Thursday September 29, 2011 was another wonderful time of fellowship at the Westwood Village Rotary club as we welcomed and played host to our Rotaractors from UCLA. The meeting was called to order at 12:30pm by President Ed Jackson. PP Chris Bradford led the Pledge. Tom Barron provided the invocation. His invocation was about a native American grandfather and his conversation with his grandson. The grandson told his grandpa that he always feels there were 2 wolves tugging in his heart. One was vengeful and angry, while the other was loving and compassionate. The grandson asked, "which wolf will win the fight in your heart?" To which the grandfather replied, "the one I feed." Tom ended the invocation with a prayer, "make each of us an instrument of your grace and weave into our Rotary community, your power and tenderness towards those we serve." Thanks Tom!
President Ed Jackson highlighted a couple of announcements to kick-off the meeting. He announced that PP Ed Gauld was in the hospital at Cedars Sinai undergoing an operation. The contact information to reach PP Ed Gauld at Cedars Sinai is (310) 423-5923, room 5923 on the south tower. Next announcement was regarding our amazing Chair for our annual Christmas giving drive, Mike Yousem. President Ed Jackson mentioned that Mike Yousem might need a volunteer to chair the event this year because of his back/hip challenges. Next up was a follow-up on the condition of PP and Executive Secretary, Ernie Wolfe. PP and treasurer, Don Nelson and PP Peter Moore spoke with Ernie Wolfe and reported that he was doing much better. Yes, we really miss Ernie Wolfe, because the Windmill will never be the same without his magic touch.
Next on the agenda was welcoming guests of Rotarians and visiting Rotarians. The club welcomed visiting Rotarian, Renato Romano from Beverly Hills club. Jim Rushton, Scout Executive/CEO of Boys Scouts of America, Western Los Angeles County Council was another visiting Rotarian from Santa Monica club. He was a guest of Brian Whitney. Thanks Brian! Finally, our peerless treasurer and board member, PP Don Nelson introduced his wife (fondly called her, my child bride) as his guest for the meeting. Auxiliary member, Mrs Roslyn Nelson was met with a warm cheer and applause from the group.
Coming right along. President Ed Jackson introduced the head table. To his right were the leadership of UCLA Rotaract, Lisa Ding (president), Laya Reddy (vice president) and Tiffany Panlilio (district secretary 5280 Rotaract and a recent grad of UCLA.) To his left was Tom Barron, who provided the invocation and Abraham Carons, the international service chair.
A couple more announcements to follow before our guest speakers from UCLA Rotaract would share with the group. PP and Foundation Chair Steve Day called out Mr and Mrs Don Nelson to receive a prestigious award/pin for their wonderful contribution to the Rotary Foundation as Major Donors (level 1.) A well deserved honor for Don and Roslyn Nelson. PP and community service chair John Heidt highlighted a number of important developments/meetings. He asked the Community Service Committee to meet immediately following the meeting.
Dr. Colby Smith introduced our speaker Lisa Ding, 3rd year student at UCLA, Molecular Microbiology major and president of Rotaract at UCLA. She gave a wonderful presentation about her involvement with Rotaract, beginning as an Interactor. She was public relations officer last year, prior to becoming president. She then introduced her vice, Laya Reddy and Tiffany Panlilio, the district secretary for Rotaract. Their presentation was a concise overview of their trip to Dominican Republic, projects, fund-raising events, budget, challenges with transportation to getting to Rotaract/district events, need for mentorship and desire to engage more with the Interact club. It's worth mentioning that the UCLA Rotaract received the most spirited award (Halloween dress) and College of the Year award. President Ed Jackson assured the group that the club was definitely interested in matching dollars for their project. They graciously gave our President a T-shirt.
October 12, 2011: Westwood Village Rotary's first lady, Nina Jackson, will speak at the first meeting of the club's auxiliary on Wednesday, Oct. 12. The meeting, to which all Rotarians and their spouses are invited, at the home of Peggy Bloomfield in Pacific Palisades. Please make your reservation with Margie Downie at 310-394-4827 and each person is asked to donate $5 towards the expenses of lunch. The meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. Nina, a senior judicial attorney, does research on the appeals made from both civil and criminal decisions in superior courts. A recent high-profile case she worked on involved a Mandeville Canyon doctor who attacked bicyclists who were bothering drivers on the boulevard. She did her undergraduate studies at UCLA and also graduated from Southwestern University Law School.
It's important to highlight the passing of our dear Auxilliary member, Eleanor More. Diane Peterson-More has invited the club to a celebration of life for her mom, Eleanor More, wife of PP David More to be held at the Westwood United Methodist Church on Sunday, October 22 at 10:30am with a reception immediately following on site.
President Ed Jackson called the meeting to a close at 1:30pm by thanking everyone for attending.
