May is Promote International Convention Month!

Greeters:  Past Presidents Chris Bradford and Gordon Fell greeted us today at the Skylight Gardens.

Visiting Rotarian:  Maruja Velez de Conway from Lima, Peru, who exchanged banners with Pres. Ed Jackson.

Guests:  Margie Downie, Pat Anderson, Jane Mulato, our speaker, Cathy Fitzgerald, and her associate, Annie Lassaline.

Announcements:    

-      New officers will be installed at the Westwood Village Rotary Auxiliary's last Spring meeting on Tuesday, June 12. Rotarians and their spouses are invited by sending their checks -- $25 a person for a catered lunch -- to Margie Downie.  The lunch and meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. at the house and gardens of Sally Brant, 1045 Moraga Drive, just northeast of Sepulveda and Sunset Blvds. Westwood is the only Rotary club in the District which has an Auxiliary. Members of the group include partners of WVRC members and the Auxiliary meets monthly for both fellowship and to assist with the charitable projects of the Rotarians. 

-      UCLA Rotaract will be hosting a College Day for Marymount & Uni HS Interact students in our continuing effort to improve dropout rates and college attendance from our local schools.

-      The Demotion Party is June 23^rd at the Beach Club. Please RSVP on ClubRunner or directly to PE Dwight Heikkila.

The Skylight Gardens didn’t have a flag, and Past President Don Nelson was not in town to present his flag, so instead Past President Gordon Fell led us in song, “God bless America.”

Our speaker, Cathy Fitzgerald, played basketball at UCLA, and is now a senior engineer who runs the Northern Nevada office of Meredith and Associates, a Los Angeles-based environmental firm.  She is a volunteer for Lifewater and has made 11 trips to Africa in the last six years to assist with water projects.  Lifewater, a non-profit organization, began working in Rabondo, Kenya, three years ago, and the community resonates with Cathy more than any other.

“Water is the most important commodity for many African villages,” Cathy said.  “A drought means that their animals die, their people die, and that they have to walk many miles to obtain water that is contaminated.”  She added, “Their whole livelihood depends on water.”  Lifewater completed its first well in Rabondo in September 2003.  At the end of this month, Cathy will return with Debra Hill, of Williamsburg, Va., and five University of Nevada, Reno hydrology students.  Cathy and Ron Peterson, chairman of Reno-based International Development Missions, teach a class called “Geophysics and Well Drilling in Developing Countries” at UNR, and the team’s goal this month will be to install a second well in Rabondo.

—YOE Ed Jackson

NEARBY MAKEUP SITES: Monday, Beverly Hills, BH Hotel, 9641 Sunset / Tuesday, Inglewood, Hollywood Park Casino, 3883 W. Century Blvd, Inglewood / Wednesday, Century City, Hyatt Regency Century City, in the Breeze Cafe, Culver City, Raddison Hotel, 6161 W Centinela Ave, CC, or  Wilshire, The Ebell, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd, LA / Friday, Santa Monica, Riviera Country Club, 1250 Capri Dr, Pacific Palisades
For information about on-line makeups, www.recswusa.org