This is the eleventh year that the Rotary Club of Santa Monica has fed its police on Thanksgiving. It all started when P.P. Spyros Dellaportas, our current year’s chairman, met with the Board of Directors and had a discussion to find out what our Club could do to show its appreciation for all the hard work that our Police Officers do, especially during the holiday season when they have to work instead of being with their families.
Spyros,
originally from Greece, told the Board a story of how the Police Officers
in Greece are showered with gifts during the holiday season. He explained that
in the small town in Greece where he comes from, the police used to stand on a pedestal
and direct traffic. He said as the people drove by in their cars they would show
their appreciation to the officer and put on the pedestal a gift. He still
remembers that by the end of the day the gifts were stacked so high one
could barely see the Policeman. This childhood memory stuck with Spyros
and he wanted to come up with a way to thank our Police. The Board decided
one way to show our police that we care would be to provide a nice home-cooked
meal on Thanksgiving of each year.
This year there were approximately twenty Rotary Club of Santa Monica members and their families who helped put on the meal for our police. It all started out around 11:00 a.m. when Spyros and Jim Menzies picked up food from the Casa del Mar hotel to feed about thirty Officers. During the course of the meal our members and their families served the police with food and drinks and helped to cheer up their spirits knowing that they had to work instead of being with their families on Thanksgiving.
A big thank you goes out to the following members for their support: Jim
Menzies and son Jamie, Kristina Andresen, Norma Barnes, Spyros Dellaportas and
daughter Thea, Con Oyler, Steve Litvack, Lionel Ruhman, Shirley and Bill Dowling, Blair
Brandenberg and son Nicholas, Tish Tisherman, daughter and granddaughter.
We are especially grateful to: Klaus Mennekes and the Casa del Mar hotel for providing the food and drinks, Dee Menzies and the help of Calthorp School for providing tablecloths and decorations.
Please look at the photos below and see how your Rotary Club has fun and helps our community; please don’t forget to click on the smaller pictures to see in full size.
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Our Thanksgiving Crew Shown starting left Allen Young, Kris Andresen, Norma Barnes,
Thea Dellaportas, girl in candy striped shirt and man in beard - helpers
from Calthorp School, Lionel Ruhman, Steve Litvack, Tish
Tisherman and granddaughter, Spyros Dellaportas, Con Oyler,
on bottom row - |
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Preparing the Food! |
| Spyros shown with Tish's daughter and granddaughter and one of our City's finest. |
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