JULY 7, 2015

NEXT MEETING: July 14, 2015

Program: John Hamilton, KGO On the Go
Greeter/Invocation: Angelo Costanza
~~CLUB MEETINGS COMING UP ~

** July 14 -- Evening Dinner featuring John Hamilton,

noted TV and Radio Travel Commentator
(Bring Spouse and Friends!!)
*July 21 Speaker: Lighthouse Professional Placement
*July 28 Speaker: Contra Costa Food Bank Report
*Aug. 4 Program to be announced!
**Aug. 11 Speaker: Edy Schwartz,Highlights of the
Annual Moraga Film Festival
(Bring Spouse and Friends)
*Aug. 18 Speaker: Andrew Pierce, West Nile Virus
*Aug. 25 Speaker: Doug Perez, Reading Advantage
*Regular Noon Meeting

** Second Tuesday Evening

BUSINESS ACTIVITY
President Roger Gregory rung in his leadership
year with a vigorous bash of the bell, and Herb
Wehmeyer followed with a quote from Eleanor
Roosevelt, a prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance
to the flag.
Upon questioning by President Roger, Herb
revealed that he first came to San Francisco in
1952 as Marine, having accepted an offer he
couldnt refuse, and was in life and casualty
insurance sales for 32 years.
Our guests today were: Bill Eames of Lafayette
Rotary, Jan Gregory, first lady of Moraga Rotary,
Sam Saleh, owner of Moraga 7-11, and Employee
of the Month Nash Awladi.
DUES DUE: Treasurer Lad Lynch reminded us
that annual dues of $135 are now due, along
with your voluntary contribution toward Paul
Harris Fellowship of $100 (of which $50 may be
paid in January). Your prompt check for $185 to
Rotary Club of Moraga will keep Lad happy.

The Rajah succeeds the Queen

TRIBUTE TO PAST PRESIDENT DEBBIE
President Roger made the following remarks
about our immediate past president:
Poor Queen Debbie has been demoted and
moved into Rotary Retirement Mode (unless
she wants to pursue more District or
International level honors). On June 30th
Debbies Demotion Party took place at the Soda
Center. (If you werent there Id like to say you
missed a great time). . . Debbie has been
President of Moraga Rotary twice (thats huge!)
and an Assistant District Governor once
(hugier?). Total all that together and Id say its
a combo that only one in 1,000 gets to
experience. Bless you Queen Debbie! Youve
given so much to this Club and our District.
Well done, Queenie.

Good news: Libby Schoemehl will be coming

home Thursday from spinal surgery at John Muir
Hospital. We all wish her a full and rapid
recovery!
Evie Muchon and Mike McCluer as our newest
Moraga Rotary Club members, will be inducted at
our second Tuesday meeting (July 14th) here at
the Soda Center at our evening meeting at 6 pm.

President Roger and Jan Gregory

TGIF Social on the last Friday (7/31). We
need a volunteer to host. The very first club
member to volunteer will get to wear a Royal
Sash and be declared the Hero of the Day at
our next meeting.
RECOGNITIONS AND HAPPY BUCKS
President Roger wasted no time seeking to
augment the Club treasury by searching for
members to recognize: David Kruegel, for his
birthday celebration on June 29, and Gary
Irwin, for his and Carols 48th wedding
anniversary; both enhanced the treasury with
appropriate amounts.
Happy Bucks and High Fives: HB by Bill
Eames, Debbie Roessler, and Lou Roessler,
the latter two for their newfound relaxation time.
Marv Ellenberg gave a High Five for his and
Joyces recent Mediterranean cruise to their
new favorite place of Sardinia, a last minute
replacement for the scheduled stop of Tunisia. .
. . Gary Irwin gave a High Five for Carols art

piece which was selected for the Botanica art

exhibit at the Bedford Gallery in the Lesher
Center in Walnut Creek. The opening reception
is this Sunday, 3 to 6 pm, with hosted wine and
hors doeuvres, and the show runs through
September 6.
Marv Ellenberg rescued the July Fine Free Hat
for only $40, after baby-step bidding mostly by
Lad Lynch (our Treasurer).

Roger, Nash Awladi, Sam Saleh, & Kevin

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Kevin Reneau introduced this months
Employee of the Month Nash Awladi, a key
employee of the Moraga 7-11 in Rheem, owned
by Sam Saleh. Nash received a certificate of
honor and some great gift cards.

PROGRAM
President Roger provided a travelogue of his
and Jans attendance at the RI Convention in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, and their touring on the
return trip. Attendance at this convention was
about 14,000 people, a very large convention,
but less than the previous one in Australia. The
two-leg, 13 hour total flying time allowed him to
watch, but not listen (earphones werent
budgeted), to airplane movies. They stayed in a
nice hotel about hour bus ride from the
Anhembi Center, a building about the size of
three futbol fields.

One popular place to meet people was the

House of Hospitality, where they spent time with
David Kemnitz and his wife (originator of
Cash4Clunkers). They heard speeches from
the President of World Health Organization (a
Polio Plus partner), Bill Gates (a major funder of
Polio Plus, and the new RI President, Ravi
Ravindran of Sri Lanka (who has visited our
Club).
After the Convention, they joined many
Rotarians while visiting Iguazu Falls, a world
heritage site, and also stopped at Rio De
Janeiro to see the Christ the Redeemer statue
on a mountain peak, and ride the cable car to
Sugar Loaf peak.

The Crutches for Africa have left the room! On

Wednesday, July 1st at 5:30 pm the founder of
the program, David Talbot and his wife, Candice
flew into Oakland from Denver and arrived at
the Santa Maria Church, Orinda storage site to
transfer the collected mobility items from the 40
foot trailer to a large U-Haul truck.
Between Rossmoor and Moraga we had about
half a seagoing container of mobility items.
The mobility aids are destined for Kenya and
David was excited about some of the rollators
weve gathered. He said these are fit for a
chief.

Dave Kruegel also attended the Convention,

and added that the entertainment at the plenary
sessions was very good, and that it was a great
benefit to him to meet many Rotarians from
other countries. He is thinking of attending next
years Convention in Seoul, Korea.
Raffle: Lad Lynch won just $10 as the white
marble eluded him, but he was really so close.

CRUTCHES FOR AFRICA

David & Candice Talbot of Crutches4Africa

by Roger Gregory

David is an ex-documentary film producer and

Candice is from Zimbabwe (ex-Rhodesia).
Yours truly and my wife, Jan, represented our
Moraga Club.
There were five folks from
Rossmoor and Mark Roberts our Fab-Five AG.
After the transfer, Joy invited all to dinner at her
house. It was a very pleasant affair and Joys
house is beautiful.
In addition to their work with Crutches-for-Africa,
David and Candice both worked in a kibbutz in
Israel in the 1960s. David was crippled by polio
as a child and he uses two crutches and has a
brace on his right leg. In Kenya, Uganda and
Ghana, which seem to be the most served
nations by this charity, David is known as The

Hat. He rolls into town and he and Candice

and the local Rotary hand out walking aids.
Candice says she takes dresses along for the
little girls. She told about groups in the USA
who make dresses from pillow-cases (although,
with pounding on rocks for laundry, theyve had
to move to sturdier fabric because the plain
pillow cases wouldnt last a year.) The little girls
eyes glow when they get a walking aid and a
new dress. Most have never had a new dress
before.
Your President is getting his eyes opened
to the world. Rotary does that!

CALENDAR OF FUTURE EVENTS

July 11 District Awards Dinner in
Woodland 5:00 pm
July 18 USO Show At the Reservoir
July 31 -- TGIF Club Social
Aug 7-9 OMPA Swim meet food booth

MORAGA ROTARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2015-16

President.Roger Gregory
President-elect ..........Kevin Reneau
Past President.Debbie Roessler
Secretary........ .Kevin Reneau
Treasurer.... Lad Lynch
Community Service Chair......Barbara Bruner
New Generations....Rich Render
International Service Chair.Tony Schoemehl
Public Relations .. Gary Irwin
Membership.......... Frank May
Director at Large... John Erickson
Director at Large ..Marv Ellenberg
Director at Large Cliff Dochterman
Director at Large ..Linda May
President, Rotary InternationalRavi Ravindran
District Governor.Ken Courville
Assistant District GovernorMark Roberts
Newsletter Editor for June Gary Irwin

Rotary International Theme for 2015-16

Be a Gift To The World