Today’s Meeting
Hello Rotarians! Today, Larry Reilly is scheduled to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and our invocation will be presented by Gary Davis. Our speaker today will be from the Channel Islands Maritime Museum, a “cultural and scenic haven in the Channel Islands Harbor complete with world class maritime art, ship models and ocean breezes.” www.vcmm.org
Last Week’s Meeting
We were joined last week by returning guest and former club member Cynthia Herrera, who we expect to bring into the club as our newest member shortly! Assembly member Jeff Gorrell addressed the club, and took the opportunity to announce that the baby he and his wife Laura are expecting a new baby shortly. Congratulations to the Gorrell family!
Jeff is a 3rd generation naval officer, and a member of the naval reserve. Jeff was elected in 2010, and during his campaign learned that he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan, with his deployment beginning just a few months after coming into office. Despite the disclosure to the electorate, he won the election, and with the assistance of fellow lawmakers, introduced 14 bills while on deployment. The California legislature is currently out of session, but it was a busy year — 2,282 bills were introduced, and 902 came out of the legislature.
Jeff shared with the club his accomplishments as a lawmaker, and his vision for bringing both sides of the aisle together to find common ground for the good of the people of California. He also shared with us the dismal environment in Washington, DC, which has led to the current federal government shutdown. Assemblyman Gorrell was not optimistic about the deep and wide divisions among Washington lawmakers ending any time soon.
By The Way . . .
John Clay, Jr. is training for his MS ride, fundraising for a good cause. Help out if you can . . . . Mike Barber and the Santa-to-the-Sea crew are still in the hunt with the Intuit Small Business Big Game contest. As of press-time, Intuit had not yet announced the top 20, but stay tuned, a Super Bowl ad is on the line . . . The Texas Hold ‘Em tournament last Sunday October 6 was a great success and a lot of fun, thanks to George and Judy for hosting and organizing . . . the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce received the Patriot of the Year award at the 2013 Navy Ball, celebrated last Saturday . . . John Kearney has returned from another surfing adventure somewhere in the world, and he is back in one piece. Welcome Home John!
Calendar Items
District Governor Jack McClenahan is scheduled to visit our club next week, October 22. Please plan on attending and giving him a warm welcome. We are also looking for assistance for the meet and greet that evening that we are co-hosting with the Oxnard Sunrise Club. See Cris for more information and to sign-up if you can bring an appetizer or munchie.
The Ventura South club is sponsoring its Annual Trivia Challenge, November 21 at the Wedgewood Banquet Center. Teams are being organized. . . see Cris for more information. The event benefits literacy efforts.
Wow, It’s a Busy Day!
In her never-ending efforts to keep you both informed and entertained, your bulletin editor went on an internet hunt to determine what “Whatever Day” it happens to be today. The results were overwhelming, and run from the serious (National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day) to the fun (National Cake Decorating Day) to the downright silly (National I Love Lucy Day). Your bulletin editor’s personal favorite: National Grouch Day - a day for all grouches to celebrate their way of life. According to Sesame Street, “a Grouch’s mission in life is to be as miserable and grouchy as possible, and pass that feeling on to everyone else. Only then will a Grouch feel in touch with his or her world and be happy. Yet, even though a Grouch may show happiness at anyone’s misfortune (including his or her own), a Grouch would never admit to being happy. Such is the stability of a Grouch’s life: so balanced, and yet so unbalanced.” Find out all you ever wanted to know about grouches and more by clicking here!