ISSUE NO. 8 AUGUST 24, 2001 OUR 80th YEAR
www.RotaryClubofSantaMonica.org
WE CAN ENJOY GETTING OLD
An old age, serene and bright,
Shall lead thee to thy grave.
Such was William Wordsworth’s blessing to a young lady. More recently, an elderly editor, Edward Weeks, pointed out a principle to keep in mind:
To live with fear and not be afraid
Is the final test of maturity.
Many of us in this club are at a time when we occasionally glance ahead and perhaps feel a tremor. Looking at obituary pages, we note that it isn’t rare for people to live into their late eighties or beyond. Maybe some of us recall the words of an anonymous observer who describes dealing with aging as “one of life’s most miserable experiences.”
It needn’t be miserable. Planning and prearrangements can help us say with Robert Browning, “The best is yet to be.” Our speaker this Friday is a nationally known expert on the subject.
Bunni Dybnis is the director of professional services at LivHOME, a private company that provides comprehensive services to the dying, the bereaved, the disabled, and the frail elderly. Her organization serves in both the non-profit and private fields, with such clients as Century City, Brotman Hospital, and Jewish Family Service. She helps aging people solve physical, emotional, and financial problems.
Bunni is an active leader in six state or national organizations that help elderly people. She has spoken on National Public Radio and before four big organizations in the field. Recently an organization of geriatric care managers honored her with an award for “dedication and service in the field of care management.”
Bunni urges that we bring our “questions, concerns and personal experiences” to the meeting.
MORE FINERY AT AUGUST 10 MEETING
Erik and Nancy Jorgensborg’s Celestial Comet Haley is streaking upward with a full four-year athletic scholarship to UCLA. This high school senior is rated as the country’s number two volleyball setter. Personally I’m not surprised because I can vouch for part of her ancestry. I knew her great-grandfather Charlie Sievers well when I worked at Hughes Aircraft. He was also a retired chief of the Santa Monica fire department. Her grandpa Robert Sievers is okay, too. Pay your $100 pride tax with joy, Erik.
An enjoyment tax of $100 was billed to our accomplished dental authority, Jim Haljun. In England recently, Jim completed a course of study in castles. He is also recognized as an associate of a “cheesecake factory” that reported record earnings.
Cena Abergel is to be doubly congratulated, though fined only once for $75, for the graduation of one child from college and one from high school. These are big moments in parents’ lives, but of course the honor and glory must be ascribed to the children. This is Cena’s first year in Rotary and her first fine. Welcome to the club, Cena.
-- Lionel Ruhman
COMING UP
 |
Friday, August 31 - Labor Day week-end. NO MEETING (and no Rota-Monica) |
|
Friday, September 7 - Rev. Monsignor Kevin Kostelnik: New L.A. Cathedral |
|
Friday, September 14 - Tom Wilson, “The Dance Doctor” |
|
Friday, September 21 - Hon. Massimo Roscigno, Italian Consul General |
|
Thursday, October 25 - Rotary Golf Outing – being held at Tierra Regada in Moorpark |
|
Saturday, October 28 - New Members party to be held at the home of Tom Loo |
AND:
He’s at it again! Our Big Kahuna Hal has decreed that this Friday, August 24, will be another ALOHA DAY. In order to avoid a whopping fine, be sure to wear your best island finery. (Definition of “best” in this instance translates to: bright and loud.)
KEEPING YOU POSTED
Roster updates were distributed to all who attended the August 17th meeting. We’ll be passing them out again this Friday, the 24th. For those unable to attend: we will mail out the roster pages on Friday afternoon. In future issues we will have a section to show: who’s on leave of absence; listing of new members; and resignations (if any).
SEVEN DAYS OF ARGUMENT
In the past three years, total membership of Rotary International has declined for three consecutive years – a loss of more than 35,000 members. It’s the first time since World War II that we’ve netted a loss for three years in a row.
What to do about it? A Global Quest is under way, with a goal for each club to bring in at least one new member per month during our 2001-2002 year, adding up to a minimum net gain of at least five new members per club by the end of the year. In addition, each district has been asked to organize at least three new clubs, or else have at least five of its existing clubs adding 15 or more new members apiece.
On another front, arguments and new ideas have been flying. RI’s triennial council on legislation, bringing together 523 delegates from 65 countries, met in Chicago for seven days in April. Confronting it was a nine-pound bookful of proposed legislation, containing 631 items for discussion – more than the previous four councils combined.
Traditionally, this council has been slow to permit change. (It turned down proposals to allow women in Rotary in 1972, 1977, 1980, 1983 and 1986 – then okayed the idea at last in the 1989 session.)
The council used new state-of-the-art electronic voting devices, enabling Rotarians to vote privately and nearly instantly. This speeded up the proceedings. On the other hand, another change that tended to slow action was assigning seats in rotation, instead of letting delegates sit (and vote) in regional blocs, as always had been done in the past.
The council approved 98 enactments or proposals. (This was twice as many as in 1989.) None of the enactments seemed earth-shaking: the most noticeable one allowed one-tenth of a club’s membership to be in the same classification. Another enactment “encourages” members and guests to refrain from smoking at any events held in the name of Rotary.
The “proposals” were merely suggestions to be considered by the RI board of directors. Among these was one to consider engaging a professional marketing service to encourage more donations to the Rotary Foundation.
This fall, each Rotary club will receive a book of all the proposals adopted by the council.