Rotary Club of Santa Monica

"2001/2002 - A Rotary Odyssey"

Rota-Monica

FRIDAY WE MEET AT SCOUT CAMP

             Rotary is an energetic backer of the Boy Scout movement all over the country – as it has been since 1910, when it helped pull together the committees, raise the funds, and find the leaders to make Scouting a civic force in many cities.  In Santa Monica, a few months after our Rotary Club was chartered in 1922, one of its first projects was to set up a Scout office in two rooms of the dank old city hall at the corner of Fourth and Santa Monica Boulevard. 

            A year later, as Scouting kept growing, Rotarians were among the enthusiasts who laid bricks by hand to construct a four-room Scout headquarters.  This too was soon outgrown.  Rotarians helped again, arranging bigger offices in Lincoln Park, which served until the local organization merged into the Western Los Angeles County Council.

             We’ll meet this Friday for lunch at Camp Josepho, the council’s weekend camp in Rustic Canyon, given to Scouting in 1941 by Anatol Josepho, an immigrant from Siberia who made a fortune by inventing self-photographic booths.  He was a friend of the Scout Executive at the time, F.F. “Bob” Hill (who was to become our club president in 1946). 

            For many weekends Rotarians and other Santa Monicans worked at the camp to build a big lodge-auditorium, workshop, ranger’s house, and swimming pool.  The Scout Executive for much of that time was Schiller Colberg, another Rotarian who served as our president in 1975-76.  The current executive, Hugh Travis, is also a member of our club. 

            Scouting has flourished in Santa Monica in recent years.  Seven Scout troops meet in the community.  The largest troop in Santa Monica is Troop 2, chartered to this club, with 87 Scouts.  In the last quarter-century at least two dozen members of this club have been Scouts or dads (or both successively) in Troop 2. 

            Bill Hunt, longtime Scoutmaster of Troop l and our club president in 1984-85, persuaded 36 members of the club to donate $1,000 or more for a handsome new swimming pool and changing house, costing a total $650,000.  So when we meet at the camp this Friday, maybe we can feel a bit proprietorial toward the fine camp we’ll see.  Click Here for Driving Directions to Camp Josepho.

KNOW SOME YOUNG ARTISTS?  MAYBE YOU CAN HELP THEM!

             Maybe you know some teen-age artists who would like to try to prizes of $2,000 or $1,000 or $500.  It’s up to you to help them enter our Rotary district’s art contest.

             This will be the fourth annual art contest held by our Rotary District 5280.  It’s open to any student in the 11th or 12th grade of any school in our district. 

            Maybe you don’t personally know any budding artists.  Even so, you probably know some people who’d like to spread the word.  The deadline is March 28, so you should act now. 

            Here’s what you should do.  Phone art contest chairman Gay Swaine at (3l0) 374-3533.  Ask him to send you an Art Contest Entry Application, plus a packet of information and forms for your club.  Then photocopy the application and send copies around to school principals, career counselors, art teachers and of course Interact Club members.  You can also contact local teen centers, family organizations, and religious groups.  Later you may want to make follow-up phone calls to be sure entry applications went to students. 

            Students may use any combination of materials (watercolor, photo, pen, pencil, etc.) to create their 12” x 16” entries.  Their entry should be based on this year’s Rotary International theme, “Mankind Is Our Business.” 

YOUR CHANCE IS COMING TO MEET FIVE RUSSIANS

             The Russians are coming again.  For the third year in a row, our District 5280 will be hosts to five Russian leaders for seven days this spring.  It’s part of RI’s Open World Russian Leadership Program.  Exact dates haven’t been set yet. 

            The idea is to give high-level Russians a chance to see the American political system at work, by socializing with local civic leaders in this country.  Many clubs in our district shared enthusiastically in the program during two previous visits by Russian groups.  So there’ll doubtless be a flock of clubs applying again. 

            Our club can apply by phoning Ingo Werk at (310) 320-5666.  President Hal will doubtless apply if many of us indicate to him that they’d like to be part of the operation.

OUR NOMINEE WINS TWO YEARS ABROAD

             District 5280’s candidate, Deborah Goldberg, nominated by the Rotary Club of El Segundo, has been chosen by Rotary International trustees to receive one of the first Rotary World Peace scholarships.  This means she’ll get two years of training at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, for work in international peace studies and conflict resolution.

             Miss Goldberg holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UC Berkeley.  She was chosen for the Rotary scholarship in competition with other candidates from the Rotary Clubs of Hollywood, Westwood and Wilmington.  Then she had to compete on an international level for only ten openings at the university in Queensland. 

            Queensland is one of seven universities chose by RI for its new training program in international mediation.  The other universities, which will open similar Rotary Centers, are in Argentina, England, France, Japan, along with California and North Carolina in the U.S.  Each will work with ten of RI’s scholarship students. 

            Next year RI will choose another 70 nominees for its World Peace Scholarships.  If you know a young college graduate you’d like to nominate, you can get information from district governor Len Wasserstein’s office at (310) 888-6138.

FRIDAY MEETINGS ON OUR CALENDAR