Success Through Teamwork 6/19/13

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

I was remiss about getting the bulletin out last week, so we'll cover two weeks in one offering. Thanks again to good friend Rick Mendoza for acting as Blair's installing officer. She brings our membership total up to 51. Congratulations Playa Venice and special thanks to the Board of Directors who rose to my challenge for each Director  to bring in a new member!

We tried to get a photo of last week's 50/50 raffle prize winner Judith Wilson, but she was jumping up and down so much it was a total blur. She split $3,570 with the Club. Congratulations Judith!

Tom Carson gave an in depth and very witty overview of himself and his family. He comes from a strong Rotary tradition, with a father who had over 30 years of perfect attendance. As an architect, Tom's career has led him to several interesting assignments. He complimented both President Jim and the Club on its growth this year and the trust that we have for one another. I think we can rest assured that trust will be a main part of Tom's theme for 2013-2014!

Before her wallet got really heavy, Judith Wilson offered a $20. brag about her aerodynamic engineer son who is also an award winning cyclist. 

Because of Judith Wilson's leadership, those who went on the Getty Villa trip had a great time. We got there early enough to beat both the crowds and the traffic. Thanks to Aaron of the Venice Boys and Girls Club, we had great and convenient transportation.  We have posted some of the photos on the website Homepage. Thanks again Judith!

6/19 was President Jim's last meeting since we are dark 6/26 because of the 6/28 Demotion Party. We viewed a video of the past year's activities, it's hard to believe we covered so much ground and touched so many lives. Jim has led the Club to new heights and has positioned us for another great year with Tom. In the grand tradition established this year, President Jim acknowledged and thanked each Director on both the Club and Foundation Boards with a candy bar, each of which also carried a personal observation. The session included a PowerPoint presentation with Director photos (some of which seemed to be from the Director's High School yearbooks.) President Jim is shown thanking Mrs. Bear for everything she's done for him and the Club this year. We thank her too. As we wandered back to our chairs thinking "What's with the candy bar for a hard year of work," President Jim noted that there was one more thank you, each Director was given a "Director's Chair" with the Club logo and their name on the other side. What an incredible thank you! We have posted all the pictures from the meeting on the Homepage of the website (Playasunrise.org). We'll soon be posting the video also. 

We also posted photos of the recent trip to the Midnight Mission and our work at MarinaFest. As always, they can be viewed on the Homepage. While there take a moment to read up about the Playa Venice Online Marketplace, a way to do your normal business with your regular vendors and make money for the Club at the same time. Just a small effort will realize big returns for the Club and none of it comes out of your pocket! Check out the story and the link on our homepage. 

Kathrine Russell read an email from the group (CARES) who we donated of beard from the Rachel Sunday inspired visit to Build a Bear. We also added a story to our website about the write up in CARES newsletter. 

It was reported that because he got a job teaching locally Sam Innes will be transitioning his membership from active to supporting since work will prohibit his attending weekly meetings. We are happy for Sam and very pleased that he is staying with the Club! Great new beginnings.

Congratulations to Tom Dixon for being named Rotarian of the Month for his leadership in setting up and working the meal service at the Midnight Mission. We made two trips this year and both were very well attended. Thanks to all for their very hard work!

Among the many guests we had this week were two of the four $1,000 scholarship winners, David and Reymundo. Capt. Jon Peters presented to David and Gail Goldstein to Reymundo. 

Joe Chehade and Jory Rosen were awarded their membership badges. Congratulations guys, we are happy to have you on board! 

Three special guests were with us, Chuck Daugherty and Lillian Kliewer who visited us for the first time. Luis Jimenez made his third stop with us and is looking to come on board at the first meeting of the new year, 7/3. Jerry Brown will be officiating. The growth continues!

Katie Litsey made a special presentation of a plaque (pretend you see it) and a check to thank Chris Culton for his outstanding work as the President of the Animo Venice Interact Club. He did an incredible job, we just wish we could clone him. We wish him the best as he heads off to school at Channel Islands. 

Gwen Vuchsas advised that we have been given permission to ride on the firetruck at the Fourth of July Parade. Come out and let the community know who we are! If you want to be part of the Parade process, call Gwen to volunteer until the truck leaves. 

Congratulations to Joe Chehade who became a grandfather to a beautiful baby girl the day he joined Rotary. As the saying goes, Good things happen when you join Rotary.

Last year our friends at The Hometown News did a survey to gauge "The Best of" in multiple categories. We won Best Non-profit and definitely want to defend our title. You can cast your votes at www.thehtn.com. Pretend it is Chicago and vote early and vote often. Multiple votes are allowed. 

Thanks to Judith Ciancimino for taking pictures this week. 

Save the Date:

June 26 Club dark in lieu of Demotion Party

June 28 Demotion Party (Gail Goldstein)

July 4  Parade & BBQ (Vuchsas')

July 6 Playa Vista Farmers Market (Don Culton)

July 13 Pancake Breakfast at FS 5 (Gwen Vuchsas)

Aug 5 Japanese Student Outing, Venice Beach (Katie Litsey)

Aug 17 Summer Social (Gwen Vuchsas)

Aug 24 Jet to Jetty (Gwen Vuchsas)

Aug 25 On the Water With BodyGlove (Peter Smyth)

Be well.

Yours in Rotary service, 

Tony