West Covina Sunrise Rotary Club Newsletter Wednesday March 15, 2006

President’s Message: This was a fun time for all. Getting to know each other on a more personal level is a great way to bond. Continue to invite your friends and associates to breakfast, you never know who may be touched by our work and decide to explore becoming a Rotarian. If you need some invitation cards, just pick them up from our “button” box. And remember, there are only 5 weeks left before our golf tournament. For as little as $10.00 anyone can participate but if we don’t ask then we won’t get.
Celebrity Golf Tournament -- April 24th, 2006.
Golfers: We need golfers
Sponsors: We need hole sponsors, tee sponsors and golf package sponsors.
Raffle Prizes: Please contact all your friends, family members and business associates to see if they can donate items for our raffle. We need Gift certificates to Restaurants, Personal Services such as salon services, massages, facials, dental work, chiropractic, etc.,etc. We can use baskets, movie tickets, hotel get-a-ways, golf fees, tickets to shows, golf clubs, photography setting, gift certificates to stores, boat rentals etc., etc… The possibilities are endless. Please contact Lone Sorensen at 626-893-7395 with contact information of businesses or individuals you know will donate.
The Golf Tournament Committee needs your help -- Position still open:
Hole sponsor coordinator Call Mark or Marc to sign up.
Volunteers: We also will need plenty of volunteers for the tournament. We need people to man the tables, sell tickets, help at holes, set up of auction and raffle items, sell dinner tickets and the list goes on and on. Please ask your friends now! Call Carolina Chacon for more info. at (626) 862-5654
Thanks for your continued support of our golf tournament! Keep thinking SPONSORS!

4- way speech: This year’s contest took place at Industry Hills Rotary Club, Tuesday, March 14th. ‘Our man’ Anthony Orta, did quite well, finishing approx in the middle. Over all he was very impressed with his experiences at the competition and plans on becoming a Rotarian. He also hopes to start speech ‘competitions’ or speech training for his students after he becomes an elementary school teacher. Tom Murphy, who has now competed 4 years in a row, finished 2nd…… A great accomplishment. And after hearing his speeches for the last 2 years, I think it is safe to say that he will be using his presentation skills no matter what he chooses to do after school. As Miriam Tennant said --- He really, really should have won!

President Elect: Our incoming president, Vatche Kelartinian, attended the PETS training seminar this past weekend, and it was an overall great experience and very educational for Vatche. We all better get ready, as Vatche has spoken: We will be doing a lot more community service projects next year!

All Hands on Deck! All Hands on Deck! All Hands on Deck!
TO: DISTRICT 5300 CLUB PRESIDENTS & DISTRICT 5300 PRESIDENTS-ELECT
And other assorted able seamen/women THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM: YOUR CAPTAIN
The “U.S.S. District 5300” is charting its course for a magnificent 2006-2007 cruise, under the able direction of Admiral (er, District Governor) Christine Montan.
NAVIGATORS” training, required for leadership personnel facing the challenge of sailing the 2006-2007 seas with Admiral Christine, is scheduled for SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2006 at Etiwanda Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga (full details to follow). Now is the time for Presidents-Elect to enlist the participation of their club leaders, and new recruits, in setting the correct course for the new service year. Now is the time to mark those calendars. Now is the time to make the commitment. Senior Officers will lay out the course, provide you’all with the tools for success, and provide you with the key launch information for a successful cruise. (And, Lunch will be served!) sociable mixing of officers and enlisted personnel (all members of the crew) is planned for the evening of April 21.


District Assembly for the 2006-2007 Rotary Year: April 22, 2006, Etiwanda Gardens. All Officers and Committee Members should plan to attend. For those of you new on the board -- and we welcome and thank you --- the district assembly is a “training” session for the various roles on the board.

Rotaract Club: The first local Rotaract Club has been established by students in the greater San Gabriel Valley. The installation dinner will be held March 24th at Citrus College. The cost will be $20 for the dinner. We will provide more dinner and contact information in the next newsletter.

Rummage Sale: The San Gabriel Valley Neighborhood Coalition is hosting a Huge Parking Lot Treasure Hunt Rummage Sale on Saturday, March 25th, 7AM to 2PM. All proceeds from the sale will benefit Stepping Stones for Women, Arrow Community Center and Southern California Youth for Christ. If you need to do some spring cleaning ( and don’t we all ), they will be happy to accept your usable discards. They also need volunteers to help before and during the sale. If you are interested please call 626-974-1162 or contact Kathy Benton for more information.

Good Friday Breakfast: The San Gabriel Valley YMCA will be hosting a Good Friday Breakfast at South Hills Country Club (April 14th, 2006). Special guest will be Favid Frost. Dave Harris will provide more information at our next meeting.

Public Safety Recognition Luncheon: The West Covina Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Thank You Luncheon for the West Covina Police Department and Fire Department on March 16, 2006. Many service awards will be given out to the many special people who serve the West Covina Community. This will be a great opportunity to show your support of our local law enforcement and fire departments. Per Gary Lawson this event is sold out. Some 205 people will be attending this year, really showing the people in law enforcement, fire and city communications how much they are appreciated. In fact so many people are attending, that per Frank Wills, if President Bush showed up, he would not be able to get in. Good thing for Bush, Dave Harris said he would give up his seat. So Bush, if you are available ……………. At the Appreciation Luncheon the trophy for the winner of the Shoots & Ladders Event, The Police Dept., will be handed out. In addition, the money raised from the event will be donated to the Fire & Police Departments who will each receive $1,799.57. This amount is almost triple that of last year.

Program: Getting to Know each Other. Bruce Sims was the Master of Ceremonies (under the direction of the absent Diana Veloz). We split into groups of 5 and shared a funny, memorable or embarrassing event with the rest of the group. Afterwards, the 'winner' from each table shared their funny moments with the whole group. We heard some quite funny stories and shared some early morning laughs.

Hats Up: Don't ever ask Miriam and Forrest Tennant if they will escort you to your wedding in one of their Old Model Cars ---- they may show up a day or so late!


Raffle winner: Our new member Mary got the lucky ticket and walked away with $10.00. Still many, many more cards to go.


Happy Birthday to Dave Harris - who demanded we sing Happy Birthday to him. But I guess for a $20 spin we can all sing a little.

Books, books, Books: THE NYAHURURU, KENYA LIBRARY PROJECT By: Shannon Heintz, a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer serving in Nyahururu, Kenya.

Did you know that 80% of Kenyan’s are literate? Most people assume that Africans aren’t literate and minimally educated. In Kenya, primary education is free and most children attend school. English and Kiswahili are the national languages of Kenya and both are taught in school. Yet, with all of this education many Kenyan’s do not read books. Not for lack of wanting, it’s lack of money. Kenyans live on about 70 Kenyan Shillings (Ksh) per day ($1 USD = 73 Ksh). It is enough money to feed a family of four. Storybooks and novels cost about 300 Ksh to 1500 Ksh each, putting the written word out of reach for all but the wealthiest. People know how to read in English, many of my neighborhood children can, but simply cannot afford books.

I am writing to you because my community needs and wants a library. As a public health volunteer, I teach health and work with people living with HIV/AIDS, however, my side project is running a library from home. I currently have over 80 primary and secondary school students, and adults taking part in this book borrowing program. However, I cannot meet the demand. I am in need of the following books: beginning English books, illustrated storybooks, early readers, young adult and novels -- Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Harriet the Spy. Also, Illustrated children’s books, Dictionaries, World Atlases, Children’s Illustrated Bibles and bible stories, Christian adult fiction, Christian young adult fiction, books by black American authors, and about black Americans. I could also use the following: Bro-Dart book covers for hardback books, construction paper, markers, crayons, educational posters, stickers, etc. My mailing address is: Shannon Heintz, Peace Corps Volunteer, P.O. Box 2149, Nyahururu, 20300, Kenya. You can mail all items via M-Bag or Media Mail at the US Post Office. The cost is $1.00/pound of books mailed.

I can be reached at: shannonheintz@yahoo.com. I am currently working with the mayor to ensure that there will be a permanent structure in town for a library before my tour is over in August 2007. Your donation will help the many children and adults in my community. I thank you in advance for your time and support.

If you are interested in donating books or supplies, please contact Lone Sorensen 626-893-7395, lhsorensen@verizon.net. If you supply the books, I will pay the shipping costs.

Calendar: The information below and more can be found on our very own web site.

2006 District Conference
Hilton Palm Springs Resort
May 18-21, 2006
"Fun in the Sun 2006"
400 E Tahquitz Canyon Way
Palm Springs, CA

Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammer Save the Date!
May 3, 2006
Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammer, Rotary International President will be in Las Vegas May 3 for an Interclub meeting.
Details will be posted here when available.
For more information.....
Tom Novotny
tom_arohed@yahoo.com

Mar 22: Program tbd
Mar 24: Rotaract Dinner at Citrus College
Mar 25: Rummage Treasure Hunt Sale
Mar 29: New meeting location for this date only: Mariposa Inn on Restaurant Row
Apr 14: Good Friday Breakfast, YMCA, at South Hills Country Club
Apr 21-22: District Assembly

Places Rotarians should visit regularly:
District’s Newsletter: http://www.district5300.org/newsletter/news0507.pdf
Rotary International member website: https://riweb.rotaryintl.org/
Rotary International: http://www.rotary.org/