Thurs., Oct. 6, 2011 Windmill for Westwood Village Rotary Club
Thursday, October 6, 2011 was another wonderful meeting at the award winning and friendly Westwood Village Rotary Club. President Ed Jackson kicked off the meeting at 12:30pm with a warm welcome. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was facilitated by Madison Goritsan, shortly followed by the Invocation by President-Elect Dwight Heikkila. President-Elect Dwight Heikkila led the group in a short prayer: "And let us each one be good company to the others; let us enjoy ourselves, without guilt; but let us not forget that many are less fortunate." Amen!!
Thereafter, President Ed Jackson led the announcements. He announced on behalf of PP and Community Chair, John Heidt, that the homeless feeding project at OPCC in Santa Monica is slated for November 10, 2011. PP Jim Collins also informed the group on his hospital visit with PP and Executive Secretary, Ernie Wolfe. Ernie Wolfe is recovering well and hopes to be back in the club soon. We miss you Ernie!!! Vocational Chair, Steve Pettise also gave an update on the condition of PP Ed Gauld. PP Ed Gauld was released from the hospital on Tuesday, October 4, 2011. New Generations chair, Dr Colby Smith informed us about the upcoming volunteer project at Westwood Charter Elementary after the meeting. Westwood Village Rotary club will be distributing 150 dictionaries to 3rd graders at Westwood Charter Elementary school. Finally, Mark Block stood up and encouraged Westwood Village Rotarians to sign a get-well card for PP George Dea, who is not feeling well. He mentioned the fact the PP George Dea helped start the Chinatown Rotary Club in San Francisco. Seated at the head table was Sally Brant, Mr & Mrs Richard Hotaling (guest speaker and his wife), President Ed Jackson, and Beverly Tadlock (his sister.)
Announcements - President Ed Jackson heartily reminded Rotarians about our upcoming trip to San Francisco this weekend, and mentioned in passing his desire to visit with PP George Dea. Next on the agenda was welcoming visiting Rotarians and guests of Rotarians. Eric Davidson, principal at Uni High introduced his guest, Ali Galedary. Ali Galedary is the vice principal at Uni High. Brian Whitney's guest was Jennifer Caspar, and she works with non-profits in the community development field. President Ed Jackson introduced his guest and sister, Beverly Tadlock; all the way from Colorado. He said, she taught him how to play basketball, and even married him away. Jann Williams was also a guest of President Ed Jackson, and was invited by Renato Romano of Beverly Hills Rotary Club. Jann Williams is an architect and a member of the Westwood Design Review Board. Marsha Hunt invited Westwood Village Rotarians to a reception on Friday October 14, 2011 at the Westwood Presbyterian church from 6:30pm-9pm to meet/visit with the Hon. Rev Dr. Hamlet Mbabazi from Uganda. Rev. Mbabazi is currently the minister to the Ugandan parliament and a fellow Rotarian. Please plan on attending to support Marsha and hear Rev Mbabazi speak. Finally, there will be a celebration of life for Auxiliary member, Eleanor More (wife of PP David More) at the Westwood United Methodist church on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 10:30am. Reception will follow immediately on site as well. You're all invited to join in this celebration by Diane Peterson-More, daughter of Eleanor More. After the meeting, President Ed Jackson led the team of Athena Jackson, Marsha Hunt, Terry DeSouza, Steve Pettise, Beverly Tadlock and Abraham Carons to donate dictionaries at the Westwood Charter Elementary to 150 3rd graders. We had a wonderful time sharing with the kids as they assembled in the hall to hear Rotarians speak briefly about this project. The sheer excitement and appreciation on their faces was priceless as we handed out the dictionaries. Thanks Dr. Colby Smith for doing the ground work on this project!
PP Eric Loberg of course had his moment of humor or infamous moment of humor. Thanks Dr. Loberg for the dose of laughter!
Speaker/Speech Highlight - Our speaker for the day, Mr. Richard Hotaling was introduced by Sally Brant. Richard Hotaling has been involved in the active support of the United States Marine Corps Devil Pups program for over 30 years. Dick was the owner/operator of Orange County Lumber, former naval officer, father of 4 and grandfather of 13. His talk was about the Camp Pendleton Devil Pups Program. Here's a little history excerpt about the program culled from the Devil Pups brochure. "In 1954, after a tragic flag burning incident in California, a group of retired Marine Corps reserve officers asked the commandant of the Marine Corps to help with a community benefit project that would aid the development of character qualities in teenage boys and girls enabling them to become healthier, and successful young citizens." Dick shared with Westwood Village Rotarians an overview of the program with video highlights of several activities that the young men and women undergo. Some of the activities these youngsters undergo include: running and conditioning exercises, jumping into water from a 25 foot tower, a bivouac, swimming and close order drill. The program admits any non-delinquent boy/girl, ages 14-17 to its 10-day period Devil Pups program at Camp Pendleton after passing a physical fitness test. Devil Pups has nearly 50,000 graduates since it's inception in 1954 and about 25% of them end up enrolling with the military. All of the Devil Pups that eventually graduate must make the arduous climb to the top of Camp Pendleton's Old Smoky Mountain. We had a couple of questions thereafter and some success stories of/from the program. For more information about the program, visit their website at www.devilpups.com.
President Ed Jackson ended the meeting with a thank you to the speaker and everyone for attending. The meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm.
