Dear Playa Venice Rotarians & Friends,

 

Tomorrow, be sure to come to support two important events... 1) Ramona Ivy will be inducted by Gwen Vuchsas, alongside sponsor Sharon Cooper. If you missed it, track down Juliet Oman’s email to the membership that details Ramona’s background. 2) The wonderful Marsha Wietecha will share her life and career with us in her craft talk. (FYI, there will be a good number of craft talks in the months ahead – a good chance to get to know our new members!)

 

Once again, our Habitat for Humanity volunteer day was a huge success. No surprise that all the PVS volunteers who committed to the event, came ready to work! Thank you Jamie Altshule, Bobbie Casalino-Lewis, Bonnie Cullinan, Ramona Ivy, Jerry Jen, Dale Lewis, Nora MacLellan, Paola Melis, Melissa Moore, Patrick Morehead, and Tracey Thompson Busa (thanks again for taking care of lunch, Tracey!). District Governor Melody St. John worked with us all day, and thank you Gwen and Jim Vuchsas for coming by! Beverly Hills Rotary got to observe PVS members in action: “Wow, you guys really show up in force, and you work hard!”

 

On Wednesday 2/19, Jerry Jen, Gail Brooks, Gwen Vuchsas and I attended the Salute to Military Service luncheon at the Proud Bird. We got to hear a terrific talk from Col. Kevin E. Clark, Commanding Officer of the First Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton. He served in Operation DESERT SHIELD, DESERT STORM, SECURE TOMORROW (Haiti), IRAQUI FREEDOM, and ENDURING FREEDOM. His jacket was covered with stars. He told us about the thousands of families who serve at Camp Pendleton (i.e., lots of babies)... therefore our stack of baby items will definitely go to good use! BTW, of the two donation tables, one entire table was full of Playa Venice items – well done, team! Thank you to all who brought diapers, wipes, gift cards, etc., and thank you Jerry Jen for making all the arrangements for the event!

 

There are only 8 seats left for the Bingofest fundraiser on March 7. If you want to go, register right away at www.playavenice.org. It’s less than two weeks away, but Tracey Thompson Busa is still taking auction items – if you have something you think will attract bids, please donate! It's going to be a great night! Bring lots of $5 bills for Jamieson shots!

 

If you volunteered to support first responders during this week's LAX Coastal Chamber Protectors Week, you should have received an email from the chamber. If you didn’t, contact the chamber office at (310) 645-5151. Thank you Howard Pollack & Rainbow Acres for offering to feed breakfast to 50 officers at the LAPD Pacific Division this Thurs 2/27. And thank you Gwen Vuchsas, Jamie Althshule, and Mary Kim for helping create food baskets yesterday for all our first responders.

 

We have 24 signed up for the LMU basketball night Thurs night 2/27 with Westchester Rotary and the LAX Coastal Chamber. Deadline for signups has already passed, but if you had trouble signing up today (possibly because of the Clubrunner snafu this afternoon), contact Peggy Glattes or me right away so we can try to get your name in.

 

Every member is invited to the District Conference April 30-May 3 at the Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa. It’s a great chance to have some fun together, and to meet a ton of people from other clubs in the district. It will give you a better sense of Rotary’s impact all across Los Angeles. I’d love to have a big group attend - bring your loved ones. Register directly at the district page https://www.rotary5280districtconference.com. 

 

Remember, every event for the rest of the Rotary year is on our website. Thank you Sean Story for taking care of the website and the weekly slide show!

 

In Rotary service,

Brady