President Dudley Thompson
Call To Order - President Dudley Thompson
President Dudley Thompson called to order the 5,365th Civic Thursday meeting of the 3rd oldest Rotary Club in the world. Members continued to prove how flexible they are with the greatly improved, but not ideal, sound system. When the podium mic didn’t work, and Zoom participants couldn’t hear the meeting, President Dudley used the one portable mic which he held throughout the meeting, sharing it with Rotarians who introduced their guests from their seats in the Ballroom. Kudos to Pres. Dudley, and the AV Team who spend 3½ hours Wednesday night in the Ballroom setting everything up with the guidance of a consulting team skilled and experienced in working with other Rotary clubs and their hybrid meetings. Expect the sound system to continue to improve in the coming weeks.
Thought For The Day - Lewis Griggs
Lewis Griggs provided the thought for the day from the writings of our speaker’s book “The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice”.
Fania Davis.
Speaker for the Day - Fania Davis.
Lewis Griggs returned to the Zoom podium to introduce our speaker, Fania Davis. Dr. Davis is nationally renowned for her role in restorative justice. Restorative justice is based on a desired set of principles and practices to mediate conflict, strengthen community and repair harm. She is a long-time social justice activist, Civil Rights trial attorney, writer, scholar and the author of “The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice: Black Lives, Healing and U.S. Social Transformation.”
She explained that Restorative Justice asks who was harmed, what are the needs and responsibilities of all affected, and how to bring all affected parties together to address needs and repair harm.
Restorative Justice is also rooted in indigenous practices. It is reparative, inclusive and balanced.
Dr. Davis identified three core values: respect, relationship and responsibility. A paradigm shift needs to take place in how things are handled. She shared an example of changing the prevalent “school to prison pipeline” – when a student exhibits adolescent behavior, they don’t get a suspension, which can ultimately lead to expulsion, and arrest. Instead, the issue is addressed up front in a reparative way.
In Memoriam - Al Saroni, Jr.
President Dudley shared news of the passing of Al Saroni, Jr. last month at the age of 95. Al was an honorary member of the club and lived in Idaho. Among his activities was flyfishing, golf, a race horse owner and enthusiast. His father, Al Saroni, Sr. was a 50-year member of Oakland Rotary. Al, Sr. made the first donation to fund scholarships in 1951 which started what is called now called the Saroni-Lena Scholarship Fund. Al, Jr. continued to contribute to the fund after his father’s passing. A moment of silence was held to remember these two philanthropists.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Dianne Dorn, Past President of the San Leandro Club and Assistant District Governor for Area 4A introduced her two guests, Ken Pon and Kristina Seher, both members of the San Leandro Rotary Club.
Keith Giron introduced his guest, Jean Raines, who is applying to become a club member.
Renia Webb introduced her guests, Dwayne Aikens, Executive Director and Board Member Andrea Smith of We Lead Ours (WELO).
Sean Marx
The Rotary Foundation Campaign
Past President Sean Marx shared the inspirational story about how Global Grants have served two communities in Kenya. Called WASH projects, the most recent grant totaling $63,686 was a collaborative project with the Rotary Clubs of Los Angeles and Louisville, Kentucky as well as the Suna Rotary Club in Kenya. Oakland Rotary’s financial investment was $18,750. We saw a short video that showed prior to the project, the girls (not boys) fetched buckets of water every day from the lake to their village. the water was polluted and the latrines were unhealthy. This project provided two water systems to extract and clean the water from Lake Victoria for two villages totaling 28,000 inhabitants. Previous grants have included focusing on schools.and students’ needs such as providing desks.
This is the final meeting highlighting The Rotary Foundation annual campaign held every November. The Every Member donation goal of reaching 100% participation by December 31st will be matched by a challenge grant of $50,000 made by six club members. Sean Marx made a donation to provide a second level Paul Harris Fellow to Renia Webb.
Pres. Dudley shared a couple of stories about the influence Rotary International has had in world affairs. In 1948, they were one of the founders of the United Nations and still have an important relationship with it. Some years ago one of the countries where polio was rampant was the Sudan, which was at war in 1997-98. A four-day ceasefire was negotiated so children could be accessed and given polio vaccine. The challenge was buying the vaccine on such short notice. Moraga resident Cliff Dochterman was Rotary Foundation President at the time. He was able to authorize $400,000 to pay for the vaccine ($500K was the limit) on the spot, and the project moved forward successfully.
Coat Collection Project
Renia Webb presented 350 articles including gently used coats, scarves, hats and gloves to We Lead Ours (WELO). Accepting the donation were Dwayne Aikens, Executive Director and Andrea Smith, Board Member. Renia gave a shout-out to everyone who donated items and especially thanked Teresa Weyand who knitted 100+ caps for families.
Cal Band Visit Before The Big Game
Arriving just before 1:30 pm, the Cal Straw Hat Band made their annual appearance in advance of the Big Game against Stanford on Saturday. Instead of the usual three musical songs, the 20+ student musicians treated us to an expanded program and a new repertoire plus some dance moves for nearly 20 minutes. As always, their enthusiasm, energy and musicianship were well received. Go Bears!
Upcoming Activities
With the club now in overtime, Pres. Dudley quickly reminded everyone of several upcoming activities.
Cocktails with the President later this evening at the Moxy Hotel.
On November 26, Rotarians will be at the New Parkway Theater to watch the Warriors vs Portland Trailblazers game. Purchase tickets on the Club website, Calendar page.
Golf Tournament on December 7th at the Metropolitan Golf Links, Oakland. First tee time is 10:30 am. Registration is $51 and due by November 23rd. For more information, please contact Mike Mowery at ch.doo.mow@gmail.com.
The Niles Canyon Railway Train of Lights Tour on December 9 from 4:30 – 7:00 pm. The train will depart from the Niles Station in Fremont for a round-trip tour through the canyon. It is a great fun event for families and each person will get a special treat bag. Tickets are $45 per person. Purchase them on the Club website Calendar page.
Bellringers
Dudley Thompson rang the bell for Ken Pon.
Adjournment
President Dudley adjourned the meeting at 1:50 p.m
Dr. Scott Stephens
Next Meeting, December 2 - Dr. Scott Stephens - Forest Fires in California's New Climate Reality.
Our speaker on December 2nd will be Dr. Scott Stephens, Professor of Fire Science at UC Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. He is also an optimist, provided we aggressively pursue prescribed burning, incorporate indigenous forest management practices, and emphasize the post-fire structure of our forests. Come hear Dr. Stephens describe the options at hand, because the next two decades will be critical. Bring a colleague or friend.
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