Ces Butner, President of Rotary Club of Oakland
Call to Order – Ces Butner
President Ces Butner called the 5,335th Civic Thursday meeting of the Oakland Rotary Club to order at 12:31 p.m. As the 3rd oldest club with over 300 men and women members, we have been meeting for over 111 years.
Ruth Stroup
Thought for the Day – Ruth Stroup
Ruth Stroup gave the thought for the day with quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Oprah Winfrey. All of the quotes were about children to coincide with our speaker today.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Past President & Past District Governor Ed Jellen welcomed visiting Rotarian Dianne Dorn, past president of the San Leandro Club; former club member Dagmar Serota; Steve Heike, guest of Sandeepa Nayak; and McKinney-Vento program interns who are students at Cal State East Bay.
Debo Sarkar
Business Development Speaker Series – May 20th
Debo Sarkar will be featured speaker at the next Business Development Committee Speaker Series on May 20th from 5 - 6:30 p.m. The topic is “What is Inflation”. Debo is a Managing Director at Charles Schwab and will be speaking about inflation and its impact on many aspects of our lives.
John Holmgren
John Holmgren – Friends of the Oakland Public Schools Library
Kinder Prep Chair John Holmgren introduced Dagmar Serota who thanked us for the grant we recently gave to Friends of the Oakland Public Schools Library to be used for the Oakland Public Schools Digital Library and primarily focused on Trans Kindergarten students. This Digital Library was a response to the pandemic and has greatly increased students’ access to books online. This is a great example of how Rotary is making a difference with Oakland school children.
Oakland Rotary Endowment Campaign
This is ORE month! David Kittner, Chair of the Community Service Committee, listed over ten organizations ORE has recently supported. Some of these include: City Slicker Farms, BOSS, Legal Assistance for Seniors, Feather River Camp, St. Vincent Day School, Allendale Elementary Library, Ace Kids Golf, Gritty City Repertory Theater and more!
Pres. Ces has challenged us to have 100% of our members contribute to ORE. And he has generously pledged to match contributions up to $50,000.
Help us meet this challenge. No contribution is too small. You can make your pledge at https://www.oakland-rotary.org/donations.
Annual Gala – Save The Date
Our Gala is around the corner. Kathleen Sims and her committee are planning a fantastic Casino Night. Hosted by the team of Heather and Valentina we’ll have Casino Games, Auction Items and Entertainment. Tickets will be available soon. The Committee is looking for fun and interesting items to include in the auction. If you have something you’d like to donate contact Kathleen at 510-470-0932.
Breakout Room Sessions
Rotarians and guests were divided into small groups and digitally moved to breakout rooms for fellowship. President Ces asked groups to discuss how comfortable we are to return to in-person meetings when it becomes feasible. In order to gauge the response, he asked for information to be posted in the Zoom chat box, or members can contact him directly with thoughts and suggestions.
Trish Anderson
Speaker for the Day – Trish Anderson
Kathy Dwyer introduced our Civic Thursday speaker, Trish Anderson. Trish is the McKinney-Vento Liaison for Oakland Unified School District. In her role she assists students that are housing insecure. Through her program she works to make sure these children are enrolled in school so they can continue their education. Some of the services she provides include tutoring, transportation, clothing and parental support workshops. The graduation rate for the children she assists is up to 73%.
Bellringers
Executive Administrator Jesse Bowdle announced the following bellringers:
Dudley Thompson rang the bell for Ces Butner.
David Stein and Ces Butner rang the bell for the Community Service Committee.
Lorna Padia Markus rang the bell for the Leadership Team.
Adjournment
President Ces closed the meeting by ringing the bell with his closing adage “and that’s the way it went” plus the reminder that Rotary Opens Opportunity for Service Above Self.
Birthday Greetings
Happy Birthday! Celebrating between April 16 and 23 are:
18 – Susan Schroeder
– Sed Tydus
19 – Phil Campbell
22 – David Rabb
Membership Anniversaries in April
Thank you for your years of service to the Rotary Club of Oakland and the community!
- Jack McAboy – 46 years
- Kers Clausen -- 38 years
- Alex Poulsen – 32 years
- David Stein – 32 years
- Garrett Riegg – 27 years
- Susan Smith – 24 years
- David Rabb – 22 years
- Dhruv Patel – 9 years
- Ken Benson – 6 years
- David Kittner – 5 years
- Linda Bradford – 4 years
- Leeann Alameda – 3 years
- Tori Howard – 3 years
- Justin Stewart – 3 years
- Deborah Morgan – 2 years
- Mia Bonta – 1 year
- David Kersten – 1 year
H.R. McMaster
Next Meeting, Wednesday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m. – H. R. McMaster, Former National Security Advisor, Following Week, Thursday, April 22 at 9 a.m. – Shekhar Menta, Incoming Rotary International President
Speakers Committee Chair David Stein announced next week’s meeting will be on Wednesday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m. instead of Thursday. Our speaker will be Former National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster. His topic is “American Foreign Policy & The Key Threats facing America”.
The following week on Thursday, April 22, our meeting will be at 9 a.m. Our speaker will be Incoming Rotary International President, Shekhar Menta. The meeting will feature Rotary International’s New Area of Focus: Protecting the Environment. This will be a joint meeting with The First Five Clubs - Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles. Attendees must register in advance for this meeting.
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