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ROTARY CLUB OF OAKLAND CIVIC LUNCHEON MEETING - MARCH 24, 2022

Rotary Club of Oakland Civic Luncheon Meeting, March 24, 2022

President Dudley Thompson opened the 5,380th Civic Thursday in-person and zoom meeting at 12:30 pm. 

President Dudley gave an impromptu Thought for the Day from his notebook of ready-to-use inspirations. He quoted Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.” 

Past President and Past District Governor Ed Jellen announced there were no visiting Rotarians. Online, his guest was his wife, Julie Jellen. In the Ballroom, Leeann Alameda, Bruce Nye and Stew Epstein introduced their guests.

Gary Flaxman introduced our newest member, Kevin Jenkins. Kevin was elected as a trustee to the Peralta Community College District in November 2020. He helps students, faculty and staff in many ways such as furthering educational opportunities and addressing school safety and COVID concerns. Kevin is also the proud father of his son Elijah. Welcome, Kevin!

Past Pres. Linda Chew gave an update on the Oakland Rotary Endowment Campaign underway this month. In just the past six years, ORE has given $1.16 million to local and international communities including 65 grants to local nonprofits. ORE funds KinderPrep, Enterprise Institute, Karl Stucki World Community Service, and Saroni-Lena Scholarships to name a few. 

A gift of $150 can purchase 2+ wellness backpacks for veterans. For $250, supplemental classroom materials can be provided to a KinderPrep teacher. $1,000 can purchase a computer to give homeless people electronic access to the services they need, and $2,500 can provide a scholarship to a Saroni-Lena student for one year’s tuition.

Linda returned to the podium to announce about $60,000 has been donated toward the $100,000 goal. The campaign is in the final stretch. For postponers, aka procrastinators, now is the time to donate. To pay online go to www.oakland-rotary.org/donate . Choose Oakland Rotary Endowment for your donation.

Thanks to Past President Carla Betts who decorated the Ballroom tables on St. Patrick’s Day and provided additional décor to President Dudley in the form of a flashing green light on his bowtie for the day.

Thanks to the volunteers who worked at the Oakland Marathon’s Rotary water station for six hours. For the first two hours, runners received extra-strong Gatorade and presumably extra strength. At that point, Rotarians learned they should be diluting the drinks with water.

Thanks to Tom Limon for organizing the Weekend Ski Trip.

Thanks to Jesse Schmidt and the Business Development Committee for putting on a successful Margarita Mixer attending by some 60 members and guests.

C J Hirshfield, introduced today’s speaker Gary Meyer. Gary’s knowledge of film is unmatched and is the founder of Landmark Film chain, former co-director of the Telluride Film Festival and inductee into the San Francisco Film Hall of Fame. 

Gary first showed a slide of the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles which recently opened. The museum has a theatre, gala space under a transparent dome, and other museum exhibits. Some exhibits include features on The Wizard of Oz, North By Northwest, ET, and other famous movies. The museum also dives into the history of makeup artistry, animation and silent films. There is a collection of Oscars in a semi-round room displaying various Oscars from past winners.  

This year the Academy Awards are changing some formatting and being hosted by a trio of women including Amy Schumer.    

For Best Documentary, most of the nominees can be streamed online. Summer of Soul and Flee are two that are fabulous, he says. Two short documentaries made by San Francisco filmmakers are nominated.  

In a peculiar twist this year, the Best Actress nominees are not in any of the films nominated for Best Picture.  Best Director is an interesting category, but Gary thinks Jane Campion from Power of the Dog will be the likely winner. Best Picture is a toss-up between Coda and Power of the Dog. Coda would be a surprise winner, but many think it could win as a dark horse.  

President Dudley talked about many suggestions that have come in for making donations to benefit the needs of Ukraine people. The Karl Stucki World Community Service Committee vetted these suggestions and has recommended two places. One is World Central Kitchen which is providing meals within Ukraine. The other is The Rotary Foundation Ukraine Relief Fund. It will administer emergency grants of $50,000 each to Ukrainian Rotary Districts or Districts in bordering countries to provide shelter, medicine, clothing and other needs. 

Also, Barbara Beery has a friend who is giving $10,000 towards Rotary Ukrainian efforts and will match the gifts of others. At the meeting, the following Rotarians pledged gifts toward the match: Barbara Beery, Alex Poulsen, Peter Sherris, Ralph Sklar, Robert Kidd, Deep Rajbhandari, Lois Corrin, Jim Boessenecker and Joe Goralka.
Keith Uriarte rang the bell for Kevin Jenkins. Lorna Padia Markus, Mary Rudser, David Douglas, Linda Boessenecker, Robert Kidd, Michael Bruck, Dudley Thompson, Peter Sherris, Jack McAboy, Linda Chew and Joe Goralka rang the bell for Ed Jellen. Elida Scola rang the bell for David Stein. Keith Uriarte rang the bell for Renia Webb.

Click here to watch Gary Meyer video segment.

Missed our meeting, but interested in checking out the next one? Click below to learn more. https://www.oakland-rotary.org/calendar

#serviceaboveself #rotaryinternational #rotaryclubofoakland #rotaryopensopportunities

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