THE PROGRAM

Feeling a little slow in the brain? Take a class at DVC s Emeritus College to exercise your mind! They provide affordable classes for adults still thirsty to learn and grow! Our speaker today, Jo Mele, spoke to us on the Emeritus Colleges trip to Cuba last January. With the help of John Stallwitz, who also went on the trip, they were full of knowledge accompanied by beautiful pictures. They had a group of about 24 adults. They started each day with a lecture about some aspect of Cuban culture, and then they would set out about the day following up on what they had learned in said lecture. They saw the National Ballet of Cuba perform the Nutcracker; went to a baseball game; even visited Ernest Hemingways old 15 acre home. Theres music, art, dancing, color and Che, everywhere! They had a picture of weird objects coming out of the ground as some sort of traffic control, when in fact they are old cannons, as Havana used to be the main armory in the Caribbean! The question came up as to how they were able to travel from Miami directly to Cuba. Any restrictions come from the US but it seems to be loosening slightly. In the last year, Americans have been able to travel directly to Cuba under a special Educational or Religious License. Though, the US will still not allow Americans to do any banking or telecommunications with Cuba. On the other side, Cubans seem to be allowed to do more than before. The Cuban government has loosened restrictions on Cuban travel. Their currency is a mess, but whether you are a doctor or store clerk, if you can remodel an old car to work, you can be a taxi driver and make more money than you would at your day job. With transportation limited in Cuba, taxi drivers make good money in tips. There is still a ways to go in terms of relations between our countries, but hopefully things will keep moving forward!

July 02, 2013

NEXT MEETING JULY 9, EVENING!

Program: David

Abernathy, Executive Director of Oakland Art Murmur

We are meeting in our normal room, ORINDA ROOM

Greeter & Invocation...HERB WEHMEYER

~COMING UP~
July 10 OMPA organizational mtg., Holy Trinity, 5:30pm *July 16 Dave Trotter, Town of Moraga Mayor Update July 16 Board Meeting, Holy Trinity, 5pm *July 23 Brother Dominic Bernardelli, Saint Marys *July 30 Melissa Holmes, Oracle Racing Americas Cup *Aug. 6 CLUB ASSEMBLY Aug. 2-4 OMPA!! *Indicates a regular Tuesday noon luncheon meeting **Indicates our monthly evening meeting at 6pm

**CLUB HAPPENINGS** ~President Nora rang in the new Rotary year as an

aspiring Queen of Rotary with a Training Tiara she picked up at PETS. This should be interesting. ~OMPA is coming up! Frank is holding an organizational meeting next Wednesday, July 10, 5:30pm at Holy Trinity. ~Our new RI President, Ron Burton, asks us to Engage Rotary, Change Lives in the new theme for this Rotary Year. ~District 5160 really has surpassed all expectations and goals for 2012-13 in annual giving! With a goal of $500,000, we reached an incredible $1,010,000!! The monies were donated to The Rotary Foundation in the Annual Programs Fund, half of which will be given back to our District for use in Project Grants in 3 years! ~Rotary and the Gates Foundation are working even harder to eradicate Polio from the world by extending our fundraising agreement. The Gates Foundation will match 2 for 1 every new dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication up to $35 million per year through 2018.

~GUESTS~
Dennis Kelleher Guest of Gary Irwin Roger Poynt Soon to be newest Associate Member! Jo Mele Guest Speaker John Stallwitz Speakers guest Kate Stolz Speakers guest Ann Damaschino Spouse of Doug

~The Annual Awards and Installation Dinner, Summer

Safari, is coming up, Saturday, July 13, 2013. ~Our PR Chair Gary Irwin has been doing a tremendous job getting our Club News into the Lamorinda Weekly. In case you missed it, in the last issue there was a special article on our annual Rotary Field Day at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School! ~Doug got the winning ticket but just missed the jackpot!

**CALENDAR OF FUTURE EVENTS***

July 13 Summer Safari Installation Dinner Aug 2-4 OMPA Swim Meet Food Booth Aug 26 Lafayette Rotary Golf Tournament Sept. 7 E-Waste Collection Day Sept. 21 Orinda Rotarys Dancing with the Cars Sept. 21-22 Lafayette Art & Wine Festival Oct. 18-20 Rotary Adventure 2013 (District Conference) in Chico

**FUN STUFF!** ~Barbara Bruner had a special happy $11 for her
daughter celebrating 11 years with her new heart! ~John Erickson had a happy buck for Herbs second Paul Harris! ~Frank May was happy for having a great time at his Demotion Party last week. ~Lad Lynch had a great time travelling to Paris and then to Normandy the last couple weeks! Thus, the wheel of misfortune was spun. ~Debbie Roessler had a couple bucks for running into former member, Bill Foley, at the Alameda County Fair last weekend, who said he would help at our OMPA food booth! ~Gary Irwin celebrated his Anniversary to Carol at the Demotion Party last week! 46 years of wedded bliss! ~Dave Kruegal completed his 75th birthday last Saturday and will be celebrating in Reno by seeing one of his favorite musicals. ~Pres. Nora celebrated her 31st birthday with a weekend trip to Seattle to visit friends. ~Congratulations to Honorary members, Ray and May Kan on celebrating their Anniversary, June 25! MORAGA ROTARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2013-2014
President...........Nora Avelar President-elect.....Debbie Roessler Past President ....Frank May Secretary....Kevin Reneau Treasurer......Lad Lynch Community Service Chair...Barbara Bruner New Generations Chair.........Rich Render International Service Chair..Tony Schoemehl Membership....Frank & Debbie Public Relations..Gary Irwin Director at Large...Mary Elena Dochterman Director at Large.....Cliff Dochterman Director at Large.........John Erickson

~ PLACES TO MAKE UP ROTARY ~

MONDAY Danville @ Noon.......Faz, Danville TUESDAY Diablo View @ 5:30pm...Lift Lounge, Walnut Creek WEDNESDAY Orinda @ Noon......Orinda Country Club Berkeley @ Noon..His Lordships Restaurant Rossmoor @ Noon.Hillside Clubhouse, Rossmoor THURSDAY Pleasant Hill @ Noon......St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Lafayette @ Noon....Oakwood Health Center Oakland @ Noon......California Ballroom FRIDAY Lamorinda Sunrise @ 7am....Celias Mexican Restaurant Concord @ Noon.....Concord Hilton

Congratulations to Herb Wehmeyer on his second Paul Harris Award! Your generosity is much appreciated and will be put to good use in many Rotary Projects around the world!

OMPA!!
This months editorNora Avelar

OMPA is exactly a month away from today!! Things may be slightly different this year, so we encourage you to attend the next organizational meeting, next Wednesday, July 10 in Holy Trinity at 5:30pm. Frank has been working hard in banding us all together, so lets Engage in our Rotary Club so we may Change Lives!!

THE 2013-14 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL THEME

ENGAGE ROTARY, CHANGE LIVES

Visit Our Award Winning Website:

www.moragarotary.org
And like our Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/rotaryclubofmoraga