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Rotary Club of Concord-Diablo
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July 2009
CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS
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2009/10 Officers and Directors

President
Dirk Wentling

President-Elect
Jim Ficenec

Past-President
Kathy Lafferty

Secretary
Nancy Glenfield

Treasurer
Jim Ficenec

Sargent At Arms
Club
Administration

Jimmy Araujo

Vocational Service
Blanca Campos

International
Shahan Avakian

Community Service
Edi Birsan

The Rotary Foundation
Al Browning

Club / Member Service
Jeff Kasper

 
Rotary Club of Concord-Diablo
c/o P.O. Box 1063
Concord, CA 94522


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TOP STORIES

AND YOU THOUGHT OBAMMA BROUGHT CHANGE!

President Dirk wasted no time today, ringing the bell promptly at 12:15! After a thought for the day by Jeff AND an invocation by Will, he was off to a great start. His first move was to have Kelly's son Jace recite the 4-Way Test! (By the way, Jace will be coming by next week to tell us about hsi hopes for the Wakayama trip. Bring your cash, as we'll be passing the hat for him)

Next, Dirk announced that WE WILL HAVE FUN!

Then, in a shocking and suprising move, Dirk uncovered The Concord/Diablo Wheel of Fate! "Round and Round it goes, how broke you'll be -- nobody knows!" Dirk has thrown out the traditional hefty fine schedule, and introduced a Wheel of Fate. Instead of paying a fixed fine, the member in question will spin the wheel and hope that "Luck is a Lady" today... Fines range from nothing to paying $2 for every member who's not at the meeting. The Wheel also takes the place of marbles with 24 prizes for any winning ticket.

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER NEW MEMBER!

Eric Maldonado was inducted at this week's meeting! Eric has the honor of having the longest title in the club -- He is the Contra Costa County Community Involvement Officer Corporate Relations with Travis Credit Union.

He's been in the financial sector for about eight years, and is new to Travis and the position of many words. He's a San Francisco native, and has a daughter, Hope. Welcome Eric!

TWO NEW MEMBERS INDUCTED 4/8!

EDI BIRSAN

Edi Birsan knows his ammo! His company, E.D.I. Inc., spends most of their time at the docks at the future Kasper Marina in North Concord. (The former Naval Weapons Station - Now the Army's docks) They inspect shipping containers, especially those carrying amunition!

Edi's lived in Concord since the early 80's, and served on the RAC, a commission to assist the City in being able to develop a reuse plan for the decommissioned Naval Weapons Station.

WILL HARPER

Will Harper is just shy of being married two years. He and his wife have a beautiful new daughter, Poetry Sophia. He is the Youth Ministries Director at the Salvation Army in Concord. He outlined several programs available to young people including basketball, girls dance class, and an after-school tutoring program. Prior to accepting the position at the Concord Salvation Army, he was a basketball coach at Cincinnati State.

WELCOME TO ROTARY KEN LIEBER!

A BIG Concord-Diablo welcome to our newest member, Ken Lieber, who was inducted March 25, 2009.

Ken is with PG&E and lives in Antioch. He's been married to Starr and has two adult children.

LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE ROTARACT
FUNDRAISER APRIL 4th

Chris Ofstad, the president of the Los Medanos College ROTARACT Club paid a visit to our March 25th meeting to elicit support for the upcoming fundraiser dinner on April 4, 2009.

The beneficiary of the monies raised will be Invisible Children, an organization who provides quality education to children in war-torn Northern Uganda.

The cost of the dinner is $15 per person. In addition to dinner, there will be an African Dance Performance, informational presentation and a number of great door prize drawings, including Ugandan art, Oakland A's box seats, and a Joe Montana autographed football!

The dinner will begin at 6PM, and will be held at the Cafeteria at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg.

Send Chris Ofstad an e-mail for more information.

WELCOME TO ROTARY BLANCA CAMPOS!

A BIG Concord-Diablo welcome to our newest member, Blanca Campos, who was inducted February 25, 2009.

NEW YEARS' GREETINGS FROM JAPAN!

In addition to the holiday greetings we received ftom the members of the Wakayama West, we also received this update from Masahiro Nakasuji, via Dirk Wentling:

Hi! How are you?
I was very happy!

Today is spcial celebration in Japan for peaple who became 20 years old.
This celebration is Japaniese tradition.
Peaple are put on the kimono.
Kimono is very colorful and beautifull!
I was very happy. : )

When I come to Japan, please contact me.
I go to meet with pleasure.

See you then. Thank you.

Nozomi Nakasuji


Nozomi in her special kimono


Nozomi and her parents


Kohta, Nozomi, and Ikumi say, "Hi!"

CAMBRIDGE CHRISTMAS MEETING SET FOR DECEMBER 17th

You won't want to miss this year's Cambridge Christmas meeting on December 17th. This is the meeting where all the toys we've collected and wrapped are presented by Santa to the children at the Cambridge Preschool. Lunch that day will be prepared by the parents and is always great. We will donate the amount we usually pay for lunch to the center.

The center is located at 1146 Lacy Lane in Concord. The meeting starts at noon. You should find ample parking across the street at Cambridge Elementary or on the street.

This is a great meeting to bring a guest to as well. There's not really a better way to see Rotary in action than this event.

RING THE BELLS ON DECEMBER 13th

Our annual Salvation Army Bell Ringing at Broadway Plaza is set for December 13th. Contact Phil Winslow to reserve your shift.

WRAPPING PARTY SET FOR DECEMBER 10th

Our annual Cambridge Gift Wrapping Party will be hosted again by Greg & Lois Grassi. We'll start at 6:30 and wrap until we're done! (Of course, we'll order pizza to sustain our stamina)

Every member of the family of Rotary is invited. The Grassi's address is listed in the roster of the "Member's Only" section of the web site.

MONUMENT CRISIS CENTER GIFT DELIVERY WEEKENDS SET

While not an "official" club activity, many members enjoy delivering presents with their families to the Monument Crisis Center clients. This is a very rewarding activity, and great for every member of the Rotary family. You can stay as long as you like, and go one or all days.

The gift delivery is set for December 6th & 7th, and 13th & 14th. The warehouse is at 1000 Detriot Ave., Ste U&V in Concord. Although the warehouse opens at 10AM, the organizers suggest coming later, as they are usually swamped when they open. That way, you'll get a little more sleep and not have to wait as long to get presents.

KOHTA ARRIVES SAFELY HOME

This morning (8/15/08) we received the following dispatch from Kohta's father in Wakayama, Japan:

"Kohta was taken care of very much.

He arrived at Japan safely.

He says that daily life in U.S.A. was very pleasant.

For Ikumi, Nozomi and three people of Kohta, a memory with you is valuable experience.

Thank you very much.
Masahiro Nakasuji"

KOHTA VISITS YOSEMITE


Kohta and Jace Ganuar hiked up to Vernal Falls in Yosemite


Jeff, Kohta, Beri and Jace arrive in Yosemite

KOHTA TAKES SAN FRANCISCO!

Dirk and Amanda Wentling took Kohta on a whirlwind tour of San Francisco on Monday, August 5th.

Here's a dispatch from Dirk on the adventure:
We went to ATT Park,


Walked the Embarcadero, walked down and up Lombard St, strolled the Wharf

and had lunch at Taratino’s, went to Alamo Plaza and saw the “Painted Ladies”, drove through the GG Park where he saw Bison for the first time. Checked out the windmill at Ocean Beach side of the park, walked around the Cliff house,

Stopped by the Legion of Honor,

Walked down to China Beach (and back up again!), went to Baker Beach

and walked almost to the Bridge but it got real cold and it was getting late.

He was asleep before we made it back to the Van Ness onramp to I80.

KOHTA VISITS MT. DIABLO

After spending some time at the Bay Area Crisis Nursery project, Nancy Glenfield and Kohta paid a visit to Mt. Diablo. It was an absolutely picture perfect day, and Kohta could almost see Wakayama!


Kohta Enjoys the view.

BACN WORK DAYS A SUCCESS!

We, along with the Pleasant Hill club, worked on two consecutive Saturdays (7/26 & 8/2/08) to install the improvements provided by our matching grant application last year. The district turned the $4,000 contributed by our three clubs into $8,000! Just like magic!


Kohta Gets In On The Fun with Beri & Jeff!


Saws are for girly men, John Newman
proves that real men use chisels!


Nancy Glenfield Paints The New Toy Garage

MICHAEL VISITS CASTLE,
DECLARES HIMSELF "KING OF THE WORLD"

Actually, Michael didn't say anything like that, it just sounded like a good headline. We received the following dispatch from Mitsuteru Nishitani:

"Michael is very fine yesterday. He visited the Wakayama castle with Mrs. Nakasuji & our manager Toshiko."

MICHAEL ARRIVES IN JAPAN!

Our outgoing exchange student to Wakayama Japan, Michael, has arrived safely and was greeted by two members of the Wakayama club.

You will be able to check out his adventures on the Wakayama blog detailing the adventures of both Michael and Kohta by clicking here.

SPECIAL GREETING TODAY! (7/30)

Todays' meeting was indeed special! First, we had a very special guest who greeted everyone who came in -- EMMA! She's seen here saying hello to Nancy Glenfield.

Also, Laura Hoffmeister came AND brought a guest, Beth Neudell from the Concordian Newspaper.

If you weren't there, you also missed an excellent presentation from Joyce Davidson-Seitz, with the City of Concord's Economic Development Department. Joyce spent time giving a great update of happenings in Concord, including new projects that are in progress. She was grilled by the members about the rumored 12 foot Chuck E. Cheese? (No, it's 3 feet) In addition to telling us about the many exciting things going on, she also let us know about some great resources available on the Economic Development web site. She offered to visit any of our businesses anytime we would like.

The only shaky moment was when she awarded a loooooong pencil to Dirk for a correct answer to a question she posed. (She was not aware of the long-standing provision in the Club's bylaws forbidding Dirk to have sharp or pointy objects)

KOHTA ARRIVES IN SAN FRANCISCO!

This year's exchange student, Kohta, arrived in San Francisco on 7/29/08! (View His Calendar Here)




Special Greeting at the Ficenec's Home

KASPER'S VISIT REDDING-WEST ROTARY CLUB WITH DG-E KILMER - BANNER PROVES IT!

Jeff Kasper was invited to speak to the Redding-West Rotary Club on July 7th about "Pursuing Customer Loyalty, Fearlessly!" Along with DG-E Earl Kilmer and Laura Day, they ventured up to the 114 degree heat and had a wonderful time! The welcome and hospitality shown the quartet was awesome! Jeff even appeared on a local talk radio show, arranged by club resident Sheila Hurst. (He would have even made an appearance on a Hispanic station, it the fires had not knocked out the power to the transmitter!)

CONCORD FLIPS FOR PANCAKE BREAKFAST!

Congratulations to Dirk Wentling, and master chef's Fred McCarl and Kelly Ganuar, and everyone else who made the Pancake Breakfast such a success! At this point, it looks like we grossed over $1,700! That's a lot of pancakes!








KATHY LAFFERTY TAKES THE REINS!

After successfully taking the reins, Kathy Lafferty made it through her first meeting. And she did a great job! Congratulations Kathy!

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Calling all e-scrip-ers!

eScrip is proven to be a fantastic resource for fund-raising where participating business partners contribute a percentage of your grocery loyalty cards, credit card, and debit/ ATM card purchases to the school, group or organization of your choice -- Rotary Club of Concord-Diablo.

To sign up, go to www.escrip.com.

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Photo Gallery:
2007
Raucous Bacchus 2007

Nozomi's Ice Cream Social

Nozomi's Visit to SF #1

Nozomi's Visit to SF #2
2006
2006 Cambridge Gift Exchange

2006 Gift Wrapping Party

2005 Cambridge Community Center Santa Day

Yuko - Wakayama Exchange Student Photos

Pancake Breakfast 7/4/2005


R. Bacchus

Bacchus 2005


Reach the Peak 2004

Bavarian Bash


Demotion Party

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