSM 

Dr. Franklin began by recalling how the Rotarians from Arkansas (where he was in a club) helped him understand the power of giving to the community. One thing that he’d done that he was proud of was participating in the Big Brothers mentoring work, helping kids go to school and meeting and being mentors for them. The  other thing he liked about Rotary was its several community initiatives, one of which dealt with literacy; another looked at reducing obesity in Arkansas. 

He said he was happy to be here” with fellow Rotarians; he felt “always a Rotarian.” He had a slide presentation about him and his journey, from Arkansas to Texas and now California. He said this (KCSM) was his 13^th station; 13 is supposed to be an unlucky number, but “the luckiest for me” in terms of what it’s meant to him, and in terms of the inspiration he’d found here that he hadn’t experienced as a manager. He spoke of what drew him to this station – he’d worked at classical, contemporary, blues and jazz stations -- but what drew him to KCSM was when he looked at the station’s Web page and saw that they did community events, as what he called “jazz curators,” or the most influential deejays he had worked with – their knowledge base, passion for what they are doing.

Coupling his presentation with slides, he clarified that this was not just a public trust but a public sacred trust, meaning that the relationship that public radio has with its listeners is a personal one – you feel you hold ownership of what’s going on at the station. You become one with the curator – or the deejay – he or she becomes part of your family; you feel like you know them since they have been there a long time in terms of music. What they have given you – in terms of music and in terms of escapism from what’s going on in the world – is like a secret place you can go. You can be sure you’re being taken to a place of peace and tranquility, where you and your better selves can exist – what you get when you come to KCSM.. Public trust – “and we take that very seriously.” And everyone who has been at the station, even for a long time, has that “sacred commitment.” 

They have autonomy, and inside the studio, they create – curate what you hear, and it is powerful, and it moves you; as a public service or trust and they want to strengthen, not abridge, that trust, even more so now. We don’t do advertising, we do underwriting. Our sponsorship is pretty basic. 

Sen. Hill began by thanking Rotary for having him here, noting that Half Moon Bay is one of his favorite places in San Mateo County and the world. He congratulated Pascal on being here and thanked the club for its participation today. “I learned a lot,” he said, adding that he will be in Rome in a week and a half. 

The topic he had prepared was a “behind-the-scenes tour” of what they didn’t teach in high school civics class. Starting in the California state legislature years ago, he found he had led a sheltered political life in San Mateo County because everyone gets along and works together to solve problems. Egos are not a problem; you find them in San Francisco to the north or San Jose to the south. When he arrived in Sacramento, he found an unusual environment: special services that pampered him, and everyone laughed at his jokes (“And I know I’m not that funny!”).  He found it a very seductive, environment: when you are away from home and family, it’s easy to forget who you are and what defines you. For many, it was the highest salary and best job they don’t want to lose, and they’d do almost anything to keep that position.

He said, remember our former state senator, Leland Yee, who spent six years in federal prison because he didn’t want to lose that job? He got into trouble due to his fundraising activities.

Once settled in Sacramento, Hill found distinct areas of power and influence that shaped what happened in Sacramento and became California law: relationships you build and how you use them, your home district, where you come from -- (he represents a million people from basically South San Francisco and Los Altos and Sunnyvale to the south), policy (the issues that you want to bring to the legislature, issues that you think are important, that you want to make change, and try to influence the policy and the future of California) and how money and politics shape the future and what happens in Sacramento. 

He said relationships are so important in Sacramento. There are 80 members of the Assembly, so the magic number is 41, if you want to get anything done. In the Senate there are 40, so you have to count to 21. And the same with the Half Moon Bay City Council: there are five members, “so you gotta count to three; if you can’t count to three, nothing happens.” So he made it a policy: every year, when new members of the legislature were elected and came to Sacramento and came to the Capitol, he made it his policy to go spend some time with them, regardless of party, sit down with them, learn what interests they had, why they were there, what they wanted to accomplish, and what was important to them.  And it really helped him: “One, I got a better understanding of the state of California, all the interests that were there, but also, what was behind them. What motivated them. And I would do that.” 

He continued: “Because some, if you were in the other party, would just make enemies out of you. You would treat them like garbage, and not treat them fairly or with respect.” There was one Assemblymember from the San Diego area when he was the chair of the Environmental Quality Committee in the Senate; she had a bill that came before his committee. The funds that were collected from basically the use of fossil fuels in California to use some of those funds for traffic signal synchronization. So the bill goes to the committee staff, the staff evaluates it, and they were going to sit down with the chair and give their suggestions. They came to him and said, “You know, it can already be done, it’s not specifically called out in the law that you can do that, and she’s a Republican, so who cares if she gets her bill or not. And I said, you know, I like traffic signal synchronization, I think it’s a good thing, and I think it’s a good idea to call it out, specifically to incite that, incentivize it. And I don’t care if she’s a Republican or not, it’s a good idea! So … I got her bill out of the committee, I said, we’re going to move the bill forward, and vote it out, and she asked me, this is the Assembly member, Marie Walgren is her name, she asked me if I would floor manage the bill for her, on the Senate floor, because that’s how you do it. Assemblymembers ask Senators to carry their bill on the floor, stand up and present it to the body, and then they vote on it. The same the other way around. I have to ask people in the assembly. So I (said) sure, I’d be happy to. So I presented the bill, it passed, the governor signed it, it became law, and it is today. 

“A few years later —two years later – I had a bill in the Assembly. Passed the Senate … on the Floor. So I go in – you can go onto the Floor, in the House, lobby the bill, twist arms, break arms, whatever you do to get the vote – The number was actually 40. I needed 41. Didn’t happen. Couldn’t get help from Democrats, so I went to Marie, I said Marie, I need a favor. Can you help me out on this? She looked at the bill, ‘Sure.’ Got the vote, passed the bill, governor signed it, and it became law. That’s where relationships are so important and that’s where, people have lost that focus today, and it’s very unfortunate. As I said, Some members just go and make enemies out of the other side, and they just never can make it move forward. 

“The other issue is, besides relationships, the home district. The home district that you represent. As former Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill said, All politics is local. And he’s so right. Every legislator has a good feel for their district, and what works and what doesn’t work in that district. And if you didn’t have a good understanding you weren’t going to last long in that district, You have to understand the district, its challenges, and its problems, and then you represent – I was very passionate about this district that I represented, and I was very protective of it. And to give you an example of it, and why that was important to me, is -- I read in the paper one morning, where Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook -- and I had been to Facebook, two or three times, when they were in Palo Alto, then when they moved to new offices in Menlo Park, (I) had tours, and kind of supported them, and what they were doing. Cheryl Sandberg, who was the CEO or CFO, she would call every once in a while, lobbying me for bills that she wanted, and trying to get support on some issue. And I read a comment that he had said, ‘We’re not going to expand any more in San Mateo County. We’re going to move and do our expansion elsewhere.’ He said, ‘The traffic’s too difficult here, it’s too hard, housing price are too high, and it’s just not fun anymore. We’re not going to stay.’ I said to myself, You son-of-a-gun.

“So about a week later, I’m speaking to the Palo Alto Rotary Club, and I look in the audience, and there is the editor and publisher of the San Mateo Daily Post, the newspaper. And I looked at him and I said – I thought to myself, do I want this in print or do I not? – (laughter, especially from me) and then I said, Yeah, I do. So if I said, You know, I read this in the paper last week, here’s what Mark Zuckerberg said, I said, you know what? I said, he’s no different than a strip miner. Comes into town, causes the problem, changes the housing prices, causes the congestion, and then he wants to move out, after he has already taken advantage of us. 

“Well, it didn’t take long, a couple of days and that was in the paper, and a quote from me. Well, about three days later, I hear that Cheryl Sandberg is out trying to find someone to run against me in the next election. So that’s how powerful they are, but to me, it’s important that you know and understand the district that you represent. All politics is local. 

“The third area of importance is policy. The policy that we all have. You may wonder why there are so many laws in California? That’s because, there are so many bills. And the reason for that is because each legislator tends to write 35 bills, every two years. He or she can write 35 laws, and then it has to get through the legislature. That’s four thousand, two hundred new laws that we can see every two years. (‘Wow,’ someone murmured.) 

“It starts with an idea… so that is 4,200 bills. If you have thirty-five bill opportunities, you’re gonna use every one of them. You have to show your constituents that you’re doing something.… And sometimes when the deadline comes, legislators are scrounging, looking for things to put in those bills so that they can look like they’re doing something in the legislature. 

“Former governor Jerry Brown once correctly said, Every problem doesn’t need a new law.  Of course, every one of the problems I was trying to solve we needed a new law (laughter.) 

“So when you get to the legislature, usually people come for a couple of different reasons. You want to come and solve the transportation problem, you want to solve the climate change problem, you want to solve the education problem. Those are some of the areas people focus on then they come to the legislature. When I went to the legislature, for some reason, problems seem to find me. When I kept looking for problems, I didn’t focus on one area of importance, I focused on trying to make our lives better. That was the goal that I had; trying to find problems that needed solutions. That was the real movement that I had.

“It starts with an idea: sometimes constituents bring in an idea, sometimes you see it … For me, it just kept falling in front of me. The San Bruno gas explosion, that fell in front of me, when they killed eight of our constituents in our neighborhood, and destroyed 28 homes. And we found that $500 million of money that was supposed to go for maintenance and repairs, PG&E diverted to profits and bonuses for their executives and their employees. 

“Today, they stole our efforts, there’s a Golden State Energy Act that we’ve had. I worked closely with the governor, and now if PG&E does that again, the state doesn’t have to use eminent domain, they don’t have to do anything, they can go and take PG&E, and turn it into a nonprofit state corporation that will then operate with us. So that’s what we can do if they do that again.

“One of the things that also made me mad, I found a 16-year-old student from Los Altos, called me and said, You know there’s a 13-year-old in our school who’s engaged to get married to a 28-year-old from another country. (I said,) that can’t be true. It is true! In California  there’s no minimum age for marriage. All you had to do at the time was get a judge to check a box. One parent goes before a judge and checks a box; that’s all you had to do. So we changed that now;  there’s still no age requirement, I wanted an 18-year-old age but we didn’t get that far, (but) we made it a heck of a lot tougher for anyone to get married. 

“And one of the other things that I got mad about: a 19-year-old lives in Burlingame went to a 21-year-old’s birthday party and they went on a party bus. He drove his car to a parking lot, got out of the car, went into a bus, they had a dancing pole, music, alcohol, they were drinking to the 21-year-old. No one stopped him from drinking, he drank, came back, got out of the bus, got in his car, and as he was driving down 101 at Poplar, he ran into the sound wall and killed himself. 

“So, something’s wrong. We found that there were no restrictions, no requirement, the bus company said, our responsibility is just driving the bus, what happened behind is none of our concern. Well, it is today. Because now, if you want to have drinking on a bus, any bus, and there are minors on board, there has to be a 26-year-old on board that will take legal, and civil, responsibility for what happens afterwards. And no one’s going to do that with anyone underage. 

“So the last one of what I wanted to give you an example of, how I got mad, in California we have enterprise zones. An enterprise zone is, you go into an area of economic disadvantage,  and you can form an enterprise zone, and for every business within that zone the employer can get a $28,000 tax credit for every employee. We found that San Francisco’s financial district is  an enterprise zone, at the time, and the law firms in there were getting nothing. We also found that in Rancho Cordova there was a strip club, and the strip club was getting an enterprise zone tax credit. 

“So a Republican colleague of mine, we co-authored a bill, and we decided to have a press conference. On a Monday morning I drove to Sacramento, we went to the strip club in Rancho Cordova. Got out, TV cameras were there, he and I were walking up, right up to the strip club. My wife – right before I left – she said, you better hope nobody walks out of the door of that strip club and says ‘Jerry, good to see you again!’ Fortunately, it didn’t happen. We had the press conference that changed the law.

We are at 34 members, Kevin wants to grow it to 45. Kevin encourages us to invite people to our meetings.

This is Brian’s second year as Membership Chair. He’s been a Rotarian since 1998 and is uniquely qualified for this role. His first club was very old school club in Vacaville. He moved to SF and joined the much smaller/newer Bayview Club. He and a friend later started SFSOMA club in 2014. This club now meets monthly, has 40 members and has a 50l.c.3. Every club is different. The Membership Summit last year developed a 3 year structured program.  Membership is growing in rest of world and falling here especially since COVID. Retention is a huge part of membership. We need a membership culture. The service projects we work on are key to retention.  We need a membership culture. The five things we should know and believe about Rotary are:  membership matters, service is our product, attrition is real, retention is a long term goal and 

Why join Rotary?  The satisfaction of giving back, the camaraderie, personal growth, international projects…there are many reasons. 

What makes up the club experience. Enjoy meetings, confidence in leadership, comfortable and meaningful relationships. Why do members leave?  The culture isn’t a good fit, unmet expectations, time, financial and personal reasons. It is important to reach out to members who haven’t shown up, many quit within a short time. 

Clubs need to have a membership plan—set goals, have a long term plan and every club member is responsible for the success. He suggested taking the pulse of your club—try Brainstorming, GAP analysis, targeted recruitment. Set a meeting aside specifically to work on this. Some clubs only meet once a month, since we meet more often, perhaps this would work. The key is finding a time that works for people and make it intentional. He suggested we emphasize the international aspect of Rotary. Be innovative, search outside the box. 

Once you have a plan, you look for prospects—perhaps target certain community members, etc. Keep track of prospective members, invite them to meetings or projects. When it comes to onboarding, make sure to have membership packages, maybe mentors. Make it feel special, have a ceremony and invite family.  Some ideas: Leave a Rotarian magazine at the library. We could get one in Spanish. We could do a global grant to work with a club in Mexico to attract Hispanic members. Rotary has a stuffy image, try to break through that image. 

Think about retention. Retain existing members with meaningful involvement, opportunities for them to contribute to projects that interest them.  Create a welcoming inclusive environment and organize social events to foster camaraderie. Seek feedback and address concerns, keep communication open and effective. Encourage mentorship and leadership. 

Be a vibrant club. Good leadership, multi-year planning, shared vision, commitment to adaptability, has a relationship with the community and be welcoming and fun. 

Heather provided us with a stirring quote that reminded us all of the importance of teachers. 

Introductions began with  our library staff and Liz moved on to introduce our new Superintendent, Ramon Miramontes. Administrative staff were introduced and Administrative Assistant Jackie Sullivan was congratulated on her upcoming retirement after 29 years of service. 

The principals were asked to introduce themselves and their new staff members. We heard from 22 teachers, counselors and psychologists. Afterwards we Rotarians introduced ourselves. 

John Evans introduced our exchange student, Pasquale who is here from Sardinia. 

As always, the sense of excitement was palpable.  I’m sure these amazing individuals will make a difference in their students’ lives. 

Pledge and Inspirational Thought - After the Pledge of Allegiance, Nancy Wolfberg gave the inspirational thought for the day, from Helen Keller: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Kevin reported on the International Convention in Calgary from which he had just come. It was “pretty crowded and a lot of fun,” having drawn some 15,000 Rotarians. One of its main themes, he said, was peace, not as in the absence of war but peace as in the well-being, sense of safety. So our mantra is, and he began singing “All we are saying … is give peace a chance” a la John Lennon. The club joined in as he sang a few verses.

Guests - Several members of Rotary royalty were at the meeting: Guests included Past District Governor Steve Wright, current District Governor, and our own, Mitone Griffiths. 

Editor's Note:  Please click on "Read more" for all of the rest of the important information from this meeting. 

 There are several presenters, beginning with Pat; Liz wanted us to see how many different areas there are; and listen carefully because each person will be asked to sign up for something; and Liz wanted to impress on all that this is not just an activity for fun, but a fundraiser for our foundation. “We can have fun too!” someone wailed, and Elizabeth agreed but noted that no one should feel they can just show up and have fun but do nothing at the event. Each person has to realize that we’re going to need your help, and that everyone has to recognize their responsibility for raising money for the foundation. 

Patricia spoke first: A sheet was passed around of potential people to contact to ask for donations for the auction. Those who see the names of someone they can approach to ask for a contribution, put your name beside the name of the person, business, company or restaurant etc.. Liz noted that the reason that Mary and Patricia created the list was to avoid too many people going into a business to ask for a certificate; we just want one person to do so. There is also a letter that can be sent to each potential contact. Patricia is in charge of the auction, and she has a lot of help; as she’s never done this before. Her name is up there with Susan and Ginger. For example, Charise got a night and a golf excursion at the Ritz that we are hoping to swap it with a Ritz at Tahoe. And, Liz added, all club members are responsible for auction items. Patricia will create a form to use.

Kate suggested that we say more on the poster about who we are and what we do, to get people’s attention. Shirley went to Belmont and San Carlos, who said we can use their poster, to save money. We used part of their poster to brighten up ours; on the back of it you’ll see more about what Rotary does. She looked at last year’s card and it didn’t tell anything about Rotary – so, why should someone go to the event? Who is Rotary? She talked to January Hooker, who everyone knows; we can use one of January’s works of art.

Then attention was turned to the Magic of the Coastside Lobsterfest event, set for August 23, 2025, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the I.D.E.S. Hall at 735 Main St. in Half Moon Bay. There will be dancing to the live music of Claddagh.

Editor's Note:  The table of assignments for the event follows; just click on the "Read more" box for the entire list.

The intention of today's talk is to help Americans understand how the Chinese view their history so that we can better understand how they view the current historical moment. 

China has a history that goes back at least 4000 years and for almost all of this time -- excepting a brief interregnum between 1800 and 2000  CE -- Chinese civilization was among the most powerful and influential on the planet. The Chinese view the past 200 years as an aberration that is now being set right as they regain their "rightful" place as a global center of power.  

After quickly reviewing the geography of China and explaining how it has influenced historical developments, the speaker proceeded to give a lightning-fast tour through 4000 years of Chinese dynasties; touching upon some highlights to illustrate interesting points that might inform current events. This included:

1. The Shang/Zhou transition and the "Mandate of Heaven"
2. The unifying nature of the ambitious, but short-lived, Qin dynasty
3. The Han dynasty that rivaled Rome and established Confucianism as the state religion and set up the beginnings of the storied Chinese Civil Service system.
4. The Romance of the Warring States period.
5. The greatness of the Tang Dynasty, including the unusually powerful position that women had and the first - and only - woman Emperor: Wu Zetian who set up her own dynasty during this period. 
6. The short-lived Ming Dynasty.
7. The great Qing Dynasty, including the depredations of the British Empire Drug cartel and the Opium Wars; the abysmal Tai Ping Tian Guo civil war in 1850-1862 (possibly 30,000,000 dead.)
8. The Communist Dynasty established by Mao Zedong; the disaster of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
9. The opening up under Deng Xiaopeng
10. The ascent of Xi Jinping and the current trajectory of China that harks back to Mao's vision of a unified and globally powerful China; and further back to the Qin dynasty and its view of how China should be ordered.

Chapnick concluded by stating his belief that given China's view of itself as a global power for almost its entire history, the Chinese will be unflaggingly assertive of their prerogatives as a world leader and will not back down from any conflict with the US. In particular, although not wanting to be suicidal, they will eventually reclaim -- by peaceful means, if at all possible, but other means if necessary -- Taiwan that consider an indissoluble part of China.  He also believes that Xi Jinping takes the recapture of Taiwan as the final unresolved piece of his legacy and that the time pressure of age could push President Xi -- currently in his mid-70's -- into a much more aggressive posture as he ages.

His talk covered advanced care planning that aligns with values; there is a values worksheet as a first step with which families might list preferences for advance directives. Items included just how do you define “quality of life” including mental alertness, “comfort care” like antibiotics, stimulants or other drugs, wishes around spiritual care, and the option of a trial period. Its “My Particular Wishes” chart detailed wishes for specific therapies including treatments such as electroshock or artificial nutrition or hydration, depending on doctors’ input. It also touched on what a patient might choose for specific therapies, a health care agent (formerly Power of Attorney), wishes around organ donation, nomination of a conservator, and health care options with two signatures. 

EOLCCA also offers bereavement support and includes factors such as family division, stigma, ethical aspects and uncertainty around a loved one’s choices, and a support group structure that provides a safe space where participants can share experiences. The organization gave a nod to volunteers in April as Volunteer Appreciation Month.

EOLCCA also covers personalized hospice and palliative options from aggressive treatment to comfort care. An aim is to demystify the process, allowing for health care autonomy from initial conversation to documentation. 

Advance Care Planning was emphasized as important also because it enabled participants to make plans for their future health care, and is applicable to adults in all stages of life, as it is shown to reduce stress around the making of those decisions. 

Advance Directives could also include a living will, durable power of attorney and health proxy, emphasizing the importance of a previously written health record or wishes. Advance notifications also include physician orders for life-sustaining treatment, dementia  provisions, DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) or out-of-hospital DNR.

The papers to which Tom had access included steps to creating an advance care plan: reflecting on values, selecting a health care agent, communicating and documenting your wishes.  They also touched on MAiD (or Medical Aid in Dying) eligibility. It was advised to regularly review this. Sharing stories with EOLCCA was also emphasized. EOLCCA emphasized having conversations with loved ones about care and/or involving religious and spiritual leaders – even for those young and healthy.

Further reading suggestions were also included. 

Andrea Vizenor, CSM Exec. Director of Strategic Initiatives and Economic Development introduced herself and their President, Dr. Manuel Alejandro Pérez. We were given a warm welcome to the new Half Moon Bay . We introduced ourselves.  

Warren’s guest, Jeff Chiu, financial advisor with Edward Jones. Transferred from San Mateo. 

Announcements and News

Bring wine for Lobster Fest, $25, one red, one white. Barb will decorate and organize the wine pull. 

Our fourth outbound student, Kenji, is going to Italy. Pasquale from Sardinia, Italy,  is our incoming student. He wants to be an engineer or go into Internal Medicine. 

Warren is looking for major sponsors for Lobsterfest. 

The 5th of June meeting will be about Lobsterfest.  

Global Grant Scholarships update: Emma Tobin, went to Cambridge, her study focus was on women at risk. She has worked internationally in that area. She was with USAID and is now unemployed. 

Liz introduced Dr. Ramon Miramontes. He’s been on the job for 5 months. He’s been a principal, teacher and has held other leadership roles. He was in the Fullerton Rotary Club and is in the process of transferring to our club. He started out by watching the board meetings online. There is a lot of work to be done. Important items include—finances, staffing (3-4 to hire), pay for teachers, operational efficiency, instructional investments and partnerships with non-profits and the county. He put in a plug for the Principal for a Day event. It will be on 9/9/25 it’s actually a half day and is really fun. 

Andrea gave us an overview of the CSM coastside expansion. There are several different tuition options for students, such as the Promise Scholar Program and Tuition Waiver for Undocumented Students. It includes a pathway for students to complete their Associates degree in two years and transfer ability to four year colleges. 

Summer classes in Half Moon Bay include Art 204, drawing, ESL listening and speaking course. They are in the process of designing their fall courses and will make that information available asap.  

They are providing aid workshops as well as college and career counseling. Super Days, help with registering and counseling. 

In fall, what kind of classes? Courses that could help prepare for transfer, workforce development and language acquisition. For example, they will have an intercultural communication course, introduction to fire technology course, an ESL course, etc.              

If programing gets more popular, will you have space available. They have partners that will share space. They want to grow and be responsive to the community. 

“Everyone welcomed everyone and had a good time,” commented Rotary Club President Irwin Cohen, who with wife Nancy attended the event. “All of us enjoyed each other’s company, as it should be.”

It may have been chilly outside on Thursday evening; but the Rotarians, spread over some four tables inside the restaurant, warmed themselves by celebrating the success of last weekend’s Dream Machines. Though nippy weather last Sunday made for fewer dream-machine enthusiasts ogling the gleaming classic cars and planes parked at the Half Moon Bay Airport, Dream Machines was a success for Rotarians' efforts( at the car parking activity fund raising for the Club), community members and visitors alike.

And that generous and celebratory Dream Machines spirit continued its momentum into Coastside Gives on Thursday. 

“It was a great event,” said Rotarian Ginger Minoletti. “We celebrated our success at Coastside Gives” with a few more donations. Indeed, as of 7:30 that evening, donations had soared up to $4,900 and counting.

Coastside Gives was expected to continue until midnight on Thursday.

Irwin introduced Chef Malcom and raved about his blueberry pie, he gives it a 15. 

Chef Malcom’s first restaurant job was as a busboy in Palo Alto. His parents invited him to spend the summer in Paris, he had planned to take care of the house while they were gone, but the exchange rate was fantastic and he decided to go at the last minute. He attended a summer program at Cordon Blue and wound up staying 10 years in France, initially as an illegal immigrant. He went native while he was there. He  learned the language, made friends with the locals, got legal after five years and became a card-carrying resident. He loved the culture. The training was rigorous, he worked in some very fancy places—they are not fun to work in. 

He went back to America to seek his fortune, he’s still seeking. He gave up free medical care and 8 weeks vacation to move back to the US  to “earn his fortune”. He spent seven years in New York and has been a professional cook for 40 years. 

As a hands-on chef, not an executive chef, Malcom dreamt of owning his own restaurant. It turned out to be a bad move.  His La Honda restaurant lost money, but he had a blast doing it. He’s given up the restaurant business, but he hasn’t given up food. Currently he is a Greenhearts Family Farm delivery driver.  He brought some beautiful produce from the farm to share. He is also a private chef with a focus on nourishment and intention. He currently has several clients, he’s cooking every week. He’s looking for the next step. Part of his compensation from Farmer Paul is a box and he recommends trying it. 

On Michellin Stars—he had an eye opening conversation with a 3 star chef his whole career. He handed back his stars, “you guys are a-holes, I don’t want your stars”. Because of silly rules, we’ve excluded so many potential customers and people who love what they do. It started a trend in great chefs to have little casual places off to the side. 

Questions:

If you were going to a restaurant, where would you go and what would you order?  I’m partial to Pasta Moon. We went to It’s Italia recently. I’m very excited about Breakwater BBQ opening up their larger space soon. 

What’s for dinner?  I have a nice roast. He does dinner most nights. When catering, he can cook in you kitchen or he can bring it already made. He does the set up and clean up. 

Do you do cooking classes?  I have, not often, but happy to. 

Favorite French dish to cook. Blanc de Vou, a veal stew, it’s white. 

Any tips on baking a chicken?  He uses a convection oven. Just salt and pepper.  On the inside, a couple of sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf and a couple of cloves of garlic. Truss the chicken, with skewers and close it up. Put it in a 400 degree on convection for 45 mins, turn off the oven and leave it until the oven cools. 

His favorite desserts are fruit pies. Also,likes making bread and burritos. 

His dad helped develop the Trans dermal patch. He was one of the test subjects. 

Other cooking techniques and spices?  Facinated by Indian food, would go there just for the food. Would love to try using a tandoori oven. Chinese food, Thai, Vietnam. 

What’s for dinner?  What do you offer your clients?  Soup, roast chicken, potato dish and greens or other vegetables. What about cassoulets and beef burgeon?  Yes, would happily do those.  

Where do you source your proteins?  Markgard some, a butcher in SF. 

_________________

He was thanked and given a certificate to vaccinate 15 kids against Polio . 

She then called on Renee from Silicon Valley Rainbow Rotary, District 5170. They had a member who knew Patricia; during Covid they were seeking an international project; they had chartered just before Covid and didn’t have much money, including not much resources for international funding. Patricia came up with a village that, she emphasized, “paid all their taxes on time, so you knew they were responsible.” They met in a shed; and none of the villages had solid walls, solid roofing nor indoor plumbing. The club, just numbering 16 at the time, during and just after Covid raised $17,000 through mailings, Bingo games etc., and thus cane up with the $17,000. With that they created a two-room schoolhouse with solid construction, and added indoor plumbing.  

Nancy called on Mike (didn’t get the last name; video was a little weak. Mike told how they had initially been working in a little village homesteaded by indigenous communities. Since this county group had a history of paying all their taxes in full on time, and were having difficulty meeting weekly in a shed, Rainbow Rotary Silicon Valley was interested in working with them to do a school. 

The school was initially designed by him as an idea, and then the community itself decided what they wanted and got involved in designing it.

He outlined how FAMA works: one-third, one-third, one-third – and so, in this school, the government helped us with equipment, code, part of the design; and individuals worked with designing the building. And then Rotary and FAMA did the mentoring and the financial, end of it, as well as eliminating roadblocks.  That’s a major part of what one has to do when you work with communities that have no experience in doing this kind of work. Is that enough?

Questions were invited from the group, before Patricia came up. She said that when they’d heard about Rotary and a global grant, Mike started researching and looking into different projects, and they had three different projects to discuss with us. If there are questions, go ahead and ask. She welcomed Mike, speaking online, but we could hear him perfectly.

Mike said that there was no presentation title or theme he wanted to put on this, but he proposed starting with this one: “Lending a Hand Up,” or working with a health and educational network, which he would explain.

The areas he had considered for a while were health clinics where they could deal with water, sanitation, nutrition and family health. Equally, if not more, important was education: adult and family economic advancement. Meaning: preparing people to enter the workplace and encouraging children’s education. It’s an area among those in rural areas and disadvantaged communities who don’t have a chance to get started, so they end up doing work that doesn’t much benefit their families and offers no advancement at all. 

Patricia interjected: At the time, students were only going to school once a week, because the school was two hours away. And Mike continued, including him and Patricia and some volunteers. Noting that utilizing the participants and their cultural environment is critical. “We can’t just go in and tell them what to do,” he noted. If this is going to be self-sustaining, they have to be able to learn and grow, though coming from a  “base of zero.”

So it evolves, beginning with small steps. Mentoring and driving their participation is hard work. The students are not accustomed to developmental things, they are accustomed to surviving. So he threw out some initial proposals. One of the things in a rural setting is important: there are services but not handy to people. So they were looking at mobile or satellite kinds of opportunities for different communities, where they could provide regularly scheduled services. If clients had medical or health or sanitation needs, it’s difficult and they usually don’t do it. If it’s an emergency, patients can go to a community hospital, but those are far and patients only go with major injuries or illnesses. 

So, what he wanted to propose as an idea was an improvement grant, which he would explain later. What is more important to him is educational and vocational programs, and the emphasis is economic advancement.   He cited a belief in self-sustaining, or give them a hand up, the fish analogy: you don’t give a fish, you teach them how to fish. That means: if you stay, they end up depending on you; if you say you’re leaving, they get excited or greedy. On to the next slide … there was some working over the slide, and Mike wryly noted that “this happens in the villages, by the way.” If they don’t leave, he said, the next group won’t be able to get help.

He spoke of putting responsibilities on the individuals, which helps them to grow and develop.

There were specific places he wanted to talk about: with one clinic on a road on which some people had been hurt and an infant had died. We helped them rebuild the road, he said, they did all the labor; the government provided machines and code, we provided funding and mentoring. He was able to help there as he is a civil engineer. At that point they met a group of women who had been given sewing machines by the government but no fabric. The story there was the time it took for them to develop. Board members advised them as to what they needed, but they did not know how to price their product. So, Mike said, they began slowly working on how to save money to buy more fabric.  They started keeping records of how much time their tasks took, and now they keep records of accounting, of credits and debits, expenses, time, future purchases, and he noted that their treasurer has gotten very good at this.  It took time – three years – to master the accounting, of which they mastered the importance. 

He spoke of a school built along with Silicon Valley Rainbow Rotary, which he called a “blessing.”  He described how the men cleared land with machetes while the women maintained the villages. There were difficulties: they needed to make money but they lacked water or power or applicable knowledge; they set up a water system that storms destroyed, and then the government offered to help with water, and provided engineers and equipment.  Residents did the labor and “we provided the funding and helped with design.” Initially they gave lemon trees to households and the women walked a kilometer to the river while carrying water in buckets on their heads. A mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law got busy together and now they’re making as much money as their husbands do. And there are now full orchards. 

And the point is: something starts out one way and grows as we discover what they need, “and we grow as a team.” 

They started at San Rafael de los Marinos, with the clinic, and ended up with a women’s co-op, he said, and with Rainbow Rotary building the school and doing the water system. Now, he said, they’re moving north into rural areas, which is different as the residents are very disadvantaged. He also mentioned “due east of Puerto Vallarta.” 

Question: were there problems with drug lords and trafficking? The answer was no.

For Mike, he said, empowering was the primary if not sole purpose of this work. The communities were limited in planning and operating projects of any size. The residents agree with what we say, he said, and we want them to learn and take it over, to “have every benefit of doing it themselves.”

He summed up: Families live in constant crisis resulting in psychological paralysis. He saw the same when working in India and in the Middle East and Asia. This is critical to this community in Puerto Vallarta: adults aren’t able to get jobs due to lack of education and confidence, and English is a required skill for any kind of reasonable placement or advancement, and they face difficulties because “they don’t have the language.” 

There’s a big vacuum in jobs that require fixing appliances, washer/dryers, doing caulking or electrical work, which pay well but there’s no way for them to learn how to do that, he said. It’s gotten easier with circuit-boards, thanks to the Silicon Vallery. 

As far as living conditions and learning and confidence, you’ll see that, in one of the villagers especially, though family financial planning is nonexistent, as they don’t have much money and what they do have isn’t utilized well. 

He turned to some photos: showing a map of Puerto Vallarta, a county as well as a city, a large and developed area; he indicated the central area and a regional hospital. And Playa Grande, where there are schools and a nice community but no clinic and no adult education. To get to the clinic, you have to cross a swinging bridge and use the bus. 

These are the three areas on which Mike said he has been concentrating his research. To further identify where this is, he said, it’s due east of the airport and the marina where boats and cruise ships are. Again he showed pictures of the villages,  and pointed out how the areas look very poor and marginalized, and that’s Loma de (?) Media. 

He showed a closeup of Playa del Grande, and Volcanes (?) and Loma de Medio. That’s a populated area with new houses, a place for events, many grocery stores, and he pointed out some very poor areas. He also pointed out a concentrated area that is “like a shanty town,” a ravine with black, or dirty, water running through it, blackened with garbage but not sewage. It only runs in the rainy season which is summer. But it also is a pool of insects and infections, and a breeding ground for dengue (if I got that right) which is a real problem in Mexico. It’s covered with brush and trees, and the living conditions are very poor. 

He moved on to photos of beds for people who quadriplegics and disadvantaged people who can’t leave their beds. He showed a photo where the handicapped come and do repair work, some taking turns to do it and gain experience. He mentioned some who found the place and who needed food; among those who ive there are North American expats and hungry tourists, whom he has helped.

This is what it looks like, he said; pointing out slats for walls in some places,  and he showed photos of some visiting to take food to those who needed it. He also showed pictures that illustrated the water problem there,  and that showed water and garbage. He told of some who are told they can’t have houses there, so they tear them down and later rebuild them. And he showed photos of black containers in which residents store water, which does not come from the black water sources. 

He showed pictures of some shacks that are out from under brush and trees; others he could not get good pictures of. He also showed a picture of a home with dirt floors, and poorly built walls. He showed a picture he’d titled so that you wouldn’t think it was someone’s grand house – it was a multiple family dwelling. And another water tank that didn’t get filled all the time. Sometimes residents just have tarps that make their walls. 

The final pictures were of “colonias,” or neighborhoods which included schools, but there is no education for adults. And they don’t have either a (medical) clinic or easy access to one.  He also showed a photo of a school which was built with the help of two Canadians, one of whom provided weekly technical tutoring and the other, English tutoring. Teachers do have a bus that comes up to the location, he said; against the mountain but not from the county hospital; they only go there for more serious injuries such as a broken arm. 

That concluded the presentation, which was only to give some ideas of the region, Mike said. He and Patricia were open to questions.

A  comment followed on Silicon Valley Rainbow Rotary’s  perspective: the work that they are doing is in line with Rotary’s Areas of Focus in terms of education, maternal health, water and sanitation, economic betterment; from a global grant perspective she pointed out that they area aligned in terms of sustainability; it is a case where we leave them and leave the project in their hands. She pointed out the school as an example: they are flourishing and getting more money to make the school better and do more with the village. She pointed out that, Rotary plus FAMA is a great opportunity. The speaker noted that they’d be happy to partner with us. Saratoga Rotary was also interested. Patricia will be at the District Conference, where there will be a breakout session and perhaps this can inspire other Rotary clubs to work with us.

A question was asked about how do they address adult literacy? The answer was that adult literacy has not been emphasized;  they had helped them become more self-sustainable through work such as by becoming a seamstress. But, as Mike had said, they’d like to do more along these lines, because they need to learn English; whose who have visited Puerto Vallarta know that it is a tourist town. A basic issue is literacy in the primary language. Start with what they know and build on that. 

Patricia said that she and Mike had talked about a satellite learning center. , where students can “come and learn wherever they’re at.” It would be a three-way partnership, with the government, available buildings there; they’d seek an educator, computers and other educational materials. She has been an educator for more than 30 years, and education is important to her. Distances and difficulties in traveling over the terrain were also pointed out. It would  be about 60 miles, and take about an hour; you’d almost need a four-wheel drive. 

Pres. Irwin  introduced the speaker this way: Louisiana playwright Tennessee Williams once said that America only has three cities: New York, San Francisco and New Orleans; everywhere else is Cleveland, and today’s speaker, Douglas Nelson, has lived in all three, and recalled a Pink Floyd concert in Cleveland. (Douglas’ words, Irwin said.) He continued: Douglas was born in Baton Rouge and lived there and in New Orleans; after he’d finished his undergraduate degree in theatre at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, he moved to New York “so he could learn how to wait tables.” In 2006 he and his wife moved to San Francisco and, in 2013, to Moss Beach. On his Web site of bpnelson.com.douglas, he claims to a few careers: claims to have acted off-Broadway, worked at Wall Street, built a couple of businesses, written songs and recorded three albums, and cooked in a Michelin-rated restaurant. “It’ll be interesting to see if anything he says is true,” Irwin quipped, and the listeners laughed before applauding.

Douglas started by paraphrasing the Bard – “All the world’s a stage, all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts;” his acts being seven pages. The first, an infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms, then the whining schoolboy with a satchel and shining morning face creeping like a snail unwillingly to school, then the lover, sighing like a furnace with a wilful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow, then a soldier full of strange oaths and bearded like a pirate, jealous in honor and sudden and quick in quarrel, seeking a buckled reputation even in the cannon’s mouth. Then the justice with fair round belly and good capon line, with eyes sever and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws and modern instances. And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts into the lean and slippered pantaloon, his youthful hose well-saved, a world too wide for his shrunk shank; his big manly voice turning again to childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound. Last scene of all that ends this strange and eventful history: his second childishness, in weird oblivion, sans (“without,” in French) teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. Club members applauded.

Douglas continued, that he’d been crossing the fulcrum into moving into Act Three of life; the bearded pirate, justice, he’d had a few lives and it’s been interesting reinventing himself from time to time. His undergrad degree was in theatre; he has valued the arts, though it wasn’t until college that he thought he might be an artist because “I grew up with you guys,” a legacy Rotarian though he hadn’t been to a meeting in 50 years. His father was a Rotarian in Baton Rouge and he always liked that Tennessee Willims quote because it made him feel good about himself; he was from that neck of the woods, Louisiana guy, and liked mid-century dramatic theatre; Williams, Arthur Miller, “All My Sons” one of his favorites.

He said he was thinking what he might say and still didn’t really know, “but we’ll see how it goes.” He pondered what lessons he’d learned in life. Starting in New Orleans, he went to school in the French Quarter, near St. Louis Cathedral, the center of the quarter; he recalled going to the teacher in the second grade, to say that they had candy back there; the teacher looked squarely at him and said, “you know, if they’d given you some you would not have come up here.” He thought that that meant that all have sinned and fallen short of the mark and he wasn’t above that. He thought Jesus put it well: Just don’t be an asshole” though he was not sure what translation that was. 

Mauro began by saying he came to this country in February 1981, he recalls that because it was a leap year. He has studied classical music since he was 6 at the conservatory; however, since he was 13 or 14 he knew that the piano with the keys “was enough for me.” After many years of inspiration he began looking at the inside of pianos, and he called that “a little background on his piano ventures.”

A little history on the piano: He characterized it as an extension of keyboards; before it came the organ with its bellows and pipes, and the harpsichord and a few other instruments; but all of them use a plucking mechanism, meaning that when you hit the keys, a little plug will pluck the string and make that sound. So, before the piano, no matter how soft, or loud, or how  you strike the keyboard, the volume is always the same.

He said: “I actually have a couple of harpsichords, and you sit there and you play, and the volume is always so little, and sometimes I think, years ago in an orchestra, like 50 members, who will hear the harpsichord? Well, you know what they did, for one thing, the harpsichord was long … we had henneman, to create the volume, to play in the orchestra.” There was an Italian guy by the name of Arturomayo Cristo, that was the maker of things for the deMedici family in Florence, and he is the first person who decides to remove the (?), little leather hammer to strike the strings. That way, you can play loud or soft. We know him as the inventor of the piano. However, back in those days, (the instrument) was clanky and heavy, like a harpsichord ...

Thirty years went by. It was a German, in Austria, a maker, by the name of Gotthead Silverman, who actually created the pianos we know of today. He invented what is called the “quick release.” In the early version of the piano, when you play a note, you have to let go of the key to repeat the note. So it was very hard to play. This guy invented the release, which had 20 different levers and springs. When you hit the note, the hammer comes back right away, you can repeat it, so we can (play at the) speed we do today. That’s the basic invention of the piano as we know it today.

Many centuries went by, (with) the Industrial Revolution; another main, main thing that happened to the steel industry, was cast iron, they started making the steel frames. Before that, in the time that Beethoven was playing, the pins that hold the strings, went into a sound board on top of the piano, went into wood. You couldn’t have the piano like we have today, tempered at 440. It was 430. Why? Because you tried to pull the strings more tense, it would fly away. Beethoven was playing loudly because he was a bit deaf, and he would blow strings. There was a very famous episode in which he was playing in the first chord he does, he blows a string and he changed the whole composition … 

So … yes, the history … the steel frame was invented … the families were mostly in Manchester, in England; that’s why a lot of pianos were (made?) in England, that eventually went all over the world. The major, majors, we all know Steinway, in Germany, the Bosendorfer in Austria, the Pleyel which was a French manufacturer, that was the favorite piano of Chopin…

Back  those days, if you were a piano company you would hired a piano player, and he would come on down and play your piano … Just to give you a quick reference, at the turn of the century, 1900, 1905 or 1910, in upstate New York, in this country, there were over 550 piano makers, Stokerach, Pappelmann, Stoer, they would make pianos …There’s only three left in the country. There’s Mason and Hamlin, one of the early American-made pianos, which was sold to China and bought (about 10 or 12) years ago, there’s Steinway which is still in Germany, and the other in Queens in New York. 

I had the pleasure of visiting the factory. There’s a film, actually, called “Twelve Pianos,” you can find on Apple TV or … It’s a film that is basically showing all these things you can do with pianos, installation here on the coast, and so forth; you can download it. Send me a quick email, and I can send you (information; he’s at www.mauroffortissimo.com, it’s on videotape; I already have (some)) 

So there’s only three or four left (pianomakers); it’s very unfortunate because pianos were basically built --- there’s a craft to it --- that uses carpenters, many, many trades involved in pianomaking, and unfortunately it’s a craft we are losing. There’s a company here in Berkeley, DC  Pianos; they don’t make pianos, they fix pianos, they repair pianos, but there’s so much of that going on … One of the largest piano factories called (?) in China, they sold 150,000 pianos a year, which is kind of – People ask me, where do you get pianos? I am offered pianos every week, they know me; I don’t only play pianos, but I make a sculpture with piano parts.   I have many pianos taken apart, I have a shop here on Highway One and Kelly (with) barns in the back. Later, you can come and see some of my sculptures with piano parts; I use only piano parts, down to the screw. There are so many things; I try not to bring any other materials into the making of the sculptures that I do. 

A little bit more about my adventures with pianos: I used to run a yoga studio near Kelly Avenue, called Enso. One day a student came over and said, I bought a house, and (in it) there’s a piano we don’t play, would you like to have it? I said yes, I’ll take it; I put it in my truck and took it down to Enso, and I was starting to take it apart. Well, that corner there; as you know if you live in town, there is a state park to the right, and the left area belongs to the City of Half Moon Bay, but there is also a horse trail, a bike path, a walking lane. So I happened to be there (playing) on a Friday night, Saturday there were 10 people, Sunday there were 100; after a couple of weeks it became really large. There were the L.A. Times, the Chronicle, TV cameras for some 10 days, and I had my 15 minutes of fame. There was a lady there who worked in San Francisco (this was in 2013); she couldn’t get close to the piano but she knew a person here in Half Moon Bay and wound up connecting him to the yoga studio. To make a long story short, he ended up with an offer to help in the Tenderloin area and to move pianos; they gave him $35,000 to play for a couple of years; he played mostly for the homeless. 

But for a while, he was lent space in a condemned building at Market and Sixth, that had storage space big enough for grand pianos. They also had platforms with big wheels, large enough to move pianos, and lamps in every corner; so that what he did “fit right in.” After a while he went to the U.N. Plaza, which had the U.N charter founded in 1948. 

He played there for a couple of years, and then found Half Moon Bay; and a place beautiful enough to play by the ocean and to play in a boat for whales. He recalled some colorful characters and one homeless fan, Neil, who lived in a tent and came in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank, and who turned out to be “an amazing player.” He  came every Friday and played many different things there before his death.

He said that one day they wanted to do something in a more natural environment, so they approached people who were connected to Golden Gate Park. Its 75^th anniversary was coming up; they wanted to do something, and did, and “everybody had such a great time.” They had 12 pianos for 12 days, and anyone could play. They decided to have friends join them;  the decided to do it annually. No, this is the tenth year. It takes place Sept. 10-22 in s “beautiful environment” full of flowers and birds.  He recalled playing once and looking down to a little gopher looking up at him and eating clover. Sometimes you are playing there and sometimes joined by orchestras in the “Great Meadow” including the Golden Gate Symphony conducted by Boris Steiner, and the Oslo Orchestra. Pieces have also been commissioned to be written and performed there. There were also stories about what can happen when you are playing outdoors in nature.

He spoke of young musicians playing out in nature: “they’re a bit shy and they don’t want to play. But you take the piano out of the living room and you put them in nature; you can be playing and a bird would go by or a tree branch would make some sounds, and it’s been more relaxing and kids love to play

He said they have a chair which a dozen people love to use, so anybody can just come over. The event is free; you may pay depending on the time of the year. They welcome donations, it being San Francisco here there is a little more money. He said that friends may come from San Jose where they have to drive a little to get there and there can be parking fees. He also recommended getting many tickets to give some away.

He spoke a little about himself: he is a painter and a poet, hosting a poetry gathering in North Beach near City Lights, at the Adler Museum, where there is an amazing collection of posters. He does that once a month on a Wednesday night, poets’ night. He spoke of having met a San Francisco poet laureate there, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. “To me, it as a dream,” he said. 

He said he has always loved Beat stuff, starting when he came to California and loved poetry and the Beat movement. He recalled a New Year’s Italian lunch at Union Square, when he sat with Jack, wife Aggie and daughter and himself, and they took turns reading. So he got up to read a poem by Italian poet and filmmaker Paolo Pasolini, first in Italian and then English; he admitted he did not fluently speak Spanish or Italian though his parents are from Italy (“I mix a lot of Castilian (a dialect of Spanish) into it,”) and a gentleman came up to him afterward and said, “Your poem was really good. Wh-what dialect as that?”

Later, he said, he found out that Ferlinghetti and Jack Hirschman were the two first American writers who translated Pasolini’s work from the Italian into English, which is a nice treat.

Susan Kealey mentioned the Performing Arts Center which offers nice programs, and encouraged the club to check it out some time. Liz Schuck said that she had been to that center and that they do have good programs, but it was unfortunate that the outside of the building looked rather sad, but she won’t think so in future. Susan noted that the Rotary Club of Pacifica has a little garden area in that center with a lot or plaques. 

There were no more announcements, so President Irwin – stepping in for the meeting -- went on to his “cookie time” “Name This Tune” game where he plays a snippet of music and listeners have to guess the name of the tune. (Liz joking declared she knew she was going to win.) After a few moments’ pause to get the technology going, someone guessed “The  Sound of Silence” but that was not it – Irwin played  brief clip of lively music, to which Drew guessed the theme music to “Peter Gunn” by Henry Mancini. “So smart,”  Irwin said, and asked the name of the actor who had played Peter Gunn. Confusion followed; some said they could visualize his face but did not know the name. So he passed the “pig” – the donation bucket – around. 

He also asked if anyone had signed up for the Youth Protection program which was not difficult, and that Dianne Bobko could help and we really should participate in the program. He added that Nancy and he had attended the Peace Conference in Rohnert Park and it was “amazing,” and if we ever had a chance to do an “extracurricular program” this was the one, to get you “super charged.” It triggered him to think about the recent big fires that had happened in terms of equilibrium, and how its components were fuel, oxygen, heat which require combustion. If you take away any of these, combustion doesn’t happen.  Here, the combustion is hate. So similarly, if you take away fear and anger by educating people, it’s hard to hate. 

This was the theme Irwin said he kept hearing, over and over, in the program. One thing that struck him as he walked around different areas hearing different parts of the program, was how this had to do with youth and education. If you educate kids, chances are they’ll grow up not hating.  He recalled a big program that impressed him that we had last summer with Richard Goldstein from Saratoga, who spoke on the “Ambassadors of Compassion,” which starts in the second grade. It began in 2010, was written and published, and he cited statistics saying 81 percent of teens 13-17 who suffer stress associated with schooling due to Covid, 58 percent of teens are concerned about their own mental health. Once this program was introduced in the United States, there were 52 percent fewer unexcused absences, 88 percent fewer assertive disciplinary interactions, 30 percent increase in aid, and 48 percent decrease in (didn’t get the word.) How did they do this? They empowered the kids, did breakout sessions with counselors, students were taught to lead and taught emotional strength, forgiveness and release of pain, and the kids were taught to counsel themselves. This nationwide program has been backed by the 49ers. Were schools here implementing this?

Brenda, who also served as a U.S. Sales manager for Skadi Cyber Defense, started her presentation by passing around business cards and a signup sheet for those who wanted a copy of her presentation. Also she asked listeners to put down a number from 1-100 she would use in a drawing from her phone for a $25 gift card. She also described the “honor” of speaking in this “beautiful coastal community that I absolutely love.”

Her company is Skadi Cyber Defense, and she pointed out the indigo graphic image on her business cards of a Norwegian warrior princess, drawing her bow with a long bright-orange arrow fitted to it. She said Skadi is there to “help protect the world against cyber attack.” Her company was founded to protect small businesses, because there are many companies out there focused on the big guy and big money. Small businesses that want protection often hear, you aren’t big enough. She noted that while her presentation is focused on small businesses, there are many individuals here to whom this will apply. She recounted frequently hearing of someone being hacked, or losing life savings, or having their computer compromised. So it’s important to her to educate listeners to stay safe against this threat. She gave her contact information and invited listeners to contact her (brenda.johnson@skadicyber.com).

Jo Ellis is currently serving as the Director of Education at Bay Area Lyme Foundation (BALF) since March 2023.  Jo holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and Post Graduate Certification  from the College of London.  At the Foundation, the focus is on Lyme disease awareness and prevention. Previously, Jo held the position of Executive Director at FRED Leadership, advancing ethical leadership values from November 2019 to March 2023. Jo's extensive background includes leading education outreach initiatives at Bay Area Lyme Foundation from 2014 to 2019. 

About her personally, she is married to the same person she met in 1985, an American. They live in Menlo Park. He’s an old time software guy. Their son, an artist, is gay and lives in Germany. Their daughter is a scientist. She went to Dartmouth and is finishing her PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle in atmospheric chemistry and is working in climate change science. Their youngest is a fighter pilot in the US Navy. 

BALF is the largest public funder of Lyme disease in the country. To date we have granted over 30 million in grants and funding support for research. We have projects in over 50 academic, institutional and commercial environments around the country. Why are we talking about ticks?  Anyone outdoors is at risk to encounters. We’re here to talk about prevention and health care provisions. For many reasons there is a lot of controversy about lime disease. 

BALF’s mission is to make Lyme and all tick borne diseases easy to diagnose and simple to cure because currently it is not easy to diagnose and is not easy to cure. Within the 50 institutions we are supporting, we have many projects—you can see them on our website under the science tab. 

He started in a one room school in San Gregorio. His mom died when he was young; she was 40. His mom and dad had dairy farm down the coast. Silvio Medina was his best buddy since the third grade. Silvio made the beautiful bell at City Hall.  On 6/14/63 John was in the first graduating class from HMB HS. The next day a recruiter came to San Gregorio, and Silvio and John were off to Viet Nam. 

In 1966 he was the White Hat of the Year in the Navy and Za Za Gabor gave him the award. His other claim to fame was that he was on the Bob Barker Show and wound up with two six foot tall dates to the Moulin Rouge. He married a flower growers daughter and she pushed him to apply to a private foundation to obtain a college education. He applied to the Agricultural Education Foundation where they select students to attend four different universities.  He had the privilege to go on and get involved with the foundation  he then went on to get involved with local politics and eventually National politics. He’s also been able to go to Washington D.C. every four years with the flower industry. AS he said, "He’s been in the White House and the outhouse." He was invited to visit the Supreme Court and met Justice Scalia. 

He is still on the Coastside Water District Board (don’t give him heck for the increase). He shared many other stories of people he’s met and experiences he’s had along the way. In June the Agriculture Foundation selected three graduates, John graduated in 1978, class eight. In June they accepted class fifty-four. All privately donated funds, millions of dollars. He was awarded a Lifetime Leadership award. 

Q. What’s next?  A. The inauguration is coming up, has helped with Inaugurations for both dems and GOP. He is training two young women to take over part of the farm, and he also gave part of the farm to another worker. He’s currently helping out by driving truck for Lea Farms while the normal driver out due to an injury. 

Q. How did you meet your wife Eda and how did you convince her to marry you? A. His dad knew Eda’s father. They were invited to Eda’s family home for Christmas and he wound up working for her dad. 

Q. How did you get your job at the airport? A. I met a guy on a plane, chatted for a bit and he took my name and number.  I got a call from the FBI shortly after, “Would you like to be in the FBI Citizens Academy and serve as a role player at the airport for Homeland Security?”  His adventures there included seeing the Bomb Dog go for a muffin, got taken into custody by SF Police, but not arrested—Homeland Security apologized to him for that snafu. He has also done National Night Out volunteering. 

Q. What is the future of agriculture/horticulture on the coast?  A.  Great question, John Gusti has two sons doing a great job, and David Lea has daughters and one son-in-law who doesn’t like dirt so he’s not going to be a farmer. David has a partner now, a Cal Poly graduate, so he has a transition plan. Rocket Farms will continue he thinks, and there are more organic farmers. Our growth is concerning, not sure we have the infrastructure for it. On the Water District Board we’re very concerned about water for the future; and, let’s call it affordable not farm worker housing. His property line borders the mushroom farm, he heard the shots. 

Q .  Do you have any Dolores Mullen stories?  A. She was the Godmother, a title she earned.  Regarding Japanese farmers—his dad hosted first Japanese exchange student after the war. 

Q.  When I started the Chamber, there were 5,000 rose growers years ago. Now that NAFTA has been repealed, is there any chance of the flower growing business coming back?  A.  I’m sorry to say, it’s impossible. Building greenhouse structures is a challenge for everybody.  Encouraging youth to stay in agriculture is challenging, but you never know, my granddaughter is at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. I tell her, come back and start the farm all over again.

Q.  Do you think we should be doing something different with almonds because they use so much water?  A.  A good point, all my almond and walnut growing friends are pulling out a lot of trees. They don’t use as much as we think, but they’re cutting back. With the new administration, I thing the CA water system may change. 

(Editor's Note  Of additional interest on YouTube you can find a great video and story about with both John and father-in-law Al Adreveno featured for their recognition as 2023 Veterans of the Year. "Al Adreveno, who this year celebrated his 100th birthday, is a World War II veteran who served in the Army Corps of Engineers. During his service, he was part of an elite team in the Philippines and the invasion of Okinawa. Upon his return home, Al became involved in the flower-growing business and the owner of Daylight Farms, and a stalwart member of the Half Moon Bay community for over 70 years, serving on the City Council and as mayor, the Coastside County Water District, the County Farm Bureau, the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce and more. In summary, Al provided countless contributions to his beloved community.

John Muller, who is Al Adreveno’s son-in-law, is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. In fact, John was also trained for emergency pickup of the 1965 Gemini Capsule. Known as “Farmer John” in the coastside community and beyond, and owner of Daylight Farms including the Highway 1 pumpkin patch. Farmer John served on many boards and commissions, including the USDA Farm Service Agency, working to keep the diversity of California agriculture ever-present to those in Washington D.C. Farmer John also served on the Half Moon Bay City Council and was a two-term mayor. He has been involved in many community activities, including the K9 Companions Service Dog program, the July 4th parades, the Pumpkin Festival, and the Farmers Sharing Program providing donations of vegetables and flower seeds to library cardholders. And Farmer John always gives back time and energy to veteran causes.")

Thank you Farmer John!  Pres. Irwin gave him a certificate showing that a number of children will be vaccinated against Polio in his name.

Noting that he was “really excited” to be here today, Schulze said he’d been with the organization for about 19 months, and is working to bring the medical center back to what it had been here. When word spread in his workplace that he was coming to Rotary to speak, many there wanted to come along and talk too – including Emergency Services (Nursing)  Director Jacqueline Maturan and Seton Community Board Vice Chair Fred Naranjo who had donated a lot to this community to help with food insecurity (a big challenge here, he said) and Dr. Edmund Toye who is a general surgeon.

Schulze had learned about Rotary a couple months ago at a regional meeting to discuss what the next big project would look like. He learned that Rotary and District 5150 wanted to improve mental health in this country and the world; he had met Rotarians and learned of Rotary’s role in polio eradication. He has family members in Rotary in Taipei (district 3481) who met their significant others through Rotary. 

He said he is not here to tell us how to fix health care but to share some facts about it. He noted that this is the only developed country where health care is not a (constitutional) right.  But the U.S. is a health insurance marketplace. Here, you buy health insurance, and your health insurance company has a network of doctors, hospitals and ancillary providers they contract with. He invited us all to engage in the discussion too, since he wanted to learn more about passions with health care in San Mateo County.

He listed some numbers: the number of Americans age 65 and up is expected to increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million in 2050. When Medicare started in the 1960s, it was only designed to provide coverage for 5 years (i.e. age 65 to 70) and people are now living beyond the average age of 100.  There are longevity conferences around the world focusing on how to live to be over 100? 

The U.S. population now is older that it has ever been, so we have to have infrastructure in place to support the care that will be needed. We know that the majority of health care in this country – about 80 percent of health care -- is used by people 65 and older. We need to educate the population to use health care more when they are younger versus when they reach 65 and up. Between 1980 and 1922, the median age increased from 30 years of age to 38.9 years of age; we are seeing many states with populations getting older. Maine, for example, has a median age of almost 45; New Hampshire’s median age is 43.3.

We also are seeing obesity increase among Americans, to about 40 percent. And there is also a rising demand for elder care, especially among individuals of lower income and those with dementia; that number is doubling from about 6 million to 13 million. 

Schulze said he is bringing this up because, as we start getting older as a population, we have to make sure we have the infrastructure to care for these individuals, make sure they are healthier, visit their doctors when they are younger -- you can’t wait till you are 65 to begin going to your doctor. There are many things we can do to keep our population healthy. 

One item he wanted to add, is food insecurity. In 2022, about 9.1 percent of people 65 and older have food insecurity – they may not know where the next meal is coming from, or if they’re going to have dinner.

Stacy asked for clarification: What exactly do you mean by “food insecurity”? Answer: Not being able to afford healthy food, not fast food. We’re talking about a good serving of fruit, vegetables, meat, proteins. 

California recently passed a law saying that, for hospitals, if you have excess and unexpired food, you have to work with a local food bank to donate it. Sometimes food in hospitals or cafeterias doesn’t get used; work is ongoing with food banks to donate it. When we’re looking to solve issues with health care, this is something we need to focus on. 

Longevity: He mentioned that the number of individuals living past 100 is growing, in the 1950s, 1990s, 2000s. Currently we’re at about 101,000 centenarians, a number expected to grow by 2054 to about 422,000 individuals living past age 100. 

Globally, we’re seeing about 722,000 centenarians, a number expected to grow to 4 million. You’re talking about the infrastructure to support the longer time that people are living. 

Senior housing is very, very problematic, especially in San Mateo County.  There is not enough senior housing available, to support individuals living longer. By 2030, we’re expected to have a shortage of 550,000 senior housing units. What’s needed is about $275 billion invested to improve that shortfall. And it’s not just seniors; we know the shortage of housing in the state, which is why property values are so high. Supply and demand. But especially the senior community; there’s not enough assisted living facilities to support the growing need. Facilities here are at 90-95 percent capacity, with wait lists. There is a shortage of independent living facilities as well. And it’s not cheap; the going rate for a shared room is about $8,000, and for your own room, about $12,000 a month. That’s insane, Schulze said; “We really need to figure out how to improve senior housing, especially in this community.”

Sandra Winter, Executive Director of Senior Coastsiders, welcome us and thanked us for prior contributions. Note the special dessert—a Canadian dessert bar (Naimo Bar?)/The meal we were served is very typical of the daily lunches provided by Senior Coastsiders kitchen. The kitchen serves up to 350 people each month. It is restaurant quality food. There is also a meal delivery service,; meals are provided to Puente to deliver on south coast; and they provide meals to CADHC.

Two other organizations use the kitchen—Table of Plenty and No Strings Attached Breakfast. At this time 27-28% of Coastsiders are seniors. The 85 and older group is the fastest growing segment. The organization meets the needs of a diverse age range from 55 and older (up to 100). Seniors generally make up 18% in other areas. 

Other offerings include transportation, a new van was acquired last year. Classes include creative writing, art, crafts, grief support, Parkinson’s support. The mission is to support successful aging. This support takes into account where someone is and where they want to go.  There are 13 on staff and 250-300 volunteers. Many volunteers are older adults. There is a full time care manager and the organization is looking for an additional one.  The van takes people shopping, to social events, etc. 

Programs at Senior Coastsiders are age dependent. The housing on this campus  is provided by three non-profits, and there are about 400 residents. There are many Chinese seniors, so Senior Coastsiders hired a native Chinese speaker to help them learn English. The van also takes them into SF to shop.  CERT training is also available. Senior Coastsiders also provides computer training and had a program to give out 75 tablets along with training. They work with AARP to provide tax services. There is a free assistive device program—the biggest challenge with that program is storage. The minor home repair program focuses on safety and functionality and includes Home Rehab Day. The Pet Buddy program provides volunteers and limited financial support. 

Q. Do you help with insurance? A. Yes, we engage HiCap to help people to sign up for Medicare. You could have them speak to your group after November. 

Q. In Bodega Bay the fire department would change alarm batteries. A. We could do that for you. 

Q. Why so many Chinese residents?  A. I’m not sure why, but there is a waitlist. It is a county-wide list, an applicant has to take what is available.

Q. Does a homeless person get priority. A. That is up to the housing non-profits who manage the housing. 

Q. Do you provide mental health services? A. Not currently,  but the new hire may. 

Q. Where does your funding come from?  A. From grants, donations and other. Our budget is 1.5 million. 

Q. A. Do you serve meals 7 days a week? A. We serve 5 days a week and a frozen meal if needed. 

Q. Do you charge for the meals? A. We allow people to contribute. About a quarter of meal recipients contribute. 

Q. How does Senior Coastsiders differ from Village of the Coastside and Coastside Adult Day Health Center. A. CADHC provides medical services; we don’t provide medical services; we support more active seniors. Village of the Coastside is a focused on social outings,. You pay for those events.  They also have a volunteer driver program and have workshops. It is a membership driven organization. 

Q. Has the new Senior housing increased the number of participants?  A. We’re not sure that is the case. HMB is a nice place to retire to. HMB also participates in the Age Friendly program and Senior Coastsiders supports the program.

Q. What can groups such as Rotary do to help?  A. We are always looking for volunteers, grants are helpful, participation in special events like the Pumpkin Run and telling people about our services. 

CLUB MEETING - October 3, 2024 

Everyone assembled in the meeting room of the Half Moon Bay Library. It began when everyone moved outside the room into the sunshine, to pose for a photo for Mitone Griffiths’ District Governor Intro for and with her club, one that would show our meeting place. So everyone piled outside, smiled and posed.

Pledge of Allegiance - The pledge of Allegiance was led by Nancy Wolfberg.

Inspirational Thought - Kevin said that since it was a beautiful day, everyone should “channel your inner Ray Charles” to join in for “America the Beautiful.” Everyone did.

Visitors and Guests -Visiting Rotarian Kayla and  Marla Wong. 

Lobster Fest -  Presentation to the Boys and Girls Club -  Liz Schuck and Nancy Wolfeberg invited Jill Jacobson Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club up front “for a very important presentation.” She reminded those present that during the Lobsterfest we raised funds to help the Boys and Girls Club sponsor 80 students to one-day camps during the off-school times “so they don’t have to stay home and be latchkey kids” or endlessly be on their phones. Our Club had raised the $4,000 for which Jill and the Boys and Girls Club team had written the proposal, and so she was presented with a gigantic facsimile cardboard check plus the real one on behalf of the Half Moon Bay Rotary Club Foundation. Enthusiastic applause followed that presentation. 

Jill said that the first half of the camp is scheduled for before Thanksgiving at Cunha, and all are invited to stop in to see it. There will be another camp over the Presidents Day and Spring break respectively. We were very excited at all that they are doing, said Liz, who added encouragement that members stop in and see the kids.  

Barb Nielsen added that the club name is also listed on the nonprofit wall on Main Street at the vault, and any money raised through it goes to the Boys and Girls Club. The vault is an idea from David Oliphant, and it showcases local artists and the display changes every three months. If you put in tokens there, and also at New Leaf, you will further support the club. 

The second check from the Rotary benefit goes to Maya Luna for Sea Hugger, but the representative was not there today. 

Pres. Irwin's Quiz

Club president Irwin Cohen led a quiz, with a prize of a little box of cannoli: How many bones are there in one foot? Several guesses were made (163, 75, 52, 18), with the winner being  26 – 27. Irwin tells us that a quarter of all the bones in the body are in your feet. He knows, right?

TRF Update from Club TRF Chair Warren Barmore - Invited up as the club’s TRF chair, Warren Barmore  spoke for the importance of EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) which shows our support the Rotary Foundation. Not to be confused with the Rotary Foundation of Half Moon Bay, this is Rotary International’s foundation, which we commit to giving at least $25 every year through the Annual Share fund. Warren pointed out that the donation bucket is going around, and he described the advantages of being on Rotary Direct, for giving every month or one-time-a-year in July (the beginning of the Rotary year.) Currently our club has 17 members on Rotary Direct. He pointed out that Oct. 12 is “All Hands on Deck,” headed with the Rotary Foundation visit to the USS Hornet. That’s a great opportunity to see the Hornet and to view the potential impact of the collected funds. Today’s meeting attendees were able to fill out  names and contact information on the 10 forms for raffle tickets) to get to the Foundation. We’re looking for $250 from our club. Susan Kealey filled out one such form last year and from a related drawing won $700. The top prize is $2,000. More information followed about the Rotary Foundation raffle and about Rotary Direct. Warren noted that he is on Rotary Direct for the minimum amount of $17 per month; and we can fill out more raffle ticket forms today, even if you don’t want to participate more. If we’re not signed up for EREY we can still go online to give to Rotary. It was noted that it is important to each give $25. Warren passed out pens to help. We can drop the filled-out forms to his office by tomorrow.

She began with calling for helpers to go to the shed at 3:15 tomorrow to clear our shed of equipment we can use for the event. But the school is right on the entryway to the high school which is crowded at 3:15, so the time to meet at the shed was adjusted, and (sad news) Terri’s pickup got sold. We can’t get into the hall until 4 and we don’t have a pickup to haul equipment, so Rotarians with a vehicle large enough to haul stuff from our six bins, will meet at the high school at 2:00: volunteers included Mike, Osborne, Ed, Heather. Next item is the auction. First, from our Wendy who is fighting breast cancer, is the $1,500 set of peridot necklace, earrings and bracelet she donated to the auction. Who has peridot in their collection? Liz asked. These were passed around to oohs and aahhs. Liz went on to say the Mitone and Ginger “have been working their tushes off” for this event. Ginger talked about the checkout and how well organized it is; how items will be displayed along with descriptions. We have less-elaborate display than in past years, but we’re trying to keep the auction small so as to focus on selling raffle tickets. She spoke of dining gift certificates, and Betty the Yeti, who is the slot machine (“Ding-Ding-Ding!” said Liz). More discussion followed about the auction (difficult to make out through the chatter for note-taking purposes) and Ginger talked about how we are streamlining the process to make it easier for attendees to eventually get their items. We have a total of 29 items of which four will be raffle items: Who Wants to be a Millionaire Scratcher basket, a Relay for Life quilt, a basket of assorted honey goods and a gift certificate for a lobster boil for four. You can get multiple tickets and choose which box you want. Ginger said the raffle items, like the auction items, will be identified by signs, and you can put your tickets in the box alongside your desired item. 

 It wasn’t a conventional Rotary meeting today, but it was just as good – a Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay Social, with business strictly Rotary-style --- spending time together catching up, sharing food and drink, and planning upcoming Rotary activities. 

Some 25 Rotarians and spouses filled the welcoming Barterra Winery back room, where current club President Irwin Cohen called the evening to order at about 6:15 p.m. Attendees passed around (and emptied) platters of chips, vegetables and small but delicious tapas while buzzing about the upcoming Magic of the Lobsterfest, coming up on Sept. 7, courtesy of the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay Foundation. Liz Schuck passed out larger posters spotlighting the Lobsterfest, suitable for putting up in windows or other public places. 

Discussion turned to the next Farmers’ Market, on Saturday, Aug. 3; local nonprofits will have booths at the market, from which they can meet with the public to promote their organizations’ causes. Ginger asked for volunteers from the club to man the booth that day, and about five club members volunteered.

Conversation touched on the upcoming “Wine Pull,” with the Rotarians present enthusiastically supporting this kind of social event. There were also some enthusiastic comments in favor of the room where we were – Barterra’s back room – for our social meetings like this one. 

“This is perfect --- the size, and with the kitchen right here,” said Ginger Minoletti.

Attention was given to the hors d’oeuvres being passed around – small plates with such delectables as cheeses, basil dip, tapas, salmon bruschetta and more, nicely paired with bottles of wine, water or sodas  going around. Giner kept popping into the kitchen, bringing out more, so the plates were going around several times.

“These are fun -- and such a great way to catch up,” said club member (and District Governor-elect) Mitone Griffiths. “We’ve all been such great friends.”

President Irwin summed it up nicely: “It was a wonderful social event. We traded tapas and various topics.”

Irwin Cohen introduced Assistant Governor Anne Campell, a retired educator with 40 years experience including teaching and being a principal of middle school, a school district superintendent, chairing a Measure H bond oversight committee for the San Mateo community college district, and San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools. She enjoys travel, reading and “hanging out with Rotarians!” 

Anne introduced District Governor (2024-2025) Steve Wright. She called Steve and wife Colleen “a dynamic duo of service to Rotary.” He is from the Rotary Club of Pacifica and,  after deciding that being club president wasn’t enough he and Colleen co-chaired the district conference for three years and then became PDG Gary Chow’s Chief of Staff. Believing in International Service, he and Colleen with his club had led a Global Grant supporting clean water and adult literacy for three years. “Every level of Rotary you’re thinking about, Steve was there,” she said, before introducing Steve, to a standing ovation.

Steve drew attention to the handout/brochures he had set at each place – inspired by Past District Governor and current Foundation Chair Gary Chow. These contained information about future events at the district level, and about the Grand Slam Award.  It’s new this year: If you are a Major Donor, Bequest Society member, a Paul Harris Society member, and a Polio Plus Society member, then you’re a Grand Slam member.

The brochure contains a Resource Guide, a list of 100-plus names on the District Leadership team 2024-2025 (which includes our own Mitone Griffiths, the District Governor-Elect!) The brochure  also described the Grand Slam Award and gave key dates:  the foundation Amsterdam-Belgium Canal Cruise on Aug. 14-21, the Sept. 7 Membership Summit, the Oct. 12 Foundation event aboard the USS Hornet, World Polio Day (Oct. 24,) the World Peace Conference Jan. 24-26 in Rohnert Park, the District Assembly March 22, the Celebrate Hope in Action district conference in Santa Rosa and the Rotary International Conference on June 21-25 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and relevant Rotary Web sites. 

Steve said that when people hear “district,” they tend to picture a monolith, and when someone had asked him what the district would do with a multimillion-dollar grant for affordable housing, he said the district would nix that, because the district is volunteers. Quoting Paul Harris, he said that “Everybody in Rotary has equal value. Some people just have greater responsibility for a period of time.” 

The first question: Did anyone know what the old hacienda was? Joaquin said, Andreotti’s farm, on Kelly Ave. Asked if there was a map to the old San Benito, Joaquin said yes, if you visit the old museum in Half Moon Bay you’ll find a book with information about Half Moon Bay and the Coastside. Rancho San Benito went from “pretty much 92” to Purisima, which was the original land grant and where the name Rancho San Benito comes from.

Someone asked, whence came the name Spanishtown? Joaquin said he didn’t have that information, but people started calling it Spanishtown when it became a new territory. It became Spanishtown, perhaps in the 1860s, when a lot of the older families came here. 

Joaquin spoke of the struggle of farmers and farmworkers coming to the United States and the loss of farming space in San Mateo County. He described how we are the largest farming community in the county, with over 1,000 acres that we have lost in the last three decades by not farming them. This cannot happen, he said. He cited the Muzzi family in Pescadero; brothers of whom one, Joe Muzzi, is not farming any more. Then there is the Marchi family, who once had more than 30 workers but have fewer workers now. “So they are farming less,” he said.

He mentioned Burns, not farming as much he used to, and South Coast farms in San Gregorio. Many upcoming farms are small organic farms; instead of 1,000-acre farms like they used to be, they are 100 or 200 acres in size.

Someone asked, Is there a place they can display their produce? Joaquin said yes, he had Powerpoint photos of locations and participants in Pescadero, that illustrated how the idea of Rancho San Benito was born: Someone was looking for a couple of acres, with the idea of participants receiving an education on not how to farm, but how to run a business.

 He gave a model: one person can take care of one acre for 40 hours a week. Crop rotation on it can make an income of $100,000 a year which, he said, is what we will implement here on the coast. 

To be part of this program, you must join a 14-week Renaissance program on how to run a business, and do workshops with the Resource Conservation District on practices like irrigation systems, use of compost, or crop rotation. Everything is organic. 

As an example, he cited the “no-till” practice: When you till land, that releases something in the soil that benefits it. In the Midwest, land is dry because there’s a lot of tilling. They think that the more you till the land, the better it is, but no, that can make it worse. So that’s a part of this program: with one acre, use hand tools or small equipment like a rototiller, to only till the top 4 to 6 inches of soil, or not till it at all. He spoke of equipment he wants for the program, that puts the seed right into the soil. 

Someone asked, When you’re talking about the farmer who makes $100,000 a year, is that gross or net? He answered, Gross. So what’s net? Joaquin said that depends. A lot of farms are making $100,000 right now with the farmworker working for somebody else. The most a farmworker can make on the coast is $32,000 a year, working for somebody else, 40 hours a week. You work one acre of land about 10 months of the year, you can make up to $100,000, for somebody else – like Rancho San Benito! He laughed and everyone joined in.

So we receive all documents from the federal government. We were recognized as a 501c3 on San Benito Day, and Joaquin asked if anybody knows when that is? It’s July 11, when we celebrate San Benito.  After becoming a nonprofit in 2022, this organization has been through many changes, Joaquin said:  We received our first grant from the County of San Mateo -- a Measure K fund – and it was a startup, a fund to get it going. We also went through the city, to have employees. Most of the work is done by volunteers, board members, and an advisory board. 

We have presentations done by the California Center for Club Development, about creating a farming co-op. He mentioned organizations in Davis, on property leased from POST. The Wavecrest property, anyone remember the Wavecrest property, he asked? “A lot of history” on that property, he said.

He said, we are not interested in building housing on the site. This property is an educational property: to prepare farmworkers to become farmers. Any structure we put on the site is going to be a temporary structure, something we can remove in 24 hours. Shelter for our tools, shelter for our participants depending on the weather, a place to rest; 50 acres of our property are farmable. Twenty acres are wetlands, and we can have small animals, small livestock. Part of San Benito is to create a CSA box, which is a co-op for participants, to distribute everything organic in our community. We’re going to raise and grow organic, he said. 

He continued: When you talk about how much a farmer makes, they make 10 cents on the dollar. They have been accumulating for generations, investing in equipment, seed, pesticides, chemicals, all kinds of things. Maintaining the property, that’s an investment! When you talk about a one-acre farm, that’s a minimum investment. In the seed, in your time. Everything else, the work they do, he said, remember it’s 40 hours per person, one acre, a week. You don’t hire anybody. You plant the seed, you weed, you harvest, one single person can do that. 

Questions followed from the Rotarians, and Joaquin answered.

Where is the water coming from? We are actually working on that right now. The property has three wells and it has a pond. We never touch the pond, we leave it alone. It will cost us $150,000 to fix the pond, so we aren’t going to touch it. On top of that, “we got frogs and other critters in there we don’t want to disturb.”

 Red-legged frogs? Yes: Red-legged frogs, some snakes, beehives (he laughed) So we aren’t going to disturb the pond. Just stay away from it -- yes?

Do the wells need to have power to pump the water out? He said, what we are gonna do is get into contract with the county and see the water.  Because it’s a farm. But it’s a minimum use of water, that’s why we have to go through the irrigation system, using a drip system. Most sprinkler systems pretty much grow crops, don’t require a lot of water, can be maintained pretty much seasonally, or no crops, go with the season. Use SF water in case it’s needed. It’ll be water-based farming. 

He  mentioned a water irrigation system. Right now, the focus is to have 20 acres, the west side of the property from the (bench, something Industries, (?)) to the property, that’s about 20 acres.  He said, “That’s our focus, to start farming. Twenty-five acres is going to be for us, to do a hay crop. And about 10 acres of the property, are going to become flower beds, herbs, sage, rosemary, lavender, and a few other things, fruit trees, windbreaks, hedgerows. So we are going to set out an educational program, and we want to invite the community to see the way farming is done, at least productive farming, based on our one-acre-per-person model.” 

Asked where the property is, Joaquin said, Wavecrest; that is Seymour Street, west side, and Highway One, the corner, so between Seymour and Wavecrest. 

Someone asked, They grow hay there now, right? He said, “Yes, we’ve been growing hay for three years. We waited to start a program with the farmworkers, to lease the whole property. It’s a beautiful site; I go there pretty much every day.”  And, he continued: “So this is the eucalyptus back of Seymour Street, here’s a farm right here, so from that, the line, here’s where the house used to be, where the house was, when it was actually a farm, some of the remains are still there in that area. So from that home, it’s going to be used for the program. As we get more participants, we’re going to get more land, 25 acres, to do that.”

He spoke of a three-year plan for the participant to become a complete farmer. That includes 14 classes with Renaissance, four classes with RCD, the practice of distribution, support of the Rancho San Benito, no-till, drip irrigation system, use of compost, and wind breaks.

“And we will use a lot of trees, they actually can produce at the same time, fruit trees.”

Someone asked, At what age about do you start reaching or educating people? Can they grow up with this? He answered,18 and over. Right out of high school, if they want to continue farming, high school students, they want to become farmers, they’re welcome to be part of the program. We don’t teach how to farm, we teach how to run a business. The participants already know how to farm.” He said they’re talking about how to run a business, of course, talking about income, doubling or tripling their income. “They’re working for somebody else right now,” he said. “So they can work as a corporation, 40 hours a week; if they have two people, 20 hours a week; if they have four people, it’s 10 hours a week.  So they can keep their day job, and still tend to the acre in the evenings or on the weekends.”

Irwin’s Grandparents came to the US in 1910. His Dad read The NY Times daily. He has a sister, Nina, who is 4 years younger. Irwin grew up in Brooklyn which was a melting pot. He was fascinated by different cultures he grew up around. He went to a previously women’s college, the ratio was 12 women to 1 man. Irwin was a taxi driver. He worked in the borscht belt, north of NY. as a waiter, busboy…He baby sat Neil Sedaka’s doughter, was onstage at Woodstock.   Eric Shapira brought him to Rotary. 

On early civilization. Margaret Mead says helping someone else leads to civilization. We can help the people who cross our path. Irwin is asking us to find one path we are passionate about. We can do anything and we will help one another help others. Attending the International Conference revealed amazing things to our fearless leader. 

Irwin and Nancy shared a video they compiled. "We started with a history of Singapore, pictures of the beautiful architecture. By the way, the climate is 95 degrees with 95% humidity.

We continued with a selection of interviews from the conference.

There was the owner of True Blue restaurant.  

Next we experienced Rotary around the world where Irwin interviewed 10 people from all corners of the world shared what each of their clubs does. There were things like—mobility, health care, radio station…  He met a girl from East Bay there, perhaps a speaker for our club, she’s very inspiring.  Others are working to clean up the land from war in Viet Nam, helping foster children (they take them on trips, etc.  In Uganda, there is an island that has no transport (only by canoe) and no school. The club is building schools on the island. Someone from Australia spoke, another from a rural area in China. In Romania, they raise funds for causes like  bringing orphans shopping, 200 last year. A Rotarian in Kentucky wants to strengthen her club. It’s the 14th largest club in the world with 464 members. They are  struggling with the old guard vs the newer. Nancy suggested it’s not my way or your way—it’s the third way.

We also got an update on Peace Centers and Peace Fellows. There are new centers, and they will be graduating new fellows in 2025."

Irwin wants to interview the people we touch and use the recorded interviews as incentives for us and perhaps to share.

Those included club President Irwin Cohen with his First Lady Nancy Wolfberg, Kevin O’Brien, Ed Daniels, Mitone Griffiths, Warren Barmore, Paul Wrubel, Mary Rogren and Phil, Pat Roma, new HMB Rotarian Mike Osborne, Heather Bodmann, Susan Kealey and Dennis Fisher, Clark Hobbie's daughter Kate, and Stacy Trevenon and Doug Mallon.  (Sorry if I left anyone out.). And not marching but cheering us on from sidelines were Liz Schuck, Teri Pickle, Renee Lewis, and Dianne Bobko. 

A good time was had by all. 

“This is all about coming home, and taking care of each other,” said President Irwin, who helped kick off the holiday with a little gathering for club members in back of the Coastside Community Water District building. “This is where we live. This place, this time, this event, is where the family of Half Moon Bay comes … Together we are all coming home, (in) the sharing and supporting and celebrating of each other.” 

That was certainly the case with Mike Osborne, a 37-year Rotarian who comes to Half Moon Bay Rotary from Corte Madera and the club of Marin Sunrise, which he proudly noted stood out for having women as charter members back in the day. This was his first big event as a member of the Half Moon Bay club. Rotary, he noted, was something he happily shared with his children. 

In this big Fourth event, it was more fun to be a participant than an organizer! “I’m glad I’m not in charge,” laughed Half Moon Bay Rotarian Susan Kealey wryly, looking up and down a packed Main Steet.

Stepping out proudly in the parade was longtime Half Moon Bay Ol’ Fashioned Fourth of July attendee “Uncle Norm” Breshears of Half Moon Bay, decked out in red, white and blue. “It’s a great day to be an American,” he said happily. “Uncle Norm wants YOU!”

Today’s meeting topic is Suzanne’s recounting of her year as our International Exchange Student Attending Half Moon Bay High School while living with Rotarian families, John and Larkin Evans, Dianne Bobko, and Liz Schuck and Teri Pickle. We were greeted with Liz’s special cupcakes, each decorated with a French & US flag


Suzanne’s "Year in Half Moon Bay" presented as a narrated chronological slide show and the essence of it was in the lively and sincere delivery, a joy to behold. She said she cried for the first three days but knew she had to make the best of it so joined the tennis team to meet friends fast although she had never played. She rose to it!

She arrived on August 10th last year and returns to her home in the Northern France tomorrow June 21st. She stayed mostly with John and Larkin Evans, then Dianne Bobko from late March to late May and then to stay with Liz Schuck and Terri Pickle until she leaves tomorrow.

She recalled early on attending her first High School football game which she declared “So Cool!” - that and a hundred and one other exclamations in her enthusiastic, exuberant delivery made hers a presentation to remember and savor.. Then there was Lobster Fest; ”I had Lobster” she said with an angelic grimace (she doesn't eat fish).  Working the Clam Chowder Booth was a big adventure with her best friend Jackie. Then came Homecoming and the “Crazy” Spirit week with its Queens, Spirit and all.  Next was introduction to “Trick-or-Treat”…as Taylor Swift.  Then the novelty of Thanksgiving “OMG!!” At Kira’s house. “OMG, the Turkey was so gigantic, and so good!”. She related that she made croissants giving us a 1000 watt smile and saying “I Can Bake!”

She Kira and Jackie went to a hockey game…another first. She had two root canals and recouped with Chick-A-Fill.  At Christmas John took her to a tree farm to select the tree then they decorated it. A ski trip to Tahoe with a friend from school and her family where she skied “the kid’s thing” and took it easy, with “lots of falls”   She watched the Super Bowl…and was “so sad to lose” There was more baking including a gingerbread house…”which fell down” :-(

Her Friday Night Live group, a non drinking group of peers from school, went Ice Skating among many get togethers   March and April was Beauty and the Beast…”FUN but lots of work” rehearsing until 9PM but she became “Super Famous with Lots of Fans” (delivered with 2000 watt smile)  And a HAWAII trip for International Exchange Students she feared was too expensive but her mother exhorted her to GO!  Because she may not be that close again. So she went and reports that it was “ The Best Thing Ever!” 60 of them vacation together on Oahu based near Waikiki. She discovered Shave Ice which she declared “Soooo Good”  The water was so warm and beaches so nice, she saw dozens of dolphins! Diamond Head was her favorite. She went Surfing and stood up on the board thinking: “I’m gonna die falling - In A Good Way” (?)

In mid-March there was a trip to Los Angeles with Kira and Kirs'a friend which was a  fulfillment of a Childhood Dream, La La Land is her favorite film!  She visited Warner Studios, Sunset Beach, Malibu, Griffith Observatory (from LaLa Land) with its beautiful view at sunset and after…”it living up to the dream!”

Suzanne’s parents visited from France in April. they toured Monterey, Pacific Grove and Cannery Row together. They went to San Francisco with John and Larkin for tourist stuff. Visited Alcatraz by night and took her parents to In-And-Out Burger. Dianne Bobko who was her host family mom at that time had a potluck dinner at her home with John and Larkin, and Liz and Teri to welcome Suzannes' parents. Her parents then visited friends in Riverside. When they came back all of the group had dinner at Sam's before her parents returned to France. 

She baked real French croissants at Dianne's and other great meals and special food with a friend who was in the High School Jazz Band. She was awarded a special Scholar Athlete award on Awards Night at the High School for her 4.0 grade point while playing on the tennis team back in the Fall. Then came the Senior Prom at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz. Great experience with friends and dressing up - good food/worst DJ!  She attended District Conference in Reno with Mitone Griffith and lots of other Exchenge Strudents…and Gordon MacNally!  

The last weekend in May she moved from Dianne's to Liz and Teri's where she cooked a wonderful meal of Beef Bourgeon which took from 5 to midnight to cook!  And she baked more croissants for Liz and Teri and went to a French Baguette baking class.

Graduation was June 6th but she wasn't going to be able walk because she wasn’t really graduating, with her 4.0 GPA. She asked Liz if it were true she couldn’t walk, and Liz found the policy had changed a couple of years ago so she got to participate! That was followed by Grad Night which was a blast from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. And she was a raffle winner on 15 bags!

She made a friends with another exchange student from Japan staying in Salinas and they wanted to do something together before they went their ways so Liz and Teri took her  to Santa Cruz. She was scared by the rides but went on them for a THRILL!

Her last trip was to Yosemite! John and Larkin, whose sister lives up there, offered to take her. They had lunch with Larkin’s sister whose husband made a sandwich with his croissant - which she characterized as “Croissant Massacre” They visited the amazing waterfalls and beautiful Ahwahnee Lodge! In the Valley she had a small world experience - meeting  a friend from Brazil, Luanne.

She recognized and thanked  each Club Director by giving them Paul Harris Awards including new pins. As part of her recognition, our District 5150 Awards were also announced and the plaques were distributed to the responsible Board Member when receiving their Paul Harris Award. Our Club under her leadership  received Best Club Award and individual awards in all of the categories that were measured throughout the year. Those were Vocational, Youth, Membership, Club Service, Public Image, Rotary Foundation, International Service and Community Service. 

All club members participated in the efforts that led to this outstanding recognition within our District, and Liz made this meeting a celebration of all that commitment and effort on the part of our club. As part of the celebration, lunch was provided for all

In addition, Nancy Wohlfberg was given a lobster necklace for volunteering to be co-chair of our Magic of the Coastside Lobsterfest this year. This is our major fundraiser under the auspices  of the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay Foundation and provides funds for most of the projects we support throughout the year.  

Teri Pickle, Liz's spouse, was honored for supporting Liz this year and given a standing ovation. 

Liz’s parting thoughts—"Teamwork makes the dream work. And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make."

Ed introduced speaker Arlie Allston, Program Director of Puente de la Costa Sur since 2015 and became Puente’s Program Director in 2020. She received her Early Childhood Education degree from Cabrillo College and her master’s degree in human development with specialization in leadership, education and human services, from Pacific Oaks College. She has worked abroad in Managua, Nicaragua, at different orphanages, and for six years at Early Head Start in Santa Cruz County.

Arlie is currently filling in for Puente’s Executive Director who is on sabbatical. She spoke of Puente, which was founded in 1998 by Wendy Taylor. Arlie, who was hired by then-Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel, recalled that Taylor, when visiting Pescadero one day, noticed a group of farmworkers, Mexican immigrants, who needed bikes to get to work at South Coast farms and ranches. So she collected donated bikes which she gave to the farmworkers, who had families in Mexico but were known as “single men” here. Since many didn’t have a warm meal every day, Taylor created “La Sala,” cooking and serving a family meal once a week for the workers so they could eat and socialize. That program continues on Thursday evenings at the local community church, with socialization over dominoes.

Puente’s goal, she said, is for the South Coast to embrace diversity, equity, wellness and prosperity for La Honda, Loma Mar, San Gregorio and Pescadero. She urged advocating within and outside the health department or immigration rights, emphasizing that “we want to be transparent.”  Those who work at Puente do so “because the community trusts us,” as Puente listens and engages with the community to “see what we can do together.”

“We believe that all of us” have power, and all bring strengths that, if put together, can change our community. They serve anyone who works or lives in the service area of La Honda, Loma Mar, San Gregorio and Pescadero; and want to focus is on creating equitable opportunities for farm workers, low-income households, children 0-5, local school district students and parents, and first-generation college students. But they don’t shun people who don’t fall into this category. Immigration status does not matter. 

Allies for change are participants in the community; donors, staff, and partners include  San Mateo County, Sonrisas and more. Asked to share a pertinent story, Arlie noted one participant who, denied a service, came in angry at one of Puente’s people who supported financial assistance. The employee started to cry, which reminded her that the anger was not toward us, but came out of the systematic problem the participant was dealing with. So Arlie said, “I’m sure you’re really upset, and yelling is not going to work,” and the participant calmed down. It helps to take a deep breath, and understand that even though anger may be directed at you, it is not about you. We’re able to separate that, she said, so we’re able to see the issues. They got the participant the paperwork he needed. But when you don’t have enough money, and have to choose food or rent, a lot of emotions happen. That’s why this is a good frame for us, she said, to understand that people come with trauma, which may not be about us.

With President Liz absent because she was attending Casey Sample’s memorial Mass service, Past President Susan Kealey opened Thursday's Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay meeting

Susan introduced today’s speaker, our own Mitone Griffiths. She set the tone by talking about the recent District Conference involving Districts 5150 (including us), 5180 (including the East Bay) and 5190 (including Mammoth, the eastern Sierras and part of Nevada).   

Since Liz wanted her to talk about the conference involving the three districts, Mitone humorously mentioned the distances involved going from one to the other. She likes multi-district conferences because they feel like mini-International conferences where you see Rotarians and their projects in the House of Friendship. 

She spoke of the conference focus on mental health, as highlighted by RI President Gordon McInally. He pointed out how, for example, when you say “How are you?” that question should be, “How are you really?” because while we typically answer “Oh, I’m good,”  “How are you really?” gets to the heart of, “What is happening in your life right now?”

Mental health, or mental wellness, is not something we talk about much due to stigma, but recently it’s become more open. It’s something we should take seriously, and discuss more as a club, because the statistics are “staggering” not just for adults, but for our youth. It goes beyond “are you sad or depressed” to “are you thinking about taking your life? or harming yourself?” Those statistics are “incredibly saddening,” she said.

Mitone handed out printed information, and mentioned NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) which provides education and awareness. There are many in our lives about whom we don’t know what’s going on privately. 

Mitone said that while she had previously attended Rotary conferences focusing on membership and service; mental health affects every one of us in different ways.  She mentioned caregivers and caregiving: their mental health may be affected but you may not know the extent. In our community, we should do more around mental health awareness.  

She asked if anyone’s aware of “988,” a still-largely-unknown number that you can text for help in a mental health crisis. Warren asked if this was like a suicide prevention line? and Mitone said yes. She described a fun – though sobering – breakout session at the conference featuring a standup comedian who focused on depression and suicide from a community perspective. Doug remembered the presenter saying that comedy changes your chemistry and opens you up to receiving information. 

Great evening of fun and wonderful information from including honey tasting. Thank you PP Ginger Minoletti and Bartera Winery for hosting our Club!

Half Moon Honey is at the Farmer’s Market in HMB every other week, I believe they will be there this Saturday. They have over 200 hives on the coastside and offer a full range of services including honey, pollination services, packaged bees and swarm rescue. 

I auctioned the book “California Bees and Blooms” a guide for gardeners and naturalists.  $50 to our small donations fund thanks to Stacy.

Barb introduced Jill Jacobsen, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club. She has a Masters Degree and a teaching certificate from San Jose State and a Bachelor’s in Political Science and History from the University of Michigan. Her experience in youth development includes directing the Youth Community Service Palo Alto/East Palo Alto program and serving as Deputy Director of the Service Learning 2000 Center at Stanford University   She also served as the Associate Director of Development at Charles Armstrong School. Locally she volunteers on the Senior Coastsiders Board of Directors, served as Treasurer of the HMBHS Foundation and President of the Hatch Elementary School PTA.   Nancy shared a bit of the B & G Club history.

Jill’s goal today is to reorient us to today’s B & G Club. She asked us to start by us introducing ourselves and relating our current knowledge of the B& G Club. She went on to inform us  where we are in 2024 and asked us to become ambassadors. The building on Kelly, owned by school district, is used by the community, used for basketball and was designed to be used by everyone. The club house is in a series of temporary buildings near Cunha. There are 1,100 members involved. John Parsons runs a program to introduce young men to basketball. The Club’s sweet spot is grades 5-12. They also partner with other organizations. Each national club is a separate 501.c3. The HMB Club has 200 volunteers and a budget of 1.5 million, mostly raised through private donations and fees. There are not many government grants available. The Library is a huge benefit to B&G Club and one valued partner. With the library, they are able to provide academic support and access to computers and Wi-Fi.The Robotics Team is now part of B&GC, they had lost their grant and were folded into the club.  

There are significant needs now due to COVID. There is an on-sight social/emotional counselor who has made a huge impact. They have high safety standards and require all adults to have background checks and first aide training. Budget cuts led them to fund the Cunha athletics program. They helped build the skate park and the roller rink near the high school as well as a Community Hub for parents. 

Jill was asked how much they get fro new Leaf tokens. About $3,000 a year. A scholarship for one student is $1,000. 

Arancha said that instead of talking about yoga (her original topic), she would focus on facts about breath. The ancients knew about the power of breath, for health, well-being and vitality. Breath is life, but we take it for granted. “Breath is the secret of well-being,” revered by the ancients, she said; “Wealth more useful than the science of breath has never been heard of.” 

Why is breath so important? In the West, we’re moving toward a holistic model of health as a mind-body system, with breath in the middle. Breath is the bridge that connects the body and the mind. Your thoughts are reflected in your breath. Whether inhalation or exhalation, the speed or depth of the breath, whether one nostril or the other is more open, will affect your body and your heart, brain, digestive or hormonal systems. Anything that happens in the body is reflected in the breath. 

The magic of the breath is that you can take conscious control of it, take breaths faster or shower, through one nostril or the other, which is why it’s so powerful. It’s a tool that allows you to consciously control both mind and body. The ancients, sages and yogis all know this, though in the West, we don’t. Breath affects everything that’s going on in your body, so pay attention to it like a diagnostic tool. It affects emotions (when you’re angry, it’s hard to exhale); mental life, thoughts, clarity, ability to reason or be creative. And it affects your level of consciousness; breath mirrors what’s going on inside you, and it’s a tool you can use to regulate bodily functions, thoughts, emotions and consciousness. Everyday expressions show its importance: “it took my breath away, “taking a breather,”  “I’m holding my breath,” “huffing and puffing,”  etc. Even movie subtitles indicate emotion with “sighing” or “gasping.”

Historic and graceful Sam’s Castle is often draped in Pacifica fog but on Thursday, April 25, opened its doors wide to welcome seventeen guests including Half Moon Bay Rotarians, and young Suzanne Perrett, our exchange student from France. They enjoyed an enchanting stroll through the 22 rooms of this 10,000-square-foot castle, filled with artifacts and historical collectables gathered by Italian-born painting contactor Sam Mazza took delight in opening his doors to share. By the time of his peaceful passing at age 96, Mazza had established his vision that people would enjoy the castle he had bought in which to have fun and to host folks from friends to politicians, in casual visits to elegant parties. 

Wonderful joint dinner with Daly City, Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, Pacifica, SSF Rotary Clubs where each club makes donations to Shelter Box! Thank you Kristine Baltasar and Millbrae Rotary for hosting!!

Last year’s trip resulted in the start up of a new club and a grant.  Joe, Kevin, Bill and Austin, EJ and Rose were last last year’s intrepid travelers. 

This year our team consisted of Joe, Ed, Liz, Teri, Varda, and Susan Shapira. 

Liz started by telling on Joe who got stopped, "stripped" at airport security and had an explosives expert analyze his umbrella. After 40 minutes in airport security, he was finally set free. Astro, a NASA astronaut doll picked up at Bo’s memorial in Texas, was the trip mascot. 

In keeping with a general theme,  they got to La Paz, after Joe ran a red light. He got pulled over, paid $60 and on they went to El Poyo Loco. We were treated to some beautiful sightseeing pictures. Joe, talked about growing pearls and the pearl industry.  A huge pearl from this area is in the British crown. 

The mission was to get a mobile medical clinic, donated by Rotary, moved. It was moved to the general location, but brush needed to be cleared first before moving it into place. The tow truck driver donated his time for the day. The mobile clinic will be rehabbed, like the dental clinic they already have done. Our team brought supplies like toothbrushes, vitamins, etc. to the clinic.

The team found that the food everywhere was great. Wine note:  the red blend “Rags” was terrific. They had breakfast with Past DG, President, President of the new club, and current DG. They have a joint district conference with Arizona in May. 

They also visited a prosthetic clinic. The US does not allow the reuse of metal prosthetic parts. The gentleman who started the clinic drove used parts down to Mexico. Previously people down there used whatever they could piece together. This clinic has been helping them for 20 years now. Liz shared information on a new prosthetic device that uses a screw into the bone—like an implant. Not approved here yet, but is being trialed in other countries. 

Joe Brennan delighted with his presentation on the Steinhart Aquarium, which celebrated its 100^th anniversary last Sept. 29, having opened in 1923. It got its name through one man with a dream and passion to have a world-class aquarium in San Francisco. He and his brother Ignats, both from Bavaria, opened a successful dry-goods store in Placerville after the Gold Rush, and ended up with a string of dry-goods stores up and down California. Ignats, who went into banking and investing, dreamed that San Francisco should have an aquarium. The brothers each put up $20,000 to fund an aquarium. But the city demurred, not sure where to put it. 

A possible location was argued until 1922, when it finally opened. The architect was Timothy Fluger, renowned for his work on many big Bay Area facades including in Grand Lake and Oakland. By the time he died he had upped his donation to $250,000, with the stipulation that the aquarium be located in Golden Gate Park, funded by the city and managed by the Academy of Sciences. 

Joe was hired there for his “golden job” -- like Dianne had in Houston and Kevin had onstage as part of the Chip and Dale Review, he said. 

The Steinhart opened as a world-class, world aquarium, equipped to take care of any aquatic animal that anyone brought in. It had six different water systems – 3 salt and 3 fresh – with hot, normal (ambient) and cold salt or fresh water. There were also special systems for dolphins, penguins etc. 

The aquarium had “a real zest and brilliance” for exhibiting the animals, plus fun things like archer fish, “a real kick” for grade-school kids. This was a tank of fish that lived in the Amazon, that were very accurate at spitting: these fish could spit a stream of water to adjacent vegetation and zap insects to eat. At Steinhart, they set up a little plywood target above the tank and put crickets on it at 12, 2 and 4 o’clock, and fish would come up for delectable target practice.

One of many things Joe liked was the “womb with a view,” or little egg sacs found on the beach --- “meermaid eggs” --  or eggs of little flatfish, in which aquarium personnel would install tiny windows so you could see the egg developing. 

And electric eels: Aquarium workers put a microphone in the water for when one eel annoyed another. You could hear the “Zzzzt!” when the annoyed eel responded. That delighted the kids. 

They also had a fish roundabout and a tidepool where visitors could touch anenomes and shellfish.

Some had personalities, Joe said: like the Pacific octopus, the female can be three times larger than the male. The aquarium’s female was nocturnal; daytime visitors could only see a big pulsing lump and an eye peering at them. One day a staffer reported to Joe that the tank holding Dungeness crabs was missing a crab for the second day in a row. An employee from the Philippines and staff suspected noodles and crab were being cooked  (everyone laughed knowingly)  until someone found that the Pacific octopus was three tanks over, and shells were found on the floor of her tank. This octopus, Joe said, was able to lift the lid of her tank, squeeze out, slither along the intervening two tanks and grab a Dungeness crab for a midnight snack. “It was magnificent,” he said. So staff set up a camera to catch the thief in the act: Since the octothief could be in the air for about 40 minutes, she could get away with it. Staff glued astroturf between the water and the tank where the lid was, so she couldn’t get suction to help her plunder. “That was our octopus story.”

Joe told of the alligator swamp, where lived an albino alligator named Claude. An employee named Tommy Green donned boots to go into the swamp daily to feed chicken to the inhabitants (Joe said they didn’t bite Tommy because they liked chicken better) but one day Tommy he heard a scream of “Tommy Green, you get out of there this minute!” from his mother – the first time she’d seen what he did at work. 

Joe dedicated the talk to his boss, John McCosker the aquarium director, and described the swamp and its lush tropical vegetation. Wanting to add birds, they brought in a showy white cockatiel which was fed to delight the public. Plans to introduce birds into the swamp were announced to the press, who gathered with cameras ready --- until the cockatiel flew down toward the swamp and an alligator rose up and gave one chomp. All that remained was one white feather. “When publicity goes bad, it really goes bad,” Joe sighed mournfully.

The head of security at Steinhart, Lavelle Alderson, was introduced, and Joe spoke of her staff and their “interesting chore:” The alligator swamp had triangular-shape cast seahorses on the upright rails. Kids loved to look at them but got their heads stuck in the rails and had to be released with help from Vaseline which got in their ears. When their Moms told the kids to wash the Vaseline out of their ears, the kids could only say, “Huh?” That got a laugh.

At Steinhart they’d done pioneering work on different species, Joe said, including coral and penguins. The aquarium took on the project of artificially raising coral in a 100-gallon tank. Coral needs lots of strong sunlight as it eats by photosynthesis, so Steinhart had three 1,000-watt light fixtures, like those used at Candlestick Park, making the scene very bright. McCosker had an ichthyologist  friend interested in propagating coral artificially – who was the emperor of Japan, making security an issue. They sent the Secret Service to survey the area, but the emperor never did visit. 

When Joe took on the job of Chief Engineer, he had to be certified as a diver, which he thought would be handy at Steinhart. He had to go to the ocean on a collecting tour. But first the boat’s ignition key, then its motor, then the steering, all had trouble and had to be fixed. He also at one point had to go to Hawaii to collect coral, and successfully got lots of black volcanic rock, but discovered that they had also bought back some life forms and new species hidden in the rock – but ended up with a completely balanced ecosystem. 

Then he discussed the penguin project, which involved successfully setting up a habitat for “adorable” penguins. With funding from the World Wildlife Fund, he helped collect, in South Africa, some “jackass” penguins, so named for their color and their bray-like cry. Since a major oil spill such as the one from the Exxon Valdez could wipe them out, a vigorous number of penguins had to be collected in captivity; so Joe became part of collecting a dozen penguins and settling them into incubators that looked like an old Ferris wheel with rows of seats. That simulated the natural jiggles of the nest environment.  They also bought in a helpful “penguin machine”  that maintains the temperatures of natural life. That brought a very vigorous number of penguins, to have on hand in case the ones in captivity were wiped out and penguins in nature became extinct.

In Hawaii, dogs, cats, rats and humans made the penguins easy pickings. But from a small population of penguins in an Ohio zoo, they were able to repopulate Hawaii – both the big island and Maui. 

Flash forward, to when Joe left the Academy and was at a tech museum in San Jose. By that time they had a little pen and wading pool on the roof, with 20-25 surplus penguins looking for homes. Someone told him of an offer to house them in Las Vegas – Joe dryly thought, “Going over to the Dark Side? What the hell?!” but was reassured that the Nevada Fish and Game was part of the plan. A local casino had hired some agriculturists, so he said okay and headed that way. A few years later he was booked into a security conference in Las Vegas; en route to the conference hall he went through the yard of the Flamingo Hotel – and here was a lush garden with ponds and a pink flamingo, and on the beach beyond, jackass penguins! Joe told the Rotarians that he yelped “It’s me! Father Joe! It was such an emotional moment!” That summed up his “unnatural relationship with jackass penguins!” 

Fast forward a decade to Part II of his story: Joe’s niece Louise was going to get married and he was asked to solemnize the wedding, in Malibu Canyon in a venue with a lawn and big oak trees. But when there, upon spotting a dog carrier out of which walked two jackass penguins, Joe thought, “Holy cow!” He forgot the wedding to go talk to the owners who had secured the pair in Las Vegas, set free because they were no longer a breeding pair. Since penguins mate for life, the plan was to have Joe at the altar with one penguin and have the other at the back, and both penguins had the wedding rings looped around their necks. At a signal, the penguin in back would walk up to join Joe (bringing a chorus of oohs and aahhs from the Rotarians.) At the reception, guests came up to Joe to exclaim how cute it was to see the two penguins walk up the aisle together --- proof that “eyewitnesses don’t all see the same thing and we do have enhanced memories,” Joe said.

Part III:  Back to the aquarium when they had 17 penguins. That meant there was an odd man out, Joe said: a “rasty little character” named Oreo. This was 1991, the “year of Tibet” since George H.W. Bush had focused on the reunification of Tibetan families. As part of that celebration the Asian Art Museum had arranged a show of Tibetan art called “Wisdom and Compassion”, and the Steinhart Aquarium hung a show called “My Tibet” with photos by famous mountaineering photographer Galen Rowell paired with words by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and photos of wildlife and wild scenes. It was a double-header: the Dalai Lama himself was to open both the show and the “Wisdom and Compassion” across the street. He came to us first, Joe said, because he had led some treks in Nepal and visited Tibet. The spiritual leader got introduced to the head of the Aquarium board. 

Joe said: We’d heard that the Dalai Lama liked birds. So here we are at the Steinhart Aquarium; we overlooked every species of reptile and fish and amphibian we had, and we went to the birds and overlooked all of them except little Oreo. We were going to put Oreo out so the Dalai Lama could see a penguin. We made a little crib of Plexiglass and kitty litter on the bottom to keep their wretched stink down because they liked fish, and I opened the door and asked His Holiness in, and he looks over and he sees the penguin and he looks at it, and I’m thinking, “Mission accomplished! I’ve shown the Dalai Lama a penguin!” But no. He starts bending down, and picks it up to see how heavy it is, and I’m thinking to myself, Does he know that’s Oreo? (laughter filled the room). It crosses my mind – the headline in tomorrow’s Chronicle – “Penguin draws Dalai Lama’s blood!” 

Adam said he’d been in the business for 20 years, having started in 2004, and is the owner of Coastside Insurance agencies. Hopefully someday you’ll see something like “Kevin and son,” Kevin laughed. 

Both of them, primarily Adam, talked. In 20 years this is the hardest insurance market he’d ever seen due mostly to the wildfires and losses in California. He first started seeing carriers take action on policies about 10 years ago, mostly with homes in very exposed rural areas. Homeowners were skeptical about wildfires in their areas, which makes insurance a “hard sell,” but now people are seeing the losses.

Over the last five years, those non-renewals and company actions have dramatically accelerated, and gone from rural and mountain areas into downtown Half Moon Bay. So the insurance companies are serious about trying to limit their exposure, which is impacting people “all over” the state.  Right now, he said, many preferred carriers aren’t writing any new business in the property market for homes. He said you’ve heard about State Farm, Allstate’s not writing any new business.  The majority of his preferred carriers – quite a few – are not offering any new business at all. If you called him up today and said, Hey, quote my auto, my home, my umbrella, he would say, Yeah, I can, but I’m not going to be able to find one company to put that with;  I’d have to package it all together. So it’s brutal; it’s tough. It’s very challenging for us as agents, for the consumer, especially if they find themselves needing to buy insurance.

• Guest speaker Val Dubios

  • Susan led introduction 

  • Val is an engineer by training, spent 27 years in tech, currently in a transition to become a licensed fiduciary 

  • She is a trained climate reality leader, active volunteer with climate reality project

  • Disclaimer that information changes regularly, encourages everyone to do their homework

  • Her “why” is her children, both of whom want to go into environmental careers

  • Climate change and inflation reduction act

  • Home electrification 

  • Rebates 

  • Climate Reality Project

    • Founded by former VP Al Gore, the goal is education and advocacy about the crisis that is occurring, trying to do it in an equitable way 

    • Last year was earth’s hottest year on record, this year is on track to “beat” that 

    • Breaking out dependence on fossil fuels is essential, new tech is becoming available

    • If we get to net zero, the earth and trees will absorb (lots) of CO2, withion 30 years there will be a significant improvement 

  • Greenhouse gas emissions by sector: 

    • Natural gas: what we use most, mostly methane and releases toxic chemicals into the air, we end up breathing it inside and goes into atmosphere, cooking with gas stove causes illegal amount of polluants, can lead to childhood asthma 

    • Methane leaks the entire way it is transported, 1.5% leaks 

    • Learned that methane is worse for warming that carbon 

    • In short term methane is 84x worse at trapping heat in our environment

Nancy started by commenting that spouse PE and PP Irwin is having nose surgery and won’t be here to make faces. Nancy’s grandfather told her if your initials spell something it’s good luck—hence, Nancy Ellen Wolfberg, NEW. 

So who is Nancy?  She has a background in education and grew up in LA. Her dad was a management consultant and a musician. Her mom was an artist. She attended UC Berkeley during the free speech era, then transferred to UC Santa Cruz where she earned a BA in Oriental Studies. 

She started out teaching in Watts, while she earned her lifetime teaching credential at night and on the weekends. She taught there for two years and then took the Montessori training and taught in Santa Monica for two years.

She went on to earn her MA in Education at SF State. While working on her MA, she was the Director of a Parent-Education PreSchool for low income parents and children.  She did that for 5 years and also taught at Solano Jr. College – Child and Human Development and Creative Arts for Children. 

She then landed a job at IBM where she experienced incredible training and exposure to different cultures. She was then offered a job with an ultimate media company start up, composed of IBM and Universal Studios. This was the start of multimedia and AI. She went from there to Sony working with Lucas films and did more AI work. As Nancy worked with The Defense  Language Institute in Monterey to simulate reality in different languages and different locations. This was used to train diplomats and spies. On the consumer side, this became the foundation for the Rosetta Stone. 

She was then recruited by Wilson Learning to lead the Western half of the United states in the first soft-skills training on multimedia.  She spent 10 years there developing expertise in leadership development and training, sales development, customer service, and assessment and selection.  She was a strategic account manager for a number of global accounts and coached new hires.

Club member Arancha introduced today’s speaker, Jamie Weintraub of Main Street Scholars. Arancha spoke warmly of Jamie, calling her “to me, an angel” who embodies “service above self,” working with families and children who have been saved from fighting, trouble just getting to school, and her own work helping them “just breathe again” after all that. School doesn’t have to be a struggle or a fight but a place to grow in confidence, she said, adding that she had seen kids deemed as “hopeless” turn around under “beautiful care.” Arancha, who has known Jamie for many years and whose husband recently died, noted that Jamie came to her husband’s funeral and told Arancha that her kids were safe with her, and that we are blessed to have Jamie in this community. Jamie came in with her medium-small dog in tow, and amid applause, Jamie stepped up to speak.

Jamie spoke of how Arancha helped her through “scary times” when her husband was still alive, of how all negotiated and learned about being together after his death, understanding what the children were going through, how to “respect and honor” their father and family, and what they wanted for the kids.  It was a scary time but real. She added that one of the kids is in Oregon and another due to graduate in May, others have had acceptances into colleges, and how this story is not about her but rather about the kids and the families, and how 10 years ago this all started. She mentioned that Steve Wilson is a good friend too.  They knew each other, and she was teaching in the city, in Pacific Heights.

She told this story: Her daughter has four sons and son No. 3 was miserable. He didn’t want to go to school, and was crying all the time and starting to get in trouble; he was labeled a discipline problem. Despite what the teacher was trying to do, he decided he was just was going to read. He’d already read the books they had, and just didn’t want to go along with the curriculum. When asked a question, he would respond with, say, a lecture on how bees work, as bees had come up in a math problem. So he was being put outside the classroom so the teacher could do her work, then brought back in. When he moved up to middle school things got worse; he didn’t want to go. So Jamie’s son-in-law called her to say they couldn’t send him to school and what should they do? 

The boy was in sixth grade and they encouraged just letting him read. They took him out of school and he spent the next several months reading, and recovered from that process, but he still didn’t want to go back to school, so now what should they do? So Jamie learned about homeschooling and wrote a seventh-grade curriculum for him. That created a new problem as her daughter could do the English and history work but her grandson ended up not doing math or science for a year. Eventually, she and her husband started a school here, in an “attic office” for one kid. But the other kid needed help, but he was an athlete; in time she learned of other kids who needed help, including her own two grandsons. 

Now, 10 years later, she works with around 500 families. It didn’t matter if it was school or coaching or essay writing; her focus, she said, is “What do they need and how can we help?”

She identified her school business as Main Street Scholars, a “college high school,” and academic coaching center. It began when they started thinking about kids and how to invest in their futures. She listened to the kids more than to their parents, because the kids are the ones who tell her what they need and how to do school. Together, parents, kids and staff invest on what the child is trying to do – which became their mission. “What we really do is, we build confidence,” where they take their learning and move it in a way that the students engage in; a way they look to, to change their life. This became the Scholars’ mission – confidence with faith in self. 

“We do school different,” she said; going from dropping kids off at school at age 5 to taking them home 13 years later, and then the kids move out – a repetitive thing. They have accreditation now, they are certified; and they write all their own curriculum. They used to try to use curriculum and textbooks, and those are certainly references; but they write it all, so they might write a class for one kid. For example, they have one kid who does coding – the only kid who wanted to do it -- so they have an approved curriculum written by them. The core classes are all written.

Who’s the best Rotary club in our world?! Well, we are certainly among them with all we do, and certainly when it comes to potluck socials like the one at the Montara home of Bill Johnston and wife Austin last Thursday, attended by some 25 HMB Rotarians and many spouses. After the Pledge of Allegiance led by President-elect Irwin Cohen, everyone enjoyed a potluck dinner including a quiche casserole, sushi, Caesar salad, roasted chicken thighs and desserts of pies, cookies and brownies, and lively conversation,  until Irwin adjourned the gathering

.        

The day’s speaker, Kathleen McCarty, was introduced, and she told the Rotarians a little about herself. At the local senior center she leads and teaches regular weekly sessions in tai chi for groups of about 20 participants. Besides being a teacher of tai chi, she is also a skier and spoke frequently of the benefits she found in tai chi following her active and sometimes rigorous time on the slopes.

The focus of her talk was tai chi. She spoke if the changes that practicing tai chi can bring to the body and how it’s good for health, noting that she started practicing tai chi around 2012 with the goal of being a better skier – which it helped. 

She discussed the meaning of the name “tai chi chuan,” or “big extreme,” and likened tai chi to a story of choreographed movements with a foundation in martial art, vital energy and moving that energy around in the body – like a choreographed moving meditation. As she spoke, she rose and illustrated what she was speaking about, by posing and moving her own body accordingly.

Ralph asked, when should one begin practicing of tai chi? She responded, one can start at any time, though the practice cultivating awareness of the energies in the body can take time, so you don’t want to start from a too-advanced level. 

What a creative bunch!

 

 

 

Our October 26 meeting was all fun and no business. We took over the tent at Farmer John's and carved pumpkins.  Liz has circulated pictures of the winners and all of the entries were great.  Liz brought her signature cupcakes with a Hallowe'en theme.  There were Rotary pooches uknderfoot and nosing around.  A great time was had by all.

(For more photos click on READ MORE)

Liz introduced the day’s guest speaker, Kyle Haugen, Past District Governor from the Rotary Club of Prior Lake, Minn. Talking to us via Zoom, he told us about himself: From 2017 to 2018 he served as District Governor of Rotary District 5960; currently he is serving as a District Rotary Foundation Team Leader 2019-2021 and will serve as Region 36 Rotary Public Image Coordinator, 2021-2024. Liz met him when they served together on a polio immunization trip to India. The son of Rotarian parents and brother of a Rotarian, he had worked in insurance and coached T-Ball. A Rotarian himself since 2003, he had also visited Uganda, India, Haity and Rwanda; visiting Kenya on Rotary water projects, and was the youngest Governor of his district at the time. He and his wife are both Major Donors and members of the Bequest Society.

Throughout his talk, Kyle stressed the importance of story and, for all of us, the importance of telling our individual Rotary stories. He held the Half Moon Bay Rotarians enthralled, speaking encouragingly about membership and the Rotary Foundation, telling of his polio immunization trip to India and visit with a village leader, and his role as Rotary Public Image Coordinator, Zones 25B and 29.

He spoke about public image, “the delivery system” to members and to the public. We need to create an emotional response that makes people want to be involved -- everyone enjoys being part of a solution. Think about why you joined Rotary – Because you enjoyed being part of a group? Is there an emotional connection? What’s a good way to forge that – telling your story,  helping listeners to create a picture of themselves in that situation? Could you picture yourself there? Does that make you proud to be a Rotarian? Without an emotional connection, there is no story.

President Liz Schuck was unable to attend, and so President Elect Irwin Cohen stepped up to lead the meeting. 

For the Inspirational Thought, Stacy Trevenon offered her thoughts on last weekend’s 60^th annual Kings Mountain Art Fair, an event she annually attends and at which she volunteers as a “booth sitter,” sitting in at booths when the artists need a break. She likened the art fair and the many volunteers that produce it, to our Rotary Club, given the boundless creativity, energy and resources it draws upon to do the work it does.

It was a quiet meeting, with no guests and no visiting Rotarians.  When happy/crappy news was called for, Ralph Ely gave some sobering updates on Mike and Rose Serdy, both of whom were hurt recently due to falls.

Susan Kealey gave the latest on the Coastal Cleanup Day scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Dunes Beach. For this event we will be joined by members of the Rotary Clubs of Woodside and Palo Alto. Susan had brought posters about the cleanup day, to distribute to members to display from office or home windows.

DEBUNKING CLUB PRESIDENT KRYSTLYN GIEDT (2022-23

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Color set the tone as it filled the June 29, 2003 meeting of the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay. Bright pastel plastic tablecloths, gold centerpieces and a handful of little stars graced every table, and several colorful tutus decorated the chairs. President Krystlyn Giedt, herself a star since “Star” is her middle name and her year’s theme and this was her debunking, brightened the room with her smiles. She herself wore a sparkling star tiara and a yellow tutu. And cheery multi-colored tutus sparkled on the chairs.
Incoming Club President Liz Schuck, who had chaired and planned the debunking event and luncheon, introduced Dianne Bobko, who in turn introduced Chef Ellie Angelini of "A Teaspoon of Love"who catered our delicious Luncheon. As Dianne treminded us, Chef Ellie has supported our Club's Magic of the Coastside Auction over the years each time donating a full gourmet dinner she prepared and cooked in the winner's home for 6 guests.  Dianne mentioned that she was the lucky winner twice, and they were amazing dinners. Chef Ellie hails from the Cordon Bleu. 

Liz asked members to introduce their guests who included Rosi Fontana’s partner Hal Novotny, Bo Bobko, Larkin Evans, Kathy, Wilson, and new member Wendy Smittle, who is due to be inducted in July.

Liz then invited Joe to offer a few words as the key part of Krystlyn's debunking.  Joe Brennan, calling this “a good year,” obliged with the following limerick. “First with apologies to Frank Sinatra, he then read,"

 
“The year twenty twenty two / Was a very good year / It was a very good year for a small town girl / On first Thursday nights / She played under lights / On Main Street / In twenty twenty two … 
“As twenty twenty two closed / It was a very good year / It was a very good year for Chamber girl / Who wrapped up the year / With a meeting at Odd Fellows / And it was some fun / Goodbye twenty twenty two … 
“Now it is twenty twenty three / Which is a very good year / It is a very good year for warm-blooded girl / Of the Chamber’s dreams / Who’d work long hours / Burning the candle at both ends / Twenty twenty three is a very good year …
“Now in mid twenty twenty three / It is a very good year / Her term is winding down / She’s holding together / The whole damn town / And passing on the Rotary crown / Twenty twenty-three is a very good year … 
“Krystlyn fortunately never suffers the blues, / Because in her closet she has all those tutus. / If she starts to feel blue, / She can take the cue / Slipping on a tutu and high, high top tennis shoes!
“Tracking the Goonies at Columbia River’s end, / Taking a well deserved vacation with a friend. / They visited the Astoria Jail, / But didn’t have to post no bail. / Visiting all the Goonies locations as penned …
“Krystlyn answered the Chamber’s call / It takes half of every 24 hours, that’s all / Then came the Rotary call / She took it without stall / But her office support evaporated by Fall!
“She found it difficult to be in two places at once / The frustration gets one’s knickers in a bunch. / But she balanced her events / Whether in offices or tents / And survived the year with only a few lumps ... 
“It became a year of almost endless Zooms / Allowing her to be in two if not three rooms! / It was hectic to be sure / But also a stop gap cure / Allowing her distance from numerous sure glooms ...
“Committee meetings had to be the worst, / You’re on the agenda but you’re never first / If you bide your time right / You’ll be in the spotlight. / Miss your cue and you’ll be exposed  … and cursed!
  
“This year saw the town’s first Pride parade, / Many came out into the sun from the shade / It was colorful to be sure, / Seeing the rainbow’s allure / Celebrating what progress we all have made!”
Joe than called Krystlyn up front and presented her with her own Starr award and, in recognition, a crystal statue of a star and her Past President pin that “you’ve worked all year to achieve.”

Amid applause, Liz gave Krystlyn heartfelt thanks. Krystlyn then acknowledged that it was a group effort. She said she took on the presidency with good intentions that ended up flying right out the window. Thanking Liz for being her unofficial “sounding board” all year, and helping her keep the Club going, Krystlyn turned it over to Liz who presented her with a beautiful engraved piece with a star on the top from the Club.

As her “last official act” as President, Krystlyn rang the bell. “Thank you to everyone,” she said to the club. “It was a group effort. Love you all!”

NOTE: Click "Read More" to read about the Club Meeting and Announcements that followed and see lots of fun pictures in the PHOTO GALLERY.

Our speaker today was introduced by Susan Kealey. Karen Wang is a Montara resident and mom of 2 kids. She is also the Communications Officer for the County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability where she oversees communications to promote sustainability education and initiatives within the County and the community. She was formerly, the Director of the nonprofit, Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and the founder and Director of Because Health, an environmental health education campaign. Karen completed her PhD in Strategic Management at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Karen also holds a MS in Environmental Science and a BA in Economics from Stanford University.  

The following are the key points covered by Karen in her presentation.

First the History of the Office of Sustainability - it  was formed in 2014, part of the county manager's office, helps the community become more sustainable. Now own county department, joined recently, solving for today and our long term future 

Karen asked our members, "What do ou think about when you hear sustainability? " The responses were:

• Food, environment, climate change, running out of resources, agriculture, housing, 

• Rotary has two beach clean ups coming up 

Karen Then presented the Mission statement: Building a sustainable community that fulfills the needs of the present and future. 

The OOS includes 20 partnered cities.  Her following slides listed:

• Four areas of programs:

  • Climate protection

  • Climate resilience- adapting to effects of climate change we are seeing  

  • Waste reduction- how to deal with waste resources 

  • Livable communities- housing and transportation 

Irwin introduced our speaker, Peter Master, who will cure Irwin of his accent. Peter is Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and Language Development at San Jose State University. He is the author of “Systems in English Grammar:  An Introduction for Language Teachers.”     

The focus of today’s talk is the A and The articles. English learners have trouble with late acquisitions to English—articles, prepositions and third person singular—s. They are considered late because we can be understood without them. 

Articles belong to the determiner system, a noun phrase. The book, a book or a zero article—coffee (noun) is good for you. An article has Countability—I can count them. For example I can count a book. I cannot count air or make it plural. 

The binary system for teaching articles—a category, use a. If it is something you are supposed to know, use the. Which would be the green one. The is the most frequently used word in the English language. Peter found that zero article is the most frequent after a study. First mention and subsequent mention is a way to determine the article—a man walked in, subsequently, the man walked in again. When teaching English, this mention (first mention, subsequent) as a way to give your student a win. 

We move on to ranking adjectives—descriptive adjectives. 

He shared some exercises—all the answers are the same to get students to get used to the sound of several “a” sentences, then several “the” sentences. Superlative sentences are ranking sentences and must use the. Unique adjectives—two of the same, you and I are holding the same pen, not a same. 

Every other European language had an academy to make and enforce rules to keep it organized. English, on the other hand, grew organically. It takes more words in other languages because they are limited. “He asked why did I do that”. The correct sentence would be  “Why he did that.”

Despite triggering PTSD from Mrs. Kastner’s fourth grade sentence diagramming, I did learn some useful ways to help ESL students sort out the mysteries of English. And, I now know why English is so confusing. 

Irwin introduced Warren Hack. Irwin first met Warren as he was bushwhacking Montara Mt.  Warren taught sound and filmmaking at SF State. Warren introduced us to his grandson, Jacob, who is 8 years old and on Spring Break. 

The film, Roaming the Steppe, chronicles Warren’s second trip to Mongolia and reveals the culture of the nomads of the Steppe. The film is a finished cut and he  is  going back again to finish it up this summer. He describes Mongolia as an island of democracy surrounded by China and Russia. The huge uranium deposit in the Gobi Desert threatens this democracy. The nomads of Mongolia have roamed the Steppe, or high prairie, for hundreds of years. Their culture embraces shamanism, throat singing and Nadam (games). Warren’s documentary employs three generations of Kazakh eagle hunters, a shaman and a man who spent the winter in a cave at a Buddhist monastery to learn how to deal with his anger. 

The film allows us to experience this rich, engaging culture along with the stunning views of the land itself. We also become aware of just how fragile it is. China and Russia’s presence looms, technology spurs changes and young people move away for other opportunities and a different lifestyle. The film opens with a golden eagle and expands to reveal the enormity and desolation of the Steppe. Mongolian tradition is to keep the Eagle for 5 years, train it, hunt with it and then release it. One hunter, on releasing his eagle, explained that it is hard—she is a member of his family—but it is necessary to allow her to be free to raise a family of her own. We were able to see how eagles are trained and used in hunting. We also heard that women now are allowed to hunt with eagles. 

This film is not your usual travelogue. Sure, the cinematography is stunning, but the insight into a people who seem to be at one with their environment, who are super competitive, who include shamans, monks and hunters is a unique opportunity to experience another culture.Under the previous government, monks and shamans were persecuted. Now, with democracy monks and shamans can express themselves and be part of their community again.  During the interview with the shaman, she described how she helps her community, organizes chants, prays with them, connects with animals and reads her dreams.  She predicts that there will be tough times ahead and that we need to be sensitive to life and the earth. She also indicated there will be a new beginning. 

The rhythm and singing reminded me of American Indian chants—the drums are actually very similar. Sadly this nomadic way of life is disappearing. 

Q and A

What stops the Russians and Chinese from just taking over? Mongolia became democracy  when the Soviet Union disbanded. Both Russia and China have other priorities at this time. 

What altitude?  The altitude is 5,000 ft at the capital. In the far west it is 6,000 feet. They camped at 11,500 feet. 

How did you get onto this project?  Michael Powers said “Warren I’m going to Mongolia, wanna go?”  Of course the answer was “sure”. He went back in September and is going back this summer.  If anyone is interested, he will be going in July. 

Is Mongolia is open to westerners and filmmakers?  Yes, partly because there are so few people. It is important to be respectful, guides are very important. Regarding photos or filming, ask first. His technique is to give out pictures when he goes back, he made books of photos for the Eagle hunters. 

It is impressive to see women’s rights and women hunting with eagles. How did the yogurt vodka taste? It was nice—warm, earthy, a little like wine. There is equality, they are surprisingly modern in that respect. 

What happened in Mongolia during bloodbath? The reindeer herders fared okay as they are in remote areas. Many shamanic practices continued in secret. Sadly hundreds of thousands of monks were killed. Most temples were torn down, some have been rebuilt.